Chapter 5 #2
I went through the back door, set my things on the counter, and then went back out to the firewood station.
It was nearing April now, so we probably had one or two more snowstorms on the way thanks to living in the mountains, so I would still need my fire going, but at least I didn’t have to have so many cords like I did during the heart of winter.
I reached for my gloves and then one earbud in so I could listen to music as I did the heavy lifting that came with owning a home of my own.
I left the other one out so I could hear if someone came up behind me.
With my favorite pop star scream-singing about men and how we didn’t need them, I laughed to myself and got to work.
Even though it was a little chilly out, sweat slicked my brow, and I knew I had to look amazing.
Lips twitching, I pushed thoughts of how I looked out of my mind and turned to get the next log.
The scream that ripped from my throat was probably heard in the next county, as I dropped the piece of wood on Hudson’s foot and ripped out my earbud.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, chest heaving. “You scared the shit out of me.”
Hudson blinked at me, then looked down at the wood that had barely missed truly hurting him. “I called your name three times, and you weren’t listening. Good to know that you’re careful about your surroundings.”
I winced at the judgment in his tone, but then again, I hadn’t been paying attention at all. That wasn’t good. Not with the fact that I had extra security for a reason. Honestly, it wasn’t like me to be so lax and I knew I needed to get my head in the game.
That’s when I realized Hudson wasn’t wearing a shirt.
No, he wore work boots, jeans that rode low on his hips, and a ball cap turned backwards. Sweat slicked those rigid muscles of his, and the man still had at least a six-pack. I’d never actually seen one of those in real life, and I didn’t quite believe he was real.
The hoops sliding through his nipples nearly made me want to press my thighs together.
I hadn’t known Hudson had nipple piercings and now all I wanted to do was lean forward and see what the metal would taste like on my tongue.
Of course, it made me think of my own bars through my nipples that was my personal secret, and I knew this line of thought was all trouble.
My gaze went to the rigid scars on his side and shoulder, and then I forced myself to look at his face.
His very handsome, very bearded face. I was not just ogling Hudson Cage. I had better taste than that. No, that was cruel. Because there was nothing wrong with Hudson Cage other than his attitude. In fact, from what I could see, there was everything right about him.
And perhaps I was getting heat stroke.
“Everything okay there? You look a little flushed.”
I narrowed my gaze at the twitch of his lips. “Is there a reason that you’re half naked on my property?”
He gestured towards the tractor trailer that I hadn’t noticed.
My God, I needed to lower the volume on my music if I wanted to be safe.
What the hell was wrong with me? “Didn’t mean to startle you, Scar.
I was moving a fallen tree on the other side of my property, and I’m already working with firewood. I figured you could use help.”
“Why? Because I’m a woman that happens to have her nails done?” I asked. I held up my hands, and then realized they were covered in gloves.
Perfect, Scarlett. Perfect.
Hudson sighed. “You know what, Scar, you annoy the fuck out of me.”
“My name is Scarlett. Not Scar. And I’m sorry that I annoy you, but you do the same to me.”
“I like calling you Scar. Scarlett sounds like you need to be in a mansion or something with a hoop dress. Maybe the one with the curtain rod in the back.”
I pressed my lips together so I wouldn’t laugh. “From The Carol Burnett Show? Based on Gone with the Wind. Neither one of us was born when that show came out. You know that, right?”
He shrugged and I resisted the urge to watch his muscles move. Barely. “I like the oldies. Plus, that episode’s a classic. Don’t tell me you’ve never seen it.”
“Of course I’ve seen it. And it is a classic. And I’m not going to be on some staircase trying to make an entrance.”
“You could probably make an entrance in a burlap sack,” he muttered.
I blinked, knowing I must have heard incorrectly. “What did you say?”
He glared at me for a moment before turning away. “Nothing. If you don’t need my help, I guess I’ll go back to my own property.”
“Good for you, for finally understanding that,” I said, confusion settling in.
“I was just offering to help, Scarlett.” He drew out my full name, and I rolled my eyes.
“And I don’t need your help.”
“Oh, look at this, a lover’s tiff.”
My entire body stiffened, and I tried my best not to hunch my shoulders and hide behind Hudson at that voice.
The voice of a man who wasn’t supposed to be in town.
Hudson immediately stepped forward, blocking me, and I resented him for it. But perhaps I resented the fact that I needed it in that moment.
I reached out and gripped Hudson’s forearm, grateful for the gloves so I wouldn’t feel his skin in that moment, and turned to face the man who had tried to ruin my life from the day I was born.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, embarrassed once again that a man I didn’t want to be near me was on my property and I hadn’t even known.
That’s when I realized that my watch was buzzing, and the cameras had finally picked up on the movement.
“I don’t know why you’re getting such an attitude when I’m just here to check on my baby girl. I was down in Denver but didn’t have a chance to see your sister.”
He smiled that perfect smile of his, and dread crawled down my spine.
Had he found Luna? It wasn’t as if her work was hidden, but we had done our best to make sure Dad could never find her home.
Our father had never laid a hand on her and had only hit me once.
It was our mother that he had broken down.
It was our mother who had sent him to jail.
No, that wasn’t right. He had sent himself to jail.
But his fists on her body and soul had been what had finally pushed the authorities to take action.
Because the old sheriff hadn’t cared as much.
Probably because he had used his own fists on his wife.
The new sheriff cared. The new sheriff had done his job.
And yet here my father was, looking perfect as always.
Jail hadn’t changed him in any way from what I could tell. He still had the perfect coiffed honey-blond hair, that chiseled jawline, and bright white smile. He didn’t look like the drunk who used his fists to take out his anger on his wife. But that was the problem, wasn’t it?
You couldn’t always tell the monster beneath the facade. Sometimes they hid in plain sight. Dirt and grime didn’t cover my father, at least not physically. No, his soul was the shadowed part of him. And he hid it damn well.
“You need to get off my property.”
“And you need to learn some respect. I’m just here to check on you. Why do you have to be so mean to your father?”
“Maybe because you’re an asshole? I don’t have time to deal with you. Just go.”
I sounded far more confident than I felt, but I needed him gone.
I needed Hudson not to be here. Why did he have to witness not one, but two men in my life trying to break me down?
Why did the man who wouldn’t leave my thoughts have to be my neighbor?
I just needed everybody to be away so I could just live my life and not deal with anyone.
But that wasn’t my life. And part of me was glad Hudson was here. Because my father would be on his best behavior if another man was around. He couldn’t be seen as anything but loving and doting. Even though most of the town already knew he had been in jail for assaulting my mother.
“Hudson, can’t you see that I’m just here to visit my daughter? Maybe you could have a word with her, set her right.”
I nearly hunched into myself, hating the idea that Hudson was here to witness this, but then Hudson stepped right to my side.
He didn’t block me, didn’t let me block him.
Instead, it was as if he was letting me know that he was on my side.
He folded his arms over his massive and naked chest and didn’t say a damn word for long enough that my dad rocked back on his heels, looking uneasy.
I needed to learn that look. I tore my gaze from my father completely and looked up at Hudson. He just stared at my father, narrowing his gaze.
“I’m pretty sure Scarlett told you to leave.
There’s a reason you’re not allowed on this property, Mr. Blair, and there’s a reason that you’re not allowed on any Cage property from what I can remember.
I mean, didn’t you get that cease-and-desist letter from my brother?
I can have another brother send it to you.
It’s what we Cages do. Isn’t that what you said the last time that you yelled in my face and practically spit? ”
I froze, wondering what the hell he was talking about. What had I missed? And what other secrets was this man keeping from me?
“You Cages. Just because you own a couple of properties you think you own this whole town. But you’re wrong. We residents know our rights, and you can’t tell me what to do.”
“On any property my family owns you bet your ass I can tell you what to do. Now, as for this property, your daughter already told you to leave. And we both know that if I took a step forward, you’d cower back like the little shit that you are.
I could force it, or you could leave with your tail tucked between your legs and maybe act like the man you’re supposed to be.
You don’t intimidate me, Blair. You sure as fuck don’t intimidate your daughter.
Maybe for once in your life you should listen to a woman and go. ”
My father looked between us, lip curled. “Fucking a Cage, are you? That’s one way to raise yourself on that ladder of yours. How many blow jobs did you have to give this one to get your job?”
I moved forward, ready to throttle my dad, but Hudson was already there. With one movement, he had my dad by the back of his neck and lifted enough that my dad’s toes dangled against the ground.
My God, I hadn’t realized Hudson was that strong. But from the way that his muscles bulged, well, it would make sense.
“You’re going to want to watch your mouth.”
“Hudson.”
“Listen to the little girl,” my dad snapped, as if he wasn’t dangling along the ground from a man who could probably break him with his pinky.
“Go, before I stop listening to my inner demons and take it out on you.”
If possible, my dad paled even more, and when Hudson let him down, he nearly fell down on his knees, but then scrambled away, indeed looking like he had his tail between his legs.
Hudson stood there with his back to me, hands fisted at his sides as his shoulders moved up and down with each deep breath.
“I would say thank you—”
“Don’t. Don’t say a damn thing,” he cut me off.
“He would’ve left eventually.”
“Maybe.” Hudson turned then, staring at me with those intense eyes that nearly forced me to take a step back. “Maybe he would have. But I didn’t like the fact that he wasn’t budging when you told him no.”
“My dad never hurt me,” I lied.
Hudson just shook his head. “If you see him around, let me know. I’ll handle it.”
That made me narrow my gaze. “You don’t have to handle it, Hudson. You don’t have to fix everything.”
His jaw tightened, and he gave me a slight nod. “True. That’s not in me. I don’t fix things. I never did.” And with that, he stomped past me and to his tractor.
I watched as he turned on the engine and slowly made his way back to his property, leaving me standing there, alone, wondering what the hell had just happened.
I looked over at my home, my oasis, and it didn’t feel like mine anymore.
Why did men have to continually come and try to take something that was mine? Why did they have to try to break me along the way? Why did I resent the idea that Hudson had been there to witness everything?
And why did I finally feel a slight ounce of comfort that he did?