82. Wren
“This sucks.”
It was a phrase I had heard more than once over the last thirty-six hours from my mopey teenage daughter.
“I know,” was all I had to offer. Because she was right, it did suck.
Being stuck in the house, curtains closed and doors locked, for every hour of the day more than sucked. It was stifling. Looking at the same four walls of our home—a home I was sure I loved just a week ago, but now felt certain that if I had to spend one more day trapped inside it, I’d be happy to watch it burn to the ground—was the most claustrophobic thing I had ever encountered, mostly because the street out front was still packed with photographers and townsfolk alike, all hoping to get a look at the woman whom the internet had dubbed Hawk’s Harlot.
Such a delightful moniker.
“It’s summer vacation,” Cooper moaned again, and I rolled my eyes before looking over at her. She was sprawled out on the couch, her legs up across the back while her head dangled over the side, long brown hair pooling on the carpet. “This is lame. I’m so bored. I can’t even talk to my best friend.”
“I know,” I repeated, because we’d already had that talk, as well. To say that Jillian’s parents were unhappy with Cooper’s new notoriety was an understatement. I’d received a very brief, very angry phone call from the good pastor, expressing his thoughts and feelings about ‘loose women’ and how he didn’t want my ‘devilry’ tainting his daughter any longer. Since then, Jillian hadn’t been responding to any of Cooper’s texts, most likely because she didn’t have her phone. But that didn’t make the situation any easier for Coop to swallow.
Isolation sucked; I knew that from experience. But even though I’d felt isolated in this town my entire life, I’d always had Sabrina. Being without your best friend when times were tough only made everything even more difficult.
I was doing my best to be supportive, but I was struggling just as much as Cooper was at the moment.
Daniel had kept his word, coming by the house that first evening with my car and my purse. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until after he’d left that I remembered my phone had been stuffed into my desk drawer, not in my purse, leaving me with no phone and no way of seeing if Hawk had responded to my text.
Cooper had learned very quickly to stay off the internet, shutting down her phone after browsing the first gossip site comment section. We’d cried together, with me explaining that sometimes people just sucked, and that no one who said horrible things about a fourteen-year-old girl on the internet was a person worth worrying about.
But that didn’t mean that I wasn’t still raging mad about it. Just remembering the awful things that total strangers were saying about my child had me wanting to track each and every one of them down and personally kick their asses.
But all my anger was for nothing, because I was a literal nobody, impotent in my fury, and any comment I tried to add in our defense would only have made it worse. So instead, I did nothing at all.
“We can watch a movie,” I suggested when Cooper gave another dramatic sigh. “Your choice.”
“No thanks.” Rolling to her feet, I watched as she started toward the hallway, shoulders hunched and looking defeated. “I’ll just go to bed.”
I opened my mouth, wanting to tell her once again that it would be alright. That the whole thing would eventually blow over and our lives would be quiet once again. But before I could get out even a single word, the quiet night was shattered by the loud squeal of a siren.
“What was that?” Cooper asked, her eyes wide. “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know, but stay back.” Flicking off the lights, I crept to the window and carefully peeked out the curtain, trying to look without being seen. When I caught sight of the police cruiser parked in front of my house, I gasped in shock.
Sheriff Donovan was on my lawn, the lights on his car flashing across the faces of all the disgruntled photographers he was currently ushering away from my house. I watched in satisfaction as, one by one, each of the horrible paparazzi climbed into rental cars and removed themselves from my street, making my neighborhood quiet again.
Well, except for the large black SUV that remained parked behind the cruiser.
“Mom, what is it?” Cooper asked, tired of waiting, and before I could stop her, she pushed up beside me, flinging the curtain away dramatically. “Why are the cops here?”
That was a really great question, but before I could speculate an answer, my attention was drawn to the SUV as the doors opened and four large men filed out into the night.
Men I recognized immediately.
“He’s back!” Cooper squealed. “Mom! Look! He’s back. He came back for us!”
“Cooper, wait,” I tried, but she was done listening. Before I could do more than take a step, my girl had flung the front door open, throwing herself off the porch and across the lawn, right into the arms of a surprised Hawk.
“You came!” she cried, her whole body shaking as she wrapped her arms around his waist. “I knew you’d come.”
“Hey, kiddo,” he breathed, looking startled by her enthusiastic greeting. “Of course, I came.” Raising his face, Hawk met my eyes where I stood in the open doorway, the intensity of his gaze sending a shiver through me. “I’ll always come for you.”
“We should probably take this inside,” Charlie said quietly, his head on a swivel as he watched for anyone with a camera.
“Nah, they’ll be on their way now,” said Donovan, thumbs in his belt as he stood there, surrounded by rock stars, puffing his chest up like a hero. “People respect the law ’round these parts.”
“Really?” I questioned, lifting my chin as I glared at the sheriff. “Because I asked your office to help clear those parasites away yesterday, and was told that it was a free country, and to clean up my own messes.”
Sheriff Donovan—the same man who had been a deputy twenty years ago and taken great pride in arresting my father—sputtered, his face turning red under his wide-brimmed hat.
“That true?” Hawk asked, his voice icy as he glared at Donovan. “Did you deny help to Wren and Cooper?”
“I have no idea what she’s talking about,” he floundered. “Must’a been a misunderstanding down at the station. I don’t take the calls. Can’t be held responsible for what does and doesn’t make it to my desk.”
“Sounds like quite the department you’re running here, Sheriff,” Charlie growled, crossing his arms and standing to his full height. “When is the next election, again? I’m suddenly feeling generous. Maybe your opponent could use a significant boost to his campaign funds.” Looking over at me, Charlie gave a nod. “Might be time to put someone in charge who looks out for all their citizens, not just the ones they personally think are deserving.”
Sheriff Donovan started talking again, placing blame on anyone and everyone but himself, but Hawk cut him off.
“I think it’s time you left, Sheriff. Your services won’t be required here again here.”
“Now wait just a goddamn minute,” Donovan griped, one hand dropping to his gun belt. “I’ve been sheriff in this town for over thirty years. Who’re you gonna believe? Me, or some dumb slut who couldn’t keep her legs closed long enough to—”
Hawk moved like lightning, pushing Cooper toward me as he dove for Donovan, eyes wild as he reached for the sheriff, one hand encircling his pudgy throat.
“The fuck you say?”
“Hawk,” Charlie said, a warning in his voice, though he made no move to intervene.
“You think you can come here, talking like that about my woman? About any woman?” Donovan could only choke and splutter as Hawk continued to squeeze. “You fuckin’ prick. Struttin’ around this town like you’re the king. You think because you have a gun and a car with shiny lights on top, you have any kind of power?” Leaning down, Hawk got in Donovan’s face, breathing heavily as he raged. “Say one more word about Wren. I fuckin’ dare you. Then I’ll show you what real power looks like, you spineless piece of shit.”
Releasing him, Hawk took a step back, glaring at the sheriff as he wheezed for breath. Once his face had returned to a much more normal looking shade, Donovan straightened his hat and looked around, trying to regain his former sense of pride, but not quite managing.
“I don’t know how things are done out in Hollywood, but in this town, a move like that will cost you.” Swinging his gaze to me, Donovan spat, “You’re nothing but trouble, Wren Blackburn. Just like your piece-of-shit daddy.”
“Have a nice night, Sheriff,” Charlie said, stepping in front of Hawk when he made to lunge for the Sheriff again.
“Go fuck yourself, city boy,” Donovan replied, spitting on the grass between Charlie’s feet.
We all stared as Donovan turned, tail tucked between his legs, and climbed back into his cruiser, killing the lights and driving off into the night.
“Is this town always so fuckin’ exciting?” Alex asked, hands on his hips as he watched the cruiser disappear down the street. “Because at least that would explain why you’re still living here.”
“It’s not,” Cooper said, her smile huge as she stood beside Hawk, her gaze darting from one of the guys to the other as though she couldn’t believe they were all standing in our yard. “It’s not exciting at all.”
I couldn’t believe it either, actually, and my head throbbed from trying to make sense of it all.
“Well, then,” Alex said, turning to her with an equally large grin on his face. “Maybe it’s time to talk about other options, Coop. How about you take your Uncle Alex inside and show me around. Your dad said you’ve got some posters on your walls that aren’t of us, and I’m not sure I could handle that if it were true.”
With that, the two of them disappeared inside, leaving me gaping after them as they barreled down the hall.
“I’ll go keep an eye on them,” Gavin offered.
“Cooper doesn’t need a babysitter.” I didn’t want Gavin—or anyone else—thinking they were obligated to look after my child.
“No, but Alex does. Nice to see you again, Wren.”
Once he was gone, I stared at Hawk, and of the millions of questions that had been rolling around in my head for days, only one managed to make its way to the surface.
“Why are you here?”