Teague (4 page)

It took a moment for the fog to lift. Josiah. Big man. Big smile. Big heart. She’d known him ever since she’d been a teenager and moved to Gravenhurst with her father. In fact she’d been on a date with Josiah the night she’d met Brent.

The man was a townie for life. He had a carpentry business but also doubled as a volunteer firefighter on the side.

“I ran into Mrs. Giles from the post office and she told me you were back for the summer.”

“Wow,” Sabrina murmured. “News travels fast.”

He chuckled. “You have no idea.” A pause. “I’m out this way to quote a job for a client and thought I’d pop by to say hello. It’s been…well, it’s been a while.”

Sabrina’s eyes slammed shut. She hadn’t seen Josiah since Brent’s funeral because she’d spent most of her time in the city. It was hard coming back here. Back to the place they’d called their own slice of paradise.

“It has,” she replied softly and then frowned. “Where are you?”

“I’m parked in your driveway.”

“Oh,” she said with a quick glance at her reflection in the window again. Wow. She must have had a restless night because she wasn’t even sure that she could pull a brush through her hair.

“Can I…” She began. “I just…rolled out of bed,” she finished lamely.

He chuckled. “No rush. Teague’s in town as well, so I’ll head over there first and say hello. But if you have time for a coffee, after that would be great.”

“Sounds good,” Sabrina replied.

Blinking rapidly, she was surprised to see that it was eight o’clock and her place was as silent as a grave. The kids were usually up by seven, but she decided to let them sleep and headed to the bathroom. The hot water worked wonders and half an hour later, she was showered and changed, pulling on old denim cut-offs and a pale blue tank top. She slipped on her favorite flip flops and pulled her still-damp hair into a ponytail.

Her eyes were a tad puffy from tears and lack of sleep, but there was nothing she could do about that.

“Whatever,” she muttered. It’s not as if she was out to impress anyone. Teague Simon didn’t like her all that much anyway so why should she care what she looked like?

The fact that Teague came to mind should have made her pause, and maybe it would have, if she hadn’t pushed open the kids’ bedroom door only to find their beds empty.

Thinking that they’d woken up while she was in the shower, she headed back to the main room of the cottage but it too was empty. The throw she’d slept in was on the floor where she’d left it, her sandals by the sofa as well. Where the hell were they? And where was that damn dog?

The cottage wasn’t all that big and Sabrina quickly checked every room. The sound of a motorboat in the distance drove her into action, and, heart hammering against her ribs like a jackhammer, she darted for the door. Sabrina ran down the steps that led to the water, and was damn lucky she didn’t trip and break her neck considering the flip flops on her feet.

It was Friday morning and the lake was already busy with early weekenders. Eyes scanning the water, Sabrina shouted their names before checking her boathouse and then the Simon boathouse. Nothing. They were nowhere.

“Oh, God,” she said brokenly, dashing back onto the dock. Had they gone in the water? She shouted their names again.
This can
’t be happening.

Again nothing.

Running up the Simon steps, she didn’t bother to knock but slammed into the house like a hurricane hitting the coast. She managed to stub her toe on the corner of a kitchen cabinet before banging her hip into the counter.

It should have hurt like hell. In fact it probably did. But the sight that greeted her took all of that away and left her standing in the middle of the kitchen, hopping on one foot, feeling pretty much like an idiot and decidedly…
pissed
.

She swore—said something that would have emptied her entire purse into the swear jar—and didn’t bat an eye at the horrified look Morgan gave her.

Her children were sitting at the kitchen table as if everything was right in their world. In front of them was a plate of what looked to be steak and eggs, as well as several boxes of sugared cereal that Sabrina would never allow into her house, a bowl of blueberries, and a half eaten banana.

The other half had just been stuffed into Harry’s mouth.

Bingo was happily gnawing on a bone or something while Teague and Josiah stood near the island, watching her warily as she took a moment. She could not lose it.
Would
not lose it.

“No one thought I might like to know where my children are?” Her voice was icy but she didn’t give either man a chance to reply. Instead she turned her focus back to said children.

“Since when do you two get up and leave the house without letting me know where you’re going? Since when?”

Her voice was calm and that was a bloody miracle. Still, the twins—or at least Harry—knew that he was in trouble. His eyes slid from hers as he tried to swallow the banana in his mouth and once he accomplished that, he stared at the table in silence.

“Sabrina,” Teague said. Her hand shot up to stop him before he got started, and she cocked her head at her daughter. Morgan met her gaze full-on and at any other time she would have taken a moment to admire her daughter’s spunk. But right now she was furious.

“We wanted to let you sleep because you were crying a lot last night.”

Like a balloon stuck with a pin her anger deflated. Oh God. They’d heard her? It was like a punch to the gut.

“And you looked like a princess, like sleeping beauty.” Those words came from Harry and Sabrina fought to keep her shit together. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream.

Sabrina’s mouth tightened and, ignoring the men, she took a step forward, wincing once more as pain spread out from her big toe. “I’m going to make this perfectly clear. Never.
Never
leave the cottage without telling me. Understand? The lake is right out there and it can be dangerous. You both know this.”

Harry nodded, his precious bottom lip trembling, while Morgan reached for another blueberry.

“Do you understand?” Sabrina asked again, her words directed at her daughter. “You know the rules, Morgan. If you can’t follow them, then we’ll have to pack up and go back to the city.”

“But I hate the city,” Morgan said. Her eyes, so much like Sabrina’s, were dark and stormy.

“Then you’ll follow the rules.” Sabrina’s gaze moved to the men. “And Teague will follow them as well or else.”

Teague took a sip from his mug, a half smile on his face. “Or else what?”

Sabrina’s eyes flashed. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

He held her gaze a heartbeat longer and when Sabrina finally tore her eyes away, she had the distinct feeling that if the kids weren’t there he would have said something entirely inappropriate.

“Sabrina, everything okay? Besides these two rascals giving you a heart attack?”

She turned to Josiah. He had a few inches on Teague and that was saying something considering Teague was pushing six-four. The carpenter was like a bear, with wide shoulders and long muscular legs. With his shaved head and assortment of tattoos, he was a bit of a roughneck, but it was the kind of roughneck a lot of women found irresistible. He had a ready smile, nice eyes, and a great big laugh that was contagious. He’d always been a bit of a player though, and she wondered if he’d finally settled down.

“It’s going,” she said slowly. She didn’t want to talk about herself. “What about you? Anything new?”

Josiah shrugged and smiled. “Nah. Same old, same old.”

“No woman in the picture?” Small talk had never been her thing but she attempted to be polite.

Josiah cleared his throat. “Not since Katie McKelvie demanded a ring.”

“Oh?” Sabrina’s eyebrow shot up. She remembered Katie. Blond. Big boobs. Nice smile. The woman filled out a bathing suit the way it should be.

“She wasn’t the one.”

That made Sabrina smile. “But I’m sure you had fun figuring that out.”

“You want a coffee?” Teague interrupted.

“No,” she responded without thinking, even though the smell was to die for.

“Mommy, Mr. Josiah said that the Ribfest is this weekend.” Harry smiled sweetly. “Are we going to go?”

“I want to go,” Morgan piped up. “I love ribs.”

Sweet Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Ribfest was the last thing on her mind these days. The thought of jostling crowds made her cringe. She’d never been the one to do festivals—that had been Brent’s thing. Then there was the fact that she would run into a lot of folks who’d want to talk. And she hated making small talk. Hated the intrusion into her private life.

How are you doing?

Are the kids coping?

And the kicker….

Have you met anyone?

“Teague is going,” Morgan said. “Maybe we can go with him?”

Sabrina’s eyes widened. What the…

“No,” she answered sharply.

“But,” Morgan said.

“I said no,” Sabrina replied impatiently. What was it with her kids and this man? Didn’t they know Teague Simon wanted nothing to do with them?

She sighed and rubbed her temples. Was that a headache starting?

Truthfully she was surprised Teague was going, considering he’d been grumpy as hell the day before. But then he
was
a man. It
was
a Friday night and the town would be hopping. And that meant lots of single women. Lots of single women who’d be all over a guy like Teague Simon.

“Think about it, Sabrina,” Josiah said, watching her carefully. “I think it could be good for you and the kids.”

Sabrina had had enough. She gave a quick nod and cleared her throat before settling her eyes on the twins. “When you’re done I want both of you to march your little butts back to our cottage. You need to wash up and get dressed for the day. You will not go near the water. You will not go into the forest. You’re both grounded. Understand?”

Harry and Morgan nodded, and for once her daughter had no argument. They knew they’d crossed a line.

“Josiah, it was nice to see you and since Teague’s taken care of your caffeine fix, we’ll do it another time.”

She didn’t give the man the opportunity to answer and with one last warning look at her kids, she left the Simon cottage. Alone. Even Bingo had deserted her in favor of Teague’s company.

She let herself back inside and set about making herself a bowl of cereal. There was nothing fancy about her breakfast. There were no eggs or steak or blueberries or Sugar Pops.

It was just Sabrina and her granola.

She poked at her cereal and sighed. This was her life now and she’d better get used to it.

The band was playing country.

Up and down the boardwalk people danced and sang along to the sounds of Whiskey Creek, while sampling from an impressive number of vendors selling any kind of rib you could want. Garlic. Smoked. Barbecue. Dry rub. Slow cooked. Fast grilled. Hot as hell.

You name it, it was there for the taking.

The night was hot, the air sultry, the crowd in high spirits. Yet none of it did anything to improve Teague’s mood. He should have stayed the hell home. What had seemed like a good idea earlier was now biting him in the ass.

He hated crowds. Especially ones like this. It was too loud, too busy, and there were too many damn families doting on too many damn kids. It was a miracle he hadn’t stepped on any of ‘em, and it was relief that he felt as he and Josiah finally made their way to the cordoned off beer and liquor tent.

He hadn’t seen Duff in a couple years, and though they’d hung out in the past when Teague was at the summer cottage, they weren’t tight—he’d been more Jack’s buddy. So Teague was surprised the guy had stopped by, but then he suspected it had more to do with Sabrina being next door than anything else.

Not that anything would ever happen there. Josiah was a player and Sabrina didn’t strike him as the type to play.

Josiah brought him back a red solo cup filled to the brim with foaming lager and Teague took it with a smile.

“Here,” the big guy said. “I know you’ve had a shit year, so bottoms up.”

Teague took a good long drink and was about to take another swig when two women approached. One—the redhead—he knew well, the other—a blond—he couldn’t place.

“Teague Simon. It’s been a while,” the redhead murmured. She was long and lean, with legs that went on for miles—legs you couldn’t miss on account her dress barely covered her ass—and if Teague remembered correctly, she was damn flexible.

“Candace,” Teague said slowly. “You’re looking good.”

A slow smile spread across her pretty face and she leaned closer, reaching for him, a long finger swiping at the corner of his mouth to nab a bit of foam from his draft. She stuck her finger into her mouth and licked it suggestively.

Her big brown eyes regarded him for a few moments. “Are you going to buy me a drink or what?”

Guess they were going to do the dance.

Teague offered a smile. “If you’re thirsty.”

“I am.”

“Beer okay?”

“You remember.”

He didn’t remember much past a couple of hot nights spent in her bed a few Christmases past, but if she wanted to think he was up on her likes and dislikes, so be it.

Teague stopped long enough to ask Josiah’s new friend Michelle what she would like and then headed to the bar. A few locals who knew his family well nodded his way but he didn’t engage. He wasn’t in the mood for small talk.

He glanced back at the woman waiting for him and was rewarded with a look he knew all too well. He didn’t have to go home alone—not if he didn’t want to. Maybe a hot night with a willing body was exactly what he needed to ease him out of the funk he was in. If he kept himself busy in the bedroom, it meant less time to lie in the dark and think.

Less time to contemplate the past—the horror of it all—and his screwed up need to reconnect to it. It was all he knew. Too bad all he knew would eventually get him killed.

He ordered a round of drinks and headed back, intent on getting the niceties out of the way so that he could take Candace back to his place and lose himself inside her.