27. Carson James
27
CARSON JAMES
“Y
ou look beautiful,” I said as I took Lennon’s hand and helped her out of the truck.
The March warmth was a welcome reprieve from the cold snap we had suffered through.
Things had somewhat settled down. The two of us had fallen into a predictable routine, and I couldn’t remember ever feeling this...this at peace.
Certainly not since we had broken ground for the lodge. Even before then, I couldn’t remember being this content.
Lennon’s pale-yellow dress floated in the breeze as we walked hand in hand down the sidewalk that snaked through the revitalized downtown district. Her hair was in long, soft curls, brushing across her bare back with each step.
A new restaurant had opened last week, and she was insistent on needing to check out the competition. I was more than happy to take advantage of the impromptu date night. But Lennon, in that dress, was a cock tease.
It was going to be a long night.
“You’re sure you don’t mind coming with me?” Lennon said as she pulled on my hand, trying to wiggle out of my grasp.
I held on tighter, stroking the back of her hand with my thumb. “Len, I’ve told you a million times. I don’t mind. Not in the least bit. It’s kind of the point of dating.”
She turned a little green at the label of dating.
“I’m sorry that it blew a hole in your day. I could have gotten someone from the staff to come with me. Or Cassandra.”
I stopped her dead in her tracks and had her backed up against a brick storefront before she could blink. “I left work early because I can, and because I wanted to. You’re not an imposition.”
Her long lashes softly closed as she looked down. “I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing,” I said with a chuckle.
The bashful blush on her cheeks was so fucking adorable. “I know you and your guys are busy.”
I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “My guys would light themselves on fire for you, if you so much as hinted that you were cold. And that doesn’t even begin to cover what I’d do for you.”
Lennon had become beloved in the bunkhouse. Whether it was because she kept the kitchen stocked with leftovers, regularly used us as test subjects for new menu items, or because she could kick everyone’s ass at cards—they would have gone to battle for her.
A pink flower I had picked right before we left the ranch was tucked behind her ear, softening her rough edges. It contrasted the dark color she had swiped over her lips.
“You gave me a chance to take you out to dinner, and we don’t get to do that often.”
Lennon cupped my cheek and initiated the kiss. “Thank you.”
“Now, let’s get going, pretty girl,” I said as I slid my hand down her spine and rested it on the curve of her ass. “I’m starving.”
She bumped her shoulder into mine as we headed down the sidewalk. As soon as we rounded the corner, Lennon stopped dead in her tracks.
“Oh my God,” she whispered in what I could only describe as sheer terror.
The red-headed woman was stepping out of a shop, clutching a piece of paper to her chest.
Lennon stumbled backward as their eyes met.
“It is you,” the redhead said with pure shock in her voice. “Elean?—”
“Who are you?” I snapped as I stepped between the women, keeping Lennon’s hand in mine as I blocked her with my body.
I was done with this bullshit. If Lennon was right and this woman was some kind of snitch for her brother, I was going to make it clear that she needed to get the hell out of our town.
The woman paused, her eyes going wide. “I—I don’t want any trouble.”
“That didn’t answer my question,” I growled. “Who are you, and why are you harassing my girlfriend?”
“What?” she blinked and shook her head. “No, no. I didn’t know if I was going crazy or if it was actually you.”
Lennon peeked over my shoulder. “I don’t know who you are. Leave me alone.”
The woman looked a little hurt. “You didn’t have tattoos back then. Your hair was a little different—mostly blonde with some black streaks. But I guess it has been, what—a decade?”
“Len,” I said under my breath as I felt her hand squeeze my arm.
“We were transferred to Danbury at the same time. You were that kid who got shanked. I felt real bad for you.”
Lennon stiffened.
The woman put her hands up. “It wasn’t me. But everyone was talking about you. Trying to figure out if you really stole all that money or not. You kept swearing up and down that you didn’t do it.”
Lennon’s grip softened, and I heard her breath catch.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw you around town. I saw you going in and out of the gym a lot. Tried to talk to you. Didn’t know if you were passing through. You’re a long way from home. New York, right?”
Slowly, Lennon peeled away from my back and sided up to me, keeping her hand in mine.
“I don’t go by Eleanor anymore.”
The woman cracked a smile. “Good for you. It’s a shitty name.”
“Why don’t I remember you?” Lennon said.
I could tell she was trying to get a little more information about the woman without asking for it, or offering up any of her own. As much as I wanted to jump in, I stood quietly by her side and let her navigate the intricacies of post-prison etiquette.
“Name’s Victoria. My hair used to be black. I went red after I got out.” She brushed her ruby hair over her shoulder. “Looks like we both changed things up. Looking for that fresh start?” She lifted the paper in her hand. “Just want to leave it all behind. Job hunting sucks ass.”
I saw the change in Lennon. As if I could read her mind, she let out a relieved breath at the realization that it wasn’t the redhead who had attacked her a decade earlier.
“Yeah, it sucks.”
“You live around here now?” Victoria asked.
Lennon stayed quiet.
“No worries. I get it,” Victoria said as she rolled the edge of the job application repeatedly. “I finished my time in Oklahoma. Struck out in Dallas. Figured I’d keep heading south until I found somewhere to settle. Moving on is hard when no one will let you.”
Lennon cut her eyes at me. The silent question was so quick, but undeniably clear. I gave her a subtle nod.
“You got a phone number?” I asked.
Victoria’s eyes widened. “Yes.”
I pulled my phone out and put in her contact information as she rattled it off. “Might be a couple of days, but you’ll get a call from a lady named Cassandra Griffith. If you keep your nose clean, she’ll have a job for you.”
“Really?” she said as something akin to hope filled her face.
“Really,” Lennon said.
“Thank you,” she stammered. “Oh my god. Thank you.” She looked at Lennon. “Thank you. And I—I’m sorry I scared you, Elean?—”
“It’s Lennon,” she said kindly, tugging on my hand as she picked up her pace again. “Look out for a call from Cassandra.” She paused when she was shoulder to shoulder with Victoria. “And good luck.”
As soon as we stepped into the restaurant, Lennon dipped into the restroom. I waited outside the door, keeping watch until she came out.
“You alright?”
Lennon nodded, swallowing tightly. “I’m sorry. I needed a minute.”
“Hey,” I said as I smoothed her hair down and cupped her cheek. “Take all the time you need. If you want to head back to the ranch, we can.”
She shook her head and tipped her chin up for a kiss. “I’m good.” Our noses brushed as she rested her forehead on mine. “Is it weird that I’m kind of relieved? It doesn’t explain the letter that was sent to the ranch, but maybe that’s who kept calling the restaurant.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. “What phone calls?”
Lennon sighed. “Someone kept calling the restaurant yesterday, asking for Eleanor.” Her eyes turned weary. “I kept playing dumb since I go by Lennon there. The calls finally stopped before dinner service.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Griffith, party of two!” the host called out.
Lennon waited to answer until we were sitting at a candlelit table. “Because it was weird. There was nothing you could do about it.”
I huffed. “You should’ve told me.”
“Why?” she sneered. “I can handle it.”
“But you shouldn’t have to ,” I countered. “Len, that’s the whole purpose of having a person who loves you. I’m on your side. I want to know what’s going on, even if you have it handled.”
Lennon blinked over the glow of the candles. “What did you just?—”
“Good evening,” the server said as he came up to the table and laid the menus in front of us.
“Shush,” Lennon snapped, then looked back at me. “What did you say?”
I glanced up at the server. “Can you give us a minute?”
Lennon blinked. “Say that one more time.”
“What? That I know you have it handled? That I’m on your side? Lennon, if you haven’t figured that out by now, then I’ve done a shit job of making it up to you.”
“The other thing.” Her voice tightened. “Did you just say the ‘L’ word?”
“Why do you look so surprised?” I asked. Truth be told, I was trying my best to keep my cool, but I was a goddamn wreck inside.
Her lip quivered. “Will you say it again?”
If Lennon Maddox wanted to break me, she leveled me with those five words. I reached across the table and laid my hand over hers. “I love you, trouble. I love all your sweetness, and the sass and spite you use to protect it.”
“You sure?” she whimpered as tears welled up in those pretty brown eyes.
Brown like the earth I worked day in and day out. Brown like the soil that had coated her when she showed up, rain-drenched on my doorstep. Brown like the dust that found its way into every part of me no matter how hard I tried to keep it out. Brown like the jacket that carried a storied legacy I would die for.
“I’m sure, Len,” I said softly. “I’m sure.”
Throughout dinner, Lennon gave her exacting assessment of each dish, cutlery piece, and the flow of the restaurant. I valued peace and quiet, but if my days were filled with the sound of Lennon humming around each bite and telling me the pros and cons of the floor plan, I’d die a happy man.
We skipped dessert and stole away to an ice cream shop before heading back to the ranch.
There was beauty in the mundane. I didn’t much care for activity-packed dates or the fast-paced nature of life outside the ranch. Little things with her were my favorite.
It was the way she lit up when I slipped a wildflower into her hand. The way she made a point to stop by and see the little bottle-fed calf who had yet to be named. It was finding takeout containers in the bunkhouse fridge with my name and reheating instructions on them when she came up with a new dish she wanted me to try.
I pulled back into the ranch under the cover of darkness. Lennon was half asleep on my shoulder, but jolted awake when we hit a pothole.
She blinked, taking in the chaos down the dirt road. “Oh my God,” she whispered, eyes widening as we rounded the bend at my parents’ house.
Blue lights flashed across the night sky in neon strobes.
“Maybe something happened at the lodge,” I said as I squeezed her hand.
Lennon was stiff as a board. “They’re at the bunkhouse,” she whispered when she spotted the trio of cop cars.
My phone lit up with Christian’s name. I grabbed it out of the cup holder and pressed it to my ear. “What’s going on at the bunkhouse?” I asked, skipping the hellos and pleasantries.
“Where’s Lennon?” he countered.
Lennon’s eyes widened, and she shook her head.
“Not what I asked,” I clipped. “Why are there cops at the bunkhouse?”
Christian sighed. “I was making sure she was okay. I figured since she wasn’t at the restaurant, she was with you. Someone broke in and tossed the bunkhouse. Reed and Jackson were there, asleep. Everyone else was either working or out in town.”
Lennon’s face turned ghostly white. “What?”
Latent memories of the night someone broke into Ray and Brooke’s house ate at me. I pulled off into the pasture and cut my headlights. “Did the guys catch who broke in?”
“No. Whoever it was bolted as soon as they heard the guys getting up. Looks like they were going through your room.”
“I’m gonna be sick,” Lennon said, gasping for each shoddy breath.
“Can you pack a bag for us while you’re over there?” I asked as I kept a hand on the back of Lennon’s neck, gently stroking her scalp.
“Y’all wanna crash in my guest room?” Christian asked. “Or y’all could stay up at Nate’s.”
Lennon shook her head.
“Nah. Bring it over to the lodge,” I said. “Let’s keep this between you and me.”
“Understood,” he said before ending the call.
“I want to get off this rollercoaster. I want it to stop. I want it to be over,” she gritted out in frustration and anger. “Victoria was right. Moving on is hard when they won’t let you.”
“It’s gonna be okay,” I said as I let her cry into my chest. “You didn’t have people on your side before, but you do now. A whole lot of us.”
I loved her. I knew it in my bones. But when I found the bastard who had wrecked her life and haunted her mind, I couldn’t guarantee that we would have a happily ever after.
The hatred and pure contempt were back. Because trouble had returned to the ranch. And this time, it wasn’t her.