“Be still, you—”
Oh, God, no. Billy Don was here. It was bad enough that Jolene was doing what she was doing, but if Billy Don watched Rex the way—
Shuddering at the memory, Rafe twisted the knob and shoved the door open. As it slammed into the wall, he lifted the shotgun to his shoulder.
“Stop it right now!” he screamed.
Rex’s tormented face turned his way as Rafe racked their grandpa’s shotgun, aiming the barrel at the bitch standing over his brother.
“Let him go right now, I said!” Rafe yelled. “Let him go, or I’ll shoot you. I will. Let my brother go!”
“Get yer boy, Billy Don!” Jolene screamed, her hand wrapped around Rex’s—oh, God. She was touching him. That nasty bitch was touching his brother! “Take that gun away from him and get him outta here. I got a job to do, and I ain’t leavin’ till it’s done.”
Rafe looked at his brother, saw the tears and the shame glittering in his eyes. Rafe should’ve stopped her before. He should have. Then Rex never would’ve had to know what it was like to have her touching him. Rex always told him it was the big brother’s responsibility to protect, but Rafe didn’t believe that for a second. Rafe wanted to protect Rex, too. He should’ve done better.
Billy Don moved, and Rafe took one step back, but he didn’t lower the gun; he merely swung it so the barrel pointed at their father.
“Come closer and I’ll shoot you, old man. I’ll do it,” Rafe snarled, teeth bared. “Don’t fucking test me.”
Not listening, the old man closed the distance between them, stumbling once but righting himself.
“Don’t you come closer, you asshole,” Rafe warned, his voice calm as determination set in.
Billy Don took another step, and Rafe’s finger shifted on the trigger.
“Rafe, no!” Rex shouted, but his voice was drowned out by the unmistakable sound of a shotgun blast, followed by Jolene’s scream.
Rafe stumbled away from the counter, shoving the memory down deep as he went to his bedroom. He refused to think about that night, refused to relive that hell. He forced his thoughts to shift to Bailey.
For some damn reason, if he thought of her, everything seemed right in the world. Didn’t matter that she had a damn boyfriend—a fucking loser who didn’t deserve her—either. Rafe still thought about her. Day and night, from the first moment he laid eyes on her three years ago when he had pulled into the little Gas ’n Go to fill up his truck.
Bailey had been inside at the counter, paying for a soda and a bag of chips, talking to the clerk in that animated fashion of hers. Evidently, that was her idea of dinner before her shift at the bar, and she’d been defending the benefits of carbs. While he’d ogled her ass, he had overheard her telling the clerk that she would be waitressing at Moonshiners that night, and Rafe had found himself going over there just to get another glimpse of her. When she had checked on him after he’d downed his first and only beer, her smile had been so damn bright it nearly blinded him.
For whatever reason, Rafe had stuck around until she left, watching as she climbed inside a silver Toyota Corolla, then as it disappeared down the road. He did that many times, having learned her mother was the one who picked her up.
It didn’t take long for them to become friends. Rafe had welcomed her into his life with open arms, desperate for a distraction, something to keep his mind off his reason for running the last time. He’d never told her that coming back to Coyote Ridge hadn’t been in his plans, but he’d told her more than once that she was the reason he stayed. It was true. Their friendship had grown from there. He couldn’t count how many hours they’d spent together over the years. Going to the movies, the lake, the park. Whatever Bailey wanted to do, Rafe had gladly signed up to take her because being with her was the one good thing he had in his life.
But all that changed eight months ago when Bailey up and moved in with Seth.
By then, Rafe was already working at the bar, and he usually finagled his schedule to align with hers. He told himself it was so he could keep an eye on her, make sure she wasn’t hassled. Maybe that had been the case at first, but the night he followed her outside, waiting while she pulled on her jacket and started walking toward the street, he’d finally asked her where she was going.
“Walkin’ home,” she said with a blinding smile, as though she didn’t care that it was December and the nights were cold.
“Where’s your mom?”
She shook her head, continuing to take steps backward. “I moved in with Seth.”
Rafe hadn’t known that but hearing her admit it had been like a sucker punch to the gut. To cover, he’d asked her how far she had to go. When she said three miles, he nearly lost his shit.
She had a fucking boyfriend who made her walk three miles home. Who fucking did that?
So, he drove her home that night, and the next day, he ran into Josh Weber, Bailey’s uncle, at the auto parts store. Josh had thanked him for taking his niece home, and they’d chatted for a while. Turned out Josh wasn’t exactly fond of Seth, either, but Bailey was adamant he was the one. Josh told him that when a woman was as insistent as Bailey, you wouldn’t change their mind.
Rafe believed him.
Since then, Rafe had found every reason he could come up with to be around Bailey. He drove her home after her shift every night, refusing to let her walk the dark roads alone. It wasn’t a hardship because she was the only person he cared to be around. And since he was her co-worker, it was the perfect excuse to give her a lift after they closed for the night.
“Sweet dreams, Bailey,” he mumbled as he pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on the chair.
