I had a rare night off from the food mart and no shifts to pick up anywhere else, so I was going to spend it with my brother after the game, sans Sloane Sutton, and actually talk to him—hopefully, God willing, without losing my temper too much or smacking the little shit around the ear. He did a stupid thing, but his intentions were honorable. He just didn’t have many options open to him and, though it wasn’t an excuse, he was drunk. I just needed to cool off and get a level head to deal with the situation. Unfortunately, a double at Rusty’s didn’t look promising for lightening my mood.
“You’re late again, Hanagan.”
“And you’re an idiot, Rusty,” Janette said, rolling her eyes as she swept her arm around my waist and towed me into the back office, leaving Rusty waving his spatula at us. The moment the door was closed, she pressed herself against it, her hands on her hips, her wise eyes boring into me. “Talk.”
“About?” I asked, pushing my hands into my apronpockets.
“Oh, sweetie, don’t you even try that with me. I may not have kids, but I’ve seen enough of you girls go through here over the years. We’re family, and though the old coot out there can be a pain in the ass, he loves every one of you. Now, you want to try that again?”
My shoulders dropped, and all of the control I had disappeared as the tears welled in my eyes. Janette stepped forward, gripping my shoulders and pushing me back so I was leaned against the desk. Her arms folded around me, and for the first time since my mom died, I let myself go, rested my cheek on her shoulder and just allowed the weight of the emotion to slam against me.
I was a fool to think I could do any of it alone. I was making a mess of it all. Tate had been a good kid and my blundering attempt at parenthood was turning him sour. For the last three years, all we’d succeeded in doing was struggling: struggling for money, for time, for affection and to live. Part of that had been my pride; the rest was the suddenness of our parents’ deaths and how quickly I’d become a guardian. There was no preparing for that. I hadn’t even known they named me guardian or the executor of their will.
“Tate got upset about me losing my job and did something really fucking stupid, Jan.”
“On a scale of one to ten, how stupid we talking?”
“Fifty.”
“Hell’s bells. He turn over the convenience store?”
“Worse,” I said, looking up and blinking away the tears as she dabbed the ones on my cheeks with a tissue. “He tried to turn over the MC.”
“Jesus. That kid got a death wish?”
“Drew Tucker brought him to the house, all arrogant and belligerent. I didn’t know who he was, Jan. I tore strips off him.”
Janette stood there, staring at me in complete horror. I knew how she felt. Every time I thought back to the confrontation with him, I shriveled in my boots and willed the ground to open up and swallow me whole. I wasn’t entirely sure I could have handled it any other way. The man had an air about him that made it impossible to back down. Every word, every action felt as though he was goading me into a confrontation. It was infuriating. If nothing else, I had to make it a point to stay away from him. I had a feeling I would only get myself into more trouble if I didn’t.
“I know,” I finally said when her silence became deafening. “I think we were graced with him in a forgiving mood or something.”
“Baby doll, they don’t let things like this go.”
“Then I have to find a way to do penance, to make good for the mistake. There’s got to be something I can do.”
The hammering at the door made us both jump, our sighs of relief coming only when Rusty growled that we had customers.
I’d known what a dire mistake Tate had made the night before. I hadn’t needed any more confirmation than that, but the look Janette had given me told me that even I’d underestimated the trouble we were in. This was bigger than me being pissed off at my kid brother.
I couldn’t believe my life had come to this. I was twenty-five and considering making a will. It was all a little surreal, made all the more dramatic by my lack of sleep.
“Come on, darlin’, let’s go distract ourselves for a whileand see if we can’t come up with an answer to all of this.”
“Thanks, Jan.”
She tucked my hair behind my ear and gave me a wink, her thumbs brushing under my eyes before she flashed them to show the mascara there. “You’re not alone, sugar. You’ll never be alone while I’m drawing breath, and don’t you forget it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She smiled and pulled open the door. Rusty was just walking away and spun on his heel to start in on me, but one look at my face and he waved his arms in resignation and mumbled to himself before disappearing into the kitchen. The action brought a smile to my lips. Janette was right, the man complained like the devil, but he cared more than he would ever admit. If you asked him, he’d deny it, but that was all part of the old man’s charm.
Work, I could manage. Work was familiar. As long as it wasn’t another surprise morning from the MC, I’d do just fine. But after the night they’d had, and from the stumble of Drew Tucker as he left my home, I doubted I’d see any of them before sunset.
At least, I hoped I wouldn’t.
Chapter Eight
Drew
