by Jayne Blue
“I’ll keep my contacts at the Green Bluff P.D. close,” Angel said. “Line a few more pockets if need be.”
“Good,” Sly said. “Enough of this dark shit for one day.”
He adjourned Church, but none of us felt very good about it. Toby’s death left a cloud over all of us. I knew Sly was afraid things had been too good for too long. As everyone left to head back into the bar, Sly called out to me.
I went back to my seat at the table. Dex hung back too. He shut the door to the conference room then came back to join us.
“Did you meet with Brenna Rose?” Sly asked.
I was a little surprised he remembered. Part of me wished he hadn’t. I couldn’t quite put my finger on why, but I kind of wanted to keep Brenna to myself. On the other hand, I had a favor to ask about her and I swear it was like my prez could read my damn mind.
“Yeah,” I said. “She didn’t have much info on the IDs she and her friend used. I’m not surprised. If there’s a new player in town, he’s gonna wanna keep a low profile.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Sly said. “So you’re saying she definitely bought the thing local? Not online?”
“I got the impression. Yeah.”
“Stay on this,” Sly said. “It’s probably nothing. I just wanna keep extra tabs on the shit going on in Green Bluff, all things being equal.”
“I’ll do some more digging,” I said. “You don’t mind if I take some time and put some feelers out on campus?”
I tried to keep my tone even. I don’t know how well I succeeded, but the idea of having a reason to run into Brenna again got my juices flowing. It was nuts. She was Brenna. She was Scotty’s little sister and that’s all she could ever be. Except when I put my arms around her the other day, it did something to me. She smelled so fucking good. I couldn’t keep my eyes from roving to the swell of her breasts inside the deep vee of the red blouse she’d worn.
It was more than that. Brenna chose not to tell me, but there was something wrong. Her smiles never quite reached her eyes. It could have been anything. Hell, I’m sure I dredged up memories of Scotty for her just like she did for me. Still, there was something different happening. All I knew is I wanted an excuse to see her again, no matter how bad an idea that was.
“Do that,” Sly said. “Make yourself a presence there this week. Whoever’s out there thinking Harrington’s campus is ripe for the taking needs to remember this is still our town.”
“Not a problem,” I said. There was something else nagging me too. I had to figure out a way to bring it up. It was going to be a big ask and Sly probably wouldn’t like it.
“She’s good though?” Sly asked. “Brenna?”
I swear to God that man could see straight through me. Dex could too. I hadn’t known him as long, of course, but Dex had a way of sizing people up and cutting through their bullshit. I learned pretty quick not to dish any out around him.
“She’s good. She wouldn’t say much about her ma other than to remind me she still thinks we’re all the devil incarnate. I wish I could say I blamed her.”
Sly reached across the table and put a hand on my shoulder. “And I’ve been telling you for seven years that what happened to her son ain’t on you. If anyone, it’s on me. Scotty was a good kid. He had potential. But I never should have sent him out on that run with you. I should have gone myself.”
“You know it wouldn’t have made a difference. It just happened. I don’t blame you. If I take it apart, I know I shouldn’t even blame me. Not really. It was luck. Awful fucking luck.”
“But you still wish it had been you instead of him,” Dex said. “You gotta find a way to put that down, man. You can’t look back. It’ll tear you apart.”
I knew what it meant for Dex McLain to say that. He’d lost thirteen years of his life for nothing. It had cost him his daughter’s childhood. She grew up without him. It had almost cost him Ava. And yet, he could sit across that table and tell me not to regret the past. I felt lucky to know him. Lucky that we wore the same patch. But I knew in my heart I’d always regret those few seconds when Scotty walked into that parking lot ahead of me.
“Listen,” I said. “Brenna didn’t come out and say this, but I got a feeling that maybe her old man is causing some trouble for her again.”
“Tim Rose? That fucker?” Sly asked. “I don’t think even he would be that dumb.”
Sly had made good on his promise to look out for Susan Rose the day we put her son in the ground. He’d put the club lawyer in her corner. That’s how she finally got a restraining order against him. Two nights after the funeral, Sly arranged for a crew to throw Tim’s shit out of Susan’s house. He made me stay away from it, but I knew four members of the club had dragged Tim off a bar stool and beat him within an inch of his life. They kept him conscious long enough to make sure he understood it was his lucky night. If he ever laid a hand on Susan again, we’d kill him.
“He’s isn’t getting physical,” I said. “At least, I hope not. If he had, I would have heard.”
“So would I,” Sly said, confirming something I’d long suspected. He had eyes in Susan’s neighborhood. Word got out that she was under club protection whether she wanted to be or not.
“Look,” I said. “I don’t know the whole story but I think Tim has done something to fuck with Brenna’s tuition. I don’t know how. Scotty’s life insurance policy was supposed to take care of them both. But she took a call while I was talking to her the other day. I heard enough to put two and two together. So ... I’m asking ... do we have connections at the registrar’s office over at Harrington?”
Sly jerked his head back. I don’t know what he thought I had on my mind, but it wasn’t that. “No,” I said. “I’m not talking about any kind of fraud. Just ... keeping a promise. She’s a good kid. She deserves every break that’s in the club’s power to give her. I’m asking for permission to get her out of the hole.”
Sly and Dex exchanged a look. “You got that kind of cash laying around?”
“I don’t know what she owes,” I said. “That’s why I’m hoping we’ve got a connection. But yeah, if she’s short her tuition, I want to cover it. And no, I probably don’t have that kind of cash laying around. Fuck. I don’t even know what a semester over at Harrington even costs.”
“A fuck ton,” Dex said. “Declan’s not even in kindergarten yet and Ava’s already started researching. It’s like fifteen grand a semester over there.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I figured something like that. So, I’m asking if you can cover me about half of that. I’ll be able to make good on it by next quarter. I’ve got four big rebuilds lined up.”
Sly had a smile on his face I didn’t like. “You sure your head’s in the right place on this one?”
I bit the inside of my mouth so hard I drew blood. It was in me to snap at him. What the fuck had gotten into me with this chick? It’s just, I felt a wave of overprotective rage bubbling up where she was concerned. I tried to tell myself it was just about Scotty. Taking care of Brenna is what he’d want me to do.
“Yeah,” I finally answered. “I’m just trying to keep a promise I made a long time ago.”
“Okay,” Sly said. “As long as you’re sure. Yeah. I can put you in touch with a clerk I know over there. Just do me a favor and don’t mention her name around Scarlett. I mean ... she was way before Scarlett’s time, but …”
I laughed. “I get it. I get it. No reason to rock the boat and give the woman a reason to reconsider your marriage proposal. You set a date yet, by the way?”
Sly glowered at me. He knew damn well I was trying to take the heat off of me. “She wants a couple of months to plan everything,” he said. “In the meantime, you go and see Trina Hargrove over at the college. I’ll text you her number.”
“Sheeit,” Dex said. “Her number’s still in your damn phone, Sly?”
Sly slugged his veep in the arm.
“Thanks,” I said, rising. I wanted to get the hell out of
this conversation before either Dex or Sly started asking me harder questions about Brenna. And I also had to figure out a way to handle her tuition mess without her knowing it came from me. Something told me she might not take it well.
But fuck me if part of me didn’t want to see what Brenna Rose looked like angry.
Chapter Seven
Brenna
Every time I walked up the steps of my mother’s porch, I felt five years old again. It looked exactly the same and always would. The same creak on the fourth step. The same painted black shutters. The same pink impatiens in the flower boxes. The same chipped paint on the porch swing she’d inherited from my grandparents. Inside, she had the same furniture, the same wallpaper, the same pictures on the walls.
My mother would also look the same until the day she died. She liked her simple, bobbed haircut that curved around her chin. She dyed it the same shade of chestnut she’d had since she married my dad. She was a pretty woman, small, fine-boned with pale skin that turned translucent near her wrists and temples so you could trace the faint blue veins beneath. I favored my father’s side of the family. I was thin, but had well-defined muscles in my biceps, shoulders, and calves.
I found her sitting on her garden bench in the backyard unwinding a ball of yarn. She wore a wide-brimmed pink hat to shield her face from the sun. The instant I saw her, some of the anger I’d brought with me melted away. I knew how this would go. Susan Rose lived in a world of her own. It had frustrated me forever, but it was how she survived.
“Mom,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. She didn’t look up. She watched a butterfly skip and dive through her rose bushes then finally land on the fence.
“Mom!” I said again. She blinked hard, found her smile, and turned.
“Hi, baby! Did you have your lunch yet?”
“What? Er ... no. I mean ... it’s after four. I didn’t come for lunch.”
“Oh.” She looked back at the garden. “Come sit, then. The bumblebees are doing their thing. It’s amazing to watch. It looks random if you’re not really paying attention. It’s not though. They never seem to go to the same bloom twice. They know. Somehow, they know.”
I let out a sigh. She was impossible when she got like this. I knew no matter what I said, she’d talk about how the roses were coming up, or how the kids down the street never sold lemonade anymore.
I sat beside her and steeled myself for how this would go. I didn’t want to upset her, but things had to be said. “Mom,” I started again. I had my phone in my hand, the browser opened to my Harrington account page. She wore her reading glasses perched on top of her head. In a minute, if I handed her the letter, she’d ask me where she left her glasses.
“I need you to focus with me for a couple of minutes,” I said. “There’s a problem with my tuition payment for the semester. More than a problem, actually. It never got paid. Do you want to tell me why this stuff is getting sent to Dad’s address all of a sudden?”
I braced myself, waiting for her wandering logic and evasion. She shocked the hell out of me by turning, smiling, and looking me straight in the eye. “It’s good news, Brenna. He’s stepping up.”
For a second, it felt like she’d knocked me in the head. “He’s what now? Mom. The tuition never got paid. I’ve got four days to fix this or they’re bouncing me from all my classes. And it’s past the refund window. I’ll have to pay for classes I’m not allowed to finish then have to turn around and pay to take them all over again. Never mind the fact it’ll put me a year off schedule. What’s going on?”
She got that vacant look in her eyes and let out a little sigh. “There’s got to be a mix-up. Your dad’s got his issues, but he wouldn’t let something like that slip through the cracks. He promised me.”
Oh good lord. “What do you mean, he promised you? You aren’t even supposed to be talking to him!”
I wanted to kick myself. I wanted to shake her. The balance of my tuition money came from a life insurance policy my brother had taken out the year before he died.
I showed her my phone and widened the screen so she could see the personal information. Instead of our address here on Donnelly Street, the new contact information listed my father and his Baker Street address. My mother had to have been the one to change that. Which meant he’d made her do it.
Bile stung my throat. That rising anger came back. It meant Dad had taken the money meant for me. Classic Tim Rose. And she’d let him. After every horrible thing that man had done to her, to Scotty, to all of us ...
“I’m telling you,” she said, picking up her ball of yarn. “It’s a mistake. Your father is a lot of things, but he wouldn’t mess with your schooling.”
I pressed my fingers to my forehead. “It’s not my schooling he cares about, Mom. Please, please tell me you didn’t sign Scotty’s annuity check over to Dad.”
She didn’t have to answer. I saw the flicker in her gaze. Dammit. How could she be so stupid? I wanted to scream and rail and tear my hair out. Instead, hot tears sprang to my eyes. The worst of this was, it was as much my fault as hers. I should have blocked her access to my financial account. I should have gone to a lawyer and figured out a way to have those checks go somewhere other than directly to her. I just couldn’t believe that she’d started talking to my dad again.
“When?” I finally asked. She didn’t answer.
“Tell me,” I said, my tone rising. “When did you start seeing Dad again?”
She set down the ball of yarn. “That’s none of your business.”
I flew off the bench. “I don’t even know what to say. None of my business? Mom. Wake up. He’s never going to change. Ever. He took your money. Our money. The money Scotty set up for us just in case something happened to him. You really think he intended for Dad to get his hands on it? This will ruin me. You need that money too, Mom. How are you going to pay your bills?”
The reality sank into me. It was me. I’d been so close to getting out from under all of this. Now I’d have to find a job, quit school, and support us both.
“Let me talk to them,” she said.
“To whom?”
“To your school. I’m telling you, there’s been a mix-up. I’ll sort it out. Call them right now.”
I held my phone out. I had a hundred different arguments and comebacks running through my head. I let them all die unsaid. Fine. Giving her what she wanted would settle this once and for all. I pulled up my contacts and dialed the registrar’s office.
When the clerk answered, I realized there was no good way to explain this without sounding crazy. Uh ... hi … my mom’s delusional and I’d really like it if you could tell her how fucked I really am. K. Thanks!
“I need someone to recheck the status of my spring tuition payment,” I said, my throat running dry. I put the phone on speaker as I gave my name, ID number and waited for the clerk to pull up my information.
“Miss Rose,” she said, sounding a little cheerier than I would have liked. “Actually, I don’t even need to pull that up. Your friend just left.”
I was in la la land. For real. “My friend. I’m sorry. What?” My mother’s smile widened and she picked up her yarn ball and knitting needles.
“Your ears must have been burning,” the clerk said. “He paid your balance in cash. I just haven’t had a chance to update the system. Give me about ten minutes and you’ll see it reflected on your account page.”
“I’m sorry ... what? You’re saying my father just left?”
The clerk fell silent. “Um, no ... I don’t suppose that was your father. Unless he was maybe five years old when he had you. Tall guy, lots of muscles. Leather jacket. I filled out a receipt. Let me see ... um ... Brandon Thompson?”
My mother’s face fell and lost all color. I imagined something similar happened to my own. She dropped her yarn and needles.
“Thank you,” I said. “I’ll refresh the account page in a few minutes. You’ve been very helpful.”
I clicked off the call and wen
t to my mother. She was already on her feet. The haze had left her eyes. “You have the nerve to give me trouble about talking to your father? When you’ve been ... Brandon Thompson? Brenna. You stay away from him. You give him his money back. You hear me? Whatever he’s done for you. Whatever he’s told you ... that money’s tainted in your brother’s blood!”
She took an awkward step back, stumbling. I reached for her but my mother was way too quick. She turned on her heel and stormed back up to the house, slamming the door behind her so hard it vibrated through me like a shotgun blast.
I didn’t know how to feel as I stood there in her wake. Letting out a deep sigh, I sank to the bench and lifted my phone. He didn’t. He couldn’t have. And yet ... the moment I let my mind go there, I knew this was exactly what Scotty would have wanted.
I pulled up my recent calls and tapped the screen. As I waited for him to answer, my heart thundered in my chest. He answered on the second ring and of course he knew it was me.
“Hey, Brenna.”
I didn’t know how to feel. Grateful? Angry? I was both.
“Gunn ... you didn’t ... I didn’t mean for ... Shit. You can’t do this.”
“Can’t do what?” By the lilt in his voice, I knew he was smiling. The vision I conjured of it in my head sent a little trail of heat down my spine.
“My tuition. I just talked to the registrar’s office. You paid it. Gunn, that’s over fifteen thousand dollars. I can’t accept that.”
An awkward pause rose between us. I could almost feel his breath warm me from the other end of the phone.
“You can,” he finally said. “And I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t want to.”
“No,” I said. “I mean ... I can’t pay you back. I can’t take this from you—”
“Brenna,” he cut me off. “If you need help. Any kind of help. I told you a long time ago you should come to me. I know it’s maybe hard to admit it sometimes, but you needed help. And I don’t mind providing it. You’re family.”
