2. Huntley
Chapter Two
HUNTLEY
The look in her eyes almost brought me to my knees.
I’d seen that look before as a child. It was one I worked hard to forget and yet there I was on the receiving end of it. As if I were going to strike her when I extended my hand toward her, River’s orbs flashed quick as lightning with stark fear.
My mom had worn the same expression too many times to count, but for her things usually ended exactly like she’d thought they would. I wasn’t fucking lying when I told Lennon I would never hurt his mom or any other woman. But I understood that neither he nor River had any reason to trust me.
Even if that hurt a bit.
I didn’t mean to scare her, but when the stray strands of hair had fallen into her gorgeous face, I reached out without thought, driven by the same irresistible pull she’d had on me since the moment I first met her a few months back at Lake’s wedding, the bride being one of my co-workers at the fire department .
River had captivated me with her mesmerizing violet-colored eyes at first glance. They were extraordinary and I’d never seen anything like them in all my thirty-two years. To my dismay, the woman wouldn’t give me the time of day that evening. She worked very hard to remain unnoticed.
But that wasn’t possible.
Unable to keep my gaze off her, I watched every emotion she was feeling shimmer in the depths of her rare and transfixing eyes. I’d felt the same draw to her the second time she was in my presence, the night her home had burned to the ground. And then I’d found myself at her new home with gifts in tow, unable to stay away because the desire to be near River was so strong.
Three encounters and she never seemed thrilled to see me.
Yet, every look she gave me, or that I witnessed, was memorable and would always be burned into my brain. But it’s the one she directed my way, the one filled with unmistakable fear and terror when she flinched away from me, that would haunt me forever.
Right then, I had two goals in mind. First, to prove to River that she could trust me. Second, to find anyone that hurt her, and make them pay.
Why? I couldn’t quite explain it. I’d had women throw themselves at me while in the military and later as a firefighter, but I’ve never been about racking up notches on my bed posts. I always wanted something more.
My mother taught me how to treat a lady, while my father showed me how not to.
He was a mean bastard. Seeing my mother hurt at the hands of the man who was supposed to care for her, or to hear the way he belittled her, had been extremely hard. I’d understood some of this even at an early age and the rest from talking to my mom over the years .
It was, however, after he turned his hands on me for the first time—at age five—that my mother finally got the strength to take me and get the hell out of dodge.
Thankfully for us, he didn’t follow.
We survived and I could see River had too.
Something about her spoke to me in a way nobody else ever had. She may have been timid and distrustful, scared, and shy, but she was so much more. She was brave; I’d seen that firsthand when she carried her niece out of her house, flames flying all around her, and still ran back in for her daughter's dog.
I’d witnessed her backbone when she tried kicking me out of the hospital room before I was ready to leave, wanting to make sure she and her kids would be okay. And I also saw the love in her eyes when she spoke to the two teens she had adopted so she could give them a better life.
One they undoubtedly deserved.
The woman I couldn’t get out of my head was like the raging water she was named after. River was unpredictable, strong, a force to be reckoned with, wild, and beautiful.
Something told me she’d fought many battles. Ones that she’d lost, which had put the haunted look in her eyes that I’d seen as she walked away, leaving me feeling ruined. And while I needed to let her have her space, a war waged inside me. I wanted to go to her. To tell her I was sorry for scaring her. And to tell her…
I scrubbed my hands down my face. Shit, I sounded like a crazy person. I barely knew the woman and I wanted to… what? Erase all the bad memories she might have? Be the shoulder she cried on? Fight any battles she may have in the future? Take care of her and the kids?
Well fuck. Crazy was an understatement. If anyone could read my mind, they might have me committed to a mental health facility .
“Hey, man. Are you coming?” Bronson asked, having left, but now returning.
Letting out a deep sigh, I answered, “Yeah, right behind you this time.”
After giving one last glance toward the hallway that River had disappeared down, I followed Bronson. In time she would make her way out to everyone and win another battle I knew she was fighting.
I didn’t call her a warrior for nothing.
The small talk was starting to grate on my nerves.
I stood at the grill with Bronson as he flipped burgers, a beer in hand, talking about anything except the one thing that I knew was on both our minds. It was probably not my place to broach the subject since I hardly knew River.
Even if a part of me felt as if I’d known her forever.
Lake approached and handed Bronson the hot dogs for the kids before giving him a quick kiss. They gave each other a look, communicating like spouses and a couple in love would, then she gave her head a little shake before walking off.
Bronson turned his attention back to the grill and that was when I reached my limit. I couldn’t stand there anymore pretending we were all just having a damn day on the lake. The rational part of me knew he was upset about the scene inside the house and he probably didn’t want to go talking behind his new sister-in-law’s back or about her personal life.
But that was too fucking bad.
I blew out an irritated breath. “You saw what I did, right?”
With a long audible sigh, Bronson put down his spatula and turned to face me. “Fuck, man.” He looked torn up. “I didn’t know anything and I can tell you Lake didn’t either. Even if River confided in her and she kept it to herself, which I’d respect, I would have been able to tell. She was as shocked as the rest of us.”
Nobody needed to go through something like that alone. Who did River talk to about things past, present, or future that she needed to? Then I remembered the look on Lennon and Breland’s face, along with how her son had reacted.
“The kids know,” I mumbled to myself, but he heard me.
“I noticed that and think you’re right. But besides them, I doubt anyone else does,” Bronson said. “Lake knows she probably didn’t have it easy having grown up all her life in foster care, but I don’t think she imagined just how bad it could have been.”
My body tensed at his words and he noticed, his eyes widening. “Shit, I stuck my foot in my mouth already.”
“Damn, I didn’t know that. But why would I when I don’t know River well enough? The woman doesn’t want to say two words to me for the most part.” I scrubbed my hand on the back of my neck. Truth time. “But I want to know everything about her.”
Bronson’s eyes widened even further and then they narrowed. Grabbing the spatula again, he pointed it in my direction. “Don’t fucking hurt her or I will have to kill you. That would be after my wife and the rest of the women.” He flipped a burger and then continued. “Even if you had nine lives, it wouldn’t be enough.”
I couldn’t be mad when everyone was protecting River. Although, I felt like somehow it was supposed to be my job. Again, I sounded crazy. But I couldn’t help how I felt, even if the feeling had hit me over the head like a bag of bricks the second I laid eyes on her.
“Don’t plan on it,” I told him. Then I shared something I didn’t normally share with many people. I hadn’t even said a word to Lake in all the time we had worked together, but I wanted Bronson to understand. “My dad was a shitbag and hurt my mom—verbally and physically. I wouldn’t do either to that beautiful soul in there,” I told him, pointing at the house.
Bronson blew out a breath. “I’m sorry. Nobody should have to go through that shit. Sounds like maybe you are just what that woman in there needs. Someone who understands and it’s obvious she has made an impression on you.”
Damn right she had.
“The girls were rooting for you when you got here, if that makes you feel better.”
Wait, the ladies were gossiping about me and River?
As if reading my mind, a big smile stretched against the man's face. “Yeah, my wife and the rest of the posse are a bunch of lovesick fools who like to meddle in people’s lives.”
“Good to know. River can use all the support she can get. Me too for that matter.”
Maybe the women were the allies I needed to help show her she could trust me. And that no matter how long it took, I’d be there.
“It won’t be easy,” Bronson said.
I knew that just from watching or being around her the few times I had. I had a feeling River was locked up tighter than Fort Knox when it came to sharing at all.
“I will say that if I ever do find out who hurt her, not only might I be responsible for paying them a visit, but I know the guys and women would too.”
Just as he finished speaking, I saw his eyes go somewhere over my shoulder and I turned to see what he was looking at.
She stole my breath.
“You’ll all have to get in line behind me,” I mumbled .
River’s gaze met mine and I held her stare.
I mouthed, warrior.
She bit her lip but then a small smile broke out across her pretty face.
I felt like I’d just won the damn lottery.