Chapter 21

Chapter

Twenty-One

U lysses (Months Later)

I'm still kicking myself and I turn down the road to the Honey Love Farm. Seven fucking months. Pain tears into my chest like I'm having a fucking heart attack. Angel and I almost came to blows more than a few times when I began to think he had found her and was holding her hostage. I could have told him that he's never getting where Ezekiel-Jane is from Kandie. She's made different. She's lost so much and the way she did has made her the toughest, most loyal person I know.

She's too loyal to bend and if he broke her, I'd have to kill him no matter how honest and good his intentions were in rescuing kids from trafficking rings. Noble as we try to be, we are still dirty. He's running everything but kids and I've helped him because the goal is not to fight losing battles. I did enough of that shit for my country. Helping people find their way to a better life from the chaos we've caused is the least we can do. I know well from my dad the part my family has paid in the migrant crisis with their greed and avarice. Thankfully, Mathias wants no part in it and is making changes. He's giving his workers fair pay and a path to citizenship — something Shelby Sugar has never done since its inception. He's a better man than his father and any head of the production side of the company. Jericho and Jackson agree but our Grams still rules corporate with an iron fist and wresting control for her would upset the entire corporation. They have to be far less obvious in their intentions, though their lingering bitterness between the Love-Shelby legacy permeates everything. They were spoon fed that hatred from the time they were left in Gram's custody. I guess we all have our shit, but hanging on generational curses is wild as fuck to me.

Pulling off into the private drive, I pass the sign, making the start of the Honey Love Farm. No one has to tell me that she's here. She's all but advertised that fact. Flaunted it even. She really thinks after everything that went on with us that I'm the man to toy with. Well, she will come to realize, like many before, that she is sorely mistaken.

The little shop is the first thing I see when I pull up. It's built like an old timey mercantile store. Has a potbelly bear statue holding a jar of honey on one side of the entrance and a life size bumblebee on the other nibbling a flower.

Ember-Jane peeks her head out the door and takes one look at me before ducking inside. Dead giveaway if there ever was one.

Cutting off the truck I get out of the cab heading inside at a leisurely pace. No need to rush there, there's nowhere to run this far out. The apiary covers a vast amount of Love land. The story goes they turned to beekeeping when cotton took its toll on the land.

"Hey, Sheriff." Waving, she looks up like she didn't just rush in to warn her cousin I was here.

"It's just Ulysses today. I'm not acting as sheriff, Em." Hazel eyes meet mine and she presses her lips hard with worry.

"I know she's here," I tell her, holding up my hand to stop any protest. "Naming the honey liquor y'all released to go with the new bourbon the family is producing Wildcat Kandie was a dead giveaway." It was a run over to The Shack to see if she'd been by that gave it up. The drink was in heavy rotation. Though I don't drink, I couldn't help but notice the bottle with a cat swatting a bee on the label that drew my attention. Seeing the label was all it took.

"That was my idea," she says sheepishly. "She didn't want to take the credit when it was her recipe. Well, Maxim helped. They split the patent, and he insisted that we name it after her." The little shrug is so cute you can almost forget she's been aiding and abetting a fugitive.

"Where is she?" I can hardly believe she's actually here. The fact I didn't think to come here sooner has me wanting to kick my own ass. I thought I'd been thorough. Ember-Jane always keeps a low profile and has since they lost their parents. Not that their parents kept up a fuss. No, this part of the land and part of Valentine's hold the acres that are the source of the feud. It is vast and butts up against the Shelby's sugar cane fields. For all its notoriety and potential, it's the least visited by outsiders.

"Now, Ulysses, I'm not going to tell you, but you're way too big for me to stop." Turning her back on her, she starts shelving honey.

"Alright," I huff out a laugh before heading back out the front.

"Aye." I turn to see those bright hazel eyes pinning me. "Yeah?"

"Don't hurt my cousin's heart no more." The sweetshop owner and beekeeper and the woman who became the fierce advocate for her autistic brother when she was barely a teen after her parents died in a tornado emerges.

"She left." I push down the guilt of the awful words that still won't let me sleep most nights.

"You're not the one who heard her crying herself to sleep every night for months until she had no more tears. I was."

She might as well have shoved a dagger in my heart with her words and the look accompanying them.

Giving her a jerk of my head, I head out the front then circle round back to where they keep bees.

Soft soil, the smell of honey and smoke greets me as I get closer to the hives.

I stand back watching two figures, one almost as tall as me and one just as diminutive, smoke the hives to remove the honey. I say nothing — just drink her in. She's hard to miss with the uniform that shouldn't be alluring on anyone but has my length hardening in my jeans as I watch the material stretch across her juicy ass.

I let them finish their task, not wanting to upset Maxim's work or routine. They load the honey into boxes and turn to bring them to be processed. Only they have to pass me.

"Oh hey, Sheriff U," Maxim nods, calling my way cheerfully after a brief startled stutter stop. Hefting the honey higher, he passes me, his mind on his task.

"Hey," I say as he passes. I don't look his way. I can't. I'm too busy drinking in the beauty I've been denied for months. Even covered in the netted beekeeping veiled hat, she's beautiful.

Her eyes are wide as she looks at me. My pride is fed a feast as I watch the way she looks at me.

"Miss me, darling?" I drawl.

"Fuck no." Her answer is whiplash quick. Rolling her eyes, she pops out one hip. "How'd you find me?"

"Wildcat Kandie. It's selling like hotcakes." I step toward her. Snatching her hat off, she tucks it under her arm and surges past me. It's cute really, her thinking she can outpace me. It really is. I catch up with her and fall into step with her on the way back to the house that stands a little further down the lane from the shop.

"It came out three months ago," she mutters, having been quiet the ten-minute walk to the house.

"I don't drink, so pardon my missing your foray into the very lucrative liquor industry." She slides me a dirty look at my dry words. The truth is, I am proud of her, but I'm more than a little bitter that she's been at peace making honey and creating recipes while I haven't slept in the seven months she's been gone.

Scrubbing my feet, I stop at the entrance of the kitchen door as we enter.

"You hungry?" she asks, pouring some lemonade into a glass taking a hearty sip.

"No, ma'am." Shaking my head, I watch a wild smile spread across her face. Everyone knows the story of how Love women are known for poisoning Shelby men who wouldn't leave them alone back in the day. I can't help but join her. Soon we are both laughing. "Smart man." Handing me the same glass she drank from she quirks an eyebrow. "Want some."

I take it drinking down the rest of the chilled delicious beverage. "Thank you kindly, ma'am."

The air becomes charged when she takes the glass, washing it, then putting it on the rack to dry.

"I'll get my stuff," she says and I wait immediately feeling like an idiot for trusting her.

Before I can regret my decision, she's back with the duffle slung over her shoulder.

"Where to? Jail?" she asks, wiping a tear after being hugged nearly to death by both brother and sister.

"You wish," I grumble growl. Shifting my F-250 into gear, we head off the property. Joining her in a wave to the brother and sister, I take her to the last place she'd expect.

"Where's Marlene?" she asks, looking around into the silent house, seeming to immediately know Mom's not here.

"Hospice." Eyes cast down, I feel emotion tangle in my chest rising like a wave to my throat.

The silence is heavy. So fucking heavy between us.

"Oh, U." Small hands touch my face, and it feels like she's scalding me.

"Fuck you." I curse her with every fiber of my being. I mean that shit, too. Heat rushes to my face. My eyes feel hot. Emotions threaten to break free. Every part of me feels scraped raw and washed in rough salt.

"You ran. Hid from me. I told you to stay put so I could keep an eye on you — keep you safe. You came here and knew. You fucking knew what I was going through, and you still left." The words are out cutting us both up before I can pull them back and I don't want to, not really. I mean every one of them. She acted like she was my everything, then left. Fuck.

"You're so fucking selfish." My accusation has her lifting her chin. Her little body is so rigid as she takes my lashing.

She's nodding her head so rapidly in agreement, I think for a second she's going to bob it right off her shoulders.

"I am. I had to get away from you. I still need to," she agrees, swiping the tears away, then reminds me, "I had sex with you even knowing what you did. Easy knew she had to get away from Angel, so did Saban. Whatever it is she and Snake have going on. If I had a lick of sense, I would've left with them." Shaking her head in disgust, she takes a step, then pivots away from me, covering her face. Her shoulders shake in silent sobs.

"I'm selfish. So fucking selfish I thought you'd finally come to do the right thing." She looks over at me her eyes red, her face ravaged. "I'm selfish because I don't want to lose anyone else? Does that make me bad?" Her voice is a broken plea.

Risking the biting and clawing I know is going to come, I take her into my arms. "No baby, it's not. That night I should have told you the truth. I would have if I found you that night. Angel wanted to wait until things settled and the kids were safely placed, and the trafficking lanes Rudy put down before we told anyone what was going on." She stills looking up with a mix of hope and confusion.

"What?" she gasps. I take her over to the sofa that we never sat on much and is still in pretty good condition to be something from the late nineties.

"One of Angel's former guys, Rudy, may he rest in hell, decided to start a side business of moving kids. One of my deputies stopped a truck one night, and we found the kids and brought them to a warehouse we knew Angel used for goods." Ignoring the quirk of her brow, I don't elaborate. "We got the guys who moved them that night but not the entire crew. It was vast and went through several continents. We had to enlist others to put a stop to it and that took time. Now it's done. Every last one shut down and justice meted out in the only language they understand." I look at her so that she can see the truth of my words. "We are not good men. I won't insult you with that bullshit. But hurting kids." I shake my head, angry that she would think me this type of low-down bitch but I push through. "After what I saw that night my dad died, I'd never." The words are gruff in my own ears. I mean them with every part of my being though. She barely escaped what her sister, my dad and his men gave their lives for putting a stop to means so much to me.

"I know." Shifting uncomfortably, her eyes dart up at me with a small glimmer of hope. "At least I thought I did. I kept replaying it in my head, but I told myself not to make excuses for you. I hated myself for being an apologist for you. I hated myself so bad." Swallowing hard she reaches for me. Soft flesh covering my hands is like a balm. She squeezes as she whispers, "I'm sorry, U."

"No." I shake my head. "I should've told you." I don't add I should have trusted her. I couldn't because she runs her mouth too much. Not on purpose but still.

"I don't know about that," she huffs, scrunching her nose. "So the kids are all settled?" she asks, brown eyes beseeching.

"Umhm. All reunited with family or in a safe home." LL, Angel, and I called in every favor owed and I was able to put my inheritance to use for some good for once. Maybe the first time ever a Shelby did anything without profit in mind.

The relief has her shoulders slumping with relief. I notice for the first time she's smaller than she was before she ran from me.

"You haven't been eating enough." She pauses mid-sigh and looks down at her slightly slighter form.

"I couldn't bake like I wanted to. Not that Ember-Jane didn't have the supplies, or the kitchen wasn't big enough. Maxim has a big sweet tooth, but it has a negative effect on him, so I had to regulate my sugar for mostly paying customers.

"Yeah, that's quite a network you have." Not being able to take my eyes off her, I just drink her up, allowing my eyes to touch every part of her I've been denied these last months.

"Ahem," I clear my throat, not sure where this next ask will take us. Back to square one or a full-on blowup like before. "Angel needs Easy," I tell her. Us having our women flee us at the same time did something none of our illegal dealing did — drew us together. Misery will do that.

"Figures." Crossing her arms over her still ample breast, she gives me a skeptical look. "I can handle you, but Angel knows he's too much for Ezekiel-Jane. She's good. Never done anything in her whole life but be good. She doesn't deserve to have Angel ruining her life with all his no-good ways."

I don't like how she's saying she's not good.

"What the fuck do you mean, you're not good?" I growl, stepping into her space.

"I didn't say I wasn't good." Huffing, she shrugs in a defensive way.

"You implied it." Taking her chin, I tilt her face up to look at me. "You're not good, Kandie." I shake my head. "You are so much more than that. You are the girl who didn't want to leave other kids being harmed, even when it cost you everything. You'd already lost so much and you did it again. You were willing to leave your business you work so hard for those kids. If we were dirty, we could have killed you — hell, you thought we were, and you still fought for those kids. You're not good. You're a gotdamn goddess and I'm in awe of you."

"My goodness." The words are of wonder. And I can't believe she's thought of herself as less. Glassy eyes reach mine. There is hope there still and something else — a newfound pride.

"I know I can't be the only one who told you that. Your family?—"

"They're my family." She shrugs one shoulder.

"Everybody ain't telling the same lie." I smirk down at her, using Mama-Pete's words on her.

"No, they aren't." Her smile is like sunshine sparkling after a thunderstorm.