“He’s here because he was drinking and driving, Jer. That isn’t exactly a small offense. He could have hit a family. He could have killed someone’s kid. He’s a selfish loser.” Who really was too good-looking to be real. I’d have to get over that, though. His pretty face wouldn’t get to me.
“Eva, lots of people drink and drive a little. He probably was just going a short distance from the bar to his house. I doubt he was on a road trip. Probably just had a couple beers.”
Sweet Jeremy. Bless his heart, he had no idea how depraved some people were. It was one of the things I loved about him. I happened to know Cage York was lit up like the Fourth of July when he had been pulled over. I’d heard Uncle Mack talk about what a thug he was and how the only thing he ever took seriously was baseball.
“Trust me Jer, that guy is trouble.”
Jeremy didn’t respond. He leaned his elbow on the opened window and let the warm breeze cool him down. The inside of daddy’s farm truck was smoldering hot this time of year but it was the only vehicle I’d drive. My vehicle sat in the garage untouched. I couldn’t bring myself to drive it and I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it. The pretty silver Jeep Daddy had bought me hadn’t been driven since I’d gotten the call from Josh’s momma telling me he’d been killed. Josh had proposed to me in that Jeep overlooking Hollows Grove. Then he’d turned the music up on the radio and we’d gotten out and danced under the stars. I hadn’t laid eyes on it in a year and a half. Instead, I drove the farm truck. It was just easier.
“Eva?” Jeremy asked, breaking into my memories. He always seemed to know when I needed someone to stop me from remembering.
“Yeah?”
“You know I love you, right?”
Tensing, I gripped the steering wheel tightly. When Jeremy started with something like that I never liked what he was going to say next. Last time he’d asked me that the next thing he said was I should really start driving my Jeep again because Josh would want me to.
“Don’t, Jer,” I replied.
“It’s time to take the ring off, Eva.”
My hands stung from the death grip I had on the worn steering wheel. The gold band on my finger dug into my skin reminding me it was there. I’d never taken it off. I never would.
“Jeremy, don’t.”
He let out a long heavy sigh and shook his head. I waited patiently for him to say more and was so thankful when we pulled into Mrs. Mabel’s. I all but jumped out of the truck before it came to a complete stop in my determination to get away from him before he could say more. The engagement ring Josh had put on my finger couldn’t be removed. It would be as if I was forgetting him. Like I was moving on and leaving him behind. I’d never leave him behind.
Chapter Two
Cage
This could not be my room. It was the size of the closet in my bedroom at my apartment. I dropped my duffle down onto the twin bed that sat crammed in the corner of the tiny room. On the opposite side, a small, round bedside table barely had enough space to fit between the side of the bed and the wall. Then at the other end of the narrow room was a shower. The cement floor had a drain in the far corner and a small showerhead came out of the wall. A simple rod and dark blue shower curtain were the only barriers between the shower and the bed. I was pretty sure if I got too carried away in the shower I’d get the bed wet. My phone started ringing in my pocket and I pulled it out to see Low’s name lighting up the screen.
“Hey, baby,” I replied backing up and sinking down onto the bed. Surprisingly the mattress wasn’t bad.
“So, how is everything? Are they nice?” Just hearing Low’s voice made me feel better—not so alone.
“I’ve only met the guy’s daughter and the next-door neighbor.”
“Oh, so there’s a farmer’s daughter?” The teasing tone in Low’s voice made me chuckle. Yeah, there was a farmer’s daughter alright but it wasn’t what Low was thinking.
“There’s a farmer’s daughter but she hated me on sight. Crazy I know, and to think, I thought it was impossible for a female to hate me until after I bagged her then forgot her name in the morning.”
“She hates you? That’s… odd.” Low’s voice trailed off like she was in deep thought.
The loud sound of the barn door swinging open caught my attention.
“Low, I gotta go baby. I think the old man’s here.”
“Okay, be on your best behavior.”
“Always,” I replied before hanging up and slipping my phone back into my pocket.
“Hello?” a deep burly voice called out.
I walked out of the small broom closet they’d stuck me in and headed for the sound of his voice. As I turned the corner, I stopped short. The dude was huge. At least six-foot-seven and three hundred pounds of hard muscle. The straw cowboy hat cocked back on his head showed that he was completely bald.
“You Cage York?” he asked. His serious expression reminded me a lot of Coach but that was as far as the similarities went. Coach was not this f**king massive.
“Yeah,” I replied and the man’s eyes narrowed and he took a step towards me. It took every last bit of my self-control not to back the hell up.
“Boy, your Daddy ever tell you it’s rude not to respect your elders? I expect any kid your age to respond to me with a ‘yes sir’. That understood?”
Really? What the hell was Coach thinking? This would never work.
“When I ask you a question I expect a response,” the giant growled.
Fine. I’d give him a f**king response, “No.”
His frown grew deeper and annoyance flickered in his eyes. I had a lot riding on this damn job but I wasn’t one to handle this kind of shit well.
“No, what?” he asked in a slow drawl.
“No; my daddy didn’t teach me anything but that his f**king fists were bigger than my momma’s and how to skip out on your family,” I replied with a sneer in my voice.
The angry scowl on his face didn’t change. I hadn’t expected it to but then I also hadn’t expected to tell the man my personal shit. It had just come out. My family was something I’d only ever talked about with Low and that had been when we were younger and it still affected me.