LYDIA

 

I woke up the next morning, still recovering from my long first night in Ivory. Somehow, I’d ended up back in my apartment. Sean kept his promise and gave me a ride home but the memory of it was a bit foggy.

The sun was shining annoyingly bright. I planned on heading back to work early but plans changed. When I walked into Amy’s Bakery that day, it was almost noon.

The place was as empty as the last time I saw it. I stepped inside, the bell rang, and it was a few moments until Gina appeared from the back room.

“Oh… There you are!”

She had the biggest grin on her face. The red cheeks on her pale skin made her enthusiasm that much more noticeable.

“Sorry, I’m late,” I said. “I’m… still getting used to everything.”

“That’s no problem. Amy wasn’t expecting you to come in until later.”

“I know. But I wanted to get started early. There are a lot of recipes for me to learn and I want to see if there’s anything I can add to what you’re already offering.”

“Well… It’s not very busy, so we’ll have plenty of time to work.”

“Right.”

I put my head down and headed to the back with Gina. While I put an apron on, I couldn’t help but notice that her eyes were locked on me. She had that same grin on her face, too.

I looked over at her, trying to ignore everything.

“All right,” I said. “Let’s get started—”

“How was it?”

“…I’m sorry,” I said, blinking my eyes at her.

“How was it?” she repeated.

I shook my head in confusion.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.

“Oh, come on! How… was… it?”

Gina walked up to me, biting the corner of her bottom lip while she waited for my response. I shook my head again while trying to fight the smile coming onto my face.

“I missed you last night,” she said.

“Yeah, well, the whiskey didn’t agree with me. I got a ride home.”

I put my head down and started examining all of the equipment I was planning on using.

“A ride home?” she said. “Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

“What else would they call it?”

“You know, Brash is really something.”

I slowly turned my head up from the equipment I was looking down at. Gina stood in front of me, her arms crossed underneath her breasts. There was no point in denying it any longer. We weren’t going to get any work done if I kept this up.

“Brash?” I said.

“Yeah. Sean. I saw you standing with him over at the bar. He was keeping you company.”

“Oh, yeah… Sean… How do you know his name?”

“It’s a small town. Once you’ve been here long enough, you see everybody often enough to get sick of ‘em. Besides, everybody knows who the Black Reapers are.”

“The Black Reapers?”

“Motorcycle club. Sean’s been a member for as long as I could remember. I think he just got out recently though…”

“Just got out? Got out from where?”

“He did some time. I figure he got out recently because that’s the first time I’ve seen him in a long time.”

“Right…”

I had no idea what to make of Sean. The tattoos, leather, and his general demeanor should have told me something. I suppose it shouldn’t have surprised me that he spent some time behind bars.

“…What was he in for?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug. “I wasn’t there. But I heard he killed someone.”

“He killed someone?” I exclaimed. “Oh, God…”

I closed my eyes and put a hand on my forehead.

My first night in Ivory and I spent my time with a convicted murderer. A hand on my shoulder didn’t console me.

“Relax,” Gina said. “All of these biker guys have done time before. You have to expect that. It doesn’t mean they’re dangerous or anything.”

“Doesn’t it? I mean, you just said he killed a guy.”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t there. And he served his time. Are you really gonna hold it against him?”

“I’m not sure…”

“Whatever. It was just one night. I’m sure you had a lot of fun with him, didn’t you?”

As the memories came back to me, the heat in my cheeks made me blush. I turned my head down and couldn’t look back at Gina. If she knew exactly what happened, I’m sure even she would start to blush.

“It was just a one-night stand,” I said. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Great! You’ve got it all figured out.”

“Huh?”

“There’s not much to do in this town. And there aren’t many people either. You’re gonna hear a lot of gossip and now you’re a part of it. No one cares though. So you slept with Brash? Who gives a shit?”

She shrugged her shoulders. Gina’s carefree attitude made me feel a little better.

“Right,” I sighed. “Who gives a shit?”

“That’s the spirit!”

“Let’s get to work. I’m not sure Amy would appreciate us standing around and gossiping when we should be working.”

“It’s not busy. Amy understands—”

The bell in the front rang. Gina and I made our way back out to the front of the bakery and saw Sheriff Sutton walking in.

“Hello, Gina,” he said with a nod. “Hello, Lydia. I’ll have my usual.”

“Yes, sir!” Gina said with a sort of fake enthusiasm.

I poured Sutton a cup of coffee while Gina bagged a donut for him. At the same time, Sutton was busy scrolling through his phone.

“How are things looking out there, Sheriff?” Gina asked.

“As good as they can be, I suppose,” he said. “There’s still a lot of stuff going on out there.”

“Anything we should be worried about?”

Sutton looked up from his phone and smiled politely at the both of us. The way the old man smiled was reassuring in a way I couldn’t explain.

“Nothing you two ladies need to concern yourselves with,” he said. “The Sheriff’s Department is on top of things.”

He spoke to us like my grandfather would have, kind and patient.

“You two take it easy,” he said. “Don’t work too hard now.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Gina said to him.

Sutton tucked his phone away and gathered his late breakfast. Just then, the door opened up. As the bell rang in my ear, I looked forward at who it was.

Is that…

I narrowed my eyes and blinked, trying to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.

That can’t be.

The man was already in view. I knew who it was. And as he got closer to us, I started to realize it was definitely him.

Sean. Brash.

Somehow he’d ended up in the same bakery I was after just seeing him last night.

My eyes wide as I stared at him, I felt a sudden tap on my arm.

“Hey.”

Gina whispered to me.

“Are you all right?”

I turned to her and noticed the slight smile on her face.

“That’s him,” I said. “That’s—”

“Brash. Yeah, I know.”

I stared in disbelief at him while Gina smiled at me.

Sean didn’t immediately walk up to the counter, instead noticing that the Sheriff was right in front of him.

“Sheriff Sutton! Good to see you!”

“Mr. Scott. What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? I’m here for the same reason as everybody else. Amy’s donuts are the best in town.”

“Aren’t they? I just can’t get enough of them even though I should really cut down.”

“Hey, nobody will blame you if you have one too many. That’s why she makes ‘em.”

“Right…”

Watching the interaction between Sean and Sutton was strange. I’d only spoken to Sean once before but I’d never seen him so friendly. Maybe he was just trying to get on the Sheriff’s good side.

“How are things with you?” Sutton said. “You’ve been on your best behavior?”

“I sure have. Scout’s honor.”

Sean mockingly held up his hand to show his fingers crossed.

“Just watch what you’re doing,” Sutton said. “You know the department has got their eyes on you.”

“I’m not about to do anything crazy. Not after I just got out.”

“I hope not. For your sake… Ladies…”

Sutton bowed his head to Gina and me before excusing himself from the bakery. As soon as he was gone, Sean turned his attention to us. More specifically, he was looking right at me.

“Well, well,” Sean said, his eyes widening. “I didn’t expect to find you here.”

“Yes,” I said. “That’s quite a coincidence. What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? I’m here for the donuts.”

“Oh… Right…”

“I’ll take a dozen.”

“One dozen coming right up!” Gina said.

Gina got busy boxing Sean’s order. I stood there and tried not to stare at Sean. Looking him in the eye only made me remember what happened the other night. And doing that made me blush. From the corner of my eye, I could see the sly smirk on his lips.

“You’re not following me, are you?” I said.

“Um… Lydia?” Gina said.

“Following you?” Sean said with a laugh. “I’m just here for the donuts. I didn’t know you were working here.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I just started.”

“Oh… Then I have even more reason to come here.”

Oh, God…

Sean was doing everything he could to make me blush. It didn’t help that Gina was standing right there, egging him on without saying a word.

I sighed a deep breath and closed my eyes.

“That’ll be five bucks,” Gina said.

Sean put the money down on the counter. My eyes open, I could see that he was still staring right at me.

“So… Lydia,” he said. “You’re gonna be working here regularly.”

“That’s the plan,” I said. “That’s why I came to Ivory.”

“You’re still new in town though. I still have to show you around, as my responsibility as part of the welcoming committee.”

“The welcoming committee… Right…”

“You got any plans tonight?”

“I…”

I looked over at Gina as if she were going to help me out. All she did was widen her eyes at me with that obnoxious grin on her face.

“I… No,” I said. “I don’t have any plans.”

“Good,” Sean replied. “What do you think about going out with me tonight? We’ll have a few drinks, I’ll show you around town.”

“How about dinner?” I said. “Nothing fancy. Just… any nice place in Ivory.”

“I know just the place. I’ll pick you up here around seven.”

“I’ll be here.”

“All right… Take care now… Gina.”

He winked at the girl standing next to me then picked up his box of donuts. Gina and I watched him the entire way as he left the bakery. The door closed and the bell jingled.

“Holy shit…” Gina muttered. “He is so fucking hot.”

I looked at my coworker and raised an eyebrow at her.

“I mean, I knew he was hot. But that time in prison must have done something to him.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he got some new tattoos. Maybe it’s the way he’s styling his hair now. But you don’t see studs like that in Ivory very often. And he’s wearing that hot ass leather cut… I can’t believe he asked you out on a date. You really lucked out.”

Gina was so blunt with her admiration for Sean but I still wasn’t sure what to make of him.

“Didn’t you say he killed a guy?” I said.

“Yeah, so? He’s still hot.”

“Yeah but… I don’t know…”

“Listen, Lydia.”

She reached up and put her hands on my shoulders. Even though she was a few inches shorter than me, Gina spoke to me like I was her little sister.

“Stop worrying about what he did,” she said. “You can’t let shit like that concern you. Not in this town. What you need to do is focus on having a good time tonight. I mean, you had a good time last night, didn’t you?”

“Sure, but—”

“No buts!” she cut me off. “The only thing you need to worry about with a man like that is how good he can make you feel.”

I couldn’t deny how much fun I had with him last time. Gina seemed more enthusiastic about it than I was. But I was going to keep an open mind. Maybe getting to know Sean better was what I needed to settle into my new surroundings.

“All right,” I said with a shrug. “I’ll enjoy myself. But enough talk. Let’s get to work.”