The Hard Way

by Jill Sanders

  He knew that the jukebox was a good investment. After all, he couldn’t afford to hire a band every weekend and, this way, people could enjoy listening to something other than the games on the televisions.

  Besides, the thing would practically pay for itself since people had to pay a dollar for four songs.

  The other benefit was currently in his arms, swaying to one of the most romantic songs ever written. The thought of being able to enjoy lazy days like they’d just had and nights like this, dancing with Mel as the rain continued outside, made him really appreciate his decision.

  Especially since her body felt so wonderful pressed tight up against his own. Her hands were slowly roaming over his shoulders while his own lowered to wrap around her hips. He felt his body reacting to their closeness.

  When she brushed her lips over his neck, he realized he’d stopped moving completely.

  Dipping his head down, he claimed her lips and felt the urgency rush through him to have her. In the almost two months since she’d come into town, the urgency he felt to be with her hadn’t once wavered.

  When he felt her respond to him, he hoisted her up and walked her until her hips rested on the edge of the bar top as they took the kiss deeper.

  “Brent,” she said as she ran her fingers through his hair. “I need…” She arched back when he hoisted her shirt up and over her head and brushed his mouth over her exposed breasts. “Please,” she said on a sigh.

  He felt his body responding to her and knew that there was no way he would be able to carry her up those stairs. Instead, he tugged those sexy grey yoga pants off her hips. They slipped from her legs easily and landed in a pile on the floor.

  When she wrapped her legs around his hips and reached for the clasp of his jeans, he smiled.

  “I’ve always wanted to do it in a bar,” he joked.

  “Now’s your big chance,” she teased as she tugged his jeans off his hips and reached into his back pocket for the condom that she knew he kept there. He held still while she rolled the protection on him. Their eyes locked and the need continued to grow.

  When he slid into her, it was as if he was coming home. He’d never felt so involved before. Had never cared as much as he did with her. This mattered more than it had before.

  A sudden wave of tenderness took over him as he leaned in and covered her mouth with his in a kiss that reflected his inner mood. Their movements slowed as the next song started to play on the jukebox. This time the Drifters sang about the magic moment, and he realized just how magical it was.

  No matter what happened, he would remember his time with Mel for the rest of his life and the exact moment when he’d lost his heart.

  They had just pulled their clothes back on when a knock on the front door sounded.

  “Brent? It’s Dale,” he heard over the sound of thunder.

  The storm had grown progressively worse as the night had grown later.

  He glanced over at Mel and waited until she’d slipped on her tennis shoes before walking over to let Dale inside.

  “Evening,” Dale said to Mel. Brent watched the man’s eyes move around to the candlelight and the empty dishes sitting on the table. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your evening.”

  “It’s okay,” Brent said. “Did you find anything?”

  “No, but the field is too muddy to see any footprints. I had my partner stop by the Phillips’s place.” He sighed. “All family members were present, and agitated that we’d bothered them.”

  “Right,” Brent said with a nod. “Thanks for checking.”

  “No problem.” Dale turned to go, then stopped. “Let us know if you see anyone else sniffing around. You know that the Phillips’ place isn’t far from here, less than half a mile.”

  “Right.” He hadn’t. Actually, he was surprised he didn’t know where any of them lived. Did the sons still live with the parents? The more he thought about it, the more he realized he hadn’t cared until now.

  “I wouldn’t put it past them to do something, but I just can’t see any of them coming out on such a terrible night.” Dale shook his head. “One word everyone in Haven would easily use for the Phillips men is lazy.”

  “Right,” he agreed. “Thanks again.” He shook the man’s hand and let him out before locking the door.

  “If it wasn’t them…” Mel said, and he turned around to see that the soft pink color in her cheeks from their lovemaking had drained, and she was now too pale. She’d wrapped her arms around herself, so he walked over and pulled her into a hug.

  “It was probably them,” he said into her hair. “Let’s head upstairs. I could use some sleep.” He turned and unplugged the jukebox and the music stopped.

  “The dishes.” Mel pulled on his arm.

  “Can wait until the morning,” he assured her. “We need sleep.” He took her hand and walked with her upstairs into their room.

  Before lying down, he glanced out the back window one last time and thought about installing motion sensor floodlights, ones that would light up the entire field if need be, just as long as it made Mel feel safer.

  She laid against him, and he listened to her breathing settle as she fell asleep. It took him a little longer to finally settle down. His mind kept playing over everything Mel had told him about her past.

  The fact was, he still couldn’t get a lot of details from her. She’d mentioned what school she’d gone to, and he knew that it would take just a quick online search to find out more about her.

  But something kept holding him back. Maybe it was the respect he had for her privacy? Maybe it was the fact that he wanted her to tell him herself?

  The next morning, he met with TK and talked to her about the possibility of turning the place into a RV park. Her reaction surprised him.

  “How much money do you need to start this venture?” the woman had asked him.

  “Um, money?” He shrugged. “We haven’t really—”

  “I’m in,” TK said. “I’ve got some savings.”

  He held in a chuckle. “I wasn’t planning…” he started but then he thought about it. He’d sunk everything he had into the bar and grill. He hadn’t once thought about how he was going to pay for the updates needed to make the next phase a possibility.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked her.

  She tilted her head. “Well, since you’ve got ownership, how about a loan with interest?”

  He thought about heading down to a bank and frowned. His credit score wasn’t good. Hell, it might even be in the negative, if that was a thing. Which is why he’d paid cash for everything and had saved every penny he could in the past few years.

  “We might be able to work something out,” he said. “Let me talk it over with Mel.”

  TK nodded. “Let me know. You’ll probably want to offer breakfast. Maybe some picnic options.” She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms over her chest. “You could host events as well. Maybe turn a little portion of the land into a romantic setting? Build a gazebo? Host weddings, birthday parties?”

  “That’s… a great idea.” He smiled and nodded. “Know of anyone who would want to lend a hand in the kitchen?”

  TK smiled. “I’ve got a few connections.”

  Just then Jamie walked in. “Connections for what?”

  By the time Mel walked in, every single one of the Alaqua employees had all chimed in with ideas about possibilities for his land.

  They spent the next half hour replaying some of the highlights for Mel while the kitchen crew started lunch.

  After, he and Mel disappeared into the office and worked on a budget. He made several calls and got quotes for electric, plumbing, and even cement slabs for the trailers to sit on.

  A knock on the office door had them both looking up. Jamie stood there, a slight frown on her lips.

  “There’s a reporter out here,” Jamie said, her eyes turning to Mel.

  “A reporter?” he asked.

  On opening day, he’d been interviewe
d by the local paper and even a paper from the next town over had come and taken pictures of the place. He had copies of both papers hanging up on the wall behind the bar.

  “I’ll be out—”

  “No, she’s looking for…” Jamie nodded towards Mel. “You.” Jamie’s eyes flashed to his, and he understood something was off.

  Standing, he laid a hand on Mel’s shoulder.

  “We’ll be right out,” he said.

  “It might be better… You might want to show her back here?” Jamie suggested. “It’s just… we have a full dining room.”

  He nodded. “Okay, we’ll wait here.”

  He sat back down and turned to Mel as Jamie disappeared. Mel’s face was pale again, and she had yet to move or say anything.

  “Are you okay?” he asked her.

  Her eyes moved to his. “I…” Whatever she was going to say fell away as a thin woman with dark hair and thick glasses and dressed in a stylish skirt and jacket suit stepped into the room.

  “Melinda Hawk,” the woman said slowly. “I thought that was you. I saw you in the dining room earlier.” Brent watched as the woman’s smile turned wicked as she lifted her camera and snapped a few pictures of them before Brent could stand up and block Mel behind him.

  “Can I help you?” he asked.

  The woman spared him a glance. “Sure.” She fumbled and pulled out a phone and flipped it on. “Mind if I record this?” she asked and, without waiting for an answer, asked, “Do you know you are harboring one of the most wanted women in America?”

  Brent’s entire body tensed. “Out.” He motioned towards the door.

  The reporter looked shocked and then actually laughed at him.

  “You don’t, do you?” She shook her head. “Melinda Hawk, daughter of Roy and Belinda Hawk, ex-wife to Ethan Melbourne, is wanted for extortion, intellectual theft, and—”

  “Out!” He practically shouted it. The longer the woman had talked, the paler Mel had become.

  “I’m just–” the woman started, but he walked over and held open the already opened door to his office. “I won’t ask you a second time,” he said softly. “You’re not welcome back on this property. If I see you, I’ll call the police.”

  The woman’s smile grew. “Maybe we should call the police?” She turned towards Mel, who was holding onto the desk. Her knuckles had turned white.

  Brent reached up and took the woman’s arm, just as Dale rushed through the door.

  “I heard there was—” Dale started, and upon seeing Brent trying to get the woman out of his office, stopped talking. “Do we have a problem here?” Dale asked calmly.

  “Yes. This reporter was just leaving my premises, where she is no longer welcome,” Brent said before the woman could say anything.

  Dale, taking the hint, motioned to the open doorway. “I’ll be happy to walk her out.”

  The reporter narrowed her eyes at Mel and then said in the sweetest voice, “This isn’t over.” Then she turned and strolled out in front of Dale, as if he was her personal protection.

  Brent shut the office door and flipped the old blinds shut. Instead of saying anything, he walked over and pulled Mel up into his arms and held her as she shook and cried.

  He didn’t have any doubt that Mel was Melinda Hawk instead of Mel Hawthorn. What he did doubt was that she was responsible for extorting anyone, let alone intellectual theft. He’d seen how little money she had when she’d arrived and how grateful she’d been when he’d given her her first paycheck and taken her shopping. She’d acted like a woman who hadn’t gone shopping for herself in years.

  Someone guilty of those crimes wouldn’t be driving a beat-up secondhand pickup truck and be so excited to shop at Target.

  “Are you okay?” he asked when she settled down.

  “I… I’ll leave,” she said against his chest.

  As a gut reaction, his arms tightened around her.

  “No,” he said quickly, “you won’t.” He placed a kiss on top of her head. “Not because of this. Whatever is in your past, we’ll deal with it, together.”

  Just then there was a knock on the door and TK walked in.

  “Mel?” she asked, worry in the woman’s eyes. “Are you okay?”

  Mel leaned back and wiped her eyes as she nodded. “Yes,” she said, her voice low.

  Instead of leaving, TK stepped into the room and shut the door. “What are we dealing with?” TK asked.

  Brent felt Mel tense beside him but waved the woman further inside. Mel sat back down, her palms lying flat on the desk.

  “After I divorced Ethan, my parents’ transferred money into an account with my name on it. I never touched the money.” Her eyes searched his, and he could see that she was telling the truth. Not that he doubted her in the first place.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “The night that Ethan showed up at my new apartment, he took the checks and probably cleared out that account.” She closed her eyes. “Since I left shortly after, I didn’t know what happened.…” She looked over at TK. “Ethan was a cop and the son of the chief of police. I’d heard that he’d persuaded my parents to file charges against me if I wouldn’t come back to him. I left town. I guess they made their choice.”

  “That bastard,” TK said under her breath.

  “I agree,” Brent added.

  Just then the door burst opened, and Dale stepped in. His eyes went between all three of them.

  TK stood up and laid a hand on his chest. “Not now, brother.”

  He glanced over TK’s head and asked.

  “Is your name Melinda Hawk?” he asked Mel.

  Brent watched her chin rise as she stood. “It is.” She took a deep breath.

  “Shit.” Dale sagged slightly. “I hate to…”

  “Don’t you dare,” TK said calmly. “Not until you hear the whole story.”

  “That’s not my job. Not my decision,” Dale said calmly.

  “He’s right,” Mel said softly as she moved around the desk. She turned to Brent. “I’m sorry.” Then she walked over to Dale. “Let’s go.”

  He stood there, helpless, while Dale followed Mel out of his office and out the back door.

  Chapter 22

  Being booked in the Haven police station was the lowest she’d gotten in her life. Being fingerprinted, photographed, and taken back to a holding cell was the most humiliating time. However, her one saving grace was that Dale stuck with her from the very first moment until she was sitting in the small cell alone.

  When she was asked if she wanted to make her one phone call, she declined, knowing that everyone she would have called already knew where she was.

  She must have only sat in the cell for an hour before Dale was unlocking the door again.

  “You’ve made bail,” he said with a smile.

  “I have?” She frowned. She hadn’t even known bail had been set for her yet.

  “They’re waiting for you,” Dale said, motioning down the hallway. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

  She touched his arm. “You were just doing your job.”

  He nodded. “As I said before, not all of us are asshats.”

  She smiled. “Thanks.”

  When she walked out to the small waiting area, she was slightly shocked to see Dylan standing by Brent’s side, waiting for her.

  Dylan rushed forward and wrapped her arms around her. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes,” she said, trying to hold in her tears. She convinced herself to cry later, when she was alone.

  “Brent told me…” Dylan leaned back. “We’re going to fight this.”

  Instead of answering, she nodded as Brent walked over and took her hand.

  “Let’s go home,” he said softly. “Don’s going to meet us there.”

  Again, she nodded and let him lead her out of the building. She sat in Brent’s truck, silently watching the small town go by outside the window. She was going to miss this place.

  She’d hoped to be ar
ound to see what it looked like in the fall or after the first snowfall, but now… She knew she no longer had a choice. She had to either run or return home and face the music. Either way, Haven, Montana, and Brent McCaw would be in her past.

  Tears stung her eyes as he pulled into the parking lot of the Hard Way. When he parked, she realized that the parking lot was empty.

  “We closed down for the rest of the day,” he said as he shut off the truck.

  “You shouldn’t have,” she said, letting her shoulders sink.

  “You’re part of a new family,” he said, turning towards her. “One that doesn’t take too kindly to bullies.” He motioned towards the door, where TK stood, her arms wrapped around Jamie and Mary. “They wanted to wait and make sure you were okay.” He smiled. “They put together your bond money.”

  That did it. Tears burst from her eyes, blinding her from everything. Brent must have rushed around and opened her door because he was there, his arms wrapped around her as she cried.

  “We’re here,” she heard TK and Jamie say at the same time.

  She blindly stumbled into the building, guided by her friends, the only people in the world who had shown her true kindness and love. The people she’d just convinced herself to leave behind.

  She was nudged into a chair and a glass was set in front of her.

  “Drink,” Jamie said softly.

  When she did, she coughed and choked on the bite of the whiskey.

  Several people chuckled, causing her to smile.

  “Jesus, Jamie, warn a girl first,” she joked, and then she downed the entire shot.

  “If you want milk or water, go to the Dancing Moose,” Jamie said with a chuckle. “Here at the Hard Way, we do things…”

  “Hard,” three other people cheered at the same time.

  “Damn straight,” Mel said with a sigh as she looked down at her hands and the empty shot glass. “I’ve made a mess of things.”

  “No,” Brent said, sitting next to her, “we have.”

  “We should have shown you that you can trust us. We’re here for you now,” TK said. “No one messes with family and you’re family.” She laid a hand on Mel’s shoulder. Mel reached up and laid a hand over TK’s.