Chapter 11 #2
He and I didn’t talk much last night—just had a couple beers.
Well, I had four, actually.
I have every confidence he’s a good friend to Dylan and Hunter.
Jared nods, bending over to pick up a socket set laying next to the tire of a Corvette. “If I can keep him from getting any girls into trouble for the next few years, he’ll be great,” he tells me. “Unfortunately, he’s more than his father and I can handle sometimes. He’s got a mind of his own.”
“So, he fits in then.”
Jared smiles.
Yeah, Noah is a good kid. That doesn’t mean he’s a man, though.
But at least he’s not a criminal.
“Farrow,” I continue, “is a problem.”
“Caught that in your short time here?” He looks over at me, amusement in his eyes. “Don’t worry. Madoc and I have our attention on it. Unfortunately, Dylan and Hunter adore him and they, too, have minds of their own.”
“I meant in regards to Quinn,” I point out.
He stops, his smile gone as he sets the case down on a toolbox.
I go for it before he has a chance to panic. “You know girls like her as well as I do, Jared. Kind, trusting, generous—”
“Na?ve?”
I smile softly. “Pure of heart,” I say, instead.
I move in and keep going. “It’s normal—and necessary—to make mistakes and fall in love with the wrong people, so you can fall out of love and learn the lessons, but those two guys…
They can fuck up her life. It’s all guys like that are good for at their age. ”
There, I said it. I don’t hate Noah and Farrow, but Quinn is not cutting her teeth on them.
Jared heaves a sigh, looking everywhere but at me. “Fuck.” He runs his hand through his hair. “I worry more about Quinn because she’s not resilient. But that’s not her fault. It’s mine. And Madoc’s and Jax’s and her father’s.” He looks at me. “We paved every step she walked.”
I know. And now she doesn’t have any street smarts, but what were they supposed to do? Not look out for her?
“I’ll be around for a while,” I announce. “If she needs a ride or you need someone taught a lesson.”
He chuckles but looks weary. Reaching out, he shakes my hand. “I think I’m gonna like you as a grown-up.”
Good, because his sister doesn’t.
Before I have a chance to take my keys and leave, someone rushes through the front door.
“Jared,” Jason, Quinn’s dad, bursts out. “Thank God.”
I move aside so he can get to his stepson, but Mr. Caruthers doesn’t come any farther than peeking his head inside the door.
He gripes at Jared, “I’m trying to take your mom to Bermuda for the week and my display is lit up like a Christmas tree. What did you do?”
“Not a fucking oil change,” Jared barks back. “I’m not Jiffy Lube. Did you take it into the dealer and have it done a month ago like I told you?”
Mr. Caruthers shuts his mouth, just standing there.
I stifle my smile.
“Jesus Christ,” Jared growls, storming toward the door. Jason moves out of the way, letting his wife’s son barrel outside, toward their Bentley Continental GT.
Quinn and Jared’s mom Katherine steps out of the driver’s side, offering her son a little wince of apology. She’s dressed for the beach in a thin, white dress with a straw hat.
Jared climbs in the driver’s seat, turns on the car, and suddenly his face contorts into a cross between a bear and a disgusted schoolteacher. “Oh, what the f—!”
But he clamps it shut in front of his mom.
Quinn’s dad and I stand back, silent and not moving like we share a father who’s on a rampage and we’re trying not to be noticed.
“Son of a bitch,” Jared bites out, walking around and lifting the hood. “Three-hundred-thousand-dollar piece of shit is what you’re about to have.” A thread of smoke curls into the air from the engine. “Goddammit! Someone just shoot me in the head…”
Jason clears his throat, and I’m trying very hard not to laugh. Jax once gave Jared a book on “responding instead of reacting” and “accepting things he can’t change.” I wouldn’t be surprised if it was still sitting on the corner of Jared’s worktable in his home garage with two inches of dust on it.
I pull out the keys to my rental parked three spaces away and hand them to Jason. “Take mine.”
He eyes me. “Are you sure?”
I nod. He can return the car to the rental place; otherwise, I would’ve had to call them to come pick it up.
“Thank you,” he says.
I give him instructions on turning in the car, grab my shit out of it, and climb in Jared’s Boss as Jason flies out of the parking lot in my rental with his wife.
“I’ll see you soon!” I call out to Jared, who’s still buried under the hood.
He doesn’t reply, and I’m fine with that. Best to get out of his way while I can.
I drive off, still relieved that Jared didn’t ask any questions. With luck, Madoc will find out through him and have time to process before we talk. There’s a lot to figure out. Do I want to cancel the sale of the house?
I don’t think so. I don’t know how long I’m home, and I don’t want to pull the rug out from under Quinn. I like the idea of staying someplace else while I’m here. A new view.
Then, there’s the issue of work. I’ll need something to do, but I’m not sure I want to commute to Chicago.
And Green Street…
Lots to tend to.
After showering and changing at my house, I leave through my door for the last time and plan to go to a hotel. I could stay with Madoc and Fallon, but I’d like privacy right now. And I don’t want them involved in what I have to deal with.
Stopping at City Hall, I dig up a map of Lake Road and make a call to Isobel to tell her I’ll be away a little while longer. What I can’t handle remotely, she or one of my partners will.
I walk out to my car at the curb and start to open the door, but I look up and spot Madoc’s SUV pulling into the side lot. He exits the vehicle, carrying his briefcase to the walkway as his car beeps locked behind him.
But he sees me and slows. Recognition dawns, a slight smile crossing his face, and to my surprise, he doesn’t explode with questions and excitement.
As if he had an idea he’d see me again soon.
“Workout tonight?” I call to him.
I’ll need to be ready for Green Street, because once they know I’m still here, they’ll act.
He tips his chin at me. “Eight o’clock.”
I nod in agreement. Maybe I’ll give Lance a call too. See if he wants to come out.
Or not.
I didn’t mind seeing him when I thought I wasn’t staying in town long, but I need to be severing fucking ties here, not encouraging them.
Getting back into my car, I drive to Frosted and get in line, seeing Quinn shuffle one of her workers out of the shop with a tower of boxes to deliver.
I slip my hands into the pockets of my black track pants, my fist curling around her compass as my eyes drift down her body.
Skin that was flush with my mattress twelve hours ago.
Now, it’s covered neck-to-toe in clothes.
Good girl by day. She can shift like a chameleon, and some guy is going to be very lucky someday.
I step up to the counter and order, “Small, black coffee.”
She lifts her head at the sound of my voice, her chest caving.
She doesn’t blink, and all I can think about are the thoughts she was thinking out loud about me last night. Everything she wants to do with me.
My mouth goes dry, and I fight to slow my heart.
In a moment, she turns and pours me a cup, affixing the lid without a word.
She sets it down in front of me. “One-fifty.”
I dig out money, her round eyes staring straight at me, her jaw tense.
I slide over a five-dollar-bill, her compass sitting on top.
“Madoc still sees me as family,” I tell her.
She tries to take the money and compass, but I don’t let go.
She looks at me.
“They all do,” I point out.
Whether she does or not.
I’m not going anywhere until I’m ready.
I take the coffee and leave, feeling her eyes on my back as I go.
Sliding into the Boss, I set my cup in the holder and start the engine.
And I smile, suddenly realizing an excellent place for me to stay while I remain in town.