“Maybe you better cool it with the drinks,” Ryder said as he reached out and braced her arm. “You’re a total lightweight. Want some water? I’ll get you some water.”
Stormy sat back down as Ryder ran to the bar to grab her a refreshing and much needed glass of ice cold water.
“Drink up,” he said as he continued funneling his dinner into his mouth.
She sipped on the freezing cold water and felt a little embarrassed, but she sort of liked how Ryder looked after her. The things he did were the things Jett would’ve done. The Jacks boys were nothing if not chivalrous.
With empty plates and full bellies, Ryder took care of the check and escorted Stormy out to his bike. She was very much tipsy, but she could still feel the stares of all the locals as they walked out together. She could only imagine what was going through their heads. The idea of California was sounding better and better to her but it wasn’t realistic. She couldn’t expect Ryder to hold her hand and take care of her if she moved out there. She’d have to start from scratch. She’d have no one and nothing, and she was sure she’d be homesick.
Ryder helped her inside the house and walked her to her room where he hoisted her into bed and covered her with layers of blankets and sheets.
“I’m sorry I can’t help you undress,” he said. “I hate to make you sleep in jeans. I just don’t think it would be right for me to – “
“Mm, hm,” Stormy said as she interrupted him. “It’s okay.”
The room was spinning as she melted back into the soft mattress. It was dark outside and under the pale moonlight that spilled through the curtains, Ryder looked exactly like Jett.
He lingered for a bit on the edge of her bed as if he had more to say.
“I really miss Jett,” he said. “I want you to know I’m sorry I couldn’t have spent more time with him over the last eight years.”
“You don’t have to tell me that,” she mumbled.
“I just never really got to tell him that,” Ryder said as he looked down. “I missed out on so much, and now he’s gone. You’re all that’s left of him.”
“Me?” she asked, confused.
“Yeah. He loved you more than anything, Stormy,” he replied. “Spending the last few days with you, I get it.”
Her heart melted a little. His words meant more to her than anything and they were exactly what she needed to hear after the long week she’d just had. She rested her eyes for only a moment and then she was out.
CHAPTER 6
Stormy awoke the next morning with a pulsing headache and a burning urge to throw up. She flung the covers off herself and ran down the hall forgetting, for a moment, why she was still in jeans. She wrapped her hands around her hair and pulled it behind her neck as she threw up the putrid remnants of the night before and watched them swirl down the toilet never to be seen again.
She rinsed her mouth out, splashed cool water on her face, and brushed her teeth before heading out to the living room. The house was eerily quiet, and as soon as she rounded the corner she saw nothing but an empty couch with perfectly folded blankets resting on a cushion. On top of the blankets was a note from Ryder.
She sunk down as she realized he had left early that morning. She didn’t even get to say goodbye, and she wasn’t sure if or when she’d ever see him again. She kicked herself for drinking the night before and passing out. Her fingers could hardly open the envelope fast enough.
Thanks for the hospitality. You’re a true gem, and my brother was lucky to have someone like you in his life. Please think about helping me. Take care, and I’ll be in touch soon.
-RJ
Stormy clutched the letter to her chest. That was all that was left of her short time with Ryder Jacks. Jett was gone forever, and Ryder may as well have been too. She enjoyed her time with him, probably a little too much, and it all came to an end in an instant. She was right back where she started; alone with her deepest, darkest thoughts.
She spent another week isolated and in mourning. The curtains drawn on every window in her house, bottles of sleeping pills to help her sleep all day when she wasn’t busy crying, and her phone turned off.
As if something came over her, she decided to call up Brooklyn to come over. She didn’t want to be alone with her thoughts another day. It had been almost two weeks now since Jett died. She didn’t want to spend another twenty-four hours holed up in her dark trailer, crying in her empty bed.
“Knock, knock,” Brooklyn called out as she walked in the door ten minutes later. “I’m glad you’re up for having company. I’ve been thinking about you all week, but I wanted to give you your space.”
The girls sat down on the couch across from one another. Brooklyn sipped on her energy drink as she tried to get a read on Stormy.
“You look like you have a lot on your mind right now,” Brooklyn observed. “Speak, girl.”
Stormy smiled as she appreciated Brooklyn’ candor in that awkward moment. “So Wednesday night, this guy showed up at my door.”
“What?” Brooklyn said as she sat up. “Keep going.”
“It was Jett’s brother,” she said with a squinting face as she waited for Brooklyn’ reaction.
“Are you kidding me? I didn’t know he had a brother,” she said as she slapped the back of the couch with her hand. “Was he for real? How do you know he was really his brother?”
“He was the spitting image of Jett,” she sighed. “Only a little bigger. He’s a little taller, a little more muscular, but yeah, same face, same hair, same eyes.”
“Weird,” Brooklyn said as she concentrated on Stormy’s face. “Was he nice to you?”
“Very,” she replied without hesitation. “Almost too nice. But he wasn’t weird or anything. We were just oddly comfortable around each other. It was nice having him around. Kind of felt like hanging out with an older, more outspoken Jett.”
“Yeah, Jett always was kind of reserved,” Brooklyn noted.
“Ryder is more of a cut-to-the-chase kind of guy,” Stormy continued. “Jett was more of a piece-the-puzzle-together and read-between-the-lines kind of guy. And that’s great. That’s who he was. But it was kind of nice how outgoing Ryder was.”
Brooklyn stared at Stormy again.
“Why are you looking at me that way,” she said.
“Just the way you talk about Ryder,” she said. “Do you have something for him?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Stormy snapped. “Jett’s been dead less than two weeks. I’m not falling for his brother.”
“I didn’t say you were,” she said. “There’s just something different about you when you talk about him. Your face kind of lights up.”
Stormy hadn’t realized it. She had felt a tiny bit of attraction towards him, but she chalked that up to his resemblance to her late husband. She tried to ignore it. It was too soon. She was still grieving, she told herself. No one moves on that fast.
“I guess he just felt like home to me,” she said with her head held low. “It was like Jett had come back to me, only healthier. It sounds so silly to say it out loud.”
“Not silly at all,” Brooklyn said. “It makes sense. Plus this has been a long week for you. I’m sure you’re feeling all kinds of different feelings right now.”
“That I am,” Stormy agreed. “My emotions are pretty much all over the place. I just want to feel normal again.”
“What the hell is normal anyway?” Brooklyn laughed. “No such thing. I will tell you, though, that you need to stop hiding away in this big, old house. It’s not good for you. There’s a life outside those doors waiting for you.”
“I’m sure I’m the talk of the town,” she said. “I don’t even want to go to the grocery store. Anytime I leave the house, people stare at me with those hateful, judgmental eyes. I’m sure Misty’s trashed my name to three-fourths of the town.”
“Who the hell cares what anyone says?” Brooklyn yelled. “Screw them all. What other people think of you is none of your business. Are you liv
ing your life for you? Or are you living your life for them?”
“Good point,” Stormy said.
“So what did this guy want anyway?” Brooklyn asked.
Stormy took a deep breath. “He claims one of his men killed Jett. He wants me to help him find out who it was.”
“His men?”
“Yeah, he’s the VP of the Hellfire Motorcycle Club,” she replied. “I guess they’re rivals?”
“Mind. Blown,” Brooklyn said.
“Want to move to California?” Stormy said as she changed the subject. “I’m completely serious.”
“Why California?” Brooklyn asked. She scratched her head before her eyes widened. “Oh, my God. That’s where his brother lives, isn’t it?”
Stormy couldn’t hide the crooked half-smile that was forming on her lips. “I just think it’d be a good change. This town doesn’t have anything else to offer me. Aren’t you tired of the same old thing?”
“Your family’s here,” Brooklyn said with her head cocked to the side. “You’d miss them too much. You’d get homesick and want to turn around and come back home after a day or two.”
“No, I wouldn’t,” Stormy insisted. “That’s why I need you there. You’re family to me.”
“It’s tempting,” Brooklyn said. “We need jobs though. We can’t just up and move.”
“I’m a nurse. I’ll find a job. I’ll support us both until you get something. It’ll be fine. We can make this work.” Stormy’s eyes pleaded with Brooklyn. “Please? Just think about it?”
Brooklyn sighed as she leaned back into the couch. A smile slowly spread across her mouth as she was clearly entertaining the idea of moving to California.
“Please?” Stormy begged again. “I need something new. Different.”
Brooklyn laughed and rolled her eyes. “I’ll think about it.”
Stormy reached across the couch and hugged her. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“So tell me more about this brother of his,” Brooklyn asked. “Does he have any hot friends?”
“Ha,” Stormy laughed. “I have no idea. I’m sure you’ll have your pick of the litter in California.”
“I’ve always wanted to be some guy’s old lady,” Brooklyn laughed. Stormy knew she was half serious though.
Stormy knew Brooklyn would fit right in out west with her tall, lithe frame, ocean blue eyes, and platinum blonde hair. She never looked like she belonged in Coleville in the first place.
“Do you think I’m being irrational?” Stormy asked in all seriousness. “Something about spending those few days with Ryder just made me want to leave Coleville. There’s so much more out there. I used to think I’d be content to stay here forever, but now it feels like torture. Every street sign, every building, every tree all reminds me of Jett and the life we’ll never have. I want to get out of here. Away from Misty. Away from the rumors.”
“I think a change would be good for you,” Brooklyn said. “Anything’s better than treading water. I don’t want you to stay here, in this house, reliving the bad things over and over again. I know that’s what you’d do. You need to think about the next chapter. You need to think about what happens after this.”
Stormy nodded as she fought back tears. She knew Brooklyn was right. If she stayed here, she’d be stuck in that awful moment, reliving everything all over again, night after night.
“I don’t want to sell the trailer, Brooklyn,” Stormy sighed. “But I don’t have a single dollar to my name.”
“Don’t sell it,” she said. “Rent it out. That’ll be a source of income for you. We’ll figure this out if this is what you really want.”
Brooklyn’ phone beeped, and she glanced down to read a text message.
“Ugh,” Brooklyn groaned. “I better get going. Work needs me to come in early today.”
Brooklyn was the manager of a local call center, which was pretty impressive for her young age and lack of a college degree of any sort. She was the hardest working person Stormy knew, though. She started working there in high school and just kept climbing the ladder. She always thought Brooklyn was selling herself short, but she seemed moderately happy, so Stormy always kept her mouth shut.
“That sucks you have to work on a Saturday,” Stormy said. “Thanks for coming by today. I needed this little talk.”
“Let’s hang out more often, okay? I’m completely serious,” Brooklyn said as she stood up and hugged Stormy. “I know you hate when people just drop by, but I don’t care. I’ll do it if I have to.”
Stormy laughed as she walked Brooklyn to the door. Within seconds, she was all alone again, only her thoughts weren’t as dark as they had been. Little by little, she was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. She was starting to regain that hope she thought was gone forever.
Spending time with Brooklyn made her want to get out of the house a little. She thought about going over to her parents’ house for a bit, but she didn’t know if they were even home that day. Saturdays were always a wild card in the Michaels family, especially in the summer. Her dad was an avid fisherman and it was one of the less expensive hobbies he could still enjoy while he was laid off from the factory.
As she flicked through all of the contacts in her phone, she happened to pass by Ryder’s name. She didn’t remember putting it in, and she wondered if he’d done it the night she was passed out. She thought about sending him a quick message, but something told her to wait. She decided to let him contact her first.
Stormy slipped her shoes on and went for a drive to stop by her parents’ house. She figured her mother would at least be home.
She pulled into her parents’ cracked and pitted driveway and saw her mom’s rusting, beige mini van parked in the garage. She walked in the house and announced her presence, expecting to be greeted with her mother’s smiling face at any second.
“Oh,” she said as she turned the corner towards the living room and saw Willow sitting on the couch.
“Where’s Mom?” Stormy asked.
“Backyard,” Willow said as she avoided eye contact. “In the garden.”
She walked outside to the backyard to see her mother. Her mother was crouched over pulling weeds from her pride and joy vegetable garden.
“Hey, mom,” Stormy said as she hugged her mom from behind.
“Oh, hi, Sweetie,” her mom said as she pushed herself up and hugged her back. “I wasn’t expecting you today. This is a nice treat. How’s my girl doing?”
Her mom brushed the dirt off her gloves and smoothed her hair out of her sweaty face.
“I just wanted to stop by and say hi,” Stormy replied. “I needed to get out of the house.”
“Good for you,” her mom smiled. “I was thinking of stopping by sometime, but I wasn’t sure if you wanted visitors yet. Have you been alone all week?”
“Actually no,” Stormy said, unable to hide her smile.
Her mom cocked her head to the side as she tried to get a read on her daughter’s mysterious smile.
“Brooklyn keeping you company?”
“No, it wasn’t Brooklyn.”
“Please tell me it wasn’t Hayden,” her mom said as she rolled her eyes.
“It was Jett’s older brother,” Stormy said, biting her lip and waiting for her mother’s response.
“I knew it,” her mom half-yelled as her eyes widened. “I knew he had siblings. I tried to tell you once and you didn’t believe me.”
“Okay, okay,” Stormy laughed. “You were right.”
Her mom beamed proudly.
“I only know of the one brother now,” Stormy mused to herself. “But at this point, nothing would surprise me. For all I know, there could be more. I just can’t figure out why Jett never told me about Ryder.”
“I’m sure he had a perfectly good reason,” her mom said. “Maybe this brother is bad news. There’s a reason he didn’t want you to know he existed.”
Stormy wanted to tell her mom how wonderful her days with Ryder were
, how he had breathed a little bit of hope back into her life, and he had allowed her to forget her pain for a few days. She wanted to tell her how genuine and smart and successful he was. He was living the life Jett was meant to live. He was healthy and strong and independent.
“I’m still trying to figure everything out,” Stormy said as she kept her thoughts about Ryder to herself. “I’m thinking of going out to California to visit him. I want to get to know him a little better. He’s all that’s left of Jett.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” her mom scoffed. “That’s absurd. Don’t do that.”
“So I shouldn’t go visit my dead husband’s brother? Is that against some sort of widow guidelines that I don’t know about?”
“I didn’t say that,” her mom rolled her eyes. “I just think it’s weird. You don’t know this guy. Jett didn’t want you to know he even existed. There’s got to be a reason.”
For the very first time, it occurred to Stormy that maybe, just maybe, Jett was afraid she would want to be with his strong, older, lookalike brother instead of him. Perhaps that was why he didn’t want her to know he existed. He was afraid he’d lose her. Maybe Ryder wasn’t a bad person after all, he was simply competition in Jett’s eyes.
Stormy’s face lit up as she came to that revelation. Everything was starting to make perfect sense to her now.
She smiled as she refused to believe it could possibly be any other scenario. This was the only thing that made sense to her, and it was the only thing she wanted to believe.
CHAPTER 7
Stormy’s fingers drummed nervously against the top of her kitchen table as she sat and stared at her phone. She wanted to reach out to Ryder, but she didn’t have a good reason. She simply wanted to hear his voice. The voice that sounded so much like Jett’s, the voice that soothed her when she was in a bottomless pit of grief and mourning, and the voice that could somehow make her day instantly ten times brighter.
Don’t be silly, she scolded herself. This is beyond inappropriate. The timing is all wrong. You’re going to make yourself seem like a desperate idiot. You have no place looking to get into a relationship with anybody right now.
Resisting Ryder Page 5
