Reaper
I accept the glass of iced tea, nodding my thanks and turning my attention back out to the yard where Bosco and two other prospects are hard at work, cutting the grass and weeding the flowerbeds.
“Thank you again for doing this, Lucas. I just can’t get down on my knees to garden like I used to anymore,” she says, taking the seat on the chair beside me.
I glance over and hold her eyes. “You’re family, Sharon. This is the kind of shit we do for family. No thanks needed.”
Sharon smiles and reaches over, placing her hand on mine and squeezing. “You’re a good boy, Lucas. And I’m grateful all the same.”
I nod and take a sip of my tea. Settling back in my seat, I enjoy the serenity of the old farm. From the very first time I’d come here as a teenager, I’d loved this old house. It’s set back from the gravel road, far from the city. The only sounds to cut through the air on a summer day come from the birds at the feeders, and the heat bugs in the fields surrounding the property.
It hasn’t been a working farm in years; not since Sharon’s husband died seven years ago. She’d kept chickens for a while, but last year, she’d finally given them up too, unable to keep up with the work that went into them. To be honest, I was glad when she got rid of them. In the summer months, it was no big deal, but in the winter, I often worried about her slipping on the ice and hurting herself as she trekked out to the coop.
“I’ve got something to tell you, Lucas, and it’s not going to make you very happy.” My eyes meet hers, and I know what she’s going to say before she even says it. “I got a call from Laurie the other day.”
I let my eyes fall closed and try to tamp down the anger I feel at the very mention of that woman’s name. Laurie Welland; my ex-wife. I haven’t been in the same room as her in almost fifteen years, and fifteen more would be too soon.
“How much did she want this time?” I ask, trying to mask the growl in my voice.
“Eleven hundred dollars,” she says softly.
“Jesus,” I mutter. “What did you tell her?”
“The truth.” Sharon sits forward and sets her iced tea on the railing of the wraparound porch. “I don’t have eleven hundred dollars to pay my own bills, let alone to just give to her.”
She sits back in her chair, her eyes searching mine, likely trying to figure out what’s going through my head. She doesn’t want to know. Sharon is too kind-hearted to know just what I’m thinking about the woman she gave birth to. Her daughter is a con artist—a freeloader. A scammer worthy of every ounce of my hatred, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out how she can be blood related to the hard-working, moral and honest woman sitting in front of me.
“Are you in trouble, Sharon?” I hate asking. I know that her pride will never allow her to give me an honest answer, but I don’t like the thought of her struggling. How could she be? Her late-husband and her had worked too hard all their lives for her to be in financial trouble now, unless she’s been dishing out extra money I didn’t know about to that ungrateful bitch.
Sharon gives me a tight smile. “Now, you know better than to ask a lady about her financial status.” She leans forward and pats my hand. “I’ll be just fine. I don’t need much to keep me going out here.” Her sad eyes turn back toward the men in her yard. “I know that Laurie hurt you. She hurt me too, but she’s still my daughter. I can’t bear the thought of her on the streets with no money.” A tear slides down her cheek, but she doesn’t look at me. “I’m worried about her, Lucas.”
My jaw tightens as she speaks. Saying that Laurie hurt me is putting it mildly. That bitch ruined me. She ruined her mother.
I met Sharon Welland for the first time when I was sixteen years old, when Laurie had brought me over for dinner. I’d been so fucking nervous, never being at anyone’s house for a meal before, and I really liked Laurie. I wanted her folks to like me, but I wasn’t sure how to act. The whole evening had been a nightmare. I’d spilled pasta sauce down the front of my only clean shirt, and knocked over one of her mother’s vases, shattering it into pieces. Then, to top it all off, her father had walked in on me kissing Laurie in the living room. It had been an innocent kiss, but we’d jumped apart like we’d been caught screwing right there on the couch.
Just as I was about to leave, Sharon had pulled me into a hug and whispered in my ear, “Next Saturday will be better. Dinner’s at six.”
And just like that, I was accepted. Over the next few years, I was a regular at the Welland’s house for Saturday dinner. Sharon and her husband, Jack, became family. I had my own family, of course, even if it was a dysfunctional one, but the Welland’s were different. They chose to take me in. They loved me like a son, and I don’t know where I would have ended up if it hadn’t been for them.
How Laurie turned out the way she did is a mystery to me, but I hate that she’s doing this to her mother. “I’ll take care of it.”
Sharon’s eyes meet mine. “You don’t have to do that, Lucas. Laurie stopped being your responsibility many years ago.”
“She may not be my responsibility anymore, but you are. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of, but you need to stop giving her money. I’ll see what I can do to help her so you don’t have to do it anymore.”
My words are kind, but it’s out of respect that I’m not voicing what I really want to say. That bitch is about to learn a lesson about taking advantage of the people I care about.
Anna
“At the Pig’s Ear?” A tiny furrow forms between Charlotte’s brows. “Anna, do you really think that’s a good place to go back to? You just got back to town. You say you want a new start, so why go back to working in a bar?”
“Char, I’ve been here over a month now, and I can’t find any other job that I’m qualified to do. Slinging drinks is something I’m actually good at.” I sigh and flop down onto the couch. “I can’t stay here forever. I see the strain me being here is putting on you and Ryker. He hates me, I know he does.” Charlotte’s eyes widen and she shakes her head, but I keep going, “He does. I’m not stupid, and it’s okay. He loves you, and he’s afraid I’ll do something else to hurt you. I get it. I’ll make good tips at the Piggy and be out of your hair in a couple weeks.”
“Ryker doesn’t hate you, Anna. He doesn’t know you.”
She believes it, too. Bless her. Ryker can’t stand me, and I don’t blame him one bit. I kind of can’t stand myself if I think too much about it. After all the shit I caused, I deserve every ounce of his hatred. Charlotte should hate me too, but she’s too kind for that. She’s always been a forgiving person, and I’m not sure I could ever do anything bad enough for her to actually stop loving me. But what I did was really bad.
A few years back, I’d gotten involved with a motorcycle club, and not just any motorcycle club. It was a club that was known for being violent and dangerous. I wasn’t in a good place at the time, so the danger didn’t even register. All I cared about was getting what I needed—none of it good—and though I made sure to keep my private life separate from all that, Charlotte still ended up on their radar.
The men in that club were all bad news, but there was one that was more savage than the rest. Krueger. A man named for his love of knives and his tendency to use them on anyone that crossed him. He took one look at my sister and became obsessed. He wanted her, and was willing to do anything to get his hands on her, and I do mean anything. I owed Krueger a lot of money, and he used my sister as leverage, forcing me to agree to hand her over in exchange for what I owed him if I couldn’t pay up. In the end, I couldn’t come up with the money, so Charlotte and I ran.
I never dreamed it would get that far. I was convinced in some foolish way that I could pay him back, save myself and my sister, but that’s not the way it turned out. Instead, it became the reason we had to flee for our lives.
We had to give up everything when we came here. We were only hours away from the other club, and it wasn’t enough. But, by then, she’d met Ryker, and thank God for that because Kruger had found her. He kidnapped her. If Ryker hadn’t have shown up, who knows what he would have done to her. Ryker and his club sent me away for my own protection, and were left to clean up my mess, including taking care of Charlotte.
No, Ryker definitely hates me. I hate myself, so I know exactly what that looks like. I hate what I did, who I became, and the memories that drove me to become that terrible person. The funny part is, I’m glad Ryker feels that way. I mean, I wish things were different and we could be friends, but his dislike of me stems from his love for her, and that’s all I ever wanted for Charlotte. Someone who would love her and protect her from harm, even if that meant they had to protect her from me.
I shake my head. “It’s okay, Char. He has reason to, but that’s not the point. The point is that I can’t just stay here forever. I have to take the steps I promised myself I’d take to get my life back on track, and if that means working at the bar for a while, I have to do it.”
Charlotte sighs and plops down beside me. “I just worry about you. I don’t want to see you get into trouble again.”
I let out a slow, shaky breath and sink further into the couch as tears prick my eyes. You’d never know that I’m the older sister in this relationship. Charlotte has always been the one to look out for me, even though I’m three years older than her. I’ve been a terrible sister, and that’s just one more thing I need to add to my list of things to make up for. And I will make up for it.
Wrapping my arm around her, I pull her close. “Char, you don’t need to worry about me anymore. You just worry about yourself and that beautiful niece of mine that you have growing in there.”
Her head rests on my shoulder as she lets out a teary chuckle. “It could be a boy, you know.”
I shrug and rest my head on hers. “It could be, and if it is, I’ll love him to pieces. But I have a feeling that baby in there is a girl. Call it Auntie’s intuition.”
I feel Charlotte smile against my shoulder, and we sit silently for a few minutes. I know I have a lot to prove to her, to show her that I’m going to be okay. I owe her that piece of mind. I just hope I can prove it to Ryker too.