“That means free. Sometimes we protect people for free, Kevin.”
His face immediately lit up. “Really? You would watch Mom and protect her forfree?”
Hell yeah I would, kid. And you, too. Always.
“Yeah, Kevin. I never want to see anything bad happen to her, or to you, or to anybody else in your family. But, let’s not jump to conclusions, all right? You don’t know for sure that anyone is after her. I’m going to start up the truck again. Your mom's waiting for us, and I don’t want to keep her waiting any longer. She’s gonna wonder where we are, and she’s been through enough today.” Shane started the engine. “One more thing though before you can hire me.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m going to talk with your mom, privately.”
Kevin paled. “I’m not in trouble, am I? Well, Iamin trouble already because I didn’t tell anybody where I was going, but I promise that I’m never gonna do that again. But…” He looked desperate. “Please, Shane, please. I don’t wanna be in trouble for eavesdropping and snitching, and?—”
“Calm down, calm down. It’s going to be all right. I’ve known your mom a long time. Just let me talk to her about this, alright? I’m telling you right now instead of going behind your back and ratting you out. Not after we’ve talked man to man.”
“So, it’s like a code of honor?”
Shane nodded. “Yeah, Kevin, it’s like a code of honor.” He extended his hand and Kevin shook it solemnly.
Shane had no words for how good, howright, that felt. He’d long ago stopped considering himself father material, not after the rat bastard of a father he’d had. It wasn’t that Shane thought he would turn into his father and become abusive. He didn’t have that in him. He’d never hit a kid, just like he’d told Kevin. No, Shane thought he was too selfish to ever devote his life to someone who needed him so completely. Not after the way he’d let April down.
“Now, how about you take a seat in the back and buckle up. We’re about five minutes from Riversong.”
Kevin changed seats without a word of protest. Shane pulled back onto the road. They rode the rest of the way in silence, each lost in his thoughts. Shane turned Kevin’s words over in his mind. He remembered how the family had circled the wagons right after the drive-by, and who could blame them? Their business had seemingly been targeted, and the Taylors had old enemies. They re-opened once they knew it was safe, and business slowly picked back up until it was like the shooting had never happened.
Except for one thing. April had gone from flirting with Shane to shutting him out.
Shane grimaced as his memories drifted back to a few years ago when he returned to Lyons after his discharge from the Swicks. He’d tried for years to find April, using all the connections he could, but she’d remained hidden. He didn’t want to bother the Taylors; Shane—and his father—had done enough to them already.
Shane didn’t dare hope that April had come back home, but maybe after all this time her family would tell him where she was, if they even knew. He dressed up that day when he went to their coffee shop, hoping to beg forgiveness if they knew he was partly responsible for her leaving. He’d tried to find her, from the moment he’d recovered from his father’s beating the day after graduation, all the way through his first year of college, then after he’d secretly dropped out and enlisted with the Navy. He didn’t end up a SEAL, but a SWCC—Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen, or Swick—instead, along with Sean, one of his best friends from home. He thought with his new connections, he could track her down, but April Taylor had vanished into thin air.
The only reason he knew she was still alive was, ironically, through his father’s bank. Once Shane had the money, he started wiring it to the Taylors—as a big fuck you to his father, and as a way of easing his guilt. Turned out, April was doing the same thing.
So, the day he returned to town, when he walked through the doors of Riversong he was shocked to see April behind the counter. She had her back to him, wiping down the gleaming espresso machine. But Sonny saw him right away. Shane would never forget the look on the man’s face. It was the same expression he’d seen on the faces of his enemies in battle.
Sonny knew everything.
“April,” Sonny said quietly.
“What, Papa?” She had a warm smile on her face for Sonny, but when she turned and saw Shane, shock overtook her features.
“Shane. You’re back in town.”
“Got in today,” Shane quickly said. “I wanted to…to ask about you.” His gaze flicked from April to Sonny and back. “But you’re here.”
“I’m here. Past three years.” April set the towel down on the counter slowly, like she was in a dream. Or, maybe Shane was the one who was dreaming. She looked as beautiful as she did the day they graduated. The same bright, intelligent eyes, the same dark, glossy hair. He wanted to drop to his knees that moment and beg her forgiveness. There was no excuse for abandoning her. He should have fought harder.
“April. I?—”
“Mommy!” A little boy, the spitting image of April, burst through the door at the back of the shop and ran toward her as fast as his legs could carry him. April’s mom was on his heels, laughing and trying to catch him.
“Kevin, come back to grandma. Mommy’s working.”
All of April’s attention left Shane and went straight to the boy.
Shane’s heart split open down the middle.
“How was preschool, sweetie?” April asked as she swept the boy up in her arms.
