Chapter Eight
Echo
T HE NEXT MORNING, Archer picked me up and he looked wrecked. I studied him for a few seconds and tried to give him a gentle smile. “Hi.”
“Hey.”
“Come on in.” I frowned. “Are you okay? You look tired.”
“Late night.”
He was looking right at me, but I still wasn’t sure if he was telling me everything.
“What?” he asked.
“Would you tell me if I asked? ”
“Probably not,” he admitted.
“You’re telling me the truth, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, Echo, I’m telling you the truth.” He slid his keys into his jacket pocket. “I may be a lot of things, but I’m not a liar.”
I bristled a little. “I didn’t say you were.”
He gave me a crooked smile. “That’s not what I mean.”
I bit my lip. “Sorry. I can’t read your face.”
“I’m aware, which is why I’m explainin’, with my mouth…” Archer chuckled. “If you’ll let me.”
“Oh, right. I jumped right in there, huh?”
He nodded. “Little bit.”
“Sorry, continue.”
“I understand that you can’t read my expression, so I will endeavor to tell you what I’m thinking when I can. I might not always be able to tell you everything, and if I can’t tell you everything, I’ll just say that. Does that make sense?”
“Yes. I’ve just never met anyone like you.”
“Well, that sucks, because I’m fuckin’ awesome, but I digress…”
I let out a quiet snort, then I suddenly couldn’t stop laughing.
He crossed his arms with a smirk. “Do you need a minute?”
After a few seconds, I waved my hand. “No, I’m good. Tell me all the ways you’re amazing.”
“We don’t have time for all of that right now, but what I will tell you is that I won’t lie to you. If you have questions, ask.”
“Okay, why didn’t you sleep well? ”
“I didn’t say I didn’t sleep well. I said it was a late night.”
I bit my lip. “Right, it’s none of my business.”
“Also didn’t say it was none of your business.”
I let out a frustrated grunt. “I can’t tell if you’re being purposefully obtuse.”
“I am.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why?”
He sighed. “Because something happened last night and I’m not sure I should tell you. Not because I don’t think I can trust you, or because I don’t think you should know, but because I don’t think you’d want to know.”
I gasped. “It’s something bad?”
“Meh.”
I frowned. “If it’s ‘meh,’ then tell me.”
“My dad and uncle got into it.”
“Got into it, how?”
His eyes met mine. “Massive argument.”
“What?” I breathed out. “Like, for real?”
Archer nodded. “Dad won.”
“Oh my god, Archer, that’s your takeaway from that? Your dad won?”
“I don’t know what else to say.” He dragged his hands through his hair. “The whole thing was a shit show.”
“I want details,” I hissed. “And I’d like you to start from the very beginning.”
“Come on, I’ll fill you in while I drive.”
Archer gave me the the Reader’s Digest version as we drove and then waited a few minutes while I processed the information .
“Oh my god,” I breathed out.
“I want to be clear that I’m telling you because I think you deserve to know, but I really don’t want it to change your opinion of my dad… or my uncle. Although, my uncle does tend to stick his nose in places he shouldn’t.”
“I get it. Honestly, I do. My brother’s the same way.” I wrinkled my nose. “I just don’t really know what to think. It’s all so, I don’t know, violent.”
“Are you seriously telling me your brother’s never just gone off half-cocked?”
“No idea.” I bit my lip. “If he has, he’s never told me about it.”
“You should ask him.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Um, I don’t think I want to know the answer to that question.”
“Fair.” Archer smiled gently.
“But would Elliot really stop talking to you in order to run for mayor?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I have no idea. But I know my mother will brain him if he does. My grandparents probably will too.”
“Wow,” I breathed out. “That just seems so dumb.”
“I know. I hope he pulls his head out of his ass before he does any damage.”
“Are you hurt?” I asked.
He chuckled. “No. I love Ell. He’ll figure it out.”
“Gracious.”
“We need to give the people we love the chance to make mistakes.”
“You mean enough rope to hang themselves. ”
Archer chuckled. “True as that may be, there’s no need in tying the noose for them.”
I smiled. “Again, so much grace.”
“Maybe.” He grinned. “I talked to my granddad.”
“About your uncle?”
“About Floyd.”
“Oh, right! What did he say?”
“He said anytime Floyd wants to go fishing, we’ll go.”
I bit my lip. “We’ll need to find a time when I can stay with Judy.”
“I talked to my mom about that.”
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
“Well, since Floyd filled me in on their situation, and I’m not speaking out of turn, I let her know that my pop was willing to take him out on the boat, and she suggested Dad go as well as me and maybe my brother, and she could talk to Bryn, who’s a nurse, and maybe they could hang with Judy. Give you a break.”
I bristled. “I don’t want a break.”
“Well, then the three of you could hang with Judy and make it a little party.”
I suddenly couldn’t breathe. “Pull over.”
“What?”
“Pull the truck over.”
“We’re on the freeway,” he said.
“Then get off the freeway and pull over.” I bent over and put my head between my knees, fearing I’d pass out.
“Jesus,” he hissed, and I felt the truck veer to the right, then we were stopping and the engine cut out. “ Talk to me.”
I raised my finger as I took a few deep breaths, mortified that I was melting down in front of this gorgeous man.
He didn’t say anything, just stepped out of the truck, then my door was pulled open and he reaching in and undoing my seatbelt. “Can I lift you down?”
I shook my head.
“Do you want to be alone?”
I shook my head again.
“Okay, sweetheart, just let me know what you need, okay?”
I nodded, trying to take another deep breath, but instead, made a low, guttural, gulping sound.
Oh, god.
Mortified.
Again.
“Fuck, Echo, what the hell’s going on?” Archer demanded.
“I… I… can’t…” I couldn’t catch my breath enough to form words, I was crying too hard.
Before I could react, Archer reached in and pulled me out of the truck gently, wrapping his arms around me.
I was not a hugger.
I typically found it uncomfortable and invasive, but the second he touched me, my heartrate slowed, and I felt safe. I slid my hands up under his vest and buried my face in his chest as I continued to release all the pain and frustration of the past few days.
I don’t know how long we stood there, but it was a while, the whoosh of cars flying down the freeway behind us, the soundtrack to my meltdown as Archer held me gently and let me purge my emotions.
“You okay?” he asked as I started to breathe normally.
I nodded.
He slid his hand to the back of my neck and squeezed gently. “You wanna fill me in on what happened?”
“I don’t know if I can,” I admitted.
“Try.”
“Judy and Floyd are all alone. They have no one. Judy once told me that after their son died, their friends just kind of slowly disappeared. A couple of them were honest and said that Floyd made them uncomfortable, one actually asked her to talk to him and ask him to tone down the weirdness.”
“No fuckin’ way.”
I nodded. “Way.”
“What did Judy say?”
“She told her to take a very long walk off a short pier.”
Archer chuckled. “Good for her.”
“But the end result was the same. They all ghosted them. And now they have no one.”
“Hey,” he said, lifting my face to meet his eyes. “They have us. And once my mom gets her hooks in, they’ll have the club and no one lets go in my club.”
I burst into tears again and he pulled me close.
“I’m getting the feeling this goes deeper than Floyd and Judy,” he murmured.
“ I’m weird,” I rasped.
“What the fuck? ”
“I’m like Floyd, and one day I won’t have my family to buffer me from people.
I’ll be alone and vulnerable just like Floyd because in case you haven’t noticed, I don’t have any friends, and the five minutes I can hold onto a boyfriend, their buddies give them so much shit, they break up with me.
I’m the weirdo who’s way too honest. The one who can’t control her emotions, and it freaks people out. Guys don’t like it.”
“That’s because you’ve dated boys, beautiful.”
I looked up at him and frowned. “Are you saying I should date girls? Because I’m not gay and newsflash, girls don’t like it either. Not that I think there’s anything wrong with that, I just don’t find women attractive.”
“No.” He chuckled. “What I’m saying is that you’ve never dated a man. A man would never make you feel less than, does that make sense?”
I nodded. “Yes, although, a man shouldn’t have that power to begin with.”
“In a perfect world, sure, but the words we say to each other, the things we do to each other, matter. And when you fall in love, form a friendship, make a bond with someone, you make a promise, and that promise means you’ll be honest, respectful, and kind.
Whether it’s in business, friendship, or love. Don’t you think?”
“That easy?”
“For me, it’s that easy.”
“How do you know if the other person feels the same way, though?”
“That’s the hard part, but I’ve had good people in my life to show me the way.”
“Me too, I just don’t always get it.”
“I get that and I get that it’s hard for you, but you’ve got me now. And you’ve got my family.”
“I just don’t get you and your family.”
“What do you mean?”
“Y’all are so nice,” I breathed out. “That’s not normal, you get that, right?”
He chuckled. “I don’t know how to answer that.”
I held on a little tighter and he stroked my back. “Bikers are supposed to be degenerate criminal assholes.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
I looked up at him. “I don’t want you to be one, just to be clear. I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop. You can’t really be this good. No one’s this good.”
He grinned, sliding a thumb down my cheek. “I’m not always this good, Echo. I’m trying to make a good impression.”
“You’re succeeding.” I took a deep breath.
After a few minutes of standing on the side of the road, Archer broke our connection and asked, “You feel better?”
I nodded.
“You ready to face the day?”
“Yes. I’m horribly late, but hopefully my next patient will also forgive me.”
“I think we can just say traffic was bad and leave it at that,” he suggested.
I nodded again.
Pulling open my door, Archer waited for me to climb back into the truck and then closed me into the cab.
Once we were back on the freeway, I faced him. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Calming me down.”
He grinned. “That was nothing.”
“That hasn’t happened in a long time.”
“A lot has happened in the last week, Echo, you need to give yourself a break.”
I blew a breath out through my lips. “That’s what my mom says.”
“Then listen to her.”
“I’m not always good at that.”
He laughed. “Me neither, so I get it.”
“Is your mom really okay with hanging out with Judy?”
“Yeah. She loves the oldies.”
“Me too,” I breathed out. “They’re my favorite.”
“And Bryn’s a phenomenal nurse, so she’ll be there if there are any issues. We can talk to Floyd and Judy today and see how they feel. If Judy’s not comfortable, it’s a moot point anyway.”
“That’s true.”
“Don’t borrow trouble for the moment. What’s the worst that could happen? We expand Floyd’s friend group, so Judy feels comfortable leaving this world knowing her man’s covered?”
“Stop, you’re going to make me cry again.”
He reached over and squeezed my hand. “I got you.”