She swallowed the bile back down her throat and winced at the sting. That was one man she wished she could have killed, but he wouldn’t have been worth the jail time and her focus had been on Antonia and what she needed to do to survive.
When Brooklyn turned eighteen, Owen had really put the pressure on to get her into bed. She was well-endowed and had an hourglass figure and long, thick brown hair and bold green eyes. Antonia was the spitting image of her but a smidgeon shorter, around five-foot-four, whereas Brooklyn was five-foot-six.
Brooklyn could remember the feel of his hands on her. The heaviness of his body and the stench of alcohol on his breath. He’d caged her in against the hallway wall in the corner by her bedroom. She had gotten home late from work and was exhausted. She couldn’t wait to shower and get to bed, but as she got home and heard the music playing and her mom laughing, sounding drunk, she had been angry. She figured her mom was in the bedroom with Owen, and as she rounded the corner, she never saw him there. He grabbed her, shoved her up against the wall, and immediately held her firmly so she couldn’t move.
Brooklyn tried to shake the thoughts from her head. She ran her fingers through her hair and then rubbed her temples. Flashbacks of that time, and then the following night, went through her mind.
Again, she’d gotten home late. She was working to save money for the community college. She needed to get out of the house, but she couldn’t leave completely because of Antonia. When she got home, she heard the music again, and as she slowly made her way down the hallway, prepared for Owen this time, he wasn’t there. She glanced into her mom’s bedroom. She was naked on the bed, and there was another guy there, drinking from a bottle of vodka. Her stomach ached. She felt the anger pool in her belly. Where was Owen? Was her mom done with him? Who was this guy?
“Who are you?” he called to her, smiling and looking her over.
Her mother rolled her head to the side, half smiled, and lifted one arm. Brooklyn was disgusted with her—ashamed, angry, saddened by the sight.
“Brooklyn,” she said her name and the guy stood up. He was naked, too, and she turned away and then heard voices from her sister’s room.
The panicked feeling was immediate. She hurried to the door, turned the knob, and froze in place. Owen had his pants down and was pulling Antonia’s hand toward his crotch. She was crying and Brooklyn lost it.
She ran toward him screaming like a madwoman and shoved him away from Antonia.
Her sister was crying, shaking, and Brooklyn didn’t even want to think about what could have gone down if she had been even later coming home from work.
Owen was drunk, he could hardly get up from the floor, and he yelled at her and then laughed.
“You stay away from my sister. If you ever try to touch her again, I’ll fucking kill you!” she screamed at him. She lifted Antonia up and carried her from the bedroom. She went to her room and locked the door, pulling the chair from the small desk under the knob and then dragging the dresser along with it to place in front of the door next.
Antonia cried and Brooklyn hugged her as she held her on her lap.
“I’ve got you, baby girl. I won’t let him near you ever again. I’m going to take care of this. I promise.”
Brooklyn heard the knock on her office door and she quickly wiped her eyes and then cleared her throat.
“Come in,” she said. The door opened and Amber was standing there. She was a sweet woman, twenty-four years old, who lost her husband of two years to a roadside bomb in Iraq. She had a baby to support and rent to pay on a small place right down the block from the restaurant. Brooklyn hired her a year ago and she hadn’t regretted it yet. Amber had become a close friend, just like most of the other women who worked at the Filling Station.
“What’s going on?” Brooklyn asked her.
“Carina wants to know if you need her to order those special shots in the vials the ladies seem to like so much? We’re running low, but only on the passion fruit, not the lime twister.”
“Yeah, tell her to go ahead and order a bunch more, but before she calls Smitty with that order I need to add a few things.”
“Like?” Amber asked and smiled.
Brooklyn smirked.
“I have a few ideas for Friday night’s ladies night. I’ll let you know what I decide on.”
“This is great. Hey, are you okay? Your eyes look a little glassy. Is Antonia okay?” Amber asked and then closed the door before moving further into the office and near Brooklyn’s desk.
Brooklyn exhaled and gave her a small smile. Amber, Carina, Lori, and Chloe had become good friends over the past two years’ time. They had a lot in common and sort of troubled pasts that made an invisible bond. She’d shared her fears for Antonia with them, and they knew Antonia rarely called. Amber had to have assumed something was up.
“She’s headed here. She has to leave New York,” Brooklyn said and then stood up from her desk chair.
“Oh, God, what does she need? What do you need for me, for us to all do?” Amber asked and Brooklyn swallowed down the lump of emotion. She had to be tough. That was her way of life now and forever.
“I appreciate the offer of help. I think she should be okay. She’s going to drive a few hours to catch a plane and then hop on a train out here. That will take some time. As soon as I know what station she got the ticket for, I will plan on meeting her. It will be late tonight, so Carina and Ledger will have to close up for me.”
“Whatever you need. I can have the babysitter keep baby Ella overnight if you want me to come with you,” she offered.
Brooklyn smiled and placed her hand on Amber’s shoulder. “That’s so sweet of you. I wouldn’t ask you to do that. You miss baby Ella so much during the day. She needs her mamma. I’ll be just fine. You know that.”
Amber gave her a soft smile.
“You are amazing, Brooklyn. You always are ready and willing to help even a stranger. Your sister will be a lot better off here in Repose than in New York and dating that abusive boyfriend of hers.”
“I know. I just wish she’d figured it out sooner.”
“Did he hurt her?” Amber asked.
“I don’t know how badly. She said she could handle it. I’ll see when she arrives.”
“Well, I’d better get back to work. Want me to tell Ledger about staying late?”
Brooklyn smiled. “I’ll talk to him.”
She watched Amber leave and then thought about Ledger. He was a good guy, an amputee who lost part of his leg while serving in the military. He was a great bartender and a reliable employee. Plus, he seemed to have a thing for Amber, and so did his brothers Jed, Jaret, and Kye, but Jed and Jaret were active duty and constantly disappearing for secret assignments that Brooklyn had heard were dangerous.
She had a feeling that, despite Kye and Ledger living in town, with their brothers being active duty and Amber losing her husband in combat, Amber stayed clear of all of them. Brooklyn would catch Ledger watching Amber, and he was always offering to help with baby Ella or with any problems at the very small cottage she rented.
Like Brooklyn, Amber had left her home to start a new life and to put all the sadness from her past behind her. Brooklyn now hoped that her sister, Antonia, could do the same.
She smoothed out her black skirt and adjusted the white blouse she wore today. She was dressed classily and conservatively because she’d had yet another meeting with the town zoning board this morning. When she purchased the building and the land from one of the old-timers, she had hoped to one day be able to expand on the place, and now she had the opportunity to. Repose was a quaint little town, not too far from a much larger town called Turbank. When she’d first arrived in Texas two years ago, the locals thought she was out of her mind purchasing an old, run-down gas station and convenience store. She had vision, though, and just the right amount saved to start making her dream a reality. Now, with her sister coming to live here, she hoped Antonia could make a new start as well.
She learned quickly that Repose was a town that was close knit and also supportive of women. The men of the town, who completely outnumbered the women, took it upon themselves to be sort of like guardians or protectors. She knew she didn’t need any man to protect her or watch over her, but the idea gave her comfort when she’d been new in town starting a business venture on her own, and hoping that the last thing she’d needed to worry about were some men trying to take control of her life or manipulate the situation. She’d been on guard with every type of business owner and supplier she dealt with at first. Then it became obvious that those suppliers—like the lumber company, the construction contractors, everyone she came across—were legitimately sincere and supportive.
It made her wish she’d grown up in Repose and had friends like the ones she’d made in two years’ time.
Brooklyn locked the door to her office and then headed down the hallway and toward the bar. Next week she had to start scheduling to meet with various contractors to see who would win the bid on the new construction for the Filling Station In the past, she’d done a lot of the small jobs and then had Ledger hook her up with a few retired soldiers who were out of work and needed jobs. However, this construction had to be done professionally. She needed experts for the ideas she had.
When she thought about speaking with Jagger Cartwright, an engineer and construction specialist, she got nervous and felt intimidated. He and his brothers were retired from the service, like the majority of people living in and around Repose. From what she heard, Jagger and his brothers were pretty intense men and most stayed clear of them—especially Finnian, his brother whom she had yet to meet, which was weird, being that she’d opened the place a year ago once the renovations were done. He was also on the town board and a no-show for the meeting she had with the board earlier today. It made her wonder if the man was avoiding her or didn’t like her, but they’d never even met. She shrugged her shoulders and continued through the bar, taking in the sight of the crowd. It was a good night, as usual.
She heard the low whistles as she glided past a few regulars. Bucky, Skins, Teeter, and Hobbs all eyed her over and smiled widely.
“Hey, gorgeous, we thought we weren’t going to see you again,” Bucky told her and raised his half empty beer mug toward her.
She chuckled.
“You work too hard, Brooklyn. You can’t stay in that office for hours. It isn’t good for you,” Skins added and winked.
“Well, someone has to do all the paperwork and write out checks for the bills,” she replied and gave them a wink. She kept walking past the other men and a few women who took up all the seats around the large bar. She headed past the big fireplace that was set in the large wall that separated the bar and dance floor from the main restaurant. It was packed tonight, like every night of the week.
Not that the dining area was big. She could fit about ten tables but was looking to fit double that after the construction was complete. She closed down Sundays and Mondays but had been asked to host private parties on Sunday afternoons, so she obliged when those came up. She was going to have to start looking for a manager to help her run the place. Perhaps her sister could eventually do that job?
As she thought about her sister, she glanced at her watch. When would Antonia call her?
As she passed the crowded dining area and saw all the people waiting to be seated, she felt bad. It was going to be a great improvement to have a larger dining area and a bigger kitchen. That is, if the town board approved the expansion. She hadn’t gotten any indication of a yes or a no, just that the main board member who dealt with these kinds of things, Finnian Cartwright, was away on business but would look over the request. Again. He’d been a no-show three times. She’d had enough of the jerk. She figured when she finally did meet him, they wouldn’t hit it off at all, but instead would wind up as enemies. She disliked the man and hadn’t even met him yet. Wasn’t that the opposite reaction to all the other people of Repose she’d met or made friends with thus far?
She shook her head at the crazy thought.
She accepted the game he was playing, because she knew that Repose was a small town wanting to maintain its small town ways. However, she also knew of Finnian Cartwright, and heard his family was the one who helped establish Repose over a hundred years ago. That obviously wasn’t a person or a family name to piss off. Besides that, it was his own family that sold her the run-down shack of a gas station and the property surrounding it. Although, Finnian Cartwright owned the land around that. Either way, she would need to play nice, because technically they were neighbors and ultimately he could screw her by putting any number of things near the Filling Station. Like perhaps a larger chain restaurant? She cringed just thinking the guy could be that much of a dick. She’d deal with it just like she dealt with other men who thought women didn’t belong in business.
Her bar, the Filling Station, had shocked a lot of locals. The original building had been a mess, an old filling station and convenience store. She renovated it, maintaining its old-fashioned gas station charm with authentic collectibles that were originally part of the place. She incorporated a lot of the old materials, including the car lift, which she had turned into a winding staircase that led up to a balcony that overlooked the dance floor. It gave the place character and also reminded her a lot of her father, and a time when things had been pretty normal.