Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
Dixon
Hours passed. It had to be close to one in the morning, and Abey still hadn’t come to talk to me.
Maybe she had nothing to say. Maybe I’d finally pushed even her away. I hadn’t meant to, but I’d put my sister in the shittiest position, and now she’d be faced with having to choose her job over her family. And it would kill her.
Lying on the floor, staring at a dirty ceiling while normal people went on with their normal lives ten feet away from me was nothing new. Being close enough to see and smell the normalcy, hear the humdrum of it all, but not close enough to touch it could be maddening.
I’d had a short taste of that normalcy, and for the first time in my life, I’d loved every goddamn second.
Fuck it.
Maybe I hadn’t been meant for “normal.”
Maybe Merv’s lies were bigger than even I could’ve imagined. Maybe my real father really had been a magic man, a sorcerer, or an elven prince, and with his blood running through my veins, what humans experienced as “normal” had grown into a sickness inside me.
Maybe I’d never been meant to fit in.
But daydreams and made-up bullshit didn’t include Stu. How could he fit into my stories? He was real and mortal, and he needed real love and connection, not faeries and elves.
AJ too. And it hit me: She was where I had always belonged. She owned my heart; tonight had proved it, and no matter where she was, there would always be a place for me with her.
I pushed her away because of the question pounding into the back of my skull every minute of every goddamn day, the one I feared would always loom over my head:
Did I deserve it? Did I deserve either of them?
Voices in the hallway stopped my mind from running away with itself, and I sat up and braced for impact as they came closer.
When the door finally creaked open and Bax walked in, I stood, feeling more alone than I ever had in my life. My brother didn’t say anything, but he watched as I hid my still-bloody hands in my pockets.
“Hey, little brother,” he said, “looks like you’ve had an eventful night, but we came to spring you.”
“We?” I asked as two men unknown to me followed after Bax, and then Brand crowded into the room behind them.
“Brand, Abey, and me,” Bax said. “Merv doesn’t know about this yet. I’m sure the rumor mill will clue her in by mornin’, but for now you’ll stay with Brand. Roxi’s already made up their couch for you.”
“This is Brent Harbour,” Brand said, motioning to the younger of the two men, and then he nodded at the older guy.
“And this is Gentry Vicks. Brent’s local, from Jackson, and Gentry’s a criminal attorney.
I’m sorry it took so long, but they needed some time to familiarize themselves with what happened and with yours and Mahone’s histories. ”
Stunned, I asked, “You hired lawyers for me?” Where was the judgment? Where were the “I told you so” glances between my brothers?
Where was the disappointment?
“’Course we did,” Bax said, like it meant nothing. But it was everything.
“But what about… I mean, I broke the law. I-I hit that man. I’m guilty. And what about Stu?”
“What about him?” Bax said. “He’s five. He doesn’t need to know anything about tonight.”
“But you’ll still let me see him?” I didn’t want to sound like I was begging, but I was and it sounded exactly like that. “You’re not gonna keep me away?”
Bax stepped closer to my cage and reached his hand between the bars, like he wanted to reach out to me, but then he lowered it and let it rest on the metal. “You’re his dad, ain’t you?”
“Yeah, but—”
“And someday, when he’s older and he asks, you can tell him that you protected a woman from her abuser. What’s so bad about that?”
“The DA isn’t issuing charges,” Brand said. “Abey’s already spoken to the judge. There’s no bail to post. If anything comes of what happened tonight, it will be civil, and trust when I tell you this, brother: I have more money than Mr. Mahone could even dream of. He won’t win.
“Besides,” he said, clapping the younger guy on his back, “Brent here tells me that Cody Mahone has bigger fish to fry. Apparently, he got some young woman pregnant. She used to work for his mother and developed a little crush on that moron, so they’ll be busy dealin’ with that mess.
The woman is over eighteen, but barely, and she and her parents are goin’ after the Mahones in court for all kinds of things.
What happened tonight will blow over, but if it doesn’t, we’ve got you covered. ”
I hadn’t realized I’d begun to cry, not even when I fell to the floor on my ass.
It took Abey pushing past all the men standing outside my cell.
She unlocked the door and crouched in front of me, the keys hooked to her belt loop tinkling like a faerie’s wings.
I looked up at her, and she took hold of my hands.
“I’ve been on the phone all night with Judge Petersen and others. I’m sorry I left you alone in here, but I’ve needed time to work this out ethically. But that’s what we did. You’re free to go.
“And look, I know Brand wants you to stay at his house, but just sayin’, Devo and I have a couch too. In fact, we have a guest room, and the bed in there is like sleepin’ on a cloud.”
She grinned, and I threw my arms around my baby sister and held on tight.
When I stepped outside the station, my hands still damp from scrubbing them in the restroom sink, the warm night air on my skin sent a blast of calm through me, but it was the woman standing with her back to me, holding a large, floral tote bag and texting on her phone, that eased my worried heart.
Bax, Brand, Abey, and the lawyers moved further down the sidewalk to talk and give me a minute, so I walked up behind AJ, hoping she hadn’t heard my approach.
“Avery Jane Harlowe,” I said sternly, “I thought you were goin’ home.”
She turned, but she didn’t move. She looked unsure. And she had good reason.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to scare you tonight.”
Carefully, she said, “Cody deserved every punch. What scared me was you pushin’ me away.”
Yeah, it scared me too.
“My only excuse is that I’m not used to relyin’ on other people.
For a long time, it’s just been me. I thought I had to stay away from the people I love.
I doubt every decision I make and every single thing I do, and I’ve been so worried to hurt people by my actions and decisions. I didn’t wanna hurt you.”
She dropped the phone and bag. Something soft but heavy inside thunked on the sidewalk, and AJ rushed to me. Her body slammed into mine, and my arms wrapped around her like they’d done it a million times.
Into my shirt, she mumbled, “I couldn’t leave you in there alone.”
“I’m filthy,” I said, trying to put some distance between us so she wouldn’t get dirty too.
She’d showered and changed; the ruined dress was long gone, and in its place were jeans and a white José’s Diner long-sleeved Tee.
Her hair lay shiny and clean, and it flowed behind her like a waving curtain of silk.
“I don’t care. Now hug me properly, and then you can change.
I did go home, but it took me less than five minutes to know that you are my home.
So instead of sittin’ there and freakin’ out, I hopped in the shower, washed that asshole’s disgusting cooties off me, got dressed, and then banged on Mr. Henly’s door until he opened up his store so I could get you some new clothes. ”
Pulling her close again, I rested my chin on the top of her head. I breathed in her wildflower scent and wondered if it was some kind of laundry detergent she used. But no. It was just AJ.
“You did that for me?”
“’Course I did,” she said. “Did you think I’d just leave and never speak to you again? What you did tonight— Maybe you don’t see it the same way, but you stood up for me. You fought for me. You could’ve walked away. You probably should have—you have Stuart to think about now—but you didn’t.”
“I could never. I love you.”
Pushing up on her toes, she untangled her arms beneath mine and wrapped them around my neck, placing a sweet kiss on my lips that lingered there like magic all its own. The look in her eyes was unguarded and open, and they lit up like moonlight when she smiled.
“I know you do. I love you too, so don’t you ever tell me to go away again. Wherever you are is where I wanna be, so let’s get you dressed, and then your sister mentioned a big ol’ bed at her house with our names written all over it.”
“They don’t need to do that. I can stay at my place. Cody’s in jail. I’m not worried about him comin’ back for us. Or I could stay with you… if you’re cool with that.”
“I’m very cool with that,” she said, “but I think your family wants you close. They’ve been really worried about you.
It took Deputy Sims practically puttin’ Bax in a chokehold to stop him from goin’ after Cody when they were shovin’ the prick in the back of none other than big, bad County Sheriff Michaels’s cruiser for his personal escort to jail. ”
“Really?”
“Yeah, and Bax told me later that everybody knows the Mahone Ranch and that nobody likes or trusts them. If the law doesn’t deal Cody some justice, you might have to worry about your brother roundin’ up a bunch of cowboys and startin’ a posse to go after that idiot.”
I laughed. I could picture it perfectly and it filled me up with pride and hope.
“Okay,” I said, pulling my fingers through soft strands of her hair, “but tomorrow, there’s a pretty big conversation I need to have with my mama. Will you be there?”
“Yes, I will. Just like I want you to be there when I confront my dad. I’ve decided to try to find him. There’s some things I need to say to him.”
I kissed her and mumbled against her lips, “Look at us, doin’ the healthy shit.”
“For you and me,” she promised, “and for Stu, I’d do anything.”