How long did I have to stay here?
I powered on. “So how did you guys meet?”
Mom leaned in over the table, eyes glowing. “It was fate, Elizabeth. I was at Club Raven, you know the one out on Highway 89 where all the locals go?”
I nodded. It was her favorite honky-tonk.
“So in walks this big hunk of a man here and from out of nowhere, someone played Journey’s ‘Faithfully’ on the jukebox and bam! His eyes met mine and when he came over to ask me to dance, I nearly fell off the barstool. He bought me a slew of drinks and we laughed and played pool all night.” She sighed, hooking her arm through his as she gazed into his eyes. “It was love at first sight.”
“What an epic romance. Sounds like a movie … maybe even a country song.”
I didn’t say a good movie, but I really did try to keep the sarcasm out of my tone.
Karl took a sip of coffee. “So, your mama and I have been talking about how to get some real cash, you know, to start our marriage off right, maybe buy us a big house and later expand my car dealership.”
“Yeah?” I didn’t see how this related to me.
He cleared his throat. “So we thought you might help us.”
“Me?” I was dirt poor.
“Yeah, she told me about you and Senator Scott’s son back in high school. How he took advantage of your good nature and all. And well, one thing led to another and we came up with a plan.”
The entire room spun and I wanted to vomit. I heaved in deep breaths and clutched the table, fighting the panic. Why had she told him?
She shushed him by flapping her hands at his shoulders. “I told you to let me bring that up. She’s sensitive.”
I wanted to crawl under the table. “What gives you the right to discuss my personal life?” My voice was sharp, my wrists itching.
She pouted. “Baby, it’s water under the bridge now, right? In the past. You’re over him. Why look at you. You’re a big time college girl now. You’ve left all that behind.”
Left it behind?
He’d ripped my heart out and sent it through a wood chipper.
I’d never be over that night.
“You can’t let him get away with it,” Mom insisted. “Something should be done about what happened to you.”
What?
I shook my head. Emphatically. My nails dug into the seat, trying to hold it together in a public place when what I really wanted to do was run away screaming. I didn’t want to think, talk, look at, or dwell on Colby Scott ever again.
“What does this all have to do with me?”
Mom lowered her voice. “In case you didn’t know, it’s an election year for Senator Scott.”
Karl leaned in. “So, if we play this right, we can all come out ahead.” A glint grew in his eyes. “We just tell your story to dear old dad and claim we have evidence against his son. He’ll give us money to shut up about it, and we’ll all be richer.”
They wanted to blackmail the Scotts.
They wanted to dredge up the past and air it all out for everyone to see.
They wanted everyone to be reminded of what a slut I was.
Never.
“You deserve retribution. Don’t you want to make him pay?” Mom said.
Make him pay? A strangled laugh came out.
Revenge is hard when the person I blamed the most was myself.
Revenge is even harder when the person you despise is at the top of the food chain and you’re a bottom feeder.
“No, I don’t,” I snapped louder than I’d intended, causing a nearby table to glance our way.
I didn’t care.
I slapped my hand on the table. “The Scott family has run Petal and this state for generations. They control the police, judges, everyone. You can’t do this. It’s the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard, and I refuse to help you.”
A few beats of silence went by.
Karl held his hands up. “It was just an idea. That’s all. If you say no, then I guess we don’t have a leg to stand on. We can’t exactly say we know what happened when you aren’t willing to tell your side of the story.”
“Never in a million years. Don’t ever bring it up to me again. Got it?” I felt the muscles in my jaw clenching.
Mom let out a brittle laugh. “Let’s have some pie. Okay? That will make it better.”
Karl just stared at me. I stared back.
I jerked up from the table and looked at Mom. “I’m done. I came here hoping, I don’t know, that we could be a real mother and daughter for once—but I guess not.” I opened my purse, pulled out a ten, and dropped it on the table. “This is for mine. I trust you can get your own?”
Her lips compressed. “Elizabeth Nicole Bennett, you will not walk away from me. I gave birth to you and I deserve some respect. So does Karl. He drove me here to see you.”
I shook my head, feeling the last vestiges of my control slipping away as my voice grew louder. “You don’t get it, Mom. You weren’t even there the day I came home from the hotel. You were in Vegas. You didn’t see how broken I was.”
She paled. “I got there as soon as I could, baby girl. I was trying to get a dancer’s job, to get ahead and make a better life for us both. You know I could have been great if I hadn’t gotten pregnant and then your dad …” Her voice broke.
I turned to go, but she grabbed my wrist. “Wait, don’t be mad at me, Elizabeth, for trying to make us a better life. Just think about what we said … okay?”
No!
I pulled away from her and pivoted, my nose crashing into a warm chest.
Strong hands clasped my shoulders, and I tilted my head up, up … straight into a pair of stormy gray eyes.
COOKIE’S KITCHEN WAS a dump but homey. It was mostly a stopping place for truckers off the interstate, but it was where Max liked to meet and talk shop, mostly about the underground fighting.
We strolled in the double glass doors.
Arlene sashayed over to us in a pink waitress outfit with a white apron. “My Brits are back,” she said with a smile. “Been missin’ you boys.” She nudged her head toward the back. “Max’s next to the window. He’s waitin’ for ya.”
“Thanks, love,” Dax said as he swooped down and picked her up in a bear hug and kissed her on the cheek. She blushed and popped him with a dishrag.
He watched the sashay of her hips back into the kitchen. “There’s not a woman alive who doesn’t want me. I think I’m going to change my name to Sex Lord.”
I snorted. “Yeah, that’s a real turn on.”
“Jealous?” he asked.
“Extremely.”
He grinned. “Don’t be. Not everyone can be as wonderful as me. You got your fists, I got my sexing abilities—which in my opinion is a hell of a lot better. Make love not war, bro.”
“That so?” I chuckled.
Max caught my eye and waved us over. He was in his late forties with thinning hair and a trim physique, and I’d met him at one of the local gyms where we’d both taught classes. Over the past three years, we’d grown close, and hiring him to work at my own place had been the next natural step.
We ordered and talked about the gym and the updates. If all went well with the renovations, then Front Street would be ready for business by January. We’d have a soft opening at first and then a grand opening party in February. The flat at the back would be finished a bit later, perhaps in June, since my first priority was to get the doors open for business.
“What’s new with Nick? You got anything?” I asked a bit later. Nick was the guy who ran the underground fights in North Carolina.
“Yeah. I’ve got some small fights lined up in the next few weeks for you, but Nick wants to schedule a big one for Halloween. He’s got a warehouse lined up as the venue with heavy spenders coming, not just college kids.” He slapped down a portfolio and then slid it over to me with two fingers. “Don’t be afraid to say no.”