From This Moment

by Vella, Wendy

  “Not really. She, ah, she hangs with a different crowd.”

  “What kind of crowd?”

  Panic was the only word to describe Luke’s face now.

  “Don’t grill him about your sister.” Piper spoke, drawing his eyes back to her.

  “I just asked a question, I hardly think that constitutes a grilling.”

  Her lips pursed, and as they were painted bright red they drew his eyes. She’d be hell to have a relationship with, was his guess. High maintenance and demanding. But he bet those lips tasted sweet.

  “Maybe if you want to know more about your sister you should ask her.”

  The words had been spoken in a sickly sweet tone, but there was nothing remotely sweet about the look in her eyes.

  “Now if you will excuse me, I have to start early tomorrow.”

  She climbed off the barstool and hugged her family and friends. Him she ignored, which fired his anger to life. Lifting a hand, she walked away, moving with that natural grace some women have.

  “I’ll say goodnight too.” He acknowledged everyone before leaving. Joe slapped his hand just like they had when they were teenagers. Some habits were ingrained, Dylan guessed.

  He caught up with Piper as she reached her car.

  “I can’t work out what your problem is with me, other than my surname, and you didn’t know that earlier.”

  She was looking in her handbag, which was no doubt full of copious quantities of useless crap.

  “I don’t have a problem with you.”

  “You do, and I want to know why when we’ve never met before today, and okay, we didn’t exactly get off to a good start, but still, that anger you’re holding on to is starting to piss me off. Especially as I haven’t done a damn thing to deserve it.”

  She closed the bag. All the anger had gone when she looked up at him.

  “Look, I’m sorry, okay. Today was a rough day for me, and then there’s your mom, and that other thing.” She looked uncomfortable, not a look she was used to, he was sure.

  “Other thing?”

  She thought about that.

  “The hotness thing.”

  “Hotness thing?”

  “You’re sexy as hell, all right!” she snapped. “And I do not want to be attracted to anyone right now, so it was easier to be—”

  “A bitch?”

  She huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, that, and I am sorry.”

  “That’s okay, you have this hotness thing too.”

  “So we’re agreed then?”

  “About what?” She had beautiful skin. Soft and silky. Dylan wanted to touch it, feel if it was cool or hot.

  “Avoiding each other.”

  “You always this straight-up?”

  She rested her back against her car. It was freezing out here, but neither of them were cold right at that moment. In fact, Dylan was heating up nicely.

  “I live with Joe, Jack, and Luke; that’s the only language they know.”

  “Gotta love a woman who knows her mind,” Dylan said, moving closer.

  “Wh-what are you doing?”

  “Kissing you.” He swallowed her denial.

  Her lips were sinful, and the body he pressed into lush and curvy. He wanted to slip his hand under that shirt and feel her, really get to know Piper Trainer. Instead he eased his tongue inside her mouth and stroked hers. Her soft little moan went straight to his groin. Her hands wrapped around his neck and closed the remaining inches between them.

  Dylan lost track of time; there was only now and the woman he held in his arms. Blood pumped through his body, and a savage need built.

  “No.” It was Piper who stopped the kiss. The fingers she pressed to his lips were shaking. “No,” she said again softly. “This will go no further because neither of us want that.”

  “You don’t know what I want.” Dylan’s voice was raspy. “In fact, I’m only here for a brief stay so if you want to—”

  “I’m not like that.”

  “That?” His hands still held her waist.

  “Short-term, scratch an itch thing.”

  And that was exactly what he wanted.

  “So that’s that,” she said, sliding sideways and into the driver seat of her car. “I am sorry, Dylan, for how I behaved, and promise that from now on when we see each other I’ll be polite.” She closed the door softly.

  He’d always thought of himself as an insightful man. Instinct was sometimes all he had to work with, and right now it was screaming at him as he watched Piper Trainer drive away from him.

  Keep your distance from that woman.

  Weird, it had never talked to him like that before.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Dylan woke in his old room with a sore neck and cold feet. The walls had been papered over in a neutral beige, but the shelves still held all his things. Books, school pictures, and some trophies. He’d been good at basketball, and still played when he could, just as he’d been good at building things with wood. His mother hadn’t thought either of those occupations acceptable for the Howard heir.

  Basketball was too rough and beneath him, and working with wood and his hands wasn’t something a Howard should do. An education, she’d believed, would soon push those ridiculous thoughts from his head. She’d been wrong. Dylan still worked with wood whenever he had the chance. He had a room in his apartment set up with his tools, and it was his place to go when he needed to clear his head.

  Looking at the ceiling, he wondered if Piper Trainer had dreamed about him like he had her.

  The bed was too small, and his feet hung over the end, and he’d banged his elbow against the wall during the night, but for all that he was now pleased to be here. Pleased to finally come back to the place he’d run from. Exorcising demons had not been the only reason for coming here; seeing his father had been important. Until he’d received that phone call, he’d never thought about his parents dying. Which was strange, as he was a total realist.

  Getting out of bed, he took the small wooden chest he’d made in high school off the shelf. The top was curved, and had taken hours to sand smooth. There was a lock, but no key. Running his hand under the shelf he located it exactly where he’d left it.

  Inside he found the newspaper clipping he’d cut out of the local paper advertising a position with Haddon Builders in Rummer, a town five hours away. Apprentices wanted. Memories filled his head of the excitement he’d felt seeing it. It would be his ticket out of Ryker, and at the time that was all he’d thought about. Getting away from there and his life. When his mother refused to let him apply, he’d got his ticket out all right, to military school.

  His school ring was now too small, and the earring he’d bought in a fit of painful rebellion after piercing it himself wouldn’t fit either, as the hole in his ear had long closed.

  Closing the box, he relocked it, then replaced it on the shelf. He didn’t need memories, or to go back to the innocent, angry boy he’d been. He was an adult now and past all that. His life was exactly where he wanted it to be. Dylan was here to see his father and his family, then leave. There would be no loving family reunion; that wasn’t how the Howards worked. Too much water under the bridge to even try. He would leave Ryker in a few days knowing he’d at least seen his family. Should anything happen to them, he wouldn’t be riddled with guilt.

  Finding clean clothes in his bag, he headed for the shower.

  “Hey, Ava.”

  “Good morning, Dylan,” she said politely.

  She’d clearly just woken. Her cheek had a crease down one side, and her hair stood off her head like a halo of messy curls. Her eyes were a little unfocused, and he briefly saw the little sister he’d left behind, and it made his stomach do a flip.

  Ava had often come to him in the morning and climbed into his bed so he could read her stories.

  She walked by him into her room and closed the door. They had nothing anymore... no relationship or even friendship, and he’d wanted it that way.

  Dylan showe
red and dressed. Bracing his hands on the vanity, he looked through the steam at his face.

  He was here to see Dad, not mend fences with a family he didn’t know. That wasn’t his thing, bonding and confiding. Sure, his emotions were going to be tugged about, but he just needed to stay on task, then he could leave and go back to his life and forget about Ryker Falls again.

  Piper Trainer slipped inside his head. Would he run into her again while he was here? Part of him hoped so just so he’d see those eyes fire up at him. The kiss had rocked them both, so maybe she was right and they should keep their distance from each other.

  “That’s enough of that shit.” He was not here to track down a brunette so he could... what? Was the only role of a woman in his life to get her into bed? Disgusted with himself, he left the room.

  Dylan took the stairs he’d walked, run, jumped a thousand times in his youth. He found Ava and some guy in the kitchen. Dressed in jeans and a pale blue shirt, she shot him a look, then a nod, before returning to look at the pot the guy was stirring.

  This must be Zander, the mechanic boyfriend. His hair was short and dark, and he was tall. Ava came to his shoulder. Dressed in jeans and black sweatshirt, he looked pretty comfortable in the Howards’ kitchen stirring oatmeal.

  “Hi, I’m Dylan.” He decided to go for friendly. Walking forward he held out his hand. After all, he’d lost his rights long ago to give a damn about his sister’s boyfriend.

  “Zander.”

  Points for the handshake. It was firm, and the small smile on his face genuine.

  “That oatmeal?” Dylan nodded to the pot Zander had gone back to stirring.

  “Yes. If you want some, the bowls are in there.” Ava pointed to a cupboard.

  He didn’t but he got one down anyway.

  “So what are you up to now? Last I heard you were studying law, Ava?” Dylan asked. She was his little sister; he should know what she was up to.

  “No.” She was still looking inside the pot.

  “No, you’re no longer studying law, or you’re finished studying law?”

  She turned to look at him.

  “Why are you interested?”

  She hadn’t yelled or put any emotion into that question; she was just curious.

  “You’re my sister, I’m interested.” Dylan absolutely refused to feel guilty. He’d tried to friend her on Facebook, but she’d never accepted. Plus he’d rung home occasionally, and she’d never wanted to speak to him.

  “I was twenty-two years old last year and twenty two years before that. Why do you want to know now?”

  “That cuts both ways, Ava,” Dylan said, wishing he’d kept his questions to himself. “You were never interested in me.”

  As if his words had hurt her, she closed her eyes briefly.

  “I was never allowed to.... No, there is no going back. Shall we just leave the personal stuff out of this and get through your visit as best we can, Dylan?”

  “What were you going to say?”

  “Mom wouldn’t let me contact you when you left, all right! Now just leave it alone, Dylan. You’ll leave again, and not come back like you did last time.”

  This time her words had a snap to them; at least that was an honest emotion.

  “Ava—”

  “Don’t speak to your brother like that, Ava!” Mary Howard bustled in through the front door, cutting Dylan off. “He has important work, and can’t be here, and I don’t want to hear you ever being anything but respectful to him.”

  “Mom—” Dylan tried to stop her.

  “He’s been studying and bettering himself, which is something you have yet to do.”

  Jesus.

  “Mom, don’t—”

  “I want to study,” Ava said quietly, “but what I chose is not good enough for a Howard, remember. You forced me to do law, which I hated.”

  “What do you want to study, Ava?” Dylan felt sweat break out on his forehead at what his mother had said. This was just how it used to be between him and Mary Howard.

  “Hairdressing is not a career.” Their mother dumped her bags on the table. She was dressed in her exercise clothes, and Dylan guessed she’d walked to the shops.

  “Yes it is,” he found himself saying like an idiot.

  Don’t get involved.

  “No, dear.” She patted his hand as if he was five. “Being an important member of the FBI or investment banking is a career. Now you just sit down and I’ll dish you up some oatmeal.”

  The expression on Ava’s face never changed. Slowly she put down the wooden spoon, which Dylan thought showed a hell of a lot more restraint than he’d once had. If their positions were reversed he’d have thrown it at his mother.

  “I don’t want to be an FBI profiler or an investment banker, I want to be a hairdresser,” his sister said calmly.

  “It’s all right, Ava, perhaps we can have breakfast at the cafe this morning.” Zander took her arm. “Let’s go.”

  His little sister allowed her boyfriend to lead her from the house. He watched her go and felt completely helpless.

  I need to get out of this town. There were too many demons and battles to fight. He didn’t want that. Zero involvement in personal issues had always been his motto, and more so with his own family.

  “Your sister has a bad attitude, Dylan, and your father and I can’t seem to do anything about that. She’s ungrateful, and refusing to see reason. I just wish she could take after you and Charlotte.”

  Don’t get involved, just eat your oatmeal.

  “I can’t imagine she’s trouble when compared to me and what I did before leaving Ryker. She’s also old enough to know her own mind, and if Ava wants to be a hairdresser, let her. She doesn’t need your consent, Mom.”

  Dylan wondered why Ava hadn’t just moved out and done what she wanted.

  “That’s not a career I can be proud of,” Mary Howard said, bustling about the kitchen putting things away. “Now when she was doing law, that was worthy of her time, but not hairdressing.”

  “Who cuts your hair?”

  She waved his words away, just like she used to. He’d hated it then and it didn’t sit any better on him now. It was her way of dealing with something she didn’t agree with.

  “Why did you stop Ava from contacting me when I left?”

  She waved a hand again, dismissing his words. “It was simply best for you to focus.

  “You had no right to make that decision.”

  “If you’d wanted to contact her you could have, Dylan, so don’t blame me for that.”

  She had him there.

  “Ava walked out on her studies four months ago without discussing the matter with either your father or me. Zander is the only good thing to happen to her since then. That boy is an excellent influence on her.”

  “How come his career choice as a mechanic is okay, but you don’t want Ava to be a hairdresser?”

  “He’s working in the garage until an opening comes up in an accountancy firm. He’s very intelligent, and I hope he can talk some sense into Ava.”

  It wasn’t his business to interfere; after all, he’d turned his back on this life and his family, but he could still feel his old frustrations rising.

  “How come you never asked me to come home, Mom?” Suddenly he needed to know the answer to that question.

  She turned away from him and got down a mug.

  “You were busy with your career, and there’s nothing for you here in Ryker. Now you just sit, and I’ll get your coffee.”

  “I can get my own coffee. I don’t need you to run around after me, and I don’t like oatmeal.” God, I sound like a child now. “Look, I need you to understand that what Ava or Charlie do is just as important as what I do.”

  He couldn’t seem to shut his mouth, which was odd, as he rarely opened it usually.

  She made a pfft sound. “Charlotte is doing well, but what she really needs is a man and babies. Oatmeal is good for you, so eat it.”

  Dylan sat in st
unned silence for a few seconds.

  “This is 2018, Mom. A woman’s place is no longer only in the home.”

  She turned, hands braced, and gave him what he’d once termed the lecture look, as it was usually followed with a longwinded discussion. However, he was no longer a child, so he didn’t have to stand for it... or sit as the current situation may be.

  “You wouldn’t let me be a builder, because that wasn’t good enough, and now you’re stifling another one of your children’s dreams. Let Ava be a hairdresser if it makes her happy.”

  “Building was beneath you, and look what you’ve achieved because we guided you. Ava doesn’t know what makes her happy.” His mother’s smile slipped. “And you have no say in this, as she is my daughter.”

  “And my sister, and she’s twenty-three years old, no longer a child.”

  “You have had nothing to do with her, so my advice is stay out of what does not concern you.”

  “She’s still my sister,” he persisted, “and ‘guiding’ wasn’t the way I saw things.”

  Her mouth thinned, and then with a little sniff that he remembered as meaning “conversation over,” she went to the stove. He remembered that too; if she couldn’t win, she walked away. However, he was not done talking. There was another matter he needed to raise, and she’d like this topic about as much as the last one.

  “I need to talk to you about Joe Trainer and his family.”

  She spun on a heel.

  “Don’t you bring that family’s name into this house!” She spat out the words, face red with rage.

  Dylan got out of his chair slowly and told himself to stay calm as he braced his hands on the back.

  Remember you don’t do personal stuff.

  “Joe is not to blame for me leaving here and never coming back. Just as he’s not to blame for what I did that night and the shame I brought down on this family. I robbed that store. I did it alone with no help. That was on me.” He placed a hand on his chest. “So whatever grudge you’ve been holding against that family has to stop.”

  “They’ve been talking to you, I can see that. Tattling about things that aren’t true. That family’s scum, just like their daddy. I want you to stay away from them. No good can come from you being in their company again.”