Chapter Six. #2
“What did you say, Chance Michaelson?!” Clio screeched, and Chance blanched. His reaction nearly made me laugh—almost.
“Nothing, babes!”
“I’ll give you drama, asshole,” Clio threatened, and a grin crossed Chance’s lips.
“Come and give me drama, babe, I love your theatrics,” Chance teased.
Clio rolled her eyes, and Chance winked. He turned back to me.
“You stated the nurse was nothing to you, which means Smokey’s broken no laws here. And from what I’ve heard from Big Al, you did the dirty on her. Stay in your own lane, Harlequin,” Chance ordered.
“I haven’t said anything, Pres. Don’t warn me when I’ve done nothing,” I replied. “I wouldn’t stand here and be accused of crimes I’ve not committed.”
“Make sure it stays that way,” Chance retorted. “Finish getting the bar organised.”
I nodded and turned my back. I could feel Diesel and Celt’s eyes burning into me, but I refused to acknowledge them.
“Harlequin, we weren’t aware,” Diesel finally said.
“Doesn’t matter. April is nothing but an ex and a bad memory.”
“Then why are you so angry?” Celt demanded. Stools scraped on the floor, and I guessed they’d moved off. Fuck my life, why hadn’t April stayed the hell away from Spearfish?
◆◆◆
“Harlequin, I heard you think I took April home,” Smokey murmured five minutes later. I sighed and banged a bottle of whiskey down harder than I planned.
“Ain’t my business.”
“Nope, it isn’t. But the truth of the matter is, it was Teagan, not April,” Smokey said.
“Teagan?” I asked, startled. “Who the fuck is that?”
“April’s friend. They were both at the bar. April left, and Teagan came back with me. I get April’s your ex, and I stand by the bro code. No way would I chase after April, even though she’s tempting.”
“April’s free to date who she wants,” I replied and turned to the bar.
“Then why the fuck are you riled, Harlequin? You’ve got issues and need to resolve them around her.
You did April wrong; it’s obvious. But I don’t think you did that for the reasons April believes you did.
Whatever is going on between you, there’s still a spark.
Sort it out before one of you implodes.”
“Ain’t no spark, Smokey, you’re imagining things.”
“Oh, there are sparks, bro, just disguised under hate and indifference. Talk to April, she’s a nice lady,” Smokey urged.
“I don’t need telling what April is,” I hissed, spinning around. Smokey wore a huge grin on his face. “Dude, I dated her long enough to understand who and what April is. What do you think you know?”
“Wanna know? You still care for her, shit, I’d even say you’re in love with the woman. But you’ll deny that until your dying day.”
“Smokey, shut up. You’ve got nothing,” I retorted.
Smokey laughed, amused as he banged his glass on the bar top. “Get me another beer, prospect.”
I turned and grabbed Smokey’s glass and poured him one from the tap. As Smokey took it, he held my eyes.
“Don’t lose the love of your life because of some misguided notion. That’s a fool’s route.”
Didn’t I know that!
◆◆◆
“Hey!” Mom called as I entered the house. I sniffed appreciatively; Mom was making pot roast.
“In here, son,” Dad said from the lounge.
No doubt he had the game on. I stuck my head in and said hi before heading into the kitchen.
Mom was at the oven, busy checking the food, and I placed the flowers and the bottle of wine on the worktop.
She turned and saw them, smiling, but it faded as she stared at me.
“You okay, Mom?”
“No. We crossed paths with April, Dad and me. We were at the supermarket, and she bumped into us with her cart.”
The pain in Mom’s voice was almost tangible.
“April say anything?” I forced myself to ask.
“No. She fled when I mentioned catching up with her. She’s different and yet the same. April was beautiful, and she’s grown into her promise. Those piercings and the tattoos didn’t detract from her looks,” Mom said.
“Yeah, she’s still an eye-catcher,” I replied for lack of anything else to say.
“Stone, I miss her so much. April was family.”
Upset because Mom was, I moved around the counter and stood in front of her. Mom fell into my embrace, and I hugged her tightly as I rubbed her back.
“Sorry, son, I can’t help but think sometimes about what might have been if you hadn’t…” Mom swallowed hard.
“Fucked up and broke her heart? You’re not alone, Mom. But it had to happen, April needed to grow,” I muttered before realising what I’d said.
Mom stiffened, and I realised my mistake.
“What do you mean?”
“Let it go, Mom.”
“Stone Ryan, what aren’t you telling me?” she demanded.
“Mom, stop. The past can’t be changed.”
“Stan!” Mom yelled, and I released her and stepped back. Crap. Mom resembled a bloodhound when she scented that something was wrong or that she was being lied to.
“What now?” Dad asked resigned as he entered. He put the wine in the fridge and pulled out two bottles of beer.
“Stone’s hiding shit about April,” Mom accused.
Dad sent me a glower. Yup, I’d messed up. Mom’s eyes narrowed.
“What did you do apart from the obvious?” she demanded.
“Mom, let it go, please.”
“Stone Ryan. Tell me you didn’t sabotage your relationship on purpose!” she exclaimed and threw her hands in the air.
Dad grunted. Damn. I knew where this was heading.
“Said, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Stone, I’m warning you!” Mom threatened.
“Mom…”
“Tell me right now!” Mom shrieked.
“Fine, I sabotaged the relationship on purpose! I didn’t break up with April because I cheated on her, like everyone thought.
The truth is, April wasn’t planning to return to college to finish her course.
She spoke about getting a job because she hated being away from me.
April was going to throw everything away. And Clara warned me.”
“Clara?” Mom gasped. “Clara split you up?”
“No. Clara told me what April planned and how she knew April would regret it. I waited a few months before taking action, Mom. Plus, there was the fact that I was facing prison time.”
Dad shook his head as Mom’s mouth dropped open. “You were what?” The shriek made me and Dad wince.
“I’d been arrested. You don’t—”
“Don’t tell me I don’t need to know! What the hell did you do?” Mom yelled.
Damn, I felt as though I were a kid again.
I took a deep breath. “I raced some cars to get money to buy April a ring to propose. There was an incident, and someone died. I was in the race, and the police arrested me. I was accused of clipping his wing. My lawyer ran the paint chips from the accident, and they came back red like mine, but they weren’t from my car.
There was a similar car with the same colour red. ”
“You bought April an engagement ring? By racing cars? A lad died?” Mom yanked out a stool and sat down heavily.
“Yes, to all three.”
“Stan, you knew?”
“Yeah, Edie. Stone came to me. The boy was scared, and the cops were coming down hard on him. Luckily, the lawyer was diligent and not one of the usual public defenders. He managed to prove Stone was innocent of the crash, but the police still charged Stone with crimes associated with illegal street racing.”
“I don’t believe this. Do you have a criminal record?” Mom demanded.
“No. Because the accusations against me were dismissed after I named a kid whose father was rather high in politics and was also racing that night, I had video as well,” I admitted.
Mom’s eyes bugged wider. “You blackmailed a judge?”
“No. I mentioned a name, and the next thing was that all charges were dropped. The cops had been questioning me about other racers. Giving him up protected a lot of kids back then, Mom. We weren’t bad, just teens out for a speed thrill or to earn easy money.”
“But a boy died.”
“Not by my hand. There was a story behind it which concerned a girl, but it didn’t involve me,” I explained.
Mom stared at me in disbelief, and then at Dad. “Clearly, I don’t know either of you!” she exclaimed, threw a tea towel at us, and stormed out.
“Ah, shit, it’s gonna cost a lot more than flowers to make this right,” Dad complained.
He wasn’t wrong.