Chapter 21 #2
“Fuck off, both of you. Now, do what I asked and help protect my family. We clear?” I told him, wanting him to focus on the real threat.
“You got it, Papa Bear. I’ll call you later.
” He hung up before I could reply, and I took a breath.
I needed to shake it off, go up, and say hello to Lou without letting Lindsey taint our time together.
I was starting a forty-eight-hour shift that night, and I didn’t want to ruin what little time I had before that.
It was spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, Lou failing miserably at keeping her pasta on the fork, insisting on using the arm with the cast. It was a simple meal, but I loved every moment of it.
The soft looks Sophie shot me as I helped Lou actually eat some of her food instead of wearing it.
Lou chatting away about her day. It was what I wanted. This is what I would fight to protect.
The first night of my shift was kind of quiet.
We were only called out twice; once for a minor traffic accident, and the second for an overheated generator.
Once back at the firehouse, I tried to get some sleep, but my mind wouldn’t turn off.
Worry about Lindsey, Max, and Helen whirled around me.
There was an early call for a standard safety inspection, then it was back to the station house.
I was starving, and since Robbie was on kitchen duty, I wanted first dibs.
Shedding my gear, I headed through the station house with only food on my mind.
“Linc!” a high-pitched voice cooed, a hand with long fake nails latching onto my arm. I turned quickly and had to blink as I realized it was Lindsey standing before me. It was strange how someone could look so different but still exactly the same.
As if she were stuck in a time capsule, Lindsey was dressed exactly like she would have when we were in high school.
In a tight shirt that looked like it belonged to a toddler, her belly button ring was visible and dangling.
Her overly blonde hair was lighter than it was when we grew up, almost white now.
There wasn’t enough sun on the entire West Coast to give her the orange tan that seemed layered on top of her skin.
It felt like I was looking at a drawing of her, a memory.
“What is this? How did you even get in here” I asked, eyeing her with distrust. She batted her lashes, her smile faltering for a second before she pasted it back on.
“Linc, baby, come on. I just told one of the guys that we were old friends and he let me right through” Before I could realize what she was doing, her hand was sliding down my chest as she stepped closer to me.
She was standing on her tiptoes, as if leaning in for a kiss, when I finally stumbled back, detangling myself from her tentacles.
“What the fuck?” Startled, she blinked, and her eyes opened, looking confused. Lindsey reached out to touch my chest again, and I stepped back.
“Linc, after all the history we have together, aren’t you glad to see me? Can’t we just talk privately, for old times’ sake?” She flipped her hair. Her voice was saccharine sweet, and it made my stomach turn.
“No. I’m not. I’m not glad that you’re back.
I’m not glad that you called me. And I’m really not glad that you came within 500 feet of my woman.
I don’t know what you’re up to, but stay away from me, and from Sophie.
” She gave a high-pitched laugh, looking at the small crowd that had developed around us.
“She got you on such a short leash you can’t talk to anybody else?” she asked, flipping her hair over her shoulder, trying to shoot coy looks at some of the guys on duty.
“Don’t. Don’t talk about her. Don’t think about her. Cut your losses and go back to whatever hole you crawled out of.” Lindsey stumbled for the first time, her cheeks flushing. She stepped closer to me, her voice an angry whisper.
“What’s the big deal? What are you afraid I’m gonna do to your little farm girl?” Lindsey tried to sound like she was joking, but there was something dangerous behind the statement.
“Nothing, because you’re not gonna get near her.” I took a step closer, enjoying the fear in Lindsey’s eyes.
“I don’t know what you’re up to, but I’m gonna figure it out.
If you think you can come back and fuck around with my life, then you better wake up real quick.
I love Sophie, more than I ever thought was possible.
More than anything we ever had. Sophie and Lou are not your business.
They’re under my roof and under my protection.
I’ll make sure everyone at the station knows your face and knows that you’re unwelcome.
I’ll do that with every place in this town if I have to. Now get gone.”
A round of applause broke out from the group of nosy bastards who had been eavesdropping.
Embarrassed and enraged, Lindsey had no choice but to leave.
Nodding to the guys, I walked past them, heading for my locker.
I needed a minute so I could call Sophie.
I didn’t want her hearing about it through the small town grapevine.
I thought I had more time to figure out what Lindsey was doing. What had her slithering about the town she had sworn never to return to. Going over everything about her visit, I froze as I remembered what she had said.
Your little farm girl.
How could Lindsey possibly know that about Sophie? That changed everything. The question wasn’t just what Lindsey was doing back there—it was who was feeding her information, lurking in the shadows, quietly pulling her strings.