by Debra Kayn
She shook her head. "Bad night."
"You're off early. Did they ever get the power back on?" He brought her into the garage.
"No. Jerry let everyone go and closed the bar." She thrust her hand in her hair. "Curley was nice. He freaked me out when he grabbed me in the dark, but I was glad he was around."
"I heard." He studied her and frowned. "Something else is bothering you."
She laughed harshly. "I don't understand people and how narrowminded they can be."
"About me...?" He shrugged. "It doesn't matter."
"Well, it sort of does matter." She grimaced, hating to tell him. "When it's my mom saying she's scared for me, and I need to stay away from you."
His expression never changed. Not a flinch.
"I'm not going to stop coming over here." She sprawled her hands on his chest.
"Maybe you should." His hands remained at his sides.
"What?" She rocked back on her heels. "Why would you even say that?"
He walked over to his rollaway. "This isn't the kind of life you deserve. You shouldn't have to sneak over to see me. You've got a mom and sister, who love you, and you love them. A job you enjoy. You shouldn't be afraid of living your life or dealing with other people's flak for being with me."
"You can't tell me what I want. Nobody can." Her voice raised. "I want you."
He opened the top drawer and removed a wrench. "How's that working for you?"
"It's working just fine," she snapped.
"Not for me." He walked over to the truck and looked under the hood. "I have enough to do worrying about keeping myself alive and free. I can't be worrying about you."
A chill swept over her. "What are you saying?"
"Stay away. Make things right with your mom and your sister. Stop defending me to everyone." He continued cranking the wrench. "Go home, fox. It's over."
She gawked at his back. "After everything we've been through, you're sending me away?"
He pulled a wire out of the truck and set it on the bumper, then leaned over the frame again. She waited for him to tell her he was joking or explain to her how they could make things work between them.
They were always meant to be together. He needed her. She needed him.
"You don't mean that," she whispered.
He pounded on the truck. Metal against metal, echoing in the large open area. Ringing in her hollow chest.
"Nelson?" Her body shook, and she hugged her middle. "You don't mean—"
She flinched at the sudden loud noise. He was tuning her out. He wouldn't listen.
"Please," she mouthed, tears falling.
He strode over to the air compressor, put an impact tool on the nozzle, and returned to the truck. The loud rat-a-tat-tat pierced her. Her back curved, and the pain of him forcing her away crippled her.
She left him in the garage, ignoring her, and went outside. The door shut, cutting off the rat-a-tat-tat of the impact driver.
Dragging her feet to the fence, she silently begged him to come after her and let her back in, to tell her he was frustrated. That's all. She was, too.
They always fought, then made up. He was stubborn. She was persistent.
Nelson was hers. She was his fox.
Chapter 27
Nelson
THE MEMBERS OF TARKIO Motorcycle Club got off their motorcycles in the parking lot of Riverside Bar. Nelson remained sitting on his Harley after going on a ride with them over to St. Regis earlier. A pleasure ride that brought little relief.
Curley stopped on his way to the door and looked back at Nelson. "You're not coming in?"
He shook his head. "I've grown fond of my paint job. I don't feel like leaving my Harley out here and having to fix the damage again."
"Suit yourself." Curley put two fingers to his forehead and saluted him. "You know where to find us."
He also knew where he'd find Scarlett.
But if he wanted her to go on with her life, he needed to stay away from her. Every time she was near, he gave up caring what the world thought of them together.
The breaking point came knowing she'd received flak from her mom. He wouldn't take her away from her family. Growing up the way he had, he knew it was vital for her to have people who supported and loved her.
As dysfunctional as the Harris family were with the multiple marriages Scarlett's mom had gone through, no steady father-figure in Scarlett or Hazel's life, he'd witnessed the relationship between the all-female family over the years. They were important and furiously protective of each other.
Scarlett was given a chance at a happy life growing up, he wouldn't take that from her now.
A gust of wind picked up dust and blew the particles in his direction. He narrowed his eyes, letting the breeze cool him off. It'd been a hot day, but the weather changed on their ride home, fitting his mood. He wouldn't be surprised if some heat lightning lit up the sky tonight.
His life could've turned out differently if his mom had lived. But she hadn't, and he'd paid for her death every time his dad raised a hand to him. In a lot of ways, he continued to pay.
It wouldn't surprise him if his dad had a deal with the devil, and that's why he was still being punished.
The front door of the bar opened, and Scarlett marched outside, heading toward him. Red hair streaming behind her, she swished her arms back and forth, propelling herself forward. She stared at him with fire in her eyes.
He'd been right. There was a storm coming, and it was aimed at him.
He tried to gather enough irritation at seeing her outside when she should be working inside, but she looked damn good after barely catching glimpses of her over the last week.
"You don't want me, and yet you think it's okay to sit outside while I work?" She shooed him. "Go. Leave."
He could've gone home after the ride, but he'd stopped at the bar with the other bikers because he'd wanted to see her. It was only when he'd arrived that he'd gathered enough strength to stop himself from walking inside the bar.
Toeing the kickstand, he started the Harley and rode past her. She was right. He shouldn't have come.
Curley and the others would watch out for her. He wasn't needed, and apparently not wanted.
As he turned down the street toward home, he peered ahead of him, looking for anything that would warn him that Steel Mechanics had been vandalized again. Besides the outline of where the graffiti stained the garage doors, which no amount of scrubbing removed, everything looked exactly like he'd left it that morning.
He rode up to the front door, let himself in, then opened the garage door to the first bay. Putting his Harley inside, he closed the building up and made sure the doors were locked. A new habit he'd formed since the attacks.
Missoula wasn't the quiet and safe place he remembered as a kid. He no longer trusted his neighbors. It wasn't safe for Scarlett to run around by herself.
He walked to the stairs. A breeze blew in, and he stopped. It took him a couple seconds to figure out the reason his skin prickled.
There was wind inside the building.
Walking toward the back of the garage, he rounded the shelving unit and found the door wide open.
The hair on his arms stood up. He peered around the interior. Late last night, he'd gone out the back door to haul out the used parts on the truck he'd completed for the customer. He was positive he'd locked it.
Going to the opening, he looked around the vacant lot. His muscles tensed, knowing he'd put a gate between his place and Scarlett's house that any adult could use to gain access to her. He should've left it alone. Only a child, or one small, determined woman, would've been able to use it before.
Not seeing anyone or anything out of place, he shut the door and locked it. Unsettled, he looked around the garage again and in the downstairs bathroom. If someone broke in while he was gone, nothing was missing. They hadn't trashed the place.
He shut off all the lights, except for the one in the back which lit the stairwell. Climbing the steps,
he had no plans but to get something to eat and watch some television until he could fall asleep.
At the top of the stairs, he put his key in the lock and opened the door. Reaching out for the light switch, pain exploded in his head, knocking him off his feet.
Ignoring the blackness narrowing his vision, he rolled to his hands and knees. A hard force hit him in the ribs, flipping him onto his back. The air left his lungs.
Through the haze of pain, two figures stood above him. He reached out, trying to hook a leg and bring the person down to his level, and got his hand crunched between a boot and the hardwood floor.
Roaring, he swung out, aiming for the guy's balls. Making a connection, the weight left his pinned hand. Jabbing his elbow to the floor to leverage himself up and go after the other man, he got one foot planted underneath him when a boot connected with his face.
It wasn't his dad hitting him. He was dead.
It wasn't another prisoner fighting for something he wanted. He was home.
Enraged, he pushed to his full height and swung out with his fists. Unable to see through the tears caused by his broken nose blurring his vision, he choked on the blood filling his throat. He never saw what hit him under the chin, knocking his teeth together or felt his body hit the floor.
Chapter 28
Scarlett
"DON'T WALK AWAY FROM me." Hazel followed Scarlett downstairs. "I just want to talk to you."
"I don't want to hear what you have to say." Scarlett opened the kitchen cupboard, grabbed a glass, and filled it with water from the faucet. "You've never liked Nelson, so how do you think this conversation will turn out, hm?"
Hazel sighed, her shoulders lowering a notch. "But I love you. You're my little sister. I care that you're hurting."
"Well, I'll get over it, eventually, won't I? I don't have any choice." She took a drink, struggling to swallow.
At least when Nelson got arrested and sentenced to prison, she knew the reason why he was gone. She understood why she couldn't see him. She accepted not having him in her life.
What she couldn't understand was why Nelson broke up with her after they finally had a chance to be together like they'd always wanted. Not only sent her away but kicked her out of his life.
If all he wanted to do was protect her, she could wait until the trouble ended. God, she'd waited ten years already. Couldn't he understand that life wasn't always going to be hard for him?
She wanted to make him happy. Together, they could make life easier. He had the garage. She worked. Every second with him was the best part of her life.
The look on his face gave her no hope he'd change his mind. He'd made it clear that he wanted nothing from her. She was out. Out of his life.
"Were you in love with him?" asked Hazel.
"I've always loved him." She looked at her sister. "Through every one of mom's marriages...Chuck, Jack, Perry, and Mark. When mom was single, and I was alone here. When you lived here and when you moved out. Through grade school, middle school, and high school. Nelson was mine. He was my best friend, my crush, my lover. When other people made life difficult, Nelson was there for me. It was always easy with him because we not only needed each other, but we wanted each other."
A soft gasp came from behind Hazel, and her mom walked into the kitchen. Scarlett inhaled deeply, knowing how her declaration sounded to those she loved.
"Mom—this doesn't have anything to do with how you or Hazel made me feel. I was loved, and I love you both. It's different with Nelson. He's a part of me." Tears welled in her eyes.
How could she explain it to her mom, who entered each of her marriages believing she was in love with each of the men or to Hazel, who was having marriage problems?
Nelson wasn't a temporary or new addition to her life. He'd always been there for her.
She couldn't go on living a life without him. God, she'd had ten years without him to prove that he was never far from her mind. She'd pitted every relationship she had with the opposite sex against what she had with Nelson.
It wasn't fair to the others, but Nelson was the perfect man. He was still the perfect man when he wasn't being stupid and breaking up with her for a dumb reason.
"I'm sorry. I do know how you felt about him." Hazel approached her and hugged her tightly, then stepped away.
Her mom clasped her hands under her chin. "We're just worried about you, and if I'm honest, I'm scared. How would you feel if a stranger moved next door, fresh out of prison, rumored to have killed his own father? A druggie who—"
"But, Nelson isn't a stranger." She clamped her teeth together to keep from telling them how his father had beat him black and blue and bloody clear through adulthood, and Nelson never fought back. That if anyone deserved to murder Mr. Steel, it was Nelson. "You know as well as I do that Nelson wasn't at Steel Mechanics the night his father was shot. We watched him arrive on his motorcycle."
Her mom gave a slight nod. "But the drugs...?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I do know he's never acted like he's on drugs or gave any clue that he's sold them. I do know Ollie and Josh were always in trouble, and if I had to point fingers, I'd believe they were more likely to be into drugs than Nelson. Even Mr. Steel wasn't right in the head. Maybe they were his."
"You haven't asked Nelson?" Hazel frowned. "I would think that's the first thing you would want to know."
She rubbed her lips together. "There was no purpose. I know he's innocent."
"That's what worries us. What if he isn't? What if all those years in prison changed him?" blurted her mom.
"He's still my Nelson." Her head pounded, and she held up her hands. "It doesn't even matter now, because he doesn't want me to be a part of his life. So your worries are over."
Both her sister and her mom continued to study her. Unable to take any more questions, she exhaled loudly. "I need to get some rest before I work tonight. Both of you can stop worrying. It's over between Nelson and me."
She walked between them and left the room. Behind her, both of them said, "We love you."
"I love you, guys, too," she said, climbing the stairs.
Inside her room, she made her bed and threw the oversize pillows against the headboard. Gathering her dirty clothes, she'd need to spend tomorrow catching up on laundry. She'd let her regular chores go by the wayside lately to spend more time with Nelson.
Her chest squeezed. Everything in her life reminded her of him.
Curious, she opened the curtains a crack on her window and peered over the fence into the lot behind the house. Since he'd gotten out of prison and business was slow, she rarely saw him behind Steel Mechanics. She couldn't see the activity in front of the building and had no idea if he was open today or if his motorcycle was gone.
Letting the curtain fall closed, she laid down on her bed and was instantly alerted to the rumble of a Harley. She jumped back up and looked out the window, doing nothing to hide her curiosity.
The noise vibrated her room. There was more than one motorcycle at Steel Mechanics.
Dejected, she went back to bed and cuddled her pillow to her chest. Nelson had gone on with his life without a second thought to how miserable she was without him. He obviously still hung around the Tarkio members. Slowly, his business would grow again and keep him occupied. Someday, he'd find someone else to love.
She closed her eyes, tired of crying. Past the point of being young and innocent, she couldn't go over there and make a pest of herself trying to get his attention. Though she wanted to.
Deep inside of her, she couldn't face life knowing he was there, within reach, and never having him again.
In the distance, a door shut. Hazel must've left. She could only guess what her sister and mom had been talking about once she'd left the room. There was nothing they could do to help her or change how she felt toward Nelson.
Exhausted from the lack of sleep lately, she must've dozed off because the next thing she remembered was a knock on her bedroom door.
"Come in
." She rolled over, opening her eyes to find her mom standing in her room.
Her mom stepped closer and whispered, "There's a man at the door wearing a leather vest and asking to talk with you."
"Who?" Nobody ever came to the house, except Lorraine. She sat up on the bed. "What time is it?"
"Around three o'clock."
She rubbed her face. She'd only slept a half hour. It felt like much longer.
"Do you want me to tell him you're sleeping, and it's better to call you?" Her mom stepped back toward the door.
"No. I'll go see who it is and find out what they want." She stood, gathering her hair over her shoulder and yawned.
The only bikers she knew, besides Nelson, was from Tarkio Motorcycle Club. Since her mom would recognize Nelson, it must be one of the Tarkio members. Though why they'd come to her house seemed odd.
Her mom walked back to her bedroom. Scarlett went downstairs to see who would be asking for her. The door was shut. Her mom hadn't even let the man inside. She stepped outside and found Curley standing in the driveway.
Used to having him hang at the bar, she was comfortable around him. She walked out to him.
He turned the closer she got. "Hey, Scarlett."
"Hi." She stopped in front of him. "What's going on?"
Curley pulled off the bandana covering his shaved head. "I don't want to scare you."
"About?"
He looked her in the eyes. "Steel...Nelson's hurt. He won't let us call an ambulance and—"
"What?" Her body froze. "Where is he?"
He put the covering back on his head. "At home. I'll take..."
She turned and ran into the house, heading for the back door. Sliding the glass open, she hurried across the lawn and hit the gate open without stopping. Not wasting time trying the back door, knowing Curley would've gone through the front, she ran around the building.
Several motorcycles were parked outside, but no bikers waited at the door. She went inside the garage. Not finding anyone, she rushed to the stairs and went as fast as she could.
With the door to the upstairs living area open, she let herself in and found the bikers surrounding the couch. Pushing her way through the bodies, she stopped abruptly at the sight of Nelson.
