Chapter 17 JR #2
I shrugged. “I didn’t pay attention to girls or school. And by the time I was a Junior, I was on work release for half the day.”
She snorted in amusement. “A Junior. As in Junior Riley?”
I grabbed a handful of bacon and headed for the door.
“Jonah Rowan!”
It was hard to hold my bacon and put on my coat at the same time, so I handed the coveted bacon to her and snatched my coat.
“Ooh! Jude Rodero. And then your parents sang Hey, Jude every night before you went to bed!”
I zipped up my coat and grabbed my gloves, then went back for the bacon.
“Jonald Ruck! You know, a play on words!” she shouted as I walked out the door. “Jimmy Rimmy! Jethro Rip!”
“Make sure you clean up my kitchen before you leave.”
I slammed the door, but my lips twitched when I heard the final name.
“Joe Rugby!”
After working the morning and early afternoon at Murky Falls Ranch, I headed into The Beaver and Boot to work behind the bar. The hours didn’t really bother me. I was used to being busy, to always watching out for any potential issues, so staying alert wasn’t a problem.
Construction was something I hadn’t done in years, but my muscles were quickly adapting to the use. And working the bar at night was relaxing enough that I wasn’t completely exhausted by the time I went to bed.
In fact, the money was decent, and at this rate, I’d have no problem going out on my own when I decided where I wanted to go. I could get out of the horrible weather and head someplace that didn’t feel like I was freezing my balls off for ninety percent of the year.
“Oh, thank God, you’re here,” Lizzy said as she rushed out of the back, her face filled with panic. “I need you.”
“Why? Did something break?”
“No.”
“Do you need me to lift something heavy?”
“No,” she frowned. “This has nothing to do with work.”
“Then what does it have to do with?”
Just as she opened her mouth to tell me, the front door swung open and her brothers walked in, all of them smiling sweetly at her.
And I had a feeling I was about to be dropped into the middle of whatever the hell was going on.
“Lizzy,” I lowered my voice, “Tell me right now what the hell is going on.”
“Just stay with me, okay?”
“Christ,” I muttered as her brothers approached.
“Lizzy, you look beautiful as ever,” Jeff beamed, walking over and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
Michael eyed me warily again, even though he’d been working with me every day. Liam seemed a little less confrontational, but still eyed me suspiciously.
“How’s the bar?” Liam asked.
“Oh, it’s going great. I couldn’t ask for it to be doing better.”
“Good,” Liam nodded, his eyes flicking to mine again. “So…what’s going on?”
“Well, I asked you all here because I have something very important to tell all of you.”
Michael’s gaze shifted to mine. “What’s he doing here?”
“He’s here because I asked him to be.”
“Fuck,” Michael cursed. “I knew it. Didn’t I tell you she was gonna screw the help?” he snapped at his brothers.
“Excuse me?” I said at the same time Lizzy gasped.
“I am not screwing the help!”
“Then what is this little meeting about?” Michael argued. “Because you sure as hell never needed a protector around us before.”
“Would you just sit?” Lizzy snapped, finally losing her cool.
I took a step back, not wanting to be in the middle of it any more than I already was.
“Okay, so, I know I don’t always tell you guys everything—”
“That’s an understatement,” Liam muttered.
“But I was seeing this guy a while back and—”
“No,” Liam said immediately. “The answer is no. If he can’t meet your family first, there’s no way in hell he’s marrying you.”
Lizzy rolled her eyes as she continued. “As I was saying, I was seeing this man for a while. None of you knows him. He came by the bar a few times and we hit it off.”
“And?” Michael asked warily.
“Well…” she cleared her throat, her fingers toying with the rag in her hand.
“Oh, fuck,” I muttered, already knowing where this was going.
Her eyes flicked to mine, and I saw the fear and the tears welling in her eyes.
“Fuck, what?” Jeff asked, completely oblivious to what was happening.
“Where is he?” Michael growled, his voice low and disturbingly dangerous.
“He’s gone,” Lizzy said, dropping her eyes to stare at her hands.
“Gone?” Liam asked. “Call him. Tell him to get the fuck back here and fix this!”
“There’s no fixing this, Liam. You can’t just make this go away.”
“I’m sorry,” Jeff cut in. “Make what go away?”
Michael shoved back from his chair, running his fingers through his hair. “What the fuck were you thinking?” he shouted.
“Thinking about what?” Jeff asked. “So, she dated someone. That’s not against the rules. Unless you want to wrap her up in a box until she’s thirty.”
“What’s his name?” Liam asked calmly.
“It doesn’t matter what his name is. He’s gone.”
“Who cares if he’s gone?” Jeff snorted. “Good riddance. The guy was obviously no good.”
Liam leaned on the table, getting in her face. “I want a name right fucking now.”
“Hey, back off,” I snapped, pushing him back a step.
“Don’t fucking tell me what to do.”
“She said he’s gone. Just leave it at that.”
“Why are we arguing about this?” Jeff asked in confusion.
“This is none of your business!” Liam shouted. “How the fuck do I know it’s not you?”
“Me?” I laughed. “Because I haven’t been around long enough to knock your sister up!”
Jeff shoved back from his seat, knocking it to the ground. “You’re pregnant? Why the hell didn’t you say so?”
Lizzy let out a loud whistle, getting our attention.
“The reason I didn’t tell any of you is that I knew you would react like this.
The point is, I’m going to have a baby, and none of this matters to any of you.
Be part of my life or don’t, but it won’t change my mind.
I’m going to do it, and I’m going to do it on my own. ”
“Like hell you will,” Michael snapped. “I’m gonna drag that asshole back here and make sure he does what’s right for everyone.”
“You can’t,” Lizzy snarled. “He’s gone, and I don’t give a shit if I never see him again.”
“He has rights,” Liam protested. “You have to at least tell him.”
“He wasn’t the smartest tool in the box,” she retorted.
“Then why the hell did you sleep with him?” Liam shouted.
“Because he was a g—good time!” she stuttered, completely flustered.
She turned away from her brothers, but this was unraveling way too fast for everyone involved. None of this was helping, and now I understood why she needed me around, even if I didn’t like it.
“You guys know now. Leave her alone and think about what you want to say before you come back next time.”
“I don’t take orders from you!” Michael shouted.
“No, but your sister is obviously upset. Did you want to make things worse?”
All three of them looked at her, but it was Michael who headed for the door first, followed quickly by Liam. Jeff stumbled over, placing a hand on Lizzy’s shoulder.
“Uh…sorry it took me so long to figure out what we were talking about.”
As he left, I walked over to Lizzy and sighed. “You could have told me.”
She swiped a hand under her nose and peered up at me through soaked lashes. “I just did.”
“I meant sooner.”
“Well, that would have been awkward for my brothers. Either way…it’s out in the open now. I’m sure everyone in town will know by five o’clock tonight.”
I didn’t know what to say. Hell, I had never been in the position to have this kind of conversation with anyone. But knowing it was Lizzy, I felt I had to say something.
“Are you sure about this?”
“Keeping it? Absolutely.”
That didn’t seem like the wisest idea to me, but it wasn’t my decision to make. “If you’re sure...”
“Trust me, I’ve had a lot of time to think about it.” She smiled up at me through the tears and heartache. “It’s a new life. What could be better than that?”
I wasn’t sure I thought the same thing, but as I drove home later that night, I didn’t have a solution that wouldn’t leave her brokenhearted.
I got out and headed inside, but on instinct, glanced over at Delilah. Once again, Josie was smooshed up against the window, wrapped in her blanket to keep her warm. She’d go through a shit ton of gas at this rate.
Groaning, I headed over to her car and knocked on the window. Looking just as exhausted as the night before, she shoved the door open and stumbled out.
“Can I use your couch again?”
“That depends. Are you going to come up with any new names for me?”
“I make no promises.”