13. Shiloh
Shiloh
“I’ll see you later, Shy!” Jenkins calls from the kitchen.
“Behave! I’ll see you when I see you,” I yell over my shoulder as I leave through the back door of the diner.
The cool, fresh air dries the sweat on my brow, and I take a long, deep breath, and for the first time in about four weeks, I’ve been able to breathe normally. I could even carry a full tray of food to a table, and I made decent tips. Today was a good day.
Heading to my car, something moves out of the corner of my eye, and I glance up expecting someone walking down the street, but it’s Grey, and he’s staring at me.
My hands shake as I fumble with my keys, trying to get them into the door and unlock my car.
The one day I need a key fob. I lean down, snatching my keys off the ground, and he starts walking across the street towards me.
Part of me refuses to cower to him, but self-preservation says go back into the diner and call Ledger. Instead, I face my fear head on, and get in my car before he reaches me.
He comes up to the parking lot and I ignore him backing my Jeep out and pulling up to the road, and then he stops in the middle of the parking lot in front of my car.
My lead foot wants to hit the gas, but I’ll be paying the price more than him, and Ledger couldn’t rescue me from this one too.
I know Grey deserves worse. I know I should press charges.
But I’m also well aware that if I do, it could expose me and Ledger, and piss off his insane daddy.
All I can think about is the Kensingtons coming after me and Ledger.
I don’t want any of that to happen, so I figured I’d stay quiet and get my own revenge, leaving his family out of it.
Grey slaps the hood of my Jeep.
Keeping my foot on the break I hit the gas, revving the engine.
He smiles and lifts his chin. “Do it baby, I dare you,” he says.
I narrow my eyes and rev the engine again.
He thinks I’m crazy, I’ve proven as much.
He really shouldn’t call my bluff. Dropping one of my hands from the wheel I reach for my revolver in my purse.
I don’t know what he’s going to do, and this is my only form of stopping power.
But if he pushes me to it, I’ll put another hole in him if I have to.
Grey leans forward with both of his hands on my hood, pretending as if he’s not in pain. I glance at my phone. But I don’t want to call Ledger because there will come a day when I can’t. Might as well get used to it now.
“Call off your dog,” Grey yells.
“What?” I ask, keeping the revolver in my hand.
He chuckles. “Come on Shy, I know you’re not stupid, keep your mouth shut, call off your dog, and tell him to stop sending cops by my house.”
“I didn’t tell him to do any of that,” I yell back.
“I don’t care if you did or didn’t. He’s affecting my business, and you know if my business is affected, then … I can’t control the outcome.”
My stomach twists and bile lurches in my throat. I’ve seen what happens when his business is affected.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask him.
He tilts his head, and it feels like his beady little eyes are boring holes through the glass into my heart, and a little bit of me hates myself even more for being with him for as long as I was.
I realized last week I haven’t mourned our relationship because there was nothing to feel bad about.
If there’s been any grief I’ve had to work through, it’s hating myself more than anything else.
The regret is heavy, and I don’t want to carry it anymore.
Being married to Ledger, even if it’s not out of love, has shown me what I’ve been missing and how much time I wasted on him.
“You know exactly what it means. Do it, or it’ll be both you and your husband’s heads,” he says and slaps my hood one more time before sauntering off down the street.
I watch him go until I can’t see him anymore and instead of heading straight for home I take a detour going down country roads and back through town. If someone is following me, it will be easy to spot them, but it also wouldn’t be hard to find me. There are not a ton of places to look.
Instead of putting my Jeep in front of Ledgers I decide to park a couple blocks down the road on a dead-end street. I don’t care if I have to walk.
After I park and look around, make sure my car is locked, and hoof it through backyards. The paranoia is building, and I double back a couple of times
Using my key, I get into the house through the back door, and head straight for my room. Ledger isn’t home and I’m thankful for it. Now I have a little time to figure out how to tell him what happened because this clearly affects him too.
I should have never married him, moved in, relaxed. I should have never allowed Ledger to get involved. I should have disappeared after I shot Grey.
But I’m a stubborn woman and disappearing means Grey wins. I refuse to let him win, and it’s biting me in the ass because of it.
It’s late, Ledger still isn’t home, and it’s not like him.
He’s a man of schedules and punctuality.
He doesn’t have the patience for anything less.
It’s probably why he’s built like a Greek god statue holding the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Ledger carries so much, and it’s not because he has to — he wants to.
He’s carried me without so much as breaking a sweat.
Reaching for my phone to call him, he walks through the door, making my anxious heart leap.
With his back to me, he drops his hat on the hook and sets his cowboy boots on the mattress. He turns around and pulls up short, greeting me with a frown.
“Is everything alright?” he asks, setting his lunch box and thermos down.
“I…” I trail off, not sure where to start, and simultaneously nervous he might kick me out for bringing trouble to his door, but fair enough — I’d deserve it.
“Are you hurt?” he asks.
I shake my head.
“Then why are you as pale as a ghost?”
I run my hands through my hair, shifting on my feet. “I need to talk to you,” I rush out.
Ledger leans against the counter and crosses his arms. “Let’s hear it then,” he says.
I take a deep breath. “I was leaving work today and Grey approached me. I think he was waiting for me, but uh, he told me to tell you to call of your dogs because it’s affecting his business. Oh, and he knows we’re married.”
Ledger’s jaw twitches.
“Did he say anything else?” he asks, calmly, and glances at my ring.
I’ve started messing with it more when I’m nervous. Something about it calms me.
His reaction shouldn’t surprise me, but the man is cool as a cucumber about something that could be a major issue.
“He, uh, he said if you don’t, he can’t control the consequences, and it’ll be both our heads. Well, he said, ‘my husband and I’s heads’, but yeah.”
Ledger hums. “So let me get this straight, he not only threatened you, but me as well?”
I nod.
“And he told you to tell me to stop sending my people past his house because it’s ruining his business?”
“Yeah,” I rasp.
He’s silent for a moment, rubbing his mustache before his brown eyes meet mine.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
I huff, surprised. Clearly I’m fine, yet he’s asking, anyway. “I’m fine. But I know Grey, and this wasn’t a bluff.”
“I didn’t think it was,” he says.
“So what are we going to do? I hope you haven’t been sending people to drive by his place on my account. You can call them off I don’t want anyone to have anymore trouble with him. He’s not worth it.”
Ledger snorts. “No, he’s not because you’re worth so much more.”
The air leaves my lungs and my eyes feel dry, staring at him. He couldn’t … he doesn’t mean it like that does he?
“So, if he knows we’re married, then he knows you’re living with me?” he asks.
I shrug and resume pacing. I need to do something with my legs. “It’s probably a safe assumption.”
“Is that why your car isn’t out front?” he asks.
“Mr. Observant.”
The corner of his mouth tips up. “Hardly.”
“I don’t want anyone else to get hurt,” I whisper.
“I have never been and never will be concerned about Grey. But…” he trails off and I can tell he’s trying to figure out how to say something.
“You don’t need to coddle me, say it,” I snap and wince at the same time. “Sorry, I’m nervous.”
“That’s alright, and for the record, I’m not trying to coddle you. You’re not the type. But I am trying to be considerate. I need to ask you some questions, and I’ll be honest, I was never going to because I don’t want you to have to relive anything. But it would be helpful.”
“I’m not entirely sure what that means, but okay. What do you need to know?” My feet are throbbing, and I force myself to sit because I have a feeling I’ll need to for whatever he’s about to ask.
“What do you know about Grey and his business?” Ledger asks me, still relaxed against the counter.
My stomach drops and twists. I have to tell him something, but I won’t tell him everything. What I know could kill both of us. “I don’t know much. But he uh … wait, this isn’t going to get out or something, right?”
Ledger shakes his head.
“Promise?”
“Yes, Shy, I promise,” he says, and the way he says my nickname calms me and simultaneously makes my knees squeeze together. I love the way he says it, so gravelly and demanding.
He’s in full control, and I am definitely not, purely because the more time I spend around Ledger, the more I want to be all over Ledger.
“He’s a Kensington, and sells drugs, as I’m sure you’re aware. I know he sells pot and cocaine for sure, but he might sell more than that I don't know. He would keep it in the house, but usually once a week it’s gone. He never sold it out of our house at least that I saw.”
“Does he have some kind of schedule that isn’t related to work at the shop?” he asks.
I think for a minute. I’m always working so I didn’t pay that much attention to his schedule, and I know what his family does. But the only scheduled part of his life I can think of is his poker nights.
“What just came to you?” Ledger asks.
Butterflies erupt in my stomach, and I blink, shocked.