“Never said that.” I lifted my mug. “Just let me finish my beer.”

Dane leaned over. “Hey, I’m thinking of doing that fucking singing contest. Gabe said that they’re giving out a five hundred dollar prize for the best performance.” He spoke straight to me and completely ignored Katy. And if there was one thing Katy hated, it was being ignored.

Her chair scraped the hardwood floor as she pushed it back. “See you in ten?”

“I’ll be there with fucking bells on.”

She leaned down and pressed her lips against my ear. “Forget the damn bells and just make sure you have a condom.” She sashayed away with an exaggerated movement of her slim hips.

“Bitch,” Dane muttered. “Anyhow, what do you think? Should I go for it?”

“It’s your fucking pride, dude. I can’t sing worth shit, and you make me sound like a fucking Grammy winner. But, hey, without poker this place is dull as a fucking morgue tonight. So go for it.” I gulped back some beer. “Hey, by the way, thanks for your help today. Out on the water—Thanks.”

“Yep. Hey, what song should I sing?” And that was Dane. Deep down I knew he had some emotion, some fibers of being that made him more human, but he rarely showed even a spark of it. I had never figured out if keeping it all buried had helped him get through our crappy childhood or if that was just the way he was born. Being two years younger than Dane, my earliest memories of him were when he was six. He’d always been a little removed from anything happening around him, like he was living in his own separate world right smack in the middle of the real one. Even back when we were just two out-of-control boys playing bank robbers in the backyard, Dane was out for a good time and nothing else. He was rowdy as hell and the teachers never knew what to do with him. And none of it fazed him. But today, when I saw his face as I broke back through the surface, I saw it, that flicker of concern. He would never confess to it and he might very well have already forgotten that moment, but at the time, the incident had scared him plenty. It reminded me why I’d come back to this fucked up town. I’d spent my whole life watching his back, and in his own, less obvious way, he’d always watched mine.

Dane leaned back. He was wearing his usual head to toe black leather, including his black shit-kicker boots. It was a look that worked for him. Most people were afraid of him, of both of us for that matter, but Dane didn’t come after you unless you fully deserved it. And his anger, which rarely surfaced, was fucking explosive. I’d been on the receiving end of it twice growing up, and both times, I’d ended up with a trip to the emergency room. Fortunately, for the people of Blackthorn Ridge, he didn’t give a shit about much, so he rarely lost his temper. There were a few local women brave enough to date him. If he was a little less unpredictable, there’d be a lot more.

“Ozzy Osbourne,” Dane said as he lifted his beer mug.

“What about him?”

“I’m going to sing one of his songs. I think I can pull it off and snatch myself that five hundred bucks.”

“Well, I’ll be back in to cheer you on just as soon as I take care of some important business.”

“Yeah.” He motioned his head toward Katy who was giving me the hungry eye across the room. “There isn’t anything important or business-like with what you’re going outside to do.”

Chapter 9

Tashlyn

Everly stuck her phone back into her purse. “According to Hayden, who works at the grain and feed store and who is best friends with Finn’s sister’s workmate, Sally, who I can’t stand, by the way, Finn was released with a bump on the head and nothing more. Thank goodness. I only wish he’d be at Rotten Apples tonight to see me in this outfit.” She held up her arms and stared at the big bell shaped sleeves, a vintage shirt I had in my collection. It had once belonged to my aunt, and she’d graciously passed it to me when I spotted it looking mod and vintage and cool in her closet. Everly had pulled it out of my bag and fallen in love with it too. She paired it with a jean mini skirt and boots and she looked as if she’d just hopped out of a fashion magazine from the sixties.

With all she’d done for me, I was just happy that I finally had something to give her. I had no idea how to dress for a place called Rotten Apples, but my wardrobe was limited. I’d thrown on a faded calico dress and my favorite footwear, my worn out cowboy boots. Whenever I wore the dress and boots at home, Cormac would start talking with a southern twang. It always annoyed the hell out of me and he knew it, but that never stopped him. In retrospect, about the only time the guy wasn’t acting like a lofty, self-important ass was in bed.

“You look great, Everly. It’s a shame Finn will miss it.” I’d agreed to go out to the local bar only because Everly had been so excited about it. Her uncle had given her the night off, and I had no intention of letting her down.

“I’m so glad you came with me, Tash. Of the few friends I have, they are mostly a bunch of bores. They’re all right for a shopping trip or grabbing a coffee, but at a place like Rotten Apples, they stick out like a bunch of rotten apples. She chuckled at her play on words as she turned her car onto the main street. It chugged and lurched as we hit an uphill stretch of road. “Stupid old jalopy.”

“I’ve got to say, the name of the place doesn’t exactly make it sound inviting.” My first day at work had been long and extremely eventful. I would have preferred to drop into bed, making me just as boring as her other friends. Out of everything that had happened on my first day, it was still those few moments in the locker room with Jem that had drained me the most. There was something about him that put me entirely on high alert, mentally, physically and emotionally.

I’d jotted down only a few lines to Aunt Carly about the chaos in Mr. Stevens’ office and the two men nearly drowning. I’d decided to keep my postcards short, general narratives about my time here. Carly was the type who could read anything and make it into something to worry about. Especially when it came to me.

“I still can’t believe that Jem was the one to pull him out,” Everly said.

“Why not? He jumped in without even a second thought toward his own safety.” There it was again, my defensive tone, something that kept showing up unexpectedly when we were talking about Jem.

“Never said he didn’t.” She glanced over at me with a knowing smirk. “Oh my gosh, he’s gotten to you. Those devilish good looks have sucked you right in.”

“No, that’s not it at all.”

“It’s all right. It’s a perfectly normal response. You aren’t the first, and you won’t be the last.”

“I just think your uncle may have judged him too harshly. That’s all. Just think you can’t really know someone unless you really know them.”

“I don’t really know you, but I know that I like you and you’re smart and funny and, I might add, you have the coolest clothes.”

“And I really like you too, Everly. Let’s drop the Wolfe topic. What’s this place like? Is there a band?”

“Sometimes a local band will play, but tonight is the Karaoke contest. There’s usually a nice cash prize for the person who gives the best performance, as judged by the audience.” She adjusted her mirror to keep the headlights out of her eyes. “Darn truck. I heard there was a lot of construction on the main freeway, which means we’ll be getting a lot of the overflow traffic for a few weeks. It’s good for Milly’s Diner but bad for the rest of the town. There’ll be a lot more trucks on the road. Hey, just realized I still haven’t heard you play your guitar. Can you sing too?”

I shrugged. “A little.”

“You should try for the money. It’s usually a bunch of no talents up there. You might just win.”