Chapter 8

EIGHT

I parked my truck near the gazebo in the heart of Main Street in Crescent Cove. When I shut the door, I winced at the LITTLE DICK screaming from the silver paint. Already, paint chips were flaking off around the gouges.

Damn woman.

I should have called the cops on her superior ass. That was going to be annoying as hell to fix. I swiped at the scratches to see how surface they were. Unless I buffed it out myself.

Nope. My grinder was packed away in a storage pod with the rest of my gear. I'd almost sold it all, but tools for metal sculpting weren't exactly a Craig's List kind of offering. Maybe I could use some of it on the rehab of my house. But the idea of opening that locker made my eyeballs pulse.

I spotted the sign for Kramer & Burns Custom a few doors down from Brewed Awakening. I was pretty sure it was the same logo from the card Dahlia had given me. Their bay door was open, and I was tempted to go in and check them out, but I resisted the urge. I was just delaying the inevitable.

I shoved my keys into my jeans pocket. They were still stiff and new. I'd had to buy new clothes since all mine had random holes in them from my welding tools. Even the burn holes were too much for me to look at these days.

I scrubbed my hand over my face, then I pinched the bridge of my nose. The ever-present ache behind my eyes was returning. At least this time there was no optical-related light show to go with it. I stepped up on the sidewalk and lifted my face to the breeze off of Crescent Lake. The sky was churning as the water lapped at the pier that led out to a sightseeing spot.

A storm was definitely brewing.

The once blue sky was now a gunmetal gray and the sun struggled behind the heavy clouds. I appreciated the cooler temperatures at the very least. Today had been hot and sweaty work. I glanced at the diner. It would be easier to eat there and hope no one paid attention to me, but that was just me wanting to avoid the current task on my slate.

"Just suck it up," I muttered to myself and stepped off the sidewalk and loped across the road to the café. The Haunt, Macy's restaurant, was right next door. She could be in either location.

Or hell, she could be home with her family.

But I could almost feel her here. The café had her stamp on it just as much as the horror-themed restaurant I'd seen in photos. The front window of the café had a skeleton in a beach chair with a treasure chest full of spooky merchandise. Some with her logo and others with her favorite movies. A crochet bat sat on the skeleton's shoulder with another yarn crow perched on the arm of the chair with its wings outstretched as if it was mid-takeoff.

I grinned at the mix of ridiculousness that was so much a part of my sister.

At least the part of my sister I remembered.

The horror movies, the all black clothes, and rude T-shirts were just a few notable parts of her. Her long dark hair was a few shades darker than my own. But I also remembered the big, wounded eyes. She'd wanted to believe in my mother and father. I'd watched her get harder each year, and with every passing one, I'd stayed away for longer chunks of time.

Guilt, as heavy as the metal I forced to bend to my will, tried to crush me.

My hand stilled on the door handle of the café when I spotted her behind the counter. Her hair was short now. Almost severe with a strip of teal blended through the choppy bangs in the front. She was smiling at someone working beside her. A lush blond with ahuge friendly smile and pink cheeks. Both women were wearing the same aprons featuring the logo for Brewed Awakening, only my sister was in her usual black and the blond was in a cotton candy pink.

"Coming or going, man?" A voice came from behind me.

"Sorry." I swung the door open, and the guy followed me in. He was my height but had me by at least twenty pounds of muscle. He had sawdust on his shoulders and in the creases of his work pants.

He went right to the counter and my sister gave him a devilish smile. "What are you doing back so early?" She rushed around the counter and jumped into his arms.

I rocked back on my heels. I knew she was married, but I'd only seen a grainy photo from the local newspaper. I knew his name was John Gideon and that I had a niece and nephew—one by blood.

"I got back early." He boosted her up and gave her an unexpectedly hot kiss for the middle of a café.

I looked away. It seemed far too intimate for me to watch. I knew I didn't know a damn thing about her life anymore, but this seemed like an even bigger rift than I imagined. When I'd deposited her here all those years ago, that had been the last time I'd seen her. We'd fought before I left.

Her blaming me for always escaping when things got hard.

She was right.

I didn't have any defense against her claims, and I'd run back to Chicago and thrown myself back into work.

And the time had gotten longer between contacts.

Until there were none.

She slid down the big dude's body and reached around to pinch his ass.

God, kill me. She stepped back, and then our gazes locked.

Shock widened her eyes and her icy blue gaze slammed into me. Those eyes, so much like our mother's. I carried our father's dark, dark blue.

She pushed the big dude aside and stalked over to me. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Hey, Mace."

"Don't ‘hey, Mace' me. You have the nerve to walk in here with just a ‘hey, Mace.'" Her shock and anger slid into worry right before she pushed my hair back. "What the hell?"

I leaned back, away from her touch. "Don't."

"What the hell happened?"

"Doesn't matter."

" Doesn't matter? You look like Michael Myers took aim at your freaking face."

The laugh surprised me. There weren't many reasons for me to laugh anymore. "Not quite."

The dude she'd been kissing—I sure as hell hoped it was her husband—came up beside her. "Everything okay?"

"That remains to be seen." Macy leaned back against him, but her arms were folded tightly across her chest. "Gideon, meet my big brother, Nolan Devereaux."

Gideon curled his fingers over her shoulder. Protective, assessing, and clearly instantly on guard, he lifted his chin to stare at me. Also, he was a little menacing.

I couldn't say I was mad at the fact that he had her back—quite literally. I certainly hadn't had it in a damn long time.

I nodded. "Hi." I shook my hair forward to hide the worst of my scars. The whole of the dining room of her café was already staring at us. "I, uh...thought we could talk, maybe."

"What are you doing here, Nolan? Why now?"

Okay, I deserved that. It had been a damn long time since we'd spoken. Enough that she hadn't reached out for her wedding or when her kid had been born. I only knew the particulars because of the write-ups I'd scoured the internet for.

Now I realized the rift was a fucking chasm between us. I'd understood it was going to be hard to cross it, but I had to be the one to step forward. Even if she slapped me back a few times.

"Can you get away?"

She glanced over her shoulder at the trio of people behind the counter who were blatantly listening in on our conversation. I was pretty sure the whole café was. "Cover for me. I'll be at The Haunt."

The pretty blond was twisting a towel. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm good, Vee. I'll be back in a few."

Vee nodded. "Okay. We got this."

Macy nodded and turned on her heel, briskly walking across the café to another doorway that looked to be a pass through between the two businesses. The ornate door was darkly stained with bats carved into the top corners. Four of them. As if they were a family with a bit of a twist.

"I don't know what's going on, but if you hurt my wife, I'll toss you into the lake myself." Gideon's voice was a low rumble.

"Fair."

Gideon only grunted and followed Macy, leaving me to trail behind.

This was going to be fun.

The whispers from the people all around us made my skin feel tight. I squared my shoulders as I followed them through the door and closed it behind me.

The restaurant wasn't open yet. A woman was spraying down the tables with a polishing chamois. Macy spoke with her softly and the redhead disappeared into the back.

Macy turned to me and nodded toward one of the booths farthest away from what I assumed was the kitchen. Gideon slid in beside her and I noticed their hands clasp under the table.

I sat across from them, comfortable in the dim light of the room. My gaze settled on my sister. The earlier joy was now muted behind a mask, much like our favorite monster in the corner. Not a single thought betrayed her mood except for her eyes.

Macy couldn't quite hide her feelings there, at least not from me.

And there, nothing existed but pain.

Enough that my gut cramped, and my eyes started to throb. I didn't need a migraine right now. Stress and the weather could bring them on, and there was a two for one sale going on with that right now.

I flattened my hands on the smooth wood of the custom booth. "Really cool place."

"Are you really here to talk about my restaurant?"

"It's a start. It's you. All you." I looked around at the horror memorabilia, the full-sized replicas of Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers standing sentry along the windows. The carved light fixtures, the dark stained wood just about everywhere. This place was a bespoke love letter to the horror genre in every way.

"It is. I built it with my husband and some good friends."

Built it with people who weren't you . She practically shouted it.

I certainly deserved it.

"I'm happy for you, Mace."

"What happened to your face?"

"Easy, Killer," Gideon murmured.

She glanced at him. "What? It's a valid question." She faced me again. "Who Swiss-cheesed your face?"

"Me."

She frowned.

"It's a long story. Was an accident in my shop."

"Not such a long story." She arched her brow at me. "You okay?"

"Working on it. I left the city and bought a house. On the lake."

"Here?" She looked out the window. "Crescent Lake?"

I nodded. "I own a business on the outside of town too."

"Fuck you."

Gideon shot her a look. "Mace."

"I knew it." She jabbed a finger into my arm. "You own that sweet shop."

I resisted the urge to laugh. It wasn't quite the time to do that yet. "Trick or Treat, yeah."

"What the hell? You don't even pick up the phone, but you buy a business in my town?"

Gideon cleared his throat.

"Fine, our town. Whatever. Not the point. What the hell were you being so sneaky about?"

I sighed. "I bought it and thought I'd be able to talk to you. Then I..."

"Bailed, as usual."

I swallowed down the bile. She wasn't wrong. "I hired Lyric to run it. I was going to come and see you and then one of my pieces got into a major gallery." I rubbed the pad of my finger over the pattern in the wood. "Things got wild. I ended up in Los Angeles and time just kept going by." I looked up. "Then you seemed happy. Settled."

"How would you know?"

I shrugged. "I checked up on you."

"Yeah, well, I can't say the same. I didn't know a damn thing about where you were."

I slid my hands off the table. "Google works for you too, Mace."

She lifted her chin. "I shouldn't have to look up my brother on the web. Not after what Lou did."

"I know. It was shit. All of it was shit."

"You just left. Again. Even when I moved here, you had the chance to show up for me."

"I know." I met her gaze "I know I fucked up. And I kept fucking up."

Gideon slid an arm around Macy's shoulders. She stiffened and slid out of the booth, stalking down the spaces between the tables to the back.

I closed my eyes. The migraine was brewing like the clouds out the window. There was a rumble in the distance. Finally, the heat of the day and the storm clouds over the water were hitting one another. Much like my sister and I.

"I'm assuming she doesn't talk about me."

"Nope."

I opened my eyes and met Gideon's dark gaze. "I know I have shit to make up for. A lot of shit."

"You hurt her. And I get that family does that from time to time, but now she's my family."

Not mine. That was definitely loud and clear.

"I just want her to know I'm here. I'm not going anywhere this time."

"Guess we'll see." Gideon slid out and stood.

"I bought the Barrows' house on the lake."

Gideon whistled. "That's not a small place."

"Nope. But it's mine. I want to get to know my sister again—if she'll let me."

"I'll let her know where you are. It's her decision to make."

I nodded. "Fair."

I slid out of the booth as the lightning squiggle of an optical chased the pain from the regular headache. I needed to get out of there before I was incapacitated. "I'll get out of your hair. I don't expect you to understand or give a damn that I want a relationship with my sister, but I'm really glad she found someone. You guys seem tight."

"I love her more than anything on this planet other than our kids. I also won't hesitate to tie you to a cement median and dump you in the lake if you hurt her again."

I laughed and the pain of it almost put me on my knees. "That's the kind of love she deserves, man."

"I know it." Gideon jerked his head toward the door back to the café side. "Give her some time, she needs to stew."

"Got it."

Thankful for the darkness, I blindly made my way to the café side. Then I took a seat at one of the tables farthest from the window to wait out the pain and the storm outside.

Even if the storm inside me had just begun.