Chapter 12
THE GOOD SON
“Ineed a favor,” Blaze said the next day to his brother Clay.
“Anything,” Clay said.
They were at his brother’s mill, the sweet scent of apples filling his nostrils, the homey nostalgia of being on the farm never far from his mind.
Yes, it was different now than it’d been, but it was still a comfort to step foot on this soil.
“Let’s go somewhere private.” He angled his head toward his brother’s office on the second floor.
Clay only lifted his eyebrow but turned from the production room where they climbed the stairs in silence.
That was the thing about his brother—he said yes without asking specifics because Clay knew it’d never be something silly, stupid, or frivolous. Even if it was, Clay would still do it.
“What do you need?” Clay asked.
“First, this has to stay between us. Not Mom and Dad and especially not Ford.”
His oldest brother’s lips twitched just in the corners as if he was going to smile. “Did you get your ass in a bind? Not the good son.”
“I’m not the good son,” he argued. “That would be Ford. Always out for justice and on the right side of the law. And no, I’m not crossing to the dark side like someone else in this room.”
“Never like you think,” his ex-Navy SEAL brother argued.
“We know. You did what you were slated to do and you have to live with it, which we all hate. This isn’t bad, I promise. Just... complicated. For now, I’d like to keep it quiet.”
“Shoot.”
“I’ve got a new neighbor who happens to also be a social worker at the hospital.”
“Woman?”
“Yes. Single mother, divorced, has an ex with a history, but I’m not sure what kind, other than what she said and I’ve witnessed.” He filled his brother in on the first interaction he’d seen with Arden and Billy.
“William Bellamy?” Clay asked, lifting his laptop.
“I’m assuming William. My bet, he has a few arrests or at least calls, but I could be wrong. Someone like him with a drug and alcohol background screams being caught at least once.”
Clay was typing away. No one asked how he got information and maybe it was better that way.
“A few calls for disturbing the peace. From neighbors. No charges filed. No other arrests, a DWI about three years ago, but otherwise clean.”
He wanted to grind his teeth over that, but Arden had already said she’d given Billy a lot of chances. “Anything violent?”
“Not that I can see. Credit isn’t so great, but I’ve seen worse. Nothing here about drug arrests, sales or possession.”
“Guess he’s smarter than I realize.” Which never sat well. Or it was prescription and not the street variety?
“Tell me more. Is this you being neighborly because the ex-wife is a looker?”
He should have figured his brother would go there. He hated to ask but knew he should. “Anything on her other than angel wings and a halo?”
Clay snorted. “Not even a traffic violation.” He closed his laptop. “I can look deeper if you need me to.”
“I’m good for now. Nothing more on Arden. Billy, I’m holding out some.”
“You didn’t answer my question on what this is. It’s not like you to get involved with anything that’s messy, least of all with a woman. Not since Kristin that we know of.”
He sighed and pulled out the chair in front of Clay’s desk to plant his ass. “Why are you riding me so hard?”
“Just returning the favor.”
Clay leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed.
Not surprising he’d take that stance.
When Clay returned over two years ago, the one who badgered him the most was Blaze. Wanting to know if the older brother who was a different person was riding the line of “fine’” or “lying” more than Charles Ponzi.
“It’s hard to explain,” he said.
“Try. It’s not like I haven’t been there if it’s what I think.”
Blaze looked up at the ceiling, letting his thoughts swirl in his brain. “I like her more than being friendly.” He put his hand to his stomach. “She’s got me right here.” His fingers inched to travel to his chest, but that would be silly right now.
“Have you met the kid?”
“Gracie. She’s six. Yes. Shy, but came around quickly. Guess that’s not normal. Or it was normal for her before her father turned into a bigger dick and scared her.”
“Which has to eat at you.”
“You have no idea.”
“So she gets this letter on the windshield, but Arden doesn’t think it’s from her ex?”
“She’s not sure. She doesn’t want to be clouded by it. It’s easy to think it’s him. They are fighting. Guess he’s got a girlfriend he wants Gracie to meet. Sounds as if he just follows his dick around, which is how he got messed up into the drugs more.”
At least from what he was putting together.
“Nothing else is going on in her life? No other ex or guy that has their eye on her?”
“Not that I can see or that she’s admitting. I don’t picture her the lying type. She carries a lot of guilt around for staying in the marriage as long as she had and how it affected her daughter.”
“As she should.”
“Don’t be an ass, Clay.”
“Just saying how I see it. What’s next?”
Typical Clay response. Brutally honest, then moving on.
“Not sure. She has my number if she needs me.”
“But you’re not going to wait for her to call. You can’t. Not if you’re coming here for this. So what is your next move?”
His cheeks puffed out as the breath escaped his mouth and lungs. “Not sure yet. I start my rotation tomorrow. I may or may not see her for a few days. She’s off weekends as far as I know. Or she could have to cover a shift now and again. I never asked.”
Nor had he paid any attention to those things in the past.
He was there to do his job and she was there to do hers.
“She’s within walking distance for you to pop down and check on her. Kind of like you did yesterday.”
“If she hadn’t looked as if she wanted to throttle someone, I might have gone into my place without stopping down.”
“Bullshit. You would have found some other reason to be neighborly. You’ve got it in your blood like us all. This is more than a cute woman and young kid you want to protect. That’s the first in your mind, but the second is riding high on the coattail and you’re trying to navigate that.”
“Since when do you give dating advice? Meredith had to all but fall in front of you for you to do anything. Oh wait, she did that multiple times while you tried to push her away.”
“Good thing she’s stronger than anyone gave her credit for.”
Like Arden. He saw it, knew it, and it’d come in handy.
Just not so handy if she was going to be stubborn on top of it.
“I might be setting myself up so I’m standing behind a shield right now.”
“Don’t let Kristin get in your head again. Unless you think Arden is just like that.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. He’d already seen the signs that it wasn’t possible.
Arden wasn’t selfish in the least. If anything, she put more out there than she could afford to give and that alone could compound issues.
“Then put it from your mind and focus on what is in front of you instead.”
He stood up. “Thanks for everything.”
Clay stood with him. “Let me know if you need more. It will stay between us. And if you need help. Got the gun still in the place, right?”
“Always,” he said. Not one of them didn’t have one in their home, but he was the only one who didn’t carry it with him concealed, though he could. Too much to risk in his job.
He left the mill, looked at his watch and stopped in to the cafe. It’d be closing in an hour so shouldn’t be too busy, but with any luck there’d be some donuts left and he’d bring them to work tomorrow like many had been asking.
There were five cars in the lot where customers would park, then one in the back. Reenie’s. Meredith and his mother would walk over.
He went to the back door and saw his mother at the mixer getting batter ready for the next morning bake.
“Well, if it isn’t my middle child. What brings you by?”
“Donuts, if you’ve got any left.” No reason to say he went to see Clay. His mother would see right through to something deeper.
“There are some out in the case. Go see what’s available.”
“Looks as if you’ve got customers still though. I don’t want to take them if you can sell them.”
His mother smiled. “Three tables still have people at them. Not sure if anyone else is at the counter just buying sweets, but you won’t know unless you look.”
He moved through the doors, saw Reenie talking to customers at one of the tables and picking up plates, someone else leaving with a bag of goodies in their hand, then another at the counter where Meredith waited on them.
Once that order was done, he moved closer, saw over a dozen donuts left and was stunned.
“What can I get you, Blaze?”
“Can I steal a dozen donuts?” he asked. He pulled his card out and handed it over. His mother would kick his ass for paying for them, but it was the one thing that almost always sold out so he’d make sure the cafe got the money.
Meredith bagged up the donuts for him. “Anything else you want?” She handed his card back.
“How about a peanut butter cookie and raspberry bar?”
There were a dozen of each left and he knew they’d go back into the case tomorrow to be sold right away. If they didn’t, the family or the crew at the mill got them. Only two days in the case. Been a rule his mother had had since he was a child.
Meredith put those two in a bag and handed it over. “Someone has a sweet tooth today,” Meredith said.
“Donuts for work tomorrow. I’ll seal the bag up better. They might not be same day fresh, but no one is going to complain when they’ve been asking for them. The other two are for me.”
“I’m not one to judge. I live with Clay.”
That brother of his had the biggest sweet tooth. “I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten soft by now.”
“Don’t say that too loudly. He’s got big ears,” Meredith said, grinning.
Blaze returned to the kitchen where Reenie was cleaning up next to his mother.
“Everything okay?” his mother asked.
“It is now that I got what I came for.”
She didn’t need to know the double meaning there. But the truth was, he wasn’t much better than he’d been before he arrived.
Did he need one more thing on his shoulders right now?
Trying to fix a problem that he might not be able to?
But he couldn’t walk away either.