Even though he’d walked away from her after that, his words and that kiss—that incredible, unforgettable kiss—had filled her with foolish, giddy hope, which had been snuffed during two less memorable encounters with him since then. Both times, he’d reminded her once again that he had nothing to give her and refused to suck her into the disaster his life had become.
The first time she saw him after “The Kiss,” he’d told her he’d been spiraling since the wedding, locked in the kind of grief he’d experienced when his brother Caleb first died after stepping on a land mine in Iraq. As happy as he was for Hannah and Nolan, both of whom were close friends of Gavin’s, seeing his brother’s widow remarry had rekindled his grief. And knowing that, knowing he was alone and suffering so badly, was killing Ella one spoonful of Ben and Jerry’s at a time.
Her phone rang, which was a welcome interruption from the direction her thoughts were taking. He had already rebuffed her multiple times. She wouldn’t try to reason with him again, but damn, she wanted to. Good thing she’d turned to ice cream rather than booze. With some liquid courage in her belly, she’d probably get in her car and drive to his house to plead her case yet again.
She went to the kitchen to grab the phone. “Hello?” In the background she could hear loud music and louder voices. Suspecting a wrong number, she nearly hung up.
“Yeah, I got a guy here who has you in his phone as his ICE.”
“His what?”
“His ‘in case of emergency.’”
She immediately thought of her brother, Wade, who would list her ahead of any of their siblings, except he didn’t have a cell phone as far as she knew. “Who is it?”
He ignored her question and continued his tirade. “You’d better come and get him the hell outta here before I call the cops.”
With the phone tucked in the crook of her shoulder, she stashed the leftover ice cream in the freezer and went to find some shoes. “Where are you?”
“Red’s Bar out on 114. Come quick. I’m giving it half an hour, and I want him out of here. Guy’s nothing but trouble. I knew it the second he walked in here with a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas.”
“I’ll be right there. Don’t do anything until I get there.”
“Thirty minutes.” He hung up on her.
Ella was out the door a minute later and heading out of Butler shortly after that. As she navigated the one-lane covered bridge by her parents’ house on Hells Peak Road, it occurred to her that no one knew where she was or where she was going. Not that she felt the need to check in every time she left her house, but heading to a roadside bar late on a Saturday night—alone—was definitely out of character for her.
In the back of her mind was the nagging suspicion that it might be Gavin at the bar. But why would he have her listed as his ICE, a term that was completely new to her as someone who didn’t have a cell phone. What was the point? There was no reception whatsoever in their town, and almost everyone she knew lived in Butler. If no one could call her and she couldn’t call anyone, why get a cell phone? Where would Gavin have gotten her number and why would he list her, of all people, as his ICE?
She dismissed that idea almost as soon as she had it. His parents would be his points of contact anyway.
She refused to let her foolish hopeful heart lead her on a wild-goose chase through the dark Vermont night on a mission to rescue one of the men in her life. Maybe it was Lucas or Landon. Both of her younger brothers had been known to party and get into trouble on occasion. Not bad trouble, more the mischievous kind. Though they drove her crazy most of the time, both knew they could call her if they were ever truly in trouble.
As did Max, the youngest of the ten Abbotts. But with his girlfriend Chloe’s baby due at any minute, he was probably in Burlington with her, waiting for something to happen. And wouldn’t Chloe be his ICE?
Ella was still trying to figure out who would have listed her as his emergency contact when she pulled up to Red’s, which was, apparently, a biker bar. Row after row of neatly parked bikes lined the lot, their chrome fixtures illuminated by the lights.
“That’s a lot of bikers.” Ella swallowed hard at the thought of walking in there alone. She should’ve called Charley or Wade to come with her, except the pissed-off guy on the phone had given her thirty minutes to get there, which hadn’t been enough time to round up reinforcements.
“Get moving, chickenshit.” Ella took another minute to find the courage to walk into a bar where she wouldn’t know a soul except for the man who’d made her his emergency contact—without her knowledge. Whoever he was would get an earful about doing that without telling her.
The gravel parking lot crunched under her feet as she made her way to the front door. Inside, voices and music competed to create a deafening roar. How did anyone stand it in here for more than a few minutes? It was also dark. She could barely see a foot in front of her with all the lights focused on a band on a stage on the far side of the huge space.
“Help you, sugar?” a deep voice asked.
“I’m looking for the manager or the person who would’ve called about a patron who needs a ride home.” She ventured a glance up at him and then kept going until she finally found his eyes, gasping at his sheer size. The man was at least six foot six or seven, a wall of solid muscle. Ella wasn’t sure if she wanted to run from him or beg him to keep her safe in this unfamiliar place.
“Right this way.” He took her by the arm and led her through a mass of sweating, dancing bodies.
More than one hand copped a feel of her as they pushed through the crowd with Ella holding on to her escort for dear life. She swatted at the roving hands and stayed with the giant, who took her to an office in a deep, dark corner.
Ella was shown to a room where Gavin Guthrie was in the middle of a fierce argument with another man with bright red hair, presumably the Red in Red’s Bar.
“I didn’t do anything!” Gavin said, his voice slurring. “I had a few drinks! So what?”
“I know what you did to the bar down the road. You’re not welcome in my place.”
“I paid my cover like everyone else. You can’t just kick me out.” He took a lunging step toward the other man, staggering.
“Gavin,” Ella said.
Freezing in place, Gavin did a double take when he saw her standing next to the giant of a man who had stayed, probably to watch the show. “What’re you doing here?” he asked in a much softer tone than he’d used on the bar owner.
“They called me to come get you.”
“Why you?”
“My question exactly.”
“Will you get him out of here, please?” the frazzled bar owner said to Ella. “We don’t want any trouble.”
“Let’s go, Gavin.” Despite the fact he was obviously drunk, disheveled and disorderly, he was still gorgeous. And furious, too. With one last filthy look for Red, he crossed the room to where Ella stood next to the giant.
The giant looked down at Gavin and handed over his cell phone. “I realized who you are, and I just want to say, I’m sorry.”
The big man’s gently spoken words nearly reduced Ella to tears. She could only imagine what they did to Gavin.
The kind gesture seemed to defuse Gavin’s fury. He sagged, visibly, as if he’d been reminded of why he’d gotten drunk in the first place. “Thanks.” With his hand on Ella’s back, he opened the door and guided her through it. The giant came with them, helping them through the crowd to the main door.
Outside, Gavin headed for his truck.
Ella looked to the giant for help.
He went after Gavin, grabbing his shirt and spinning him around. “Dude, you’re in no condition to drive. Let your lady drive you home.”
“Leave me alone.” Gavin tried unsuccessfully to shake off the giant. “No one told you to call her.”
“If I had a girl like her at home, I wouldn’t be hanging out here.”