“I told you I was the disappointment,” I murmur. Jo removes my hands from my face and gives me a reassuring smile.
“It seems scary right now, but it’s going to take some time for him to come around. Give him some time.”
7
DEREK
In true McKenzie fashion, the entire town gathers on the property for a barbeque. The townspeople park in the front pasture and mingle in the tents setup close by while pigging out on free food and juicy gossip.
I don’t usually attend these things. I’ve learned these events are more of a mating ritual for the women either trying to hook their daughters up with me or trying to hook up with me themselves.
It’s exhausting.
The only reason why I’ve come is for Nate because I’m worried about him.
He’s been living in Aria’s house for a month, working tirelessly on this case. When I visited him this morning, his eyes were bloodshot, and he hadn’t showered in days. I’m not exactly proud of this, but I brewed a pot of decaf and spiked his coffee with melatonin. He passed out on the sofa thirty minutes later and I’m at this barbeque – keeping an eye on his charge.
People all around greet me warmly, with few exceptions.. Michelle glares at me from a table full of women I had…relations with. Did they start a fan club? I half expect Emily, my ex, to show up at some point, leaving Zoey at home with a babysitter, but she’s more likely to avoid me like the plague.
I avoid Bethany Hunt and her daughter Brandy by weaving in and out of groups of people, while I make my way to the back tents where all three McKenzies are. Chris mans the grill, Annie chatters on with a dreamy look in her eyes and an expressive smile, while Aria watches and listens with a hesitant smile.
“Derek, hey!” Annie greets as I approach.
Aria’s untrusting eyes sweep me up and down, as if looking for some sign of danger. I flash Annie a grin and plop down in the chair next to the grill where Chris is.
“Hey, yourself. How are you?”
She gives a careless shrug and tosses me a beer from the cooler underneath Aria’s feet.
“Can’t complain. I’m surprised to see you.”
“I can’t turn down a free meal.” My gaze shifts to Aria. She wears a black, long sleeved shirt that doesn’t expose any skin or cling to her frame in any way. A sheen of sweat coats her forehead, and she chews nervously on the inside of her cheek.
The last time I saw her, she was hardly recognizable. But now, she looks…normal. Pretty, even.
Her hair is styled in loose waves, framing her oval, porcelain face. She pulls her jean clad legs up to her chest and pretends she doesn’t feel my gaze.
“Will Zoey be coming today?” Chris asks without looking my way.
“I doubt it. If you don’t mind, I’ll probably be hiding out with you guys tonight.”
Annie giggles. “Who are you avoiding this time? Michelle?”
Yes.
“I’m not avoiding anyone.”
“You’re a horrible liar,” Chris teases.
Rolling my eyes, I glance back to the raven haired beauty who stares blankly ahead to the horizon.
“Peanut, are you all right?” Annie asks cautiously.
Blinking, she turns to Annie and nods. “I’m fine.” She licks her lips and pastes on her best fake smile. She’s an easy one to read. How long has she had to act like everything was all right?
She’s uncomfortable, and avoiding the public. She doesn’t want to be here as much as I don’t want to be here. She fidgets with her fingers the longer we lock eyes, so to give her some peace of mind, I glance away, looking for anything out of place.
“Can you help me carry these over there?” Chris asks Annie. Without any hesitation, Annie grabs a tray, walking away with Chris, leaving me alone with the youngest McKenzie.
“I think we may have got off on the wrong foot,” I announce softly.
She avoids looking me in the eye, but a small smile tugs at her lips.
“Maybe,” she replies timidly. “I’m sure you had something else on your mind.”
Yeah, the woman who is getting ready to get up and storm over here to rip me a new one.
Banishing the thought out of my mind, I squirm in the awkwardness of the moment. She doesn’t want to talk to me. But there’s something so…magnetic about her. Like she has no expectations about me. She’s not trying to throw herself at me.
“Are you happy to be home?”
“It’s complicated,” she replies monotonously. She turns her head to face me, and finally, I get a good gander at her undamaged eyes. They’re hazel, with flecks of green sprinkled throughout. “I miss the food scene of Chicago. But I guess nothing beats being home.” She shudders and finds a spot on the floor to stare at.
“Can I ask you a personal question?”
She freezes, and the microscopic bit of progress we made diminishes.
“Probably not.”
“How’d you get the nickname?” I’m asking her anyway. I have a good rapport with all the McKenzies on the property. I’m not messing that up because of one bad day.
Relief washes over her, and she nervously laughs.
“I was premature. Peanut is what the NICU nurses called me until my parents could tell them my name. Since then, it stuck.” She drops her legs to the cooler and grips the table, her features softening.
Her gaze sweeps me up and down, as if she’s forcing herself to look at me. When her eyes finally settle on mine, she loses the courage she tried to build and finds a new spot on the ground to stare at.
“You’re not from around here, are you?” she asks with an air of caution.
“No. I’m originally from Charleston but found my way out here after I got out of the Navy.”
I hate small talk. Wouldn’t it be great when you meet a person, you could magically jump three years into the friendship and avoid talking about the shit that doesn’t matter?
“Here… to the middle of nowhere,” she murmurs.
“It’s not bad. I enjoy the quiet. People have to give some thought to drive all the way out here if they want to see me.” It gets me out of the public eye, and grants me the anonymity I crave.
“People like Michelle Delaney?”
What?
Michelle storms this way, her eyes narrowed, and her plump lips pursed.
Fuck.
“Yeah…people like her.”
Aria stifles a giggle when Michelle stops in front of me.
“Derek.”
“Michelle.”
“What are you doing here? You never show your face at these things.”
I catch Aria’s gleeful smirk from behind Michelle.
“I live here.”
She raises a perfectly sculpted, chocolate brow, daring me to tell her I’m on the prowl for a new conquest.
“I thought I told you to never seek me out—”
“You came over here,” I state firmly, standing up and narrowing my eyes. “I’ve been getting to know Aria.”
Michelle turns in surprise to see Aria sitting on the table, giving her a weary finger wave.
“Aria McKenzie,” she states in disbelief.
“Hi Michelle,” Aria greets politely.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” she pouts. “You’re that desperate? You’re seeking her out?”
A poisonous laugh escapes Aria’s lips. “That would be the end of the world, wouldn’t it?” Aria asks, hopping off the table and straightening out her pant legs. “Fear not, Michelle. I’m securely off the market, most likely for the rest of my life. I’m going to have to insist y’all stop using me as your scapegoat when the men around here see right through your bullshit.” She turns to me. “Enjoy your night, Dr. Hawthorn.”
Her hips sway as she walks away. I wish I were going with her—even if it meant indulging the small talk.
Michelle’s hand pinches my cheeks together and forces my head to face her. I continue watching even the slightest movements and etching it into
my brain, just in case Nate starts asking.
“Hey!” Michelle shouts.
Gripping her wrist, I remove her hand from my face.
“You told me to lose your number. I lost it, okay? We had fun. Leave it.”
“You can’t pursue her,” she warns as I attempt to walk away, her delicate hand encircling my wrist. “She’s a homewrecker. You love your daughter that much? Aria will destroy your life.”
I rip my arm from her grasp and glower, “Let me remind you, we were nothing. Who I see is none of your business. If you ever bring my daughter into this again, it’ll be the last thing you’ll ever do. Do. Not. Cross. Me.”
She shrinks back and wrings her hands together.
“Oh, hey Michelle!” Annie greets as she walks up behind her. With a pathetic sniffle, she turns on her heel and storms away. Good. Annie’s gaze burns into my skull. “What was that all about?”
She forgot her place.
“Couldn’t take no for an answer.”
Shrugging, she places a new, unused, foil pan next to the grill and takes over Aria’s place on the table.
“Where’s Peanut?”
“She walked away.”
She arches an eyebrow, just like her mother.
“What did you say to her?”
That’s the kicker, isn’t it? I’m mean and gruff, so I must be the one who pissed her off.
“I didn’t say anything. Michelle was the one running her mouth.”
Annie purses her lips and scans the crowd.
I immediately find Aria sitting with Jackie and her mom. Her mouth moves while she stares at the table. It’s the most I’ve ever seen her speak.
“I’m going to mingle,” I announce, even if it’s a lie. I’m going to be a creep and stay close to the McKenzie who wants nothing to do with me. It’s for her own safety.
She has nothing to worry about. These people couldn’t hurt a fly.
I head in her general direction and get stopped by Brandy Hunt a few feet away from Aria. I was almost in the clear.
“Hey, Derek,” she greets seductively. Her platinum blonde hair hangs loose around her bare shoulders in a top scandalous by this crowd’s standards.
“Hey yourself.”
She grins and giggles. This is why I don’t attend these things. There is no such thing as being left alone, no matter how much I want to be left alone.
“You look good tonight.” She moves closer to me, our bodies almost touching. She tilts her head up, exposing her long neck and wears a smirk.
This kind of behavior would have gotten to me a year ago, but now…
“Thank you.”
“Do you want to get out of here?”
Her strong, floral perfume fills my senses. She’d be easy. She’d get rid of the edge.
It doesn’t matter. Because the car speeding down the driveway has me pulled out of this trance. Aria scrambles out of her seat, freezing in place for a beat before tearing down the pasture.
I sidestep Brandy and dial Nate.
“You’re an asshole, Bubba—”
“Bogie. Black town car speeding down the driveway. She’s heading that way.”
“Shit,” Nate curses under his breath. “Catch up to her and put her on the phone.” I run to Aria, her eyes watering and transfixed on the car.
I push the phone into her hand in which she glares at me. She puts it up to her ear while we close the distance between us and the car.
“Okay,” she says softly, handing the phone back to me.
“I’m not going to get there in time. Put the phone in your pocket and on speaker. I’m recording the call.”
Without another word, I do just that. I stand behind her, the shield in case shit goes down. It’s amazing how still she stands, statuesque.
The driver parks the car in front of the main house and exits the car. He glares at Aria and opens the door behind him.
A slender, bare, leg is the only thing I see when the door is opened. The figure pushes herself out of the car. She’s thin and trying for the whole fifties pin up model vibe. Her blonde hair is pulled back so tight it gives her a face lift. She wears a revealing red dress her tits are nearly spilling out of.
She removes the giant sunglasses off her face and holds them loosely in her hands. Her scowl is enough to know her disapproval of the woman who stands before me.
“You’ve made your point, dear. Charlie’s sorry. He got carried away. Come home so we can move on.”
“He didn’t get carried away,” Aria glowers. “You get carried away when you eat too many fun-sized candy bars at Halloween. He shoved me into a grave and promised me he would pick me up in the morning and then didn’t show up until late the next night.”
What the fuck?
“You love him, Aria. He loves you. It’s time to put these ridiculous accusations behind us and move on.”
I half expect Aria to fold. Women like her always return to their abuser. So when she stands tall and squares her shoulders, I’m surprised of what comes out of her mouth.
“I’m not going back. I’m not recanting my statements either. You should take this opportunity to run.”
The woman scoffs, finally noticing my presence.
“Is this what you’re worried about? We all need someone on the side—that’s how you survive this. If you come back home with me, I won’t tell them about him.”
She thinks I’m her boyfriend.
The thought should terrify me, but it doesn’t. I want this bitch off the property.
Aria hesitantly turns towards me and narrows her eyes. “No, he’s not my boyfriend. I only met him a month ago. He’s our family’s vet.” She turns back to the woman and sighs. “What do your parents think about this arrangement you have with Charles? What do they think of the bruises?”
Her lips thin and she tightens the grips her sunglasses so that you can hear the plastic buckling under the pressure.
“Enough. I’m giving you five minutes to get what you need and then we’re going home.”
“I’m not leaving with you.” Her voice is constant and firm. “I stopped loving Charlie a long time ago. He doesn’t love me, just like Charles doesn’t love you. We’re chess pieces, the pawns for optics. I’ve been trying to escape him for a year, and he hasn’t let me go. I want to be left alone, Charlotte. I want Charlie to leave me alone.”
“They’re not going to accept no for an answer,” she snaps.
Aria simply shrugs as if she doesn’t care.
“If I return empty handed, it’s the end of my life.”
“Then don’t go home.”
The driver approaches the woman, Charlotte, and whispers something in her ear.
“Wouldn’t the two of you be happier if you didn’t have the Dodges standing in the way of your chance of happiness?”
“What do you know about that?” she demands.
“I’m an observer. I’ve seen you sneaking around.”
Charlotte swallows nervously.
“You should leave. Or stay. Do whatever you need to do. But I’m not going back and I’m not recanting my statements. But, if you feel like you want to stay, I can make some arrangements.”
“Don’t expect to survive this,” Charlotte’s voice drops.
It was a threat, and I have it all on tape. Why is Aria extending a hand when this woman is threatening her? People like them have resources. They’ll hire hitmen and have them do their dirty work. Why isn’t Aria shaking in her boots?
Charlotte turns on her heel and is let back into the car. When the car is safely out of the driveway, Aria turns to me with fire in her eyes.
“What are you doing?” Her voice raises an octave. Those hazel eyes fire with intensity with a promise to verbally grab me by the balls and castrate me.
And we were getting along so well.
“Agent Olson couldn’t get here in time. I was trying to help—"
“You’re involved now, don’t you get it?”
Dozens of eyes watch
us. Whispers flit amongst the tents.
She swallows nervously, tears welling up in her eyes. “I have it handled, okay? So maybe next time you should mind your own fucking business.” She storms off toward the neighborhood, ignoring all the stares coming from the hungry townspeople.
She’s mad at me?
I recorded that woman threatening her!
“I don’t understand why you’re mad at me. I was just trying to help—"
“I bet that’s how you get all the girls, huh? You’re the knight in shining armor coming to their rescue. I don’t need rescuing, Dr. Hawthorn. My days are numbered, and I’ve come to peace with it. I don’t need your dumbass on my conscience too.”
What the actual fuck?
I race after her, desperate for her to understand I’m nobody’s knight in shining armor. I can get any woman if I so much as winked her way.
“If I wanted a good time with a woman, all I have to do is ask. I don’t play games, Aria. I’ve never needed them.”
“Well bully for you!” We march in the direction of the houses while everyone watches this unfold. “If you’re trying to get in my pants, I can confidently tell you it’s not going to happen. I don’t need you to help me in any way, shape, or form.”
“Your stupid FBI agent told me to keep the call going so he could record it!”
She stops and glares.
“It doesn’t matter! Do you know anything about the Dodges, Dr. Hawthorn? Because I do. They’re exterminators. You inserted yourself when it wasn’t welcome and now your life is going to be on my conscience.”
“I don’t know anything about them, no. But if they want to try to threaten my life, let them. They’re not the only ones with friends in high places.”
She stills.
“Stop following me. Go whore yourself out to any of the women who are at this stupid barbeque, because I’m. Not. Interested.”
She breaks into a sprint toward the house where Nate is staying.
What the hell just happened?
8
ARIA
13 weeks pregnant…
“He was following orders from me,” Agent O reasons, tapping furiously on his laptop, typing up the report to send to his superiors.
Make Me Dream (The Sage Creek Series Book 1) Page 7
