Chapter 16
Logan
It takes every bit of restraint in my body not to send Nicole after Tricia. That woman has started more fights in this town than the rest of the females put together, I swear. And for some reason, when I came back after I left the corps, she was one who set her sights on me, right along with Emmy Harris and the others.
I know it’s because she’s goddamned miserable, sorting and delivering mail after her husband got promoted at the furniture factory and then left town with his secretary. Tricia used to be a stay-at-home mom before, and now she looks real hard at any man who can give her back the lifestyle she lost. But that doesn’t mean she gets a free pass to take a swing at my woman, and regardless of everything I know, I don’t have an ounce of sympathy for her situation anymore.
When I heard the yelling, I knew in my gut Banner was probably involved. I’ve made her a target in this town, and I have to find some way to reset the situation or I’ll never be able to talk her into staying long term. That’s right, Logan Brantley, Gold Haven’s King of No Commitment, wants to settle down, and I’ll be goddamned if I’ll let some small-minded assholes get in the way. There are plenty of kind folks here, and that’s who Banner needs to be around. Not the spiteful and bitter ones like Tricia.
I push open the door and we step outside into the parking lot. Banner pauses, so I do as well.
“Something wrong, Bruce?”
She looks fucking adorable with the bag of frozen tater tots pressed to her face. I swear, no one else could manage to look beautiful right now except Banner.
“I’m sorry. She said some stuff. I said some stuff. Her stuff was way worse than mine, though. I could’ve gotten downright nasty, but I was holding myself back because I don’t want to make you look bad for being with me. I didn’t have a clue her brother was really inbred. Seriously. What are the odds?”
I wrap a hand around each of her shoulders. “You could never make me look bad. Never. If not knowing who my dad is, and having my ma OD in her own living room hasn’t stopped me from making a living in this town, there’s nothing you could do. So don’t ever worry about it.”
She lowers the tater tots from her face. “I love you, Logan. But I think I just complicate your life.”
I open my mouth to respond that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, and she’s the best complication I’ve ever had in my life, but two slamming car doors interrupt.
“Well, well. Looks like we missed the real entertainment,” Rusty Mills says as gravel crunches under his boots. But that’s not what surprises me; it’s the woman following him.
Emmy Harris.
Jesus, she could at least have found a better substitute for me than some guy who’s going to try to drain her of all her cash, because everyone knows he’s living on disability for an injury he doesn’t even have.
Banner tries to tuck the tater tots out of sight, but she’s not quick enough.
“Oh no, what happened? Did you fall?” Emmy asks.
“Looks like your girl lost a fight, Brantley.”
The door to the bowling alley bursts open behind us and Stan comes out, yellow streaks on his shirt from the popcorn seasoning. “Did I miss it?”
“Go back inside, Stan.”
“But they threw Tricia out for fighting, and I figure she’s waiting in the parking lot to jump y’all like she tried with . . .” He trails off when he sees Emmy. “Uh, I guess I don’t have to tell you what happened, Emmy.”
Emmy’s face turns red. “That woman is a menace. If I wasn’t carrying that day, who knows what she would’ve tried to do to me.”
I look from Emmy to Stan and back. “Are you saying that Tricia came after you too?”
“You didn’t know? Shit, dude. I thought I was the last to find out everything in this town. Apparently not.”
Fuck, now guilt is creeping in because apparently that crazy chick has gone after two women connected with me. “Anything else I need to know, Stan? Emmy? Because, what the fuck?”
Emmy hugs her purse tighter to her side. “I took care of myself.” She shoots a look at Banner. “I didn’t need any rumors spreading around town about me. I have a business to run and a reputation to uphold. Besides, smart girls in the country carry guns.”
Banner stiffens beside me and puts a hand on my arm. “I guess you’re going to have to teach me how to shoot, Logan. Because apparently I’m not well enough equipped to live here and deal with Kentucky women without one.”
I hate that she has to say something like that. I’m also more than a little concerned about the idea of Banner carrying a gun.
Rusty’s grating laugh rings out, and I want to knock that fucker down a few notches. “Who knew you could find a high-class bitch who’d fit in with us poor country folk so well.”
When he says the word bitch, everything in me goes still.
“You better shut your mouth, Rusty, or I’ll gladly shut it for you.”
The man, who doesn’t have balls nearly as big as he pretends, shuts up quick.
“We’re just here to watch the fights.”
“So maybe you should get on inside and do that. Let’s get out of here.” I wrap an arm around Banner, who now apparently doesn’t care who sees her holding tater tots to her face, and we head toward my truck.
Once inside, I hear another engine start. It’s not until I’m backing out of the full parking lot that I see headlights flip on at the end of the row.
It’s Tricia’s old Buick.