Chapter 22
22
Ethan’s phone chimed for what felt like the millionth time in the last hour, but he stuck with his pattern of ignoring it. His gaze blurred over the drinks inside the cooler at Finley’s Market, and chilled air flowed over the hot skin of his face.
I just need five more Ethan-minutes.
The phone vibrated to let him know someone left a message—probably Trace. Or Jodi because she’d gotten a call from Trace.
Ethan had been frozen in indecision for an hour. Which meant he’d actually made a decision to miss the inspection at The Bad Seed by default.
Delaney would be livid when she found out. And Ethan felt guilty about the problem the missed appointment would cause her—labor fees, rescheduling, time lost, material storage, and on and on. Yet evidently not enough to light a fire under his ass to make it to the site.
“Dude, you’re running up my electricity bill.”
The voice at his shoulder made Ethan jump. He jerked a look over his shoulder and found Caleb grinning at him. “You’re lucky I don’t have a bad heart.”
“Did you find the answer to the universe in there?” He looked into the cooler, too, and lifted his brows. “Or even better, this week’s lotto numbers?”
Ethan grabbed an iced tea and closed the cooler. Reality was becoming a real bitch. And he couldn’t manage the effort required to fake a good mood. “I wish.”
“Uh-oh. What happened now?” Caleb’s voice was filled with resignation. He pushed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and propped his shoulder against the cooler’s frame. “And which one did it?”
The sight of tears sparkling on Delaney’s cheeks the night before flashed in his head.
Ethan planted one hand against the glass, clenched his other around the drink, and glared at the floor. “Austin. And...me.”
They both fell silent as a few customers passed. When the aisle was clear again, Ethan pushed off the case. “Austin confronted her again last night. Threatened her. He’s out of control. I have to do something, but if I do it wrong, I could make things worse. And the only solutions I can think of hurt either Delaney or Pops. Or both. And not knowing what to do, I let the first inspection appointment—a big one—roll by this morning without showing.”
“Ouch.” Caleb grimaced. “That’s gonna leave a mark.”
Guilt punched him again. “I feel like I’m locked in a vice and by doing nothing, I’m just making things worse. But how the hell do I make a decision knowing I’m going to hurt one or both?”
He turned, dropped back against the cold glass, and twisted the top on the tea.
“You know what really sucks?” Caleb asked.
Ethan rolled his head toward Caleb. “Yes. I do. But I have a feeling I’m not thinking what you’re thinking.”
“What sucks is that your misery is taking away all the fun in my I-told-you-so.” He shook his head and sighed. Ethan let Caleb have his victory, even though it went against his grain to stand down.
After a moment of silence Caleb asked, “Have you considered quitting your job? How about taking a hit out on Austin and your father? The latter is my personal favorite. And I could take up a community collection to help you fund it.”
“Jesus.” Ethan looked away and shook his head. “This is the support I get from my best buddy when I’m in a tight spot?”
“Hey. Are you really into her?” Caleb asked, voice lifting with surprise. “Holy shit. This is more than fun between the sheets for you?”
A lightning strike of fear cut through Ethan’s chest and belly. But all he had to do was pull the memory of the look in her eyes and the sincerity in her voice and the words you are so special.
He drank again, wishing he had a hit of vodka to go along with the tea.
“Are you sure you’re not still in that infuckuation stage? She’s only been in town three weeks, and all you’ve been doing is fu?—”
“Do you remember the first time you fell for Shannon?” Ethan cut him off with a glare. “Because I do. The summer between freshman and sophomore year, the first time you saw her in cutoffs at the water hole. You’d never seen her before, never talked to her before—you didn’t even know her name. And you were gone over her. Are you really going to tell me how fast I can develop feelings for someone?”
“Oh-kay...” Caleb drew out the word and raked a hand through his hair. “I guess not. But if you’re so into her, why aren’t you talking to her about this? In fact, she and Harlan seem to get along great. They were all buddy-buddy at Heidi’s dog wash, and they came into Black Jack’s together the other night. Just sayin’. You know I’m all for anything that will get you to finally kick your dad and brother to the curb. Doing it now opens up all sorts of options.”
All the information, emotions, and problems whizzing around Ethan’s head like a galaxy on crack, suddenly shut down as if everything had been sucked into a wormhole.
Options.
Ethan’s gaze blurred over the shelves of groceries. He’d never considered talking to her about this because he’d always seen her as the opposition. He’d been conditioned to think of her as the enemy. Trained to believe that any kind of relationship with her would have been a betrayal to his family.
But now Ethan knew better. Now none of that mattered.
Now everything was different.
The knot in his stomach loosened, and the space filled with giddy jitters. He nodded as the rightness of it filled him. “Talk to her.”
Yes. He would definitely talk to her. About a lot of things. But first he needed to clear his schedule and get a few ducks in a row—the way Delaney would.
He pushed from the cooler with the ability to breathe deep again, and slapped Caleb on the shoulder. “Thanks, dude. Your next order’s on me.”
Ethan walked into the sheriff’s station fifteen minutes later with a few of Delaney’s cunning little tricks on tap.
“Hey, Ethan.” Tim Sanchez, one of Ethan’s high school classmates, manned the desk. “What’s up?”
“Hey, Tim. Is Austin here?”
“Yep.” He opened a door to allow Ethan behind the counter. “Should be in the break room. Or check his desk.”
A kaleidoscope of emotions swirled inside him as he wound through the hallways and back offices until he heard Austin’s laughter.
When he reached the lunchroom, he leaned in, located his brother, and said, “Austin, I need a minute.”
His brother welcomed Ethan the way he always did—with a false smile and insincere hospitality. He always had to look good in front of others. Just like Dad. “Well, come on in?—”
“Outside,” was all Ethan said before ducking out and heading toward the back exit.
Ethan paced the space between the building and the parking lot, trying to find some level emotional ground.
Just as Ethan stepped past the exit door for the sixth time, it opened.
“What in the hell is wrong?”
The thick attitude in Austin’s voice snapped something inside Ethan. He whirled on his brother, surprising him enough to force him back a step. “I know you threatened Delaney last night, and I’m here to tell you that you’re on the razor-thin edge of losing your career. If you go near her one more time, I will make sure you pay for it. Am I clear?”
Austin’s shock cleared in an instant. “You stupid prick. You think you’re different than the dozens, hell hundreds of guys she’s fucked? You’re not. You’re nothing to her but a means to an end. So stop making a fool of yourself. You should be pissed at her. If it wasn’t for Hart?—”
“If it wasn’t for her, you would have found some other reason to fight with the bikers that night, Ian would have still died—if not in that fight, then another—and we both know it. This has nothing to do with Delaney. This only has to do with someone in the wrong place at the wrong time becoming an easy scapegoat.”
Austin huffed a laugh. “Good luck trying to sell that version to anyone who matters.”
“I’m the only one who matters. I don’t give a shit what you or Dad thinks. And I care even less about what either of you want.”
“Better watch it. No one’s going to be offering to help you out with that liquor license if you don’t shut your mouth.”
Ethan’s brain stumbled.
And let me guess who you know offhand with a ton of cash at their disposal to toss away on a liquor license... The way Delaney had jumped to that conclusion at the time had seemed so ludicrous. But now...
“How’d you know?” he demanded, taking a step closer.
“What’s important isn’t how we know. What’s important is that we know. We know everything. Which means we know where your loyalties lie, and I’m warning you, bro, you’d better get your ass back on the right side of the fence or that little fantasy of yours is going to evaporate.”
We. That could mean only one group of people: Jack, Wayne, and Austin.
Rage broke free in Ethan’s chest. The people closest to him, the people who should be supporting him, had been manipulating Ethan behind his back. The people he’d given up his future to help heal were using his dream as leverage to control him.
And Delaney had seen it so clearly.
Ethan was virtually vibrating with the chaos of emotion rattling through him, and he’d never been as grateful as he was for Delaney’s clever ideas.
“You’ve got that backward, bro,” he said, barely holding back his fury. “What’s important is that you remember that you’re on video threatening and abusing Delaney. If you want the incident at the bar last night kept quiet, then you will keep quiet.
“You will not go near Delaney again. The first time you even look at her wrong, it’s game over. I’m not spending one more day, one more minute living under anyone’s manipulation. If I have to blackmail you to get you off my back and out of my life, so be it. I’m a Hayes. It’s obviously in my blood. So don’t underestimate me.”
Austin’s face had turned red, his expression furious. He pounded his index finger into Ethan’s chest. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
Ethan knocked Austin’s hand away. “I’ve known you your entire goddamned life. I know your habits, your patterns, your preferences. I know your crutches and your weaknesses. I know what makes you tick. So, yeah. I know exactly what and who I’m dealing with. And I will act accordingly. You’ve been warned. The gloves are off.”