Chapter Eight
Nick
This is why you don’t go off script. If you go off script, everything goes to shit.
Evie’s face is frozen in a cocktail of horror and post orgasm haze. “Do you think they saw us? They look like they saw us?”
I have thirty seconds to tell this woman every bit of truth about this situation before it blows up in my face.
Fuck.
“I think they saw us.”
“Oh God. They’re coming over. Just go with the flow.” She readjusts in the seat and takes the last sip of my beer. “If we act normal, they won’t figure a thing.”
“I need to tell you something. I came to town a few months back. I didn’t realize—” I’m immediately unable to find the right combination of syllables that form the thoughts I’m thinking.
For a second, it looks like she might be reading my mind, but the moment is fleeting, and before I get to the end of my sentence, her mother is at our table with a look that says just about everything that needs to be said.
“What are you doing here, Evie?” The woman’s voice is dark and angry. “You know who this is, right?”
Fuck!
Evie’s mom stands over us like a dark thundercloud with fancy red shoes. Her hair is tied up tight, and her breasts are on display as though she’s out fishing for attention.
“I know what you think of me,” I clear my voice as I talk, “but it’s my job to bring criminals in.”
Her face turns dark red and the words fly out of her mouth with a spray of spit that lands on my arm as she says, “Your job is disgusting. Your job is to tear families apart.”
My hand rests on Evie’s leg and she hasn’t moved it yet, though I’m pretty sure it’s because she’s in shock.
I need to stay calm. “I don’t intend to tear families apart, ma’am.” I try to hold my tone firm, but I can see that won’t matter.
“You know who this is, Evie?” her mother shouts across the table as the band launches into another upbeat Christmas tune.
I should’ve told her. I should’ve told her everything.
“Yes. I know this is the man who’s been sent to bring Cole in.” Evie says the words calm and careful as though she’s known this whole time.
Her mom reels back like she’s been slapped in the face. “You know he’s hunting your brother and you’re here with him?”
“Mom,” Evie says with a sigh, “Cole’s been running from one thing to the next for years. Maybe it’s time he—”
“You know he’s in this mess because of you, right?
” Her mother snaps the words as though she intends for them to hurt.
“That bar fight earlier this year. He messed your ex up. He protected you. Now you’re cozied up with the man who’s trying to take him away?
You’re deranged!” A string of mismatched Christmas lights strung above the bar blink as her mother screams.
Evie flinches enough that I feel her spine stiffen and her breath catch. Her mom’s words hit their mark.
“That’s not fair.” Evie’s voice is tight as though she’s holding back tears. “Cole put Jeremy in the hospital. He was there for months. I didn’t ask him to do that.”
“You didn’t have to ask,” her mom hisses. “He’s always protected you. Poor choice if you ask me.”
I can’t stay silent!
“Enough.” I stand, my voice low and steady as I say, “It’s not on her that Cole made a decision to fight someone, and I’m not here to ruin your family. I’m here because he skipped out on a charge. That’s all.”
Her mom turns toward me with her jaw tight, her finger pointed. “You don’t get to speak. You don’t know this family, you don’t know what we’ve been through, and you don’t know how conniving that one is.” She moves her pointed finger toward Evie as though it holds some sort of power.
“Mom… what’s going on here?” Her sister steps to the side of the table, eyes still red, though I see now it’s not from tears. She’s been vomiting. The remnants are still on her dress.
“Your sister is messing around with the guy trying to drag Cole to jail. That’s all.” The mom redirects her gaze toward me. “You touch my son, and I swear to God, I’ll find you and I’ll murder you myself.”
“Mom!” Evie barks. “Stop! He’s just doing his job.”
“This isn’t a job!” she screams loud enough that the tables next to us stop and stare.
Evie stands with me, tucking into my hand, though I can’t quite figure why she’s going along with any of this. She loves her brother, and she wants to protect him. I heard it in her voice earlier at the bookstore. It’s why I was afraid to tell her I was a hunter.
“Just like you, Evie.” her mother snarls. “Some man shows you a bit of attention and you sell your whole family upriver for him. Don’t bother coming to the wedding. I don’t want some low-life and his girlfriend floating around.”
Evie glances toward her sister, looking for support I’m sure, but nothing happens. The woman stands still as though she’s hooked to a chain and the mother’s leading it.
“I’m done.” Evie shrugs. “I’ve tried to be the good girl.
I’ve tried to be kind. I’ve tried to love you when you clearly didn’t love me and look what it’s gotten me.
” She shakes her head and pushes through the crowd of people gathered at the bar, her long hair floating behind her in a spring of curls.
I hate that she’s hurt, I hate that I have to watch it happen, and I hate that I can’t escort this woman to a jail cell. Sounds like she deserves it more than Cole.
“What the fuck is wrong with you? You want to protect your son, fine, but you don’t get to tear your daughter down to do it.”
The woman’s face turns sour, and she takes a step forward, the wrinkles on her forehead creasing so deeply that the shadows turn dark.
“You don’t know shit about fuck. That girl causes trouble for everyone she knows.
Crying about this, whining about that, never doing much of anything to fix any of it.
Her brother has been the only person that stood by her, and now this…
it’s a joke. It’s a joke, you’re a joke, and I meant what I said!
I can put a buck down in a single shot, so try your luck. ”
I nod slowly, biting back the grin that’s playing on my lips. “I’d love to see you try, ma’am.”
Before she can get out another word, I turn toward the door and head out into the snowy night, scanning Main Street both ways for the girl I know I won’t be able to stop thinking about.
The night is dark, and though the streetlights are illuminating partial spots on Main Street, the falling snow shadows a lot of the light’s reach. A car buzzes past, revealing a longer stretch. It’s then that I see my girl curled up on the stoop of the bakery.
She glances up as I approach, her eyes wet. “I’ve got my car parked near the bookstore. I can walk over there and get home on my own. I just wanted to apologize for all that. My family is insane.”
I shake my head and sit beside her, pulling her hood to the top of her head. “There’s nothing to apologize for. Everyone’s family is crazy. I’m sorry if—”
“It’s okay.”
I swallow down a lump. “When did you figure out that I was here for Cole?”
“About the time my mom asked if I knew who you were.” She laughs and pinches her lips together before she says, “He’s not a bad guy, ya know?
Actually, he’s one of the best. He’s a firefighter here in Rugged Mountain.
That guy I was dating, he was…. awful. He had me pinned against a wall, his hand fisting into the fabric of my shirt, screaming at me because I was bothering him with my emotions.
” She shrugs and wipes away a tear. “I don’t even know what I said to make him do that now. ”
Fuck. I’d have beat the man to death!
“Jesus Christ, Evie. What the hell?”
“We’d been dating for a few months. I knew he was kind of an angry guy, but I didn’t think he’d hurt me… until he did.”
“Fuck.” I wrap my arm around her and squeeze her tight.
“Cole is my brother, and of course I don’t want him in trouble, but you have to hear me when I say he’s not a bad guy.”
“I know,” I sigh. “I get it, but he has priors. Someone will come after him if I don’t.”
“That prior was stupid. He hopped on a guy’s snowmobile when he was seventeen and rode it around for a while. He brought it back, but the guy pressed charges. He was a kid.”
I stare at her, unsure of what to say. I don’t want to put her brother in jail. I don’t want to cause more trouble than needed, but I can’t ignore it either.
She wipes her cheek again, eyes red and raw. “So, what happens now?”
“He might get off with a fine or maybe probation, but judges don’t like runners. It makes them think he’s got something bigger to hide.”
She exhales a shaky breath. “I’ll talk to him in the morning. We’re meeting up at the diner. You should stop by. We can all talk together.”
“I’d like that.” I nod and stare at her, trying not to scoop her into my arms and carry her back to my place for the night. Not because I don’t want to, but because that level of forwardness might be frowned upon given the situation.
“I want to help him. I really do. I hate what happened to you at that bar. The guy deserved whatever your brother gave him, probably more.” I kiss the top of her head and hold her close.
“My dad was a cop, the whole small-town deal. He saw everything in black and white. I always thought he was a hero until I got older and realized how gray the world is.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you see guys like your brother who are doing bad things for good reason, and you meet other folks that do bad things ‘cause bad things were done to them. It doesn’t make any of it good, but it humanizes the mistake. I rarely meet people who’ve done bad things just to be bad.
” I lean forward on my knees and brush my hand down over my beard.
“If your brother doesn’t come in, he’s fucking himself over.
The judge will send more and more people or the guy’s family will take matters into their own hands.
This is a small town. Word gets out he’s back and all bets are off.
” I sigh. “I can promise you one thing. I won’t chase him down. ”
She turns to me then, her eyes soft but sharp. “Why would you do that? You make money on dragging people in. You’d have wasted this whole trip out here.”
“I didn’t waste the trip. I met you.”
She smiles but bites it back. “I’m a mess. You haven’t figured that out yet? My own mother just shunned me from a family wedding.”
“They’re the mess.” I shake my head. “Trust me, I’ve seen messes. Trying to save a bookstore and your brother doesn’t make you a mess. It makes you pretty great, if you ask me.”
Her shoulders soften and she leans against me. “See, that’s another point against you being real. You keep saying all the right things.”
“Should I offer to take you home now or you still up for getting that food we keep dodging? I hear I get some perks with this hot Santa thing. Free pie at the diner, maybe?”
Her eyes widen. “I’m starving. We could grab some food and bring it back to the bookstore. My car’s still parked there, anyway. Plus, have you ever seen the kind of magic that happens there after close?”
“No.” My brows wrinkle inward. “Is that where all the book boyfriends come to life at once?”
“You tell me. You’re one of them.”
“Have I been upgraded officially or is this an unofficial kind of honor?”
“I mean,” she stands and hooks her hand into mine, helping me up off the stoop as we walk toward the diner down the road, “the way you touched me in that bar kind of has me wanting to see how real you actually are. Can I make my decision after a full performance? The show at the bar left me needing more.”
I laugh. “Damn. That’s book girlfriend talk.”
“That’s not a thing.” She snaps me a look and bites back a laugh. “Sorry. Just no.”
“Seriously?” I grin. “Book boyfriends are allowed but book girlfriends aren’t?”
“And what exactly would a book girlfriend do that a regular girlfriend doesn’t?”
I consider the answer to this very tricky question, then decide the diner and my voucher for a free pie will have to wait. Before she can protest, I scoop her up and toss her onto my shoulder like the sassy heroine she is.
She laughs, boots dangling. “Nick, what are you doing?”
“A book girlfriend would love this. She’d giggle, kick, and pretend to be mad, all the while falling in love with me.”
“You skipped a few chapters,” she chides playfully.
“I didn’t skip anything,” I laugh. “I’m efficient.”
The snow crunches beneath my boots, and though there aren’t many folks out on the street, the few that are give looks that show concern.
I figure Evie must be grinning because no one comes after me.
Good thing too. I’m a book boyfriend. A big, brooding, mysterious, pain in the ass who doesn’t take no for an answer, and right about now, I wouldn’t let Santa himself stop me from showing Evie just how real this story is going to get.