Ride Her Hard (The Hard Boys 1)

Head out of the bedroom.

“Well, I decided to gain some experience. I worked jobs. Waitressing. I even tended a bar. I did a lot of odd jobs. I even worked in a DIY store, which is why I know how to handle your shop. If you ever have a sick day, I’m your girl. I know my way around most jobs.” She stopped to eat some pasta.

He watched her, loving how she looked as she ate with relish, and he couldn’t help but think about Rome.

“Anyway, I saved a little money, and after a conversation with Aunt Betty, I thought about finding my mom. She and my dad had left me alone in a trailer. No food, nothing. Just a dirty living environment. Aunt Betty came to see her sister, and she found me. That’s a lot of trauma in a nutshell.”

He took her hand again. “Don’t worry. I love that we’re together, like this.”

She took a deep breath, and he saw tears in her eyes, which she blinked away. “Anyway, I wanted to know what happened to them. Aunt Betty said she hadn’t heard from her sister in years. So I took the money I’d saved up went to a private investigator. I gave him all the details I knew. Date of birth, name, last known location. You know, the trailer park, and as much as I could think of. I don’t even know why I cared. Anyway, weeks passed, and I kept on working. I figured he was a fraud after money. A scam.”

“It wasn’t?”

“About two months after I paid him, he turned up at one of the bars where I worked. One of the smallest files I’d ever seen in his hands. Inside was a single slip of paper with an address. I recognized it. It was the block of apartments across from mine. I knew pimps, prostitutes, and addicts lived there.” She laughed. “I’d avoided it and according to this PI, my mom and dad were there, or at least my mom was. He didn’t find my dad.” She let out a breath.

“What happened?”

She was baring her soul to him, and James would take it.

“I went to see her about a week after getting the details. I don’t know why I waited so long but I needed to compose myself. I went to her apartment. The stench was horrible. I don’t ever recall smelling anything like it. I don’t want to go into the gory details. Just know it wasn’t pretty. Not even a little bit.” She blew out a breath. “So I walked up to her apartment and knocked.”

He saw tears in her eyes and he held her hand even tighter, hoping to give her whatever comfort he could offer her.

“She didn’t recognize me, she was shocked. When I told her who I was, she burst out laughing. Told me I’d wasted my time and there was a reason she hadn’t come looking for me or wanted anything to do with me. I was a burden. They’d hoped I’d died and they had even tried to starve me so I would stop being a problem. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered so much evil in my life. My dad had died a couple of years before. An overdose.”

“Don’t even think about her, Eliza. She is not worth it.”

“I know. My mother also died not long after I had seen her. I remember going back to my apartment. I felt a little lost, broken. Aunt Betty called me. We sat and talked and while we were on the phone for hours, I opened up one of the photo albums she’d made me take with me. I saw all the pictures of us together. She took care of me. She loved me when my own parents didn’t, and then I realized, I had a mom and dad. I had everything in Aunt Betty. It was then that I decided I was going to go home. So I worked hard and when I felt I was ready to come home, I left my apartment and came back. Please, don’t ever tell Aunt Betty that I went to find my mom. I don’t want to hurt her. I love her so much and she put her life on hold for me.”

“Eliza, it’s not my secret to tell. It’s yours.”

They finished their meal and their wine. He didn’t take another glass but Eliza did.

“Dessert?” he asked.

“I think this has to be the worst date you’ve ever been on.”

“Nah, it’s not the worst date. This is probably the best date. There isn’t a single moment I would change about this.”

They shared some cheesecake and a chocolate torte. By the end of the evening, he had her laughing about some of his and his brothers’ antics.

“I bet you love them, really,” she said.