Inked Memories (Montgomery Ink Book 8)

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  Everly shrugged before pulling away from Storm to give Jillian a one-armed hug. It would have boggled Wes’s mind that the two women could become so close in such a short amount of time, but Everly was a sweet and open woman who cared about those close to her with a fierce intensity.

  “Thanks for looking,” Everly said with a smile. “And I’d hug you more, but since you just came from digging around toilets…”

  Jillian batted her eyelashes. “That’s me. Toilets and clogs. It’s no wonder the men are chasing after me.”

  Storm snorted and gently tugged Everly back to his side. “Sounds about right. If they only knew what covered your boots right now.”

  Wes narrowed his eyes and looked down at the work boots she wore. “What is on your boots that you’re tracking through my jobsite?” He held back a wince at the harshness of his tone. He never meant to sound like an ass, but Jillian brought out the worst in him.

  Storm sighed under his breath, and Everly muttered something he didn’t quite catch. Jillian, however, just raised that brow of hers and snorted.

  “Don’t worry, Wesley, I wore booties when I was in there. I wouldn’t demean myself by daring to dirty your precious floors.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Storm pull Everly away toward the back of the building. His twin was probably getting sick and tired of being the middle of Jillian’s and Wes’s tiffs. Frankly, Wes was tired of it too, but there was just something about her that got under his skin and made him lash out like a man half his age.

  “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

  “Whatever.” She brushed him off. “I’m just doing my job. Something you pay me to do, right? I need to head over to the Anderson house, by the way, to do the final check on my end of things so you can sign off. Is there anything you need me here for today?” She sounded so professional, but beneath the words, he heard the annoyance in her tone.

  “There’s some plumbing I’d like her to check, if you know what I mean,” one of the guys working on the demo muttered under his breath as he walked by.

  Jillian froze for an instant, her face paling before she tightened her jaw and dashes of red covered her cheekbones—from anger or embarrassment, Wes didn’t know.

  Either way, he was pissed.

  Jillian reached out and grabbed his arm as he turned to yell at the guy. “Don’t. It’s not worth it,” she whispered under her breath. “Just let it go.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “This isn’t the first time he’s said something. Is it?”

  She raised her chin. “It doesn’t matter. Just let it go,” she repeated.

  “Sorry, no can do.” He pulled away from her, annoyed that her touch left a heated trail on his skin. He went to Jeff’s side and tapped him on the shoulder. The guy looked surprised for a moment before scowling.

  Jeff turned around and frowned before setting down his stuff. The man was around Wes’s age but looked far older since he drank and partied hard when he wasn’t working. He sneered over at Jillian before seeming to think better of it and turning again to Wes. They were out of earshot of others, but Wes had a feeling if the man started yelling, there was no way to hide it.

  “Yeah?”

  “First, apologize for that sexist and poor comment. You’re opening yourself—and our company—up to sexual harassment lawsuits because you’re an asshole. Second, pack your bags and get off our site. You’re fired.”

  “You’re fucking kidding me, right? For this bitch? I’ve been working for this company for years. Hell, your daddy is the one who hired me. You have no right.”

  Wes’s hand tightened on his tablet, and he blew out a breath so he wouldn’t hit the man. “I have every right. You never treat anyone like you just did. You hear me?”

  “Fuck this shit. And fuck you. Must be great having that nice ass to bang when you’re not living in your high castle.”

  He stormed off, and Wes stood there, his chest heaving. There was no way the others hadn’t heard that, even though he’d tried to keep the conversation private. But there was no damn way he was going to let that man work for Montgomery Inc. if he treated his coworkers—or hell, any woman—like that.

  Wes stepped around the corner, and the others got back to work quickly, acting as if they hadn’t been listening. Storm and Everly were nowhere to be seen, but he knew they’d hear about it soon.

  Jillian, however, stood exactly where she’d been, her arms folded across her chest and her face red.

  “Jillian—”

  “Thanks for that. I guess. But from now on, I can handle things myself.”

  He clenched his jaw, anger spilling out with his words. “No. This is my company. My family’s company. No one gets to treat you like that. Or anyone else for that matter. If you have a problem with the way I run things, then you can get the hell out of here, too.” He didn’t mean the last part, but he was pissed off that anyone would say shit like that to her. And, apparently, this wasn’t the first time.

  She raised her chin once more, her nostrils flaring. “Whatever, Wesley.” And with that, she picked up her things and walked out of the building, leaving him standing there like an idiot.

  “My name’s not fucking Wesley,” he growled, knowing no one was listening to him. Or, at least, that’s what he thought.

  “Just fucking ask her out already,” Decker mumbled as he passed by. “Seriously.”

  “He’s right, you know,” Meghan singsonged. Apparently, the two of them hadn’t heard what had happened with Jeff yet or they’d be singing another tune.

  “Just shut up,” Wes snarled and turned on his heel. He had things to do today, and none of them included growling over a woman he didn’t want to want.

  He didn’t know much about what his future would bring, but he did know one thing for sure—Jillian Reid was not for him. Ever.

  Chapter Two

  Jillian Reid put the last of the dishes into the dishwasher and closed the door. She’d already added soap, so it was just a quick press of a couple of buttons, and her dad would probably have enough dishes for the week. Not that it mattered since she’d be over tomorrow and the day after that to make sure things were clean and he had food. He might be starting to resent her for helping out so much at her childhood home, but that was just something he’d have to deal with because there was no way she’d let her dad not have everything he needed.

  Her hands tightened on the counter in front of her, and she let out a slow breath, trying to calm the anxious anger that seemed to be so prevalent in her life these days. Once, she’d been the smiling one, the woman who was sarcastic when she wanted but honestly doing okay in the grand scheme of things. She’d had an on-again, off-again, not-really-a-boyfriend in Storm and she’d liked it. They’d had each other to lean on and were still friends. Only now, they weren’t sleeping together whenever they felt like it. She’d known for too long that they were using each other as a crutch, but it truly hadn’t mattered then.

  She had more than Storm, of course. She had her softball league and the guys she played pool with down at her favorite bar. She even had her girlfriends that she’d met through Storm since the Montgomerys tended to take people in and never let them go.

  Jillian had taken a hard look at her life recently, however, and didn’t like who she’d become. She’d used her friends—and Storm in particular—as a crutch, a shield against living her own life and finding peace.

  And no matter how many semi-close friends she had or how many times she’d been on and off again with Storm in his bed, she’d been alone. So, when she finally pushed Storm away into Everly’s waiting arms, she’d thought she would finally be able to get her life together and find her own happily ever after. Apparently, she was more of a romantic than she thought.

  But ever since her dad fell, and everything had shattered around her, she hadn’t been able to catch her breath. She’d been so damn scared that she would lose her father, that she’d fallen apart right in front of her co-workers.<
br />
  Including Wes.

  Damn it. If she had fallen apart in front of anyone else but him, she might have let it go, but since her life could never work out the way she planned, of course he had been the one to see.

  “Jilly-bean?”

  She started at the sound of her dad’s voice and hurriedly dried off the counter and hung up the dishtowel before heading out of the kitchen and toward the living room. Hopefully, he wouldn’t notice the redness of her cheeks or, if he did, would think it was because she’d been working too hard.

  “Hey, Dad.” She leaned down and kissed his cheek before pulling back and giving him a bright smile.

  He narrowed his eyes at her—a trait she’d picked up from him at a young age—and shook his head. “What’s wrong, Jilly-bean?”

  “Nothing.” She turned away and picked up the throw blanket from the couch and moved to tuck it over his lap.

  He glared before pulling it away from her, his hands shaking with such severity he ended up dropping the blanket over his legs.

  She swallowed hard but did her best not to let her emotions show on her face. Her dad was the only person she had left in the world, and just the sight of him looking so frail made her want to go to her knees and beg God for any kind of promise He could give her. She didn’t go to church and, frankly, wasn’t even sure what religion she was, but she would start searching if it meant it gave her more time with her father.

  More time to breathe. More time to learn. More time to live.

  But Parkinson’s didn’t listen to hopes and prayers. At least, not in her case.

  “Don’t lie to me, young lady.” Her father’s body might be failing far quicker than either of them could have imagined, but his voice was still just as stern when he wanted it to be. “You better not be worried about me. I’m doing okay for myself.”

  She gave him a small smile that she knew didn’t reach her eyes before sighing and taking a seat on the edge of the coffee table.

  “I know you are. I’m just feeling a little blah.”

  “Man troubles?” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Do I need to go kick some butt? I mean, Storm’s a little big, but I can take him. Probably.”

  Jillian couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of her dad and Storm in a bare-knuckle brawl. They’d probably end up rolling their eyes at each other before going for a beer instead.

  Her dad just shook his head, a smile playing on his face. “I’m not sure how to take that laugh, Jilly-bean.”

  “It’s not Storm. I promise. He’s happy with Everly, and I like Everly. Plus, well, I don’t love Storm the way that she does, so it’s not like I lost out on what was meant to be. We’re still friends.”

  “I’ll never understand you young ones these days. Sleeping with each other and not committing.”

  She snorted. “Okay, Dad, you sound like you’re eighty right now, not in your late fifties. And excuse me? I know you’ve been in non-relationships with women over the years. It’s not like you’ve been a monk, mister.”

  Her dad waved her away, his hand still shaking. “We’re not talking about that. You’re supposed to be an innocent virgin, and I’m the caring dad who gave all to raise you on my own.”

  Jillian immediately sobered. “You did give all. And you did a fantastic job, if I do say so myself.”

  She’d been three years old when her parents divorced, so she didn’t remember her mother that much, though she had vague dreams every now again of put-on sighs and yelling. Her mom had decided that she didn’t want to be a mom at all and had left without a look back.

  Maybe if her mom had remained single, floating from one thing to another over the years, Jillian wouldn’t be so bitter about it, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, her mom had found the love of her life in Boca Raton, married him in a lavish wedding that Jillian hadn’t been invited to, and now had two very blond, very preppy teens who loved to play tennis.

  Somehow, Jillian had woken up in a bad sitcom where she was the outsider who just wanted a mother’s love. It had taken her far too long to realize that she wouldn’t be getting anything like that and that her father was the best man in the world. Of course, she’d known the latter all of her life. Yet now that she was looking his mortality in the face, she wasn’t sure how she would be able to make it when things took a turn for the worse.

  “I’m okay,” her dad whispered, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Stop worrying about me. I’m all healed up from falling off that ladder, and the bruising around my chest is long gone. Yes, it exacerbated my symptoms, but I’m going to call it a blessing. Because before the fall, I ignored what was happening with me. I thought it was just a headache or getting older. I didn’t realize what was going on.”

  Until it was too late.

  But neither of them said that.

  Before she could figure out what to say, her phone chirped on the kitchen island, and she sighed.

  “Go answer that. You don’t need to hover.” He winked as he said it, and she just rolled her eyes. Yes, she was hovering, but who could blame her?

  Her phone chirped again, and she heaved herself up from the coffee table and headed to the kitchen. The two text messages on her screen made her eyes cross, and she desperately wanted to ignore them, but since she was the new girl, she couldn’t do that. Especially not after the scene that asshole and Wes had made the day before.

  Dealing with men and their extremely sexist and dirty jokes about pipes, plumbing, and grabbing long tubes was part of her job. A part she despised and wished weren’t the case, but it wasn’t going away just because Wes fired one person. Montgomery Inc. was actually the nicest company she’d worked for with many women in each area of construction, but she was the only female plumber. And while it would be nice to believe that everything would be even better now, she knew it wouldn’t be. Wes had singled her out, and Jeff’s friends who thought Wes—and therefore, Jillian—was too sensitive would probably try to make her feel like shit.

  She’d have rather stood up for herself without the boss getting in the way.

  Her phone chirped a third time, and she growled.

  Wes: Can you come to the bookstore this afternoon? We got ahead on one side of the project and could use your eyes.

  Wes: This isn’t a command, just a request.

  Storm: What Wes is trying to say as I look over his shoulder is that if you have time, stop by. Thanks.

  Her phone chirped again.

  Wes: Just come.

  Jillian replied back quickly that she’d be there soon so they could stop texting her and stuffed her phone in her back pocket.

  “I need to head to the bookstore,” she called out as she turned around. She swallowed the emotion clogging her throat as she saw that her father had fallen asleep in his comfy armchair. She went to his side and tucked him in more, then made sure his phone was by his side as well as something to drink and a snack for when he woke up. He’d been sleeping more lately, and she hated that he needed the rest so much.

  Pulling herself away from him, she headed out of his house and got into her truck. She was only twenty minutes or so away from downtown Denver where Everly’s bookstore, the Montgomery tattoo shop, and a few of her friends’ businesses were located. She loved driving around town since the suburbs were all so connected that it wasn’t that far—or at least didn’t seem that far—of a drive most days.

  Luckily, she found space to park behind the store since there weren’t that many places with the buildings so close together. As soon as she got out of her truck, Everly walked toward her from the back door of the store. Since it was her place, it made sense that the other woman would be there, but for some reason, Jillian hadn’t been expecting it. She figured as they moved their way through the project that Everly wouldn’t be there every day, but for now, it seemed she wanted to see what she could do.

  The place had been damaged pretty badly in the fire that had consumed almost all of Everly’s stock, most of her memories of the place, and all of
the facade. Thankfully, the bones of the place were still in good shape, and none of the surrounding stores had been damaged thanks to the efforts of the hardworking Denver fire stations. Though the arsonist had tried to take so much from Everly, Jillian’s friend wasn’t backing down and planned to do her best to rebuild and start fresh.

  Something the other woman had done more than once in her life, and Jillian couldn’t help but respect that.

  “Hey, you, I didn’t know you’d be here today,” Everly said with a smile.

  “I could say the same for you.” Jillian hugged the other woman tightly before going to the back of her truck to get her things. “Do you have the boys today?” She looked around for the towheaded wonders that she had fallen in love with at first sight but she didn’t see them.

  Everly shook her head. “They’re with their grandparents today.”

  Jillian’s eyes widened, but she caught the tension in Everly’s shoulders. The twins’ grandparents were Everly’s former in-laws and weren’t exactly the nicest people in the world. In fact, Jillian was pretty sure that, at one point, the couple had threatened to sue for custody or some crap like that.

  “Really? Are you okay?” She reached out and gripped the other woman’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

  Everly blew out a breath. “Yes, I’m fine. This is the second time they’ve watched the boys without Storm and I there, and it’s going well. After the accident and everything coming out about Jackson, they sort of changed.” She shrugged. “I don’t know that I’ll ever feel fully comfortable with them since they were horrible to me for so long, but we’re all trying for the twins.”

  Jillian shook her head before gesturing for them to walk toward the bookstore. “For those boys, I’m pretty sure most of us would do anything, but still, if you need someone to talk to about your in-laws and all the crap they put on you, just let me know.” It was weird that she would even be saying anything like that considering that Everly was engaged to Jillian’s former best friend with benefits, but she tried not to look too closely at that.