Ari watched me the whole time with a soft smile, and when it left me, she murmured, “I love seeing you laugh.”
“You always find a way, baby.”
The smile widened into a grin as she moved up onto her tiptoes and kissed me gently before moving away to make our coffees.
Free and easy laughter had been rare for me over the years, but finally, it was coming back to me.
And I loved it.
But then, I loved her.
Twelve
Ariana
“Why are we out here again?” Beau asked for the tenth time since we’d walked out to wait for Sadie in the parking lot behind the bar.
“Because Sadie said she had something she wanted to show us.”
I’d been slightly later than usual this morning because Parker had asked me to spend the night at his tonight. Of course a lady had to pack stuff for something like that, and it didn’t include old pajamas or ones with Welcome To The Jungle written across the ass.
I was glad for Sadie’s distraction, though, because my brain felt like it was scattered in a million directions. I was thinking about the kid who needed his dad’s liver, I hadn’t gone for a run in two days, and I didn’t know what was going to happen tonight or if I’d shaved properly. Hardly plans of world domination, but they were still stopping me from relaxing.
Just then, the deep growl of an engine even I could hear needed some work rumbled from the other side of the building.
“Ari,” Elijah hissed, appearing next to me. “She was looking at an F250 online last week. I’m hoping like hell she didn’t go ahead and buy it.”
“Leave her alone, you big bully. She can buy whatever vehicle she wants.”
“How would she get into it? She’s the size of a pixie,” Levi added, overhearing what Elijah had said.
This was a good point. I knew it wasn’t easy getting into one if you were shorter than me—although it was amusing to watch my sisters-in-law try—and at Sadie’s height, that would be even worse.
Still, hoes before bros, right?
“She’ll find a way. She’s one of the most determined people I’ve ever met.”
An old Mustang convertible pulled into the parking lot, spitting up gravel and bringing a cloud of smoke with it, and effectively stopping the discussion in its tracks. My family had wanted to be here to celebrate her surprise—all of us assuming it was a good one—so there was a large crowd of us who all lifted our hands, coughing as we waved our hands through the air to clear it.
“What do you think?” she squealed, standing on the driver’s seat to look over the windshield at us all. “Isn’t she a beauty? I got myself a ten second car!”
Hearing the iconic Fast & Furious quote, we all looked at Gramps, who’d attempted to recreate a scene from one of the movies with a safe recently. Spoiler alert: he failed at it and totally fucked up his car, and was still in deep shit with Grams for it.
“She’s… uh, well, she’s gorgeous, honey,” Gramps called back, having the decency to blush as he avoided our smirks at the lie.
“Ten second car?” Elijah hissed. “That wouldn’t be a ten second car if you dropped it off a fucking cliff.”
He wasn’t wrong.
“Yeah, I got her for a steal.”
“Uh, did you make sure it wasn’t stolen?” Levi asked as he walked around it.
“Duh! I FaceTime’d Dad while I was there so he could see it and put the fear of God in the guy selling it.”
Apparently her dad hadn’t been scary enough.
Walking over to it, Elijah squatted down and started looking it over with Levi and Tate. Gramps, though, told her to pop the hood so he could check the engine.
I was still standing far enough behind them that I didn’t see what it looked like when the hood went up, but it wasn't good judging from the groans and curses.
“Yeah, she needs a little bit of work…” Sadie admitted, getting incredulous looks from the men, “but I think she’ll be a beaut when it’s all done.”
Out of curiosity, I joined them and looked at where they were staring again. The first thing I asked was, “Isn’t that little pot thingy meant to have a lid on it?” I mean, mine did. I didn’t look at the engine often, but I’d popped the hood a couple of times, and there was always a cap that screwed on and off the container I was pointing to.
“Fuck me,” Elijah groaned. “Yes, where you put your oil normally has a lid on it, not aluminum foil.”
Is that what that was?
Avoiding Sadie’s eyes, I pointed at a cable. “Normally, when my phone charger looks like that, I get a new cable for it. Are cars different?”
“That’s the battery for it,” Elijah sighed. “And, no, it’s not meant to look like that.”
I decided I wasn’t going to mention the rust covering all of it and the amount of corrosion I could see.
Putting my best game face on, I shot Sadie a big grin. “It’s beautiful!” —at least it would be with a lot of work—“These are only little problems—” I was going to hell “—minor little cosmetic things that can be fixed easily!” I assured her, avoiding my family’s eyes.
“I thought so,” she beamed. “I was thinking if I got an old toothbrush and just gave it a little rub, most of that’ll come off, right?”
All the men stared at her with a mixture of horror and sympathy, then exchanged a look that assured me they’d be making it beautiful and safe for her. The interesting thing was, they all looked at Elijah afterward, giving him the lead on it.
“Pixie, I don’t think that’ll work,” he started, using the name Levi had called her. “We’ve all done up cars in the past, though, so we’ll help you out.”
It was the most diplomatic I’d ever heard him. Usually he just barked out orders or did whatever he wanted, and judging by the looks on the faces of the other men, they were thinking the same thing.
“Nah, I’ll fix it tonight—”
Jumping in before the men could say anything, I grabbed her hand. “Let them do it. They’ve got all the tools and stuff.”
“I promise you we’ll get it perfect for you, Sadie,” Gramps promised just as Grams joined us, seeing the car for the first time.
“Hey, who got the ten second car?” she asked, then spun around to glare at Gramps. “I swear, if this is your next attempt to do something stupid you’ve seen in one of those movies, I’ll shove the exhaust so far up your—”
“It wasn’t me,” he snapped, holding his hands up in front of him, then angling a finger in Sadie’s direction. “She bought it.”
“It’s beautiful, Sadie,” Grams beamed. “Hey, can we go for a ride?”
Literally every last one of us—the car’s owner included—yelled at the same time, “No!”
The text I’d just received from Parker had left me feeling a bit happier. The liver hadn’t been damaged and was being transplanted into the young boy. I couldn’t imagine what he was going through, having such a major surgery and grieving for his dad at the same time. He had a long road ahead of him with his recovery and saying goodbye to a parent.
Moving down to where Sadie was leaning on the bar and discussing something with Elijah, I waited for a break in their conversation. “Hey, Sadie, can I ask you a question about your mom? Would you mind?”
“Sure?”
“How bad was it when you lost her?”
“Pretty bad,” she said, blowing out a breath. “She was a fun person, the cool mum, you know? At night, we’d make dinner together and be singing and dancing in the kitchen because she swore it took away the stress of the day. She was just one of those people who always turned a bad situation into one you could conquer.”
Elijah was watching her intently, listening to every word with a grim look on his face.
“I’m sorry, girl. I didn’t mean to bring up something that upsets you.”
“Nah,” she waved a hand, a sad smile on her face. “You’ve got to talk about people to keep them alive. Plus, Mum was just bri
lliant. Every time we wanted to do something, she’d encourage us to at least give it a whirl, saying ‘You’ve got to be in it to win it, innit’, so that we’d try everything once.”
That made the three of us chuckle. “You’re a lot like her, hey?”
“Yeah, I look like her, too.”
“What about your brother and sister?”
“My brother looks just like Dad, and my sister is a perfect fifty-fifty of both of them.”
“Where does your dad live?” Elijah asked, leaning closer to us.
“In Austin. He’s really busy, so he’s only been to see me twice.”
“Why didn’t you move closer to him? It takes, what, two hours to get there?”
Shrugging, she leaned her elbow on the bar and rested her chin on her hand. “Roughly an hour and twenty minutes. It’s only about seventy miles away, so it’s not that bad.”
Her tone had changed from when she talked about him previously, like she was a bit more guarded about him.
“What does he do?” Elijah asked carefully, picking up on what I had.
Clearing her throat, she blushed and looked everywhere apart from at us. “Uh, he works for the government?”
Cocking his head to the side, Elijah looked at her suspiciously. “Is that a question?”
“No?”
“What does he do for the government?”
“Stuff?”
“Stuff,” he nodded, humming afterward while he watched her. “What kind of stuff? The government does a lot of it.”
“Oh, you know, like administration, listening to complaints, uh working on making things better.”
I was trying to narrow down what kind of position would do that when Elijah made a noise and sat up so quickly the stool rocked under him. “He’s Governor fuckin’ Dahl, isn’t he?”
Holy shit, now it all made sense.
Rubbing the back of her neck, Sadie focused on a spot on the other side of the bar. “Uh, well, he doesn’t go by the name ‘fucking’. Sometimes he answers to wanker, other times he answers to Dad, but—”
“Cut the shit, pixie. I’m right, aren’t I?” Depending on the tone you used, those words could be really bad, but Elijah sounded relieved at this huge nugget of information.
Me? I was intrigued as fuck. Hand to God, I’d never have guessed she was related to a man I respected as much as Ned Dahl, and it just made her even more awesome.
“Honey, this is awesome news,” I reassured her when she stayed silent, her hands twisting the hem of her t-shirt. “The man is a legend. He’s one of the most productive and respected Governor’s in the history of the country.”
She didn’t look convinced by my words, though. “I try to stay clear of his political side, Ari. Not everyone feels the same way you do about him. Plus, it’s just not me. I like being my own person. Every time someone found out who my dad was when I came to visit him, they’d either turn into someone they weren’t to try and impress me, spit vitriol about him, or they’d try to use me to get closer to him.”
Now that I could imagine happening. People were big, hairy shits when it came to doing anything and everything they could to get ahead.
“Pixie, there’s always going to be someone who uses people for personal gain. It happens in every area of life. They think it’s an easy climb to success, but people aren’t that dumb anymore. They see it happening, and the level of respect for the person goes to hell. Those people are their own worst enemies,” Elijah said firmly, reaching over to tilt her chin so she was looking at him. “If someone doesn’t see that you’re an amazing person—and I mean this, babe—then it’s on them, not you. You get me?”
Her smile was still tight when she nodded, so I added, “Sadie, we all loved you before we knew this. Heck, my brother said last week how much sales had gone up since you started here, all because you’re such a character. You’ve got a personality that draws people in, so if they only look at you as some coattails to ride to get to your dad, that means they’re the ones lacking, doesn’t it?”
“I think the sales have gone up because of those stupid viewing nights your arsehole of a brother’s set up,” she grumbled, but to be fair, that probably was part of the reason.
Shrugging, even though I wanted to smack his head against cow shit repeatedly, I pointed out, “Well, you’re in them, aren’t you?”
Rolling her eyes, she looked back at Elijah when he poked her in the shoulder. “Yes, your majesty?”
“I like that. You can call me it from now on,” Elijah chuckled, his eyes dancing. “Only you, though. Maybe you can call me your king?”
“Like hell.”
“We’ll see.” Before Sadie could reply to that, he continued, “Just so you know, the only reason I’ll ever hang around you is because of you. Ask Ariana and the rest of my family, I hate people and don’t like spending a lot of time with them.”
“You spend time here,” she pointed out.
The expression on his face left and was replaced with a completely blank look. “Mmm, that I do.”
Not for the first time since Levi and Charlotte’s first Christmas together, I wondered what the hell was going on with my cousin. I knew he’d left the Coast Guard, but I didn’t know why or what he was doing now. I’d tried to get his story out of him, but he was tightlipped about it, even to my brothers and Gramps, and the way he’d reacted just now was cagier than normal—and normal for Levi was pretty fucking cagy.
Looking behind him, I watched Grams walk slowly up to him with her index fingers pointing at him. If anyone else did what she was about to do, he’d lose his shit, but he was close to her and indulged her in most things. Proving my point, he glanced at me and rolled his eyes, knowing what was about to happen. Did he have superpowers? No, he was sitting in front of a great honking mirror.
Sure enough, he let out a yelp and jumped dramatically when she jabbed them into his sides.
I think out of all of us, she was the one he’d most likely talk to about shit, so I made a mental note to ask her, just to make sure he was okay.
Why was my family so fucking complicated?
Someone clearing their throat from the other end of the bar signaled I had a customer waiting to be served, so I left the tiny blonde Brit, my complicated cousin, and my beloved grandmother to talk and made my way down to them.
When I got closer, I realized it was the same woman who’d previously asked questions about my family and Parker. This time her hair was long and auburn, contrasting with her pale complexion and dark brown eyes. Plenty of women wore wigs to change the style and color when they wanted to, but it just added to how off she made me feel about her.
“Hey, how are you doing?” she asked as I stopped in front of her.
This close to her, I could see that she’d also done something to change her face. If I hadn’t spent so many years contouring to try and change how my nose looked, I doubt I’d have noticed it—but I was familiar with all the techniques used. And it made alarm bells blare like a siren.
Deciding the best thing to do was to act like I didn’t recognize her, I smiled brightly. “Hey there, how can I help you?”
“Do you have any red wine?”
The question was dumb, considering we had a display with all of the wines we served behind us and a list of them beside it.
“Sure do. We’ve got a Bordeaux, a Cabernet Sauvignon, three types of Zinfandel, a Pinot Noir, a really nice Malbec and a 2017 Rioja Reserva that’ll knock your socks off.” Then, pointing at the list, I added, “If you read that, you’ll see the different tastes and grapes used in each one.”
Her eyes moved quickly from the list back to me, almost like she was assessing me to check if I recognized her or not. Deliberately keeping my expression light, I smiled at her like any other waitress waiting patiently for a customer to decide.
“I’ll just have a large glass of the Cabernet Sauvignon, please.”
Turning to get her order, I caught Elijah and Sadie watching me serve her.
>
This was the fifth time she’d come into the bar now, and the change to her appearance was so freaking strange. I could either keep my mouth shut like a sensible person, or I could ask questions and probably get myself into shit.
Eh, who was I kidding? I was totally going with the second option.
“Are you from around here?”
“Uh, sort of.”
Hmm…
Shooting her a smile over my shoulder at her as I poured, I nodded understandingly. “Yeah, there’s a lot of places that fall under that category. Well, we’re happy you chose to visit us here.”
Seeing that the wine was to the line it needed to be, I put the bottle back and took the glass over to her. This time I could see her side profile because she had her head turned to the side, looking around at the other patrons. At this angle, I could clearly make out the change in color of the makeup she’d used to change her nose, cheeks, and jaw.
Turning back to me, she asked, “Are you from around here?”
“Yup.” It was something she already knew, but I was content to play her game.
“I’ll bet you have a lot of family here, too.”
“Yup.” This time, I forced myself to add a wide smile.
“What about your boyfriend? A girl as pretty as you definitely has one of those.” She almost had to spit the words out, like she was struggling to get them out of her mouth.
And that got me thinking—what if her interest was with me? I’d never been on the receiving end of attention like that from a woman, so I didn’t know what to do. She was too prickly, and her manner was overly aggressive. Had I read it wrong before? And why the wig and makeup?
I’d been raised to be polite—ish, because there were always exceptions made for assholes—to people, and I was a staunch supporter of everyone, including the LGBTQ+ community. Love is love, and everyone deserved love regardless of color or religion, or gender.
The last thing I wanted to do was make her feel ashamed or embarrassed if that was what this was about. It was a strong possibility, but something told me that wasn’t what this was. Still, I’d proceed with caution just in case.
Forbidden Gold (Providence Gold Book 5) Page 18
