Sidney’s Triple Shot [Apache Crossing] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (10 page)

Tyce started to respond, but Noah held up his hand, signaling him to stay quiet.

“Sidney, if we can promise you that no one will touch you again without your consent, would you stay? I don’t know what happened with my brothers, but I care about you. Besides that, you’re a hell of a bartender and a great employee. I don’t want to lose you.” Noah’s voice was soft, and she could hear the emotion in it. A variety of emotions played through Sidney’s head and heart before she managed to focus and pull her poker face back on.

“I need to move on. I’ve been here too long as it is.” The words were barely a whisper, and she sighed wistfully. Despite the emotionless look she was trying to keep on her face, even she could hear the pain in her voice.

“Why can’t you stay here for good?” Noah asked.

“It’s not safe,” she whispered. A flash of Robert threatening to kill her if she ever dared to touch another man went through her brain, and she whimpered. The two men exchanged concerned glances, and she stiffened her spine. She could not show weakness, or they would take advantage of her.

“We can keep you safe, love. We want to keep you safe. We want to help you. If you will let us,” Tyce said to her, moving closer to her cautiously. He approached her like he expected her to run again, and she finally turned back to look him in the eyes.

“I wish I could believe that. It would be so nice to let someone else take care of me for a while,” she said quietly, and she heard the brothers hold their breath. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

* * * *

Sidney turned and walked away. Tyce’s heart broke into a million pieces as he watched her walk through the doorway out of the bar. He knew she was leaving for good, and it was killing him. He had never had anyone refuse to trust him so blatantly. He looked over at his younger brother and could see his own loss reflected there. They both stood silently for several minutes, immersed in their own thoughts, until they heard the back door of the building slam shut with a cracking finality.

“She looked so scared and lost. I hate that she’s going to be out there alone when she’s scared. Do you think we should go after her?” Tyce asked.

“No. If she can’t trust us, then maybe we need to just let her go. We agreed that if she didn’t want us we would walk away.” Noah shook his head and shoved his hands in his pockets. “We need to let Xavier know.”

“I’ll call him in a little while,” Tyce said, rubbing his hand over the tense muscles in his forehead. He was in absolute shock that she actually walked away. When he touched her she lit up like a firecracker, and he was experienced enough to know that her reactions weren’t casual. So the only explanation for her skittishness was that she was scared.

“Did you hear the song she was singing? It was so soulful. Do you think she even knew what she was singing?” Noah asked him curiously.

“She was singing that one from her heart. She knew. It did answer a few questions for me. She is a strong and courageous woman, and I would give anything to keep her for my own. Anything,” Tyce said.

They shared a look and then parted silently, lost in their own emotions. Tyce left to head back to their condo, and Noah headed to the bar to collect the night’s receipts. Neither ready to face their oldest brother and the fact that the woman they were falling in love with had just walked out of their lives.

Sidney rushed through changing her clothes when she reached the employee lounge, tugging on a clean tank top and sports bra, along with the jeans she had worn the previous day. She hung her uniform in the otherwise empty locker. Her heart ached as she walked away, and she felt herself barely hanging on by a thread. She wanted to just curl up in a ball and cry herself to sleep, but she needed to move. She needed some air. She walked slowly down the road that led back to her car, dazed with the sadness tumbling through her. It was embarrassing to be caught singing at the top of her lungs like she was some sort of superstar, but it was even more embarrassing to be caught so emotionally vulnerable. The Dawson brothers were dangerous for her heart, and they had found cracks in her armor that she hadn’t known were there. Leaving was her only option now.

She reached the corner of the park, and stopped to look over at the little all-night diner called The Bop across the street. She had been promising herself a dinner at the restaurant ever since she got to Apache Crossing. She could see her car from the parking lot, so she wouldn’t have far to go once she was fed and sleepy. Looking around the diner as she stepped inside, she wasn’t surprised to find it empty of other customers at this time of the night, and she settled onto a cushy stool at the bar. It was decorated in a fifties diner theme, and the juke box in the corner played an old rock ‘n’ roll song. There were records on the wall, and pictures of various singers and stars from the fifties. She loved it immediately, and she freely returned the smile that the waitress gave her as she came out of the kitchen.

“Hi there, how are you tonight?” The woman was in her mid to late forties and had a pleasantly warm smile. There were laugh lines around her thin lips and pretty hazel eyes. Her light-brown hair had a few streaks of gray and was pulled up on the back of her head with a hair clip. She wore jeans and a white T-shirt that were covered by an apron that said “Hot Stuff” across the chest.

“Okay, thanks. Can I look at a menu?” Taking the colorful menu from the woman, Sidney looked it over and selected a bacon cheeseburger with curly fries, and a chocolate milkshake. She was going to drown her pain in fatty foods, and then at least she wouldn’t hear her belly growl while she slept tonight.

The waitress called her order out to someone in the back and fixed her milkshake. Bringing it over to Sidney, she paused and propped her elbows on the counter.

“Are you okay, hon? You look like your best friend just died.” The woman’s brow was puckered into a frown, and there was genuine concern in her eyes.

“No, nothing like that. I just quit my job, and I’m moving, so I’m a little bit overwhelmed right now. Not to mention I just walked away from a relationship that never had a chance.” Sidney looked down at her hands, which were quickly shredding a napkin in front of her.

“Are you moving by choice?” the woman asked. “I’m Darcy Scott, by the way.”

“Sidney Rowe,” she replied and shook Darcy’s hand, smiling at her. “Not really. I liked my job and would love to stay here. I just can’t.”

“Because of this relationship that you’re leaving behind?” Darcy asked.

“Sort of. The men I worked for were wonderful bosses, but they didn’t hide their interest in me. They made it
very
clear,” Sidney said, but she caught the angry flash in Darcy’s eyes and realized she had misunderstood. “No! They never tried to force me into anything, but I just couldn’t be what any of them wanted. I have too much baggage.”

“Did they say that, or did you?” Darcy asked, cocking her head at Sidney.

“No, they never said it, and they even promised to give me some space, but I can’t risk it. If it didn’t work, I would get hurt in the fallout. It would be even worse if something happened to them because of me—” Sidney’s voice broke with emotion, and a tear slipped down her cheek.

“Sounds to me like you’re scared. Judging by the way you’re lumping the men together, and the current status quo for relationships around this town, I’m going to guess that they want to share you. Are you running because you’re scared that these men want you, and you don’t know how to handle that, or because you can’t handle a ménage? What if they actually turn out to be great guys that you could build a future with?” Darcy grinned at Sidney’s shocked expression.

For a couple of moments Sidney just sat there, processing Darcy’s words. A ménage was exactly what they implied that they wanted. Tyce said that they wanted to keep her safe and help her, but that could mean a battle with Robert when he finally caught up to her. She couldn’t risk that the men would turn her away when they found out about everything she had left behind in South Carolina. She just couldn’t handle all of this.

Darcy stayed silent, watching Sidney process her emotions. The bell for the kitchen dinged, and she walked over to the line to pick up Sidney’s food. Setting it down in front of her, she handed her a roll of silverware.

“I don’t know about you, but if I had more than one person wanting to love me, and they were good people, I wouldn’t run away. Ask yourself one question, doll. Can you walk away and live the rest of your life knowing you didn’t even give them a chance?” Darcy said with a meaningful look.

It surprised Sidney that a complete stranger had just hit the nail on the head. She ate her food in silence as she pondered her intense reaction to the Dawson brothers. Every time one of them looked at her, she wanted them. It was almost like a craving that she couldn’t get rid of. How long would it take her to forget them? Could she honestly walk away from them, or was she fooling herself?

“Thank you,” Sidney said, and she knew that Darcy understood the double meaning in the polite response.

She focused on her food, trying her best to block out thoughts of the Dawson brothers and Robert so that she could eat in peace. The food was fantastic, and her stomach growled loudly as the first bites settled. It had been awhile since she let herself indulge in a full meal, and she was full quickly. She was just pondering ordering a slice of pie when she heard a commotion at the kitchen door and looked up to find Darcy and two other employees running to the diner windows.

“Oh my God, I wonder what it is that’s on fire. Did you call 911, Dale?” Darcy’s voice was high-pitched and anxious, and it drew Sidney over to the windows to see the excitement.

Looking past the trio, she could see flames shining brightly in the dark night, and they were in the direction of the park. Sidney gasped when she realized that it was coming from where her car was parked.

“Oh my God! My car! That’s my car!” She ran out the door of the diner but came to a dead stop at the edge of the park. Her small sedan was completely engulfed in orange flames. Everything she owned was in that car, including the money she had left, and her cell phone. All she had now was the money in her pocket from the night’s tips. She was stuck here in Apache Crossing now without any options. It would take her months to earn enough money to buy a new car, and by then Robert would have caught up to her.

Her knees buckled, and she found herself kneeling in the grass, watching her escape plans burn. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and the pressure in her lungs threatened to suffocate her. She stayed in that spot until a fireman arrived and made her move. He lifted her by the armpits and helped her walk back across the street to a safer spot before leaving her to go back to the burning vehicle. She was surrounded by a small crowd of people who watched with her, but she had never felt so alone in her life. She could hear the conversation around her, but it was hollow and muffled. She couldn’t process anything right now.

When the fire finally burned itself out, a sheriff’s deputy approached the people watching from the parking lot to ask if anyone knew whose vehicle it was. Darcy directed him to where Sidney stood solemnly watching the commotion as tears still trickled down her cheeks. She was able to verify all of the information that they needed and complete her statement, but her body remained numb and cold. She felt no emotion, just emptiness. She listed all of the items that she had in the car in a monotone voice, with the echo of loss ringing in her ears. When they finished the deputy paused, watching her, and then patted her shoulder.

“Is there anyone you would like me to call for you? Someone to come and pick you up maybe?” His tone was probably the same one that he used with small children, but she didn’t react.

“No. No one,” she said softly, and then a thought hit her, and she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a business card. As the deputy turned to walk away from her, she stopped him. “Wait, yes there is. Can you call Tyce Dawson and tell him that Sidney Rowe needs help?”

* * * *

The last thing that Tyce expected was a phone call from the sheriff on behalf of Sidney, but he didn’t hesitate when he hung up the phone.

“Xavier! Noah! We’ve got to go!” he yelled as he left his bedroom and headed to the front door.

“What’s wrong?” Xavier asked from the living room. Noah stepped out of his room, pulling a shirt over his head. For the three military men, it was nearly instinctive to be alert and tense in a moment, and Tyce knew that they were reacting to the tone in his voice.

“That was Joey Ruiz over at the sheriff’s office. They called for Sidney. All I know is that her car burned up in a fire, and she is stuck at The Bop,” Tyce said as he jerked on his boots and dropped his cowboy hat on top of his long hair.

“I’ll drive,” Xavier said while he and Noah both pulled on their own boots. As a trio they all headed out the front door and piled into Xavier’s SUV. Concern and worry were almost palpable as they drove as fast as the law would allow, trying to get to their woman. Tyce was stunned that Sidney would call him when she needed help, but he was also filled with delight. He promised himself to keep it slow and give her time to realize that she had done the right thing by calling him.

“How did they have your number?” Xavier asked from the front seat, and Tyce turned his head until he met Xavier’s midnight-colored gaze in the mirror.