“While I appreciate your obvious respect for my skills, I feel like we have bigger concerns,” Chris stated, eyeing Zane very seriously.
“I have to agree with him, Zane.”
Zane took a deep breath, fighting back the tears. “What am I supposed to do? She walked out and asked me not to come after her.”
“Yeah, but he as much as admitted he scared her,” Chris exclaimed in frustration. “You know as well as I do, that’s not what she wants.”
“She obviously didn’t trust me to protect her, either,” he huffed. He took a deep breath, placing his hands on his hips and began pacing around the small area in front of the meat counter. “If she can’t trust me enough to protect her, there’s nothing I can do to hold her. As many years as I have spent doing exactly that, you would think she would know better than to doubt me.”
“It’s not her she’s worried about, Zane.”
“Are you trying to say he’s threatened me, like my mom suggested?” he snorted, shaking his head. “He knows he wouldn’t survive that.”
“Yes, Zane, like your mom suggested,” Chris grumbled, throwing his hands up. “Two things, Man. You’re assuming he implied he’d come after you with his fists, and women don’t view things the way men do.”
Zane gave Chris a skeptical look. “Austin Green is afraid of guns. He nearly shot his own foot off when we were still in seventh grade. He’s been afraid to touch one ever since.”
“Once again, two things,” the other man said, holding his hand up. “Does she know that and are you sure he hasn’t learned to handle them better since then?”
He nodded his head, seeing the big man’s point. “I don’t know, and no.”
“The last thing she would want is for you to die for protecting her.”
Zane looked up at the other two men, the pain and anger warring for control in his eyes. “You want to know the worst part?”
Chris shook his head, obviously confused. “How could there be a worse part?”
Zane sighed and crammed his hands in his pockets. “He told me, it was never about her, to begin with. He’s doing all of this to her, to get at me,” he huffed, yanking his hands out of his pockets to rub over his face and started pacing again. “And all over a girl he liked in high school that like me instead.”
Saying nothing, Chris gave him a look of utter shock, before looking over at Joe to find him nodding his head. The older man had obviously already heard this part. Even if he could have found voice to speak, what could he have found to say? Zane had definitely been right. That was the worst part. It told him, without Zane actually saying the words, no matter what Amanda did or didn’t do, Austin would do his best to make her miserable.
Chapter 22
Saturday, August 30
Zane sat staring at his own reflection in the mirror behind the bar, a disgusted look on his handsome face. He was disgusted with himself as much as the situation he was in. He had come to the bar with the intentions of getting drunk and then laid. Problem was, Joe wouldn’t let him get drunk enough to forget Amanda. He had said something about realizing his mood was all wrong and that he figured he would be likely to end up starting a full-on bar fight.
Realistically he didn’t think he was going to even be able to forget Amanda anyway. Every time he tried to talk to someone, it would make him think of her. He was just getting more frustrated, and he was nowhere close to getting laid. There just wasn’t anyone he wanted to go home with. He never took them home with him. There was only one woman other than a relative he wanted in his house. And she apparently would rather go back to her abusive boyfriend. He knew he was being stubborn, and he should probably listen to his mom, but he was too angry and in too much pain. He just wasn’t ready to stick his neck out there like that again. He didn’t know if he ever would be.
There had been several women who had hit on him, trying to get his attention. It wasn’t doing any of them any good. Anytime someone approached him, all he could think of was how it had been those few weeks she was living with him. I never should have let myself kiss her. I might be able to walk away the way she asked, if I hadn’t.
His mood didn’t improve any when Ashley Mullins walked up with her new boyfriend and tried to talk to him. “Wow, Zane. I don’t think in the whole three months we were together, I ever saw you drink once,” she sneered.
“What’s your point, Ashley?” he mumbled low, not bothering to even turn to look at her. He just took another swig of beer and tried to pretend she wasn’t standing there.
She chuckled, giving him a smirk like she knew something he didn’t. “It’s all over town that Amanda went back to her boyfriend.”
“Ashley, why don’t you go bother somebody else,” he grumbled, waving Joe over. “I want another beer. And a shot.”
“How about a bottle of water,” the old bartender said, shaking his head. “I’m not letting you get that drunk. A little buzzed is one thing. Drunk is another. You’d be sure to take someone’s head off.”
“Joe, this is a bar. People come here to get drunk, not mothered,” he grumbled, giving the older man a killing look.
The man chuckled, shaking his head. “How about a cheeseburger and some fries from the restaurant. It’s on the house.”
“I don’t want anything to eat. I want a shot of whiskey and a beer,” he growled, rising up off his bar stool to wobble slightly on his feet.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I talked to your mother a little bit ago. She said you haven’t been eating much the last week. I think you need a good meal and to go home and get some sleep.”
“You called my mother?” he growled, thinking about throwing the empty beer bottle in front of him at the mirror behind the bar. “What is it about the old men in this town acting like a bunch of meddling old women?”
Joe must have had a sixth sense about him wanting to throw the beer bottle, because he snatched it up off the bar and sat it somewhere under it, along with moving a few other random items out of his way. He gave the man a dirty look, drawing a smirk out of him. “No, Zane, I didn’t call your mother. She called me. She was concerned and wanted me to know about Amanda, not that I didn’t already know. She also wanted to make sure I had heard about your forced vacation.”
“Amanda,” he grumbled, shaking his head.
“I should have realized you’ve always been in love with her,” Ashley snarled, finally accepting Austin had been right. “I can’t believe it. Zane Townsend in love with the fat chick.”
Zane looked over at Josh Edwards standing beside her and snarled, issuing a dire warning. “I won’t hit her because she’s a woman. I may not be happy with Amanda’s choices right now, but I still don’t like her calling her fat. If you don’t get her away from me, I’m going to punch your lights out. I’m not in the mood to deal with her mouth.” Neither Josh, nor Zane knew that Joe had already called Jeff Campbell to come and take Zane home.
“Really, Zane? You think you’re sober enough for that,” Josh said, trying not to laugh. He and Zane had always been pretty good friends, and he had no desire to fight with the guy. He also knew Ashley was bitter over her relationship with Zane, and he didn’t want in the middle of it. She should have known better than to gamble for a guy’s heart, when his heart had already been won. The whole town of Sapphire Springs knew Zane was in love with Amanda. Even if he wasn’t ready to admit it to himself. How she could have missed it, after all the years, made him wonder if she wasn’t more of an air head than she appeared.
“Don’t worry, Zane,” he said, trying to ease her along. “We’re going to go sit down. I’ll keep her away from you.”
“No, I’m not done,” she growled, pushing back at Josh. “I think he should answer for what he put me through.”
Zane snorted, eyeing her hard. “I didn’t put you through anything. You knew my rules going in. I never once lied to you. Now, go away.”
“Come on, Ashley,” Josh said, trying to pull her away again. “Leave him alo
ne. He’s drunk. You really don’t need to start an argument with him.”
Ashley didn’t say anything else. She just tried to take a swing at Zane instead. However, none of them had noticed Jeff and James had come in, and Jeff had stepped up beside her in time to catch her fist as it flew through the air.
“You really need to listen to your friend here,” he said, almost in a whisper. If he hadn’t leaned in so close, she probably wouldn’t have heard him at all. “This isn’t the right time for you to antagonize him.”
“What are you going to do about it?” she sneered. “Arrest me?”
Zane chuckled, shaking his head. “Ashley, he’s got more money than I do. You might want to be nice.”
“Shut up, Zane,” the man in question growled, giving him a dirty look before turning back to Ashley. “I’m not on duty, but your being arrested could be arranged. You did try to take a swing at him.”
“Whatever,” she huffed, finally stomping off in the other direction.
“Sorry, Zane,” Josh said, furrowing his brow. “I didn’t realize she was going to try to cause trouble when she asked to come over here and talk to you.”
“Don’t worry about it. Just keep her on her side of the bar.”
He nodded his head in agreement. “I will.”
“You know you can do better than her, Josh. A lot better,” Zane said, trying to raise an eyebrow at the guy. It took a few tries, but he finally managed to get it done.
The other man chuckled, thinking he was just still irritated at her for her attempt to punch him in the face. “You dated her. She can’t be that bad.”
“I wasn’t dating her. I was screwing her. There’s a big difference in the two,” he said, causing Josh’s eyes to grow huge in their sockets. “And the only thing that woman is worried about is how much money you have in your checking account. Don’t take this the wrong way. I don’t judge people according to the amount of money they have in their checking account and I’ve always known you to be a good man. But I’m pretty sure you don’t have enough, and it makes me wonder what she’s up to.”
“Wow,” he answered back, whistling low. “That was really crass. Even for you.”
“Sorry, but it’s true. The alcohol seems to make me a little too honest, but she really is about the most hateful woman I’ve ever known. I don’t know why I put up with her for as long as I did. And I know for a fact one of my sister’s best friends has a thing for you,” he said, the alcohol making his tongue a little too loose again. “Now, she is someone worth the trouble.”
“Which sister?” he asked, truly seeming interested.
“Hannah.”
“Which best friend?” he asked, doing his best to recall all the friends he remembered Hannah Townsend hanging out with. She was a little younger than him, so that wasn’t the easiest thing for him to do.
“If you want to know that, you’re going to have to talk to my sister. I don’t want to make it too easy for you,” he said with a smirk.
Josh shook his head and grinned. “See you later,” he said, finally following behind Ashley.
“Come on, Zane,” Jeff said, taking his arm to try and turn him toward the door. “Time to go home.”
“Nope,” he said, jerking his arm away and shaking his head. “Not ready to go yet.”
“Zane, you’re not going to find someone to replace Amanda. Not anymore.”
“What do you mean by not anymore?” Zane asked, sitting down on a bar stool because he was feeling a little lite headed.
Jeff sighed, rubbing his forehead. “You’ve come too close with Amanda this time. The substitutes won’t work anymore.”
He shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs out. “I still don’t think I’m following you. I think it’s the alcohol.”
“Like we’ve been telling you, you need to go after her.”
“Okay,” he exclaimed, hopping back to his feet. “Let’s go after her now. I’m all for that.”
Jeff chuckled, shaking his head. “Not while you’re drunk. We’ll do it tomorrow. After you’ve slept this off.”
“Nope,” he said, shaking his head vigorously. “Let’s go right now.”
Jeff shook his head this time, not saying anything. His first concern was getting him out of the building. That chore would be easier if he didn’t try telling him no.
******
“Why are you bringing me here?” Zane grumbled when he noticed where Jeff had taken him. “I thought you were taking me home.”
Jeff shook his head. “No, I’ve brought you to someone who might have a chance of talking some sense into you.”
“Jenny is not likely to talk any sense into me,” he grumbled, shaking his head, then wishing he hadn’t when his vision started to swim. “She was afraid of getting hurt as much as I was. She’s going to understand my pain.”
“I didn’t bring you here to talk to Jenny. Luke and Mindi are here,” he said, finally pulling to a stop at the end of the long driveway.
Zane groaned, throwing his head back against the seat with his eyes closed. “Man, I don’t want to talk to Luke.”
“We figured you’d react that way. That’s why I brought you out here,” the other man answered, crawling out of the truck. “All the ruckus we’re about to make will go mostly unnoticed.”
Zane got out of the passenger side of the big truck and followed behind him. He knew he wasn’t getting out of here until they got their way. They didn’t seem to understand they weren’t going to be able to talk him into going after her. Not yet.
He come to a stop at the bottom of the porch steps when he noticed everyone was outside. Including the member of the party Jeff hadn’t bothered to mention was going to be there. He gave his brother a long hard look, noting the look of determination in his eyes and nodded his head in greeting. He was starting to get a suspicious feeling that at least these members of his very busy-body family were about to try and pull a family intervention. “I thought I was supposed to be talking to someone. Not a bunch of someones.”
“Well,” Luke started, taking a step closer. “This is likely to get a lot more complicated than just talking.”
“If there was ever a cryptic statement made, that was one,” he said, suddenly feeling nervous enough he took a step back. “Why do I feel like I’m about to be attacked?”
Luke chuckled dryly, not really feeling any humor at all and rubbed his hand over his face. “Zane, you know we’re not going to attack you. I think the alcohol might be talking a little bit, right now. I’m not going to say we’re not prepared for a fight, but it is not our intentions to hurt you.”
“Then why would you be prepared for a fight?” he frowned.
“Because we know you well enough to know, you’re probably going to fight us.”
He gave his brother-in-law a confused and almost hurt look, feeling sure the alcohol was making him too fuzzyheaded and emotional for this conversation. “You think I want to hurt you?”
Luke sighed, shaking his head. “It’s not that simple, Zane.”
“Then explain,” he grumbled, raising an eyebrow.
“Some of the things we have to say are probably going to make you angry enough to take a swing at one of us.”
“If you think I’m going to get that mad, why are the women out here?” he growled, actually taking a step forward.
When Luke looked past his shoulder, he realized he might have missed someone just a split second before he heard his motorcycle pulling up the driveway. The fact that he hadn’t heard the bike before now, proved he might have been a little more drunk than he had realized.
He turned around to see what had to be James ride up on it and park alongside Jeff’s truck. Until then, he had forgotten James had originally been at the bar with Jeff and had disappeared before they had made it to the vehicle. He apparently had been drunk enough not to question where his brother-in-law had gotten off to. When his partner had taken his keys earlier, he’d obviously given them to James to ride the bike h
ere. The big man came to a stop along-side Phillip and grinned. “Hey.”
Zane gave him an irritated look, growling, “Where’s Lisa? Shouldn’t she be here?”
“She’s in the house with the children.”
“Well, why isn’t Jenny and Mindi in there with her?” he snarled.
Luke sighed, nodding his head. “Well, this was Mindi’s idea,” he answered, not explaining exactly what Mindi’s idea had been. He was just hoping it worked. “They’re also out here to make sure things stay under control.”
“Fine,” he snapped. “Why do you think you’re going to make me that angry?”
“Joe told Mark about your run-in with Austin last night.”
He snorted, shaking his head. “Why am I not surprised?”
“He was concerned,” Mark added. “He said he believes you’re in a lot more pain and a lot angrier than you’re letting show.”
He came back with a very sarcastic, “You think?”
Luke glanced at Mark, doing his best to hide a grin. “He told us, at one point, you were close to crying.”
“Wouldn’t you be?” he snarled in return. “How would you feel if Mindi was all but living with someone you knew would beat on her, if the notion took him?”
“Yes,” Luke nodded. “We’re not trying to make fun of you for having strong feelings. We just want you to admit those feelings and do something about them.”
“I can’t do anything about them,” he roared. “She asked me not to go after her.”
“Since when have you ever listened to anyone or anything other than your mom and your own gut?” He shook his head, having nothing to say back to that. “You seem to have lost your way. You’re not listening to the one person you would normally listen to in a situation like this. Your mom.”
Zane roared, lunging at him. Luke, having been prepared for the eruption, caught him and held his ground until he managed to push him back enough to look him in the eyes. “You need to go after her. You know you do.”
He growled, trying to take a swing at him, but missed when Luke dodged. “I don’t know anything. My guts are in such a knot, I don’t know what my instincts are telling me.”
Austin's Revenge (The Townsends Book 4) Page 21
