He sighed deeply and reached up to shove a hand through his hair. "Man, I have no fucking idea. I know that Simmons is pissed at y'all. He says Southwind is costing him money, and he wants something done about it. Thing is, people aren't quite as quick to bend over backwards to make him happy anymore. They used to think that Violet had to be the Devil incarnate, and now a lot of folks say nice stuff about her. Now, they aren't as happy about you being gay and all that."
"Bi," I corrected. "I still sleep with women, Mike."
"Yeah, but not really. See, that's the thing, Luke. You settled down. You went out and got yourself a serious thing, got custody of your kid, and you're like a family man now. Means that all those thirsty girls down at the Grill can't convince themselves that they got a chance anymore. Then, to hear that you're in bed with those other two guys that they think are cute? Nah, they don't think that's so cool."
"But what if they stop making threats with spray paint and start doing it with fists?" I asked. "They already tried to beat the crap out of Ash once. I know better than to go into town alone anymore. It's just a matter of time before this goes from a little vandalism to a little assault and battery."
"So I'll ask again," Mike said. "How do I help? Look, I don't have a fucking clue how pissed off you must be, but I know that I'd be fucking livid. I mean, getting people to vote so you can open up Southwind isn't really going to fix this, is it?"
"Probably not," I admitted, "but it will give us a reason to keep fighting."
"Well, I'll tell everyone I know they need to pull their damn heads out of their asses and show up for the vote," Mike said. "I also know that the next person calls you a faggot, I'm gonna punch him in the goddamn mouth. Ain't nobody gonna talk about my best friend that way."
I slapped his shoulder with one hand, and jerked my thumb on the other back towards Billy's car. "Well, for that, I'll even offer to drive Violet's car back to your place so you can enjoy that thing."
"Yeah?" He asked.
I just nodded at him. "I mean, what're best friends for, right? And I'll have someone pick me up so you can play with that car a little longer. Pretty sure Billy won't even miss it."
"Fuck yeah," Mike said. "That's why you’re the best fucking man ever. Butt sex or no butt sex, you kick some serious ass, Luke. We get to the garage, you've got to get a picture of me standing beside this thing, okay?"
"Promise," I assured him.
Because while Mike might be a simple guy to keep happy, he had more than earned it. I had been a shitty friend to him for the last ten years or so, but I was determined to make up for it. Even though he was rough around the edges, I was starting to realize that he was one of the most impressive people I had ever met.
Chapter Fifty-Three
After the incident on Thursday morning, we all agreed that Emily needed a little more protection. Step one was putting up a backyard fence to add one more layer of protection between her home and anyone who wanted to come onto the property. Next, a few more cameras needed to be installed. But before all that, Billy tried to make sure that she had a firearm for safety. Emily refused.
Billy pressed harder, promising he'd teach her how to use it. Again, Emily refused. When he went through the list of weapons he could get for her, she kept on refusing until Emily finally broke it to the guy that she was scared of guns. She didn't care if they could save her life, because she wouldn't have the guts to fire one anyway. She had a fire extinguisher, and that worked as a club, a smoke screen, and fire prevention, so she was doing ok.
Surprisingly, Violet's car wasn't that bad. Mike managed to buff all the spray paint away on Friday. Ordering the front windshield would take longer. The man was also having a torrid affair with Billy's car, which involved lots of sultry comments about its perfection whispered lovingly to the vehicle when he got near it. The fact that Billy mentioned it over dinner meant that even he found Mike's obsession adorable - if a bit odd.
But Faith left us on Friday afternoon to spend the weekend with her mother again. Thankfully, there was a lot less drama when she packed up to leave this time. Meredith even went so far as to apologize for trying to crash the party the week before. So, just to show that I could be the bigger man, I invited her to my next lingerie party - the one I began planning on the spot - for a mother-daughter event.
The rest of our weekend passed much too fast. Scott came in to take measurements for Emily's backyard fence. The man wanted to work through the weekend, but we convinced him to just get the stuff ordered and start on Monday. Zeke, Billy, and Darnell added more cameras to keep an eye on Emily's place. Teal went through the videos from the morning that Violet's car had been vandalized, trying to find just one angle that showed someone's face. Unfortunately, while he could see the people, and Luke said he was pretty sure he knew who they were, there wasn't a shot clear enough to use as evidence.
Then it was Sunday again, and we all headed to church to reclaim Faith. With Violet's car in the shop, Cy and I decided to ride with Luke. Berto used it as an excuse to catch a ride with Emily again, but we all knew he was just looking for any reason to talk to the woman a little more. He insisted that nothing could happen between them because he spent too much time in Austin, but that didn't mean he liked it.
When we arrived, everyone pitched in to help move over Faith's stuff. Meredith went out of her way to say that she'd heard about Violet's car and how she hoped it wasn't too bad. Faith had told her, it seemed. I wasn't sure I trusted the sentiment, since the woman had been so shitty to Luke, but I also got the impression Meredith had finally figured out that Faith's opinions weren't based on anyone else turning the girl against her. Meredith had caused the rift between them all on her own.
Just as we turned to head into church, Meredith called out, "Ash?"
I gestured for the rest to keep going, but Luke ignored me. Violet and Cy paused for a moment, but the embarrassed look on Meredith's face was enough to convince them to head in without us. Meredith then glanced at Luke nervously, but pulled in a breath and shifted to face me.
"Faith was telling me about you this weekend," she admitted. "She talked about how she modeled for the catalogue, and how you let her pick the photos and said she could change her mind." The woman swallowed a little too loudly, making it clear just how hard this was for her. "Thank you. I mean, everyone was saying that Brody hadn't done that, but she started crying, and..." She just bobbed her head in some awkward gesture as she ran out of words. "Anyway, thank you."
"Meredith, I adore your daughter," I assured her. "Not because she's Luke's kid, but because of who she is. We wanted to use the photo shoot to make sure that she could reclaim control. I've been talking to her about consent -allthe types of it. How no one can take a picture of her without her saying it's ok, how people can't grab her or kiss her without her permission, and how she is allowed to say when she's not comfortable."
"I..." Meredith glanced at Luke, then back. "On the way here, Faith informed me that if I say anything bad about Luke being gay - "
"Bi," I cut in, nodding to show it was ok.
"Right," Meredith breathed. "Bi. Um, well, she said she'll stop talking to me, and even if she has to spend the weekend with me, she will do it in silence. She said that she likes her dad having a boyfriend, so..." Meredith awkwardly offered her hand. "I love my daughter, Ash. I love her enough that even though what you do is a sin, well, it's your sin."
"That it is," I agreed, taking her palm to grip it kindly. "So long as you are civil to me, I will return the favor. Luke is adamant that Faith deserves her mother, and I'll respect that, even if you're a small-minded and selfish bitch at times. Since we're keeping it honest, you know."
"Ok," Meredith said, tensing at my words. "Well, have a good morning."
