Chapter Seventeen
“Do you think bailing me out is going to win points with my sister?”
Sam looked across his truck at Vince and the shiner closing one eye and the knot on his forehead. He didn’t think there was anything that was going to win points with Autumn. She was a hardheaded woman with an immovable heart. “I’m not going to tel Autumn. She doesn’t need to worry about you.”
“I’l pay you back.”
Sam slowed and stopped at a red light. “I know you wil .”
Vince had been charged with assault. Apparently, he’d kicked some ass in a biker bar. Sam didn’t hold kicking a little ass against a guy, but he didn’t like Vince any more than Vince liked him. “It probably wasn’t wise to take on a whole bar.”
Vince grunted. “Says the guy who takes on a bunch of hockey players almost every night.”
“That’s different. That’s my job. I don’t fight for free.” Not anymore. The light changed, and he stepped on the gas. “I have a real y good lawyer. I’l give you his card.”
“I don’t want your help.”
“I know, but you’re going to take it.” He was tired. Tired of fighting the past. There was no way to win with Autumn. He was probably better off knowing that before rather than later. Before he bought a big ring and made a fool out of himself. “I don’t want you upsetting her with your bul shit.”
“Me? Oh that’s rich. You’re the one who knocked her up and left her in a hotel.”
He looked across at the former Navy SEAL. At the man people thought was a hero. “We al know what happened six years ago. Autumn and I are working past it,” he lied.
Vince laughed. “You sure Autumn is working to get past it? I know my sister. She’s a Haven. Forgive and forget is not in our vocabulary.”
Yeah. He’d figured that out on his own. Received the message pretty clear. “Tel me something, frogman. Have you ever done something you regret so much that the guilt stays with you for years? Maybe the rest of your life?”
Vince was silent for several long moments, then said, “Once or twice.”
As much as he real y hated to admit it, in that moment he saw a bit of himself in Vince. “I regret what I did to Autumn, and I’ve been trying like hel to make it up to her.” He slowed and took an exit to Kent.
“Huh.” Vince took a pair of aviator sunglasses out of his breast pocket and slid them onto his swol en face. “How’s that working out so far?”
Not so wel . After that morning, he wasn’t so sure it would. He’d told her he’d never hurt her again, and she’d hadn’t believed him. Hadn’t trusted him and the more he thought about it, the more it pissed him off.
“I guess I should thank you for bailing me out,” Vince said, as if the mere words caused him added pain. It was Sam’s turn to grunt. “Don’t hurt yourself.”
Vince crossed his arms over his chest. “And don’t go thinking this makes us square. I’m stil going to kick your ass someday.”
Sam smiled. “You’re gonna
Vince chuckled. “If it weren’t for you being a colossal dickweed, I might actual y like you.”
Sam didn’t cal . He didn’t cal the night before he left town, nor for the next two days. Final y, on the third day, he cal ed and asked for Conner. Just the sound of his voice lifted Autumn’s heart even as it plunged to her stomach. She could hardly breathe past the pleasurable ache. When he was through talking with his son, he hung up. Clearly, he didn’t want to talk to her that day. Nor the day after, when he cal ed and only spoke with his son. It was for the best, she told herself. Best for Conner and her. The backs of her eyes stung, and she could not hold back the tears that splashed down her cheeks. She’d never thought the heart she’d careful y pieced back together could break even more, but it did. She was miserable and didn’t know what to do.
Just after noon, Vince pul ed his big black truck into the parking space outside her office window. She wasn’t in the mood to see her brother, but maybe he’d take her to lunch and help take her mind off her troubles. Maybe he had a real y great Christmas present for her that would cheer her up.
“Wow. You look like shit,” he said as he walked into her office.
Autumn blew her nose. “Thanks.” She pointed to his black eye. “So do you. What happened?”
Of course he didn’t answer. “Why are you crying?”
She shook her head. If he could keep a secret, so could she. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Normal y, he would have pressed and worn her down until she told him. Instead, he asked, “Is Sam in town?”
“I wanted to talk to him. When wil he be back?”
“Tomorrow night sometime.”
“That’s too late. I won’t be here.”
“Why?” She rose from behind her desk. “Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving town.”
“No!” Her jaw dropped. “Why?” Why was her life turning to crap al at the same time?
“I have to do something.”
“What?” She moved around the desk toward her brother.
“Nothing I can talk about.”
“Are you running from the law?”
“No.”
“An angry girlfriend?”
“No.”
“Boyfriend?”
“NO!”
She placed her hand on her chest, and concern for her brother pushed her own troubles aside. “I’m your sister. You can tel me anything, and I’l always love you. No matter what.”
“I love you, too, but there are just some things it’s best you don’t know.” He put up one palm. “I’m not going to talk about it. So don’t ask.”
Sometimes he was so secretive, it drove her crazy. “When wil you be back?”
“Soon.” He pul ed out a thick envelope. “Give this to Sam.”
The envelope was fil ed with money, and she gasped. “When did Sam loan you this much money?”
“Just tel him thanks.”
“What did you do?” She looked at the envelope in her hand and wondered why her brother would need so much money. Had he gotten kicked out of his apartment or gambled or hired a soldier of fortune from the back of one of his magazines? No, Vince wouldn’t hire someone to do his dirty work.
“Sam bailed me out of jail Monday.”
“What?” The possibility of jail hadn’t entered her head. Sam hated Vince. Why would he bail him out? “What happened? Are you okay?” she asked through a haze of stunned disbelief. Then she listened as Vince told her about getting into a fight with a bunch of bikers and getting arrested.
“Why didn’t you run away?”
He frowned. “I don’t run.”
