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28. Chartering A Plane

Nadia

"Ihave a theory," I announced on our way to Storm's house after we left the Bohannans.

"Sock it to me," Riggs invited.

"I sense from what we discussed with Cade, and what you two were talking about, plus what you found this morning, this someone from the Whitaker debacle possibly looking for something, might also be the ‘ghosts' who chased people off the property. I mean, if whatever it is, is a big deal, like worth money, whoever owns the property actually now owns whatever that is. And before you bought it, whoever it is might not be someone who's supposed to have whatever it is they're looking for. This means, they couldn't exactly have people around while they were looking for it."

"Sorry, honey, but we already came up with that theory when I talked Harry into opening the file."

"Oh."

No wonder that had been the bent of their conversation.

"Forgot to mention it," he said.

"That's okay."

He kept driving.

I went after something else that was on my mind.

"Does Harry have a partner?"

"The sheriff doesn't normally work with a partner."

"No, I mean in life."

His response was openly guarded. "Why do you ask?"

I looked to him. "Is it a secret? Is he gay or something and there are shitty homophobes around who'd have a problem with it?"

"No. But you said he was awesome earlier, and now you're asking if he has a partner, and last night, and the night before, and so on, you been fucking me, so gotta wonder why the interest in Harry."

Now I was staring at him.

I did that awhile before I said, "Riggs, I'm only not laughing my ass off right now because I don't think you'd appreciate it, considering that's ridiculous."

"He's a good-lookin' guy."

"He's nowhere near as good-looking as you. And I doubt he makes brats as good as you, because, as far as I can tell, no one can. And I don't know if he's a dad, but he'd have fierce competition to be a better one than you. And I wouldn't like being able to make him smile as much I like making you smile, because I don't like making anyone smile as much as I like to do that for you. And I love my very dearly departed husband, and he didn't stink in this department, but he was nowhere near as good in bed as you. Do I need to go on?"

"No," he grunted.

"Is this a macho-man jealousy thing?" I pressed.

He didn't answer.

The things his mother said, not to mention what he said, hit me like a bullet.

"Riggs, you're all that," I said quietly.

"Okay," he said quickly.

"You really are."

Riggs had no comment.

Something else hit me.

So I went after it. "The day after we first did it, I asked if you were for real, and you had an odd reaction to that. What did you think I was asking?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I think you know."

"Did it?" he teased.

It was a cute tease, and I liked him teasing me.

What I didn't like was him dodging me.

"Had sex, copulated, fornicated, whatever you want to call it."

"Princess, that was solid gold fucking."

Now he was being hot and teasing, which, if I didn't nip it in the bud, would work.

"Stop deflecting," I warned.

He blew out a sigh and said, "If memory serves, I didn't know what you were talking about then, and I asked after it."

"It was just that?"

"Honey."

That was all he was going to say.

"Talk to me, Riggs," I demanded.

"Right, I wake up to a woman, I scoot her on her way. I don't tell her to put her toothbrush in my bathroom."

"Okay," I said cautiously.

"And I reckon you know that. Saying that, I'm not a player. But I get myself some. It's just the women I got it from know that's all I'm after."

"I do know that."

"So I wasn't sure how you'd behave knowing I didn't consider us a one-and-done situation, not even close to it."

"You thought I'd think it was?"

"I didn't know. It seemed like a weird question for you to ask."

"I was just surprised you had any motor skills at your command. Even though I did my best, you did most of the work, and I was still shattered."

That made him smile.

"Riggs, I'm into you," I said softly.

"I get that," he said brusquely.

Okay, this was making him uncomfortable. I had to let it go.

That said.

"For your information, there is no way I'd get involved with my neighbor if I wasn't seriously interested. Especially after learning he had a son. And that's not about you having Ledger and me thinking that's baggage I don't want to deal with. It's about another human being in the mix. So the decision I made was considered, and made mostly because, I'll repeat, I'm into you, and I am because I really like you."

He reached out, squeezed my knee, put his hand back to the wheel and muttered, "I really like you too, honey."

"Good."

"And to answer your question, Harry is not gay. Harry was married to a really amazing woman, he was head over heels for her, she felt the same, but a year after they got hitched, her horse threw her. She broke her neck, the kind of break where she lost her life."

"Oh God," I whispered.

"He still has his stables, but he got rid of his horses, and part of him died when she did. I don't think he's had a single date since that happened, and it was years ago."

Poor, handsome, good-with-Ledger, good-friend-to-Riggs Harry.

"I understand that," I said. Though, I got myself some (as he put it) on occasion.

"Bet you do," he muttered.

I didn't want him to think I was that mired in my grief for Trevor, so I shared, "So you know. I, um…saw to certain needs. I dated and such. Just never really got into it."

"Right," he said gently, did the reach-out-and-touch-my-knee thing again before he put his hand back to the wheel. Then he remarked, "Surprised you didn't notice his wedding ring. Don't keep tabs, but do know he still wears it."

"He wasn't wearing it today."

I watched his face. Thus, I witnessed the slow smile that spread across it.

"What?" I asked.

"We had occasion to get in each other's shit recently, and I might not have been subtle when I told him to stop fucking around and get on with his life. Seems he listened."

I hoped he did.

We drove the rest of the way in silence that was comfortable, something I liked, considering we'd had some awkward words, and then Riggs was just over it.

And I'd find that Angelica either had a type or researched her baby daddies in order to push out the kind of children she wished to create, because Storm also lived in a mountain house, even if his wasn't as secluded as Riggs's (there were other houses around, not close, but not near as far as Riggs's was from mine) and there was no lake.

But it was rambling and rustic and appealing.

He was too, if the tall, fit, black-haired man, with the very full, somewhat long beard, wearing a plaid flannel, jeans and boots, ambling out the front door after Riggs parked next to his shiny, silver, big (but not as tall) truck, was Storm.

We got out, strode up his walk, and they firmly shook hands, exchanging low, "Heys" before they broke, and Storm turned his stormy eyes to me (oh yes, that was where he got his nickname—his eyes were an extraordinary moody pewter, unlike any color I'd seen before (but definitely as unique as Riggs's silvery gaze), the effect with his tan skin and coal-black hair was fantastic—though that stormy nickname could also be about him being a man who threw mugs).

"Storm, this is Nadia, my woman. Nadia, this is Storm, Viggo's dad," Riggs introduced.

But he didn't stop there, and by a small miracle after he referred to me as "his woman," I managed to follow what he said next.

"And, man, so you know, she was with me when Lucille spilled. She helped me through it better than I did for you, so I didn't break any mugs, and she and Ledge are getting tight. This means she's gonna be around Viggo. And I'm down with her knowing whatever you're gonna say."

"I could also go sit in the truck and play phone games," I offered.

"Come in," Storm invited. "I don't give a shit who knows this. And I know that sounded short, but I actually just don't."

I nodded.

Riggs took my hand, and he led us inside the house of a man with a three-year old boy. There was an abundance of toys overflowing from a large crate in a corner and a freestanding booster chair an older toddler could crawl up into himself at the kitchen table.

And these were on open display, not tucked away or easily hidden.

In other words, if Storm had visitors of the female variety, they went in knowing he was a proud dad, and if things sparked, he came as a package.

I decided from that, I was going to like the guy.

Other than that, its décor was "Single Mountain Guy Who Has Money." The furniture was comfortable but attractive. The prints on the wall had masculine personality, with a montage of pictures on one wall that shared he liked skiing, camping, white water rafting and had a number of friends who sported tans like he did and smiled a lot, often while they were drinking beer.

"Sit. You guys want a beer? Soda?" he offered.

"I'm good," Riggs said.

"Me too," I put in.

We sat together on the couch.

Storm sat in an armchair off to the side.

"Viggo here?" Riggs asked.

"He's napping," Storm told him.

Bummer.

I would have liked to have met him.

"I'll cut to it so I don't fuck up your Saturday any more than I already have, and appreciate you coming to mine," Storm started.

"We were out, not a problem," Riggs replied.

"Still. Appreciate you," Storm murmured. He then announced, "I've already talked to my attorney. I'm going for full custody of Viggo. And when I told my lawyer what went down, considering what's already gone down, he said we have a good chance at getting it. I gotta confess, I've been thinking on this awhile, so some groundwork has been laid. I've had an investigator follow her, and I got some pretty damning info. It's not like a single mom shouldn't be able to enjoy herself, but she goes to the liquor store often, she goes out and ties one on often, she fucks around a lot, she brings men back to the house when the boys are there, which means she gets a lot of babysitters."

Angelica brought men home when the boys were there?

Riggs didn't react to this like I thought he would, that being blowing his stack.

He simply said, "I hear you." He then turned to me and said quietly, "Sorry, I meant to get into this with you tonight, but we're here, and after what happened with her, I don't think it's gonna surprise you." Back to Storm. "I made the decision I'm gonna promote Easton to foreman. If I don't give him more responsibility, he's gonna bail and find it for himself. I got commissions lined up so far out, the waiting list is eight months, and I'm turning shit down. I can head out to a site and see how the boys are doing, but I'm gonna stay home for the most part. This means I'm taking her back to court to get an order to reflect that change and have shared custody. If she balks, because that will mean support is cut, I'll change that demand to full too."

I stayed silent even if this made me gleeful.

Not that Angelica was going to possibly lose a lot of time with both of her boys.

Because Riggs was going to be home most of the time.

Storm glanced briefly at me, something I translated as him thinking I was a part of Riggs's decision-making, before saying to Riggs, "I hear you."

"Gotta admit, it's more than that," Riggs continued. "Ledge has impressed on me he's getting older, and he needs a man around more often. That man is gonna be me."

"I hear that too," Storm replied. "So, I wanted to give you that heads up. Though, I'll give you this to think about. My attorney says my case will be even stronger if we're co-plaintiffs. Which means yours would too. That'll be up to you. And I'll remind you, she's gonna lose her shit, because she'll lose all support from me, and that was what she was after in the first place. Bottom line in this, it's looking good that Viggo will be with me, so we gotta work something out on the regular so our boys have time together. I don't want Viggo growing up not knowing his brother."

Okay, official.

I liked this guy.

"Same," Riggs said. "If you get full, alternating weekends when we have them?"

Storm nodded. "Sounds good. And regular sleepovers. You put me on Ledger's drop-off, pick-up list. When Viggo is in school, I'll do the same. And maybe we go out to dinner or take them camping or some shit on occasion."

"Works for me," Riggs agreed.

"Then we're sorted," Storm said.

They reached out and shook.

I made a show of pulling out my phone and pretending to stab at the screen.

Silver and pewter eyes came my way.

"Don't mind me. I'm chartering a plane so I can fly you two to DC so you can do a training session on working together with Congress," I quipped.

They both burst out laughing.

"Unless you want a beer and to sit out on the deck and shoot the shit, that's all I got," Storm said after he quit laughing.

"I got one more thing to talk about," Riggs replied.

"Hit me," Storm invited.

"Would it fuck your play if I got on my phone with her and lost my goddamned mind that bitch is bringing men home when our kids are there?"

Annnnnnnnnnnd…

There it was.

Storm seemed surprised. "You didn't know?"

"No fuckin' clue."

"Ledge didn't tell you?"

Oh boy.

Riggs shook his head.

"Protecting her," Storm deduced on a mutter.

"Probably," Riggs agreed.

"Gotta tell you, I've already shared my opinion on that, and she told me to suck her dick." He looked at me. "Sorry about the language, Nadia."

I shrugged and smiled to say I was unoffended.

"So she knows you know, and she knows we talk, so it won't fuck your play I make my feelings clear about that," Riggs stated.

"I don't know, brother," Storm said, visibly chewing on it, before giving it to us verbally. "Maybe being on the record as discussing it with her prior to hauling her ass in court and putting it in front of a judge is a good thing. Maybe not. Every interaction I have with her, I gotta write a whole brief and send it to my attorney so I got it on record. But she's free to live her life the way she wants. She isn't legally bound to either of us."

"How often does this happen?" Riggs asked.

"I've known a couple of the guys, and they're not assholes, but she's got a reputation, considering." He flicked a hand between them to indicate what she did to them both. "So most of them I don't know, and my guess is, they don't know us. But we both get that she's a woman who measures her worth by how many dicks she can suck." Again, to me, "I'll repeat the apology."

"Please, be real. This is important. Don't mind me," I replied.

He jerked up his chin.

Yeah.

Mountain man.

"To end, my issue is not about her getting herself some. And I don't think it's regular the men come to her place, but it happens. My issue is, one strange guy in the house with my kid, or Ledge, gives me the shivers. But also, she's a mom and she needs to be home with her kids, not every second, but she's at a bar nearly every damned night. If she wants to live her life unencumbered, she can give them up so they can have a parent around. I don't want my son, when he isn't with me, raised by a babysitter I also have no hand in picking," Storm finished.

"You want me to give you a heads up if I lay my thoughts on her?"

Storm shook his head. "You do you. If we decide to team up when we take her to court, we'll start sharing more closely."

"That also works for me," Riggs said as he stood. He stuck his hand out again, and Storm rose and took it as Riggs said, "Thanks for the offer of a beer. But I need to go get my boy so he can sort himself out to go to Dustin's."

"Right," Storm replied, following us to the door. "Thanks again for coming."

"Thanks for the heads up."

"Nadia, good to meet you."

I offered him my hand, and he took it, but when he gave it a firm squeeze, he cupped his other on top of it. This was fleeting, but added warmth to the gesture that I thought was nice.

Totally liked this guy.

"Hope to see you again," he said when we broke.

"We're having a get-together at mine next Saturday. You wanna come, you're welcome," Riggs invited.

"Viggo's back with Angelica then, so might come over for a few."

"Great."

"Look forward to it."

"Later."

"Later."

"Bye, Storm," I bid, and Riggs threw his arm around my shoulders and guided me to the truck.

We were in and on our way to wherever Ledger was with Jace and Jess when I asked, "How angry are you about the men coming over?"

"Scale of one being you, cute with your hair a sexy bedhead, getting in my shit about having a loud party, and ten finding out my friend and my baby momma colluded to trap me into being a father, I'm at a two thousand and fifty-three."

"Mm," I hummed.

"You're a woman, and I can't say I knock myself out, but I give a passable try at not being a chauvinist asshole. Are Storm and me off about this?"

"Well, on the one hand, you say she's a good mom and loves her kids, so my hope would be, she also wouldn't bring anyone dangerous to the house. On the other hand, I've only had one interaction with her, and it wasn't good, something that significantly skews my opinion about her, so I feel ill-equipped to have any opinion on this."

"If you had a kid, what would you do?"

It was my turn not to answer.

"Honey, this is important," he prompted.

Shoot.

"First, I'd like to make it official on behalf of my entire gender that, even though it seemed for Storm this wasn't the issue, I doubt he lives his life like a monk, and I know you don't, I'd take grave affront if either of you went on attack because she enjoys a healthy sex life."

"To confirm and save you that affront, I don't give a shit who she fucks. I give a shit if it affects my son and Viggo."

Good to know.

"Okay then, onward," I continued. "I think with this situation it's important to note, even though you didn't ask about this part, I'm a teacher and I have intimate knowledge that Storm's right. Parents should be home to parent their children. At their ages, they go to bed early, but they should do it, for the most part, feeling safe that Mom's home should they need her."

"Yeah," he grunted.

"Getting back to your question, I would never have a man in my house who I didn't know well, hadn't spent a good deal of time with and felt as safe as I possibly could that he was okay to be around my child. And this would happen only if I was in a relationship with him, and he and I both understood that relationship was going somewhere."

"And you hesitated to say that to me because…?"

"Because one, I'm not Angelica. Two, I don't know Angelica, and you're right. This is important. So I'm uncomfortable judging Angelica for the decisions she makes in her life. And last, I'm sleeping in your bed, and it isn't like we've been seeing each other for a month and have had several, deep, heartfelt conversations about when to introduce the idea of a future of us that included Ledger. Nor did we give Ledger very long to get used to that possibility."

"That had extenuating circumstances."

"Would Angelica see it that way?"

"See your point," he muttered.

"Now, I came over for dinner first. Your mother has been around. And you did make a somewhat big thing of putting him in a safe space when you let Ledger know we were together, so he'd understand I was going to be a part of his life beyond me going back to the cabin and carrying on as your neighbor. And yes, it had extenuating circumstances. And I doubt Angelica is hiding she's sleeping with these men like we are, when it's my opinion, obviously, it's a delicate matter to expose a child his age to the intimacies of two adults sharing a bed at night. Even if he probably doesn't understand what happens there. And it seems clear she's not in relationships with these men. But I'll note, you put me on the pick-up list without informing her."

"Thought about that on my walk that night, and it shits me to admit, she didn't handle how she communicated her concerns about it real well, but I fucked up with that pick-up list thing."

I loved it that he could see that, and admit it, even with the circumstances surrounding it.

"Are you upset Ledger didn't tell you?" I asked.

"It fucks me, but I think this is one of those things where I gotta let him learn to be the man he's going to become. I also gotta trust my kid. If he thought one of these guys was shady, he'd tell me. Of that, I'm sure. And he's got good instincts. Him not telling me is all about him not wanting me to be pissed at his mom."

"Okay."

"Christ, Nadia,"—he blew out a hassled breath—"this is my life."

It was me who reached out and squeezed his leg at that.

But he covered my hand with his when I did.

So I left it there.

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