Till There Was You (23 page)

“I was worried you’d be pissed at me for interfering by bringing him here.”

She shook her head. “No. I’m glad you did. At least I got to talk to him face to face. Now, the rest is up to him.”

“Well, if you ever get to the point where you’re so angry you want him to suffer, just know I’m willing to find some reason to arrest the guy.”

Chuckling slightly, she winced when a sharp pain shot through her ribs. “You’d actually do that for me?”

“Sure. What’s the point in having your brother as a police sergeant if he can’t pull a few strings for you every now and then?”

Smiling, she closed her eyes again, this time in rest. “You might annoy the crap out of me, Matt, but you’re the best big brother I know.”

Matt chuckled. “Right back at you, sis.”

––––––––

T
wo weeks later, Lily’s ribs still hurt if she laughed too hard, but they didn’t hurt as much as her aching heart, and really, she didn’t laugh that much anyway. Crying was something she did more regularly, and that hurt her ribs, too. She missed Linc. She missed him so much, it felt like a piece of her was gone, and she wanted him back.

At least once every day she would get behind the wheel and have to talk herself out of driving up to his house. She knew if there were any way for their relationship to be fixed, it would have to be Linc who did it. She forced the issue last time he shut down; she wasn’t going to do it again. Linc knew exactly how she felt. It was up to him now.

Pulling up outside the bar, Lily cut the engine on Tim’s old sedan. She wasn’t scheduled to work today, but with everything going on in her life, she was ridiculously behind on paperwork and needed to try to get back on track. As she slid her keys inside her bag, she noticed a big black van parked along the curb, which she found odd. It looked more like the kind of vans kidnappers used on TV than any sort of functional vehicle the people of Newsham used.

“What’s with the mob van out front?” she asked Bec as she walked inside.

“No clue,” Bec said with a shrug as she polished glasses behind the bar.

Marty, the manager of the bar, who was restocking the fridge, tilted his head toward a stocky built man sitting near a window, a beer in hand as he watched the front of the police station across the road.

Lily would have left him alone and gone into the office if he hadn’t been dressed in an official looking khaki uniform with various badges and patches all over it. As she drew closer, she caught sight of an insignia for the Australian Army.

“Can I help you with anything?” she asked, her mouth pulling into a smile as she studied the man before her. He seemed to be in his mid-thirties, barely six-foot tall and had a pleasant face, but hardened eyes. She felt her heart rate kick up and wondered if Linc was in trouble.

“Perhaps you can.” He smiled, turning to her, his Australian accent soft and deep, just like Linc’s. “Are you the young lady who owns this place?”

“I am,” she replied, folding her arms across her chest as she waited for him to go on.

“I understand we have a mutual friend.”

“I wouldn’t know about that. I don’t know a lot of Australians.”

He grinned, and she was surprised when she saw it touch his eyes and soften them a little. “I can see why he likes you.”

Her hands shifted to her hips. “Listen, I’m going to need you to just come right out and say whatever you’re trying to say. I don’t have a lot of patience today.”

His grin developed into a light chuckle. “I’m talking about Lincoln Ryan. Word around town is you’re in a relationship with the guy.”

“You have your tense wrong.”

His eyebrows lifted. “I see. So, I guess he’s more my friend than yours right now.”

“Something like that,” she said. Noticing his bottle of beer was empty, she swiped it from the table. “So, what exactly do you want with him?”

“I need to talk to him.”

“Officially, or as this friend you claim to be?”

“You’re protective for someone whose relationship status is past tense.”

“It’s complicated. Just answer the question.”

Looking at her, she noticed his blue eyes twinkling with amusement as a smile played on his lips. He was enjoying this. “A little of both,” he responded finally.

“And who exactly are you to be talking to him?”

He held out his hand in greeting. “The name’s Jonny Curtis. I served with Linc. I’m pleased to meet you, Lily.”

Lily slipped her hand into his and started to respond in kind, before she stopped and narrowed her eyes, snatching her hand away.

“How do you know my name?”

“Like I said, word around town...”

She nodded. “I see. And why are you here talking to me instead of him?”

He leaned in conspiratorially. “Because you’re the one who’s going to tell me where he is.”

“No one told you already?”

“They all told me to talk to you, or the town sergeant, who I understand is your brother.”

Figures,
Lily thought. Newsham was a tight knit community and no one was inclined to give out information that might hurt one of their own.

“He’s not in any trouble, is he?” she asked.

“No, the opposite actually. I’m here to help, if I can.”

“Help with what?”

He grinned. “Ah, well, that would be the official part of my visit.”

“And the part you can’t talk about, right?” she finished for him.

Winking, he gave her a nod. “Got it in one.”

“I’m still not convinced I should give you any information.”

Shrugging, he leaned back in his seat. “Well, you can tell me where he lives or your brother can. Considering I have official papers on me, it’s not going to be something he can keep from me if he wants to keep his job.”

“Well, you just went from nice to threatening pretty fast.”

“There’s no threat. I’m simply stating a fact.”

Letting out her breath, she ran her fingers through her hair and glanced over at the police station to see it was locked up tight.
They must be out on a call...

“Can you guarantee he isn’t in any trouble?” she asked.

“I give you my word.”

“Okay. He’s at the Plowman’s property. It’s a cabin on a big stretch of land on the outskirts of town.” She pulled out a napkin and drew him a general map.

“Thank you,” Jonny said, grinning as he reached for the napkin.

At the last second, Lily pulled it from his reach. “And you aren’t lying when you say he isn’t in trouble? Because if you are, I’ll hunt you down myself.”

Jonny chuckled. “I swear it. May the gods strike me down if I’m being dishonest.”

“Fine,” she said, handing over the napkin.

Grinning, he tucked it into his pocket. “I’ll tell him you said hi.”

“No. Don’t,” she said, biting her lip. “Just...remind him life is for living.”

With a solemn nod, Jonny agreed. “Will do.”

W
ashing his hands after a morning spent tending to the greenhouse, Linc watched as the soil-stained water turned to clear. Reaching for a towel, he shut off the faucet at the same time Shade began spinning in excited circles and howling up a storm. A car was approaching. There hadn’t been a car out there in weeks.

Not recognizing the sound of the car, his heart picked up speed as he wondered if Lily had decided to push her way back into his life. The last two weeks without her had been hell, and while he knew staying away from her was for the best, he didn’t know if he could turn her away again if she appeared on his doorstep.

“Sit,” Linc commanded, keeping eye contact as Shade did as he was told, his tail wagging as he waited for his reward. Reaching into his pocket, Linc gave him his treat, then told him to stay, hoping he’d listen. Huskies weren’t well known for their obedience, so he didn’t have a lot of hope and chose to close the door between the hall and living room instead.

Peeking out the window, he saw a new looking black van parked at his gate. It looked official. His heart kicked faster for a different reason now. He wondered if he’d finally been tracked down for leaving the country before he was fully discharged from the Army.

“Shit,” he said under his breath, moving away from the window, his mind racing as he tried to think his way out of this. He didn’t want to go to a military prison.

There wasn’t even a knock before his door exploded inward, the blinding light from outside revealing a stocky silhouette, illuminating the room and intruding on his misery.

“What the fuck?” he demanded, squinting as he stood to confront the newcomer advancing on him.

“I should ask you the same thing,” the figure said, his voice sounding familiar. Linc blinked a few times, his eyes adjusting to the light.

“Jonny?”

A heavy fist came crashing into his jaw, causing stars to flash in the backs of his eyes. “What the hell?” A second punch followed close behind the first, snapping his head back as he stumbled then fell on the floor with a groan. 

Dazed but not out cold, Jonny dragged Linc out the door, tossing him to the ground unceremoniously. Linc shook off the cloud from his mind and growled, righting himself before charging Jonny. Dropping so his shoulder connected with his gut, Linc slammed him against the wall.

“There he is,” Jonny said, his voice strained, clearly winded, as he deflected Linc’s next punch and landed a new one of his own against Linc’s ribs. Responding in kind, Linc faked left then jabbed right, clipping Jonny on the chin, a spray of blood erupting from the other man’s mouth.

Trading blows, they cleared the steps, rolling a few times on the grass as each struggled to maintain the upper hand. Pinning Jonny with a forearm across the neck, Linc jabbed three quick times to his ribs before rising up and landing a right hook to the side of his jaw.

“Enough!” Jonny gasped, holding up his hands in surrender. “You win.
Fuck me
,” he moaned, rolling to his side as he coughed and spat blood on the ground. “Eighteen months away and you still fucking beat me.”

Sitting on the ground, Linc’s chest heaved from the exertion as he wiped at his mouth. His lip was split again. “Ain’t no amount of time gonna change that, old friend.”

“I suppose not.”

For a moment, both men simply sat, regaining their breath as they took note of their wounds.

“How’d you find me, anyway?” Linc asked after a while.

“Long story short, the higher ups were tipped off by someone looking into your records. We followed the trail, took a gamble, and here we are.”

“I’m not going back there. Tell them it was a dead end and you couldn’t find me. I saved your life more than once, Jonny, you fucking owe me that.”

“Relax, mate, you skipped town right before you were discharged. All they want is for you to sign some paperwork and you’ll never hear from any of us again.”

“That easy, huh?”

“You’ve been running from nothing, mate. Now you can stop.”

“I guess so,” he said, inspecting his knuckles, split and sore from their fight.

“Want me to get the papers?” Jonny asked, grunting a little as he moved to stand.

Linc shrugged. “I guess. You hungry?”

“Always.” Jonny grinned, holding out his hand to help Linc up.

Taking him up on the offer, Linc righted himself. “I’ve got a couple steaks inside. I’ll fire up the barbeque and get cooking. You got anywhere to be?”

“I’ve got time. A couple days, to be exact.”

“Then I’ll meet you inside.”

Shuffling to the house, Linc let Shade out of the hall as he cleaned himself up yet again—this time, washing away blood instead of soil. He then went into the kitchen, where he found Jonny doing the same, Shade circling with interest around his feet. On the table, he set a file and a six-pack of beer.

“I brought some drinks. We can toast to your official status as a free man.”

Linc pulled the steaks from the fridge. “I don’t drink anymore, but you go right ahead. I’ll toast with a coke.”

Not commenting further on the no drinking thing, Jonny followed him out to the grill with Shade close behind. “So, who’s the fiery chick who owns the bar? She basically threatened my life if I came out here to cause trouble for you.”

Linc couldn’t help the grin that pulled at the corner of his mouth. He could just imagine Lily threatening a solid guy like Jonny, as if she would actually take him on and win. “She’s just someone I used to know.”

He twisted the cap of a beer. “Seemed more than that.”

“She was. Once.”

“Nothing more to it than that? She’s pretty easy on the eyes.”

“Don’t,” Linc warned, lighting the grill with a long match.

“All I’m saying is she seems nice.”

“She is. That’s why she shouldn’t be with me.”

“Fuck you, Reaper. That’s a bullshit line and you know it,” Jonny snapped, using Linc’s Army nickname to get a rise out of him.

“Do not use that name around me again,” he warned, his teeth pressed together.

“Or what? You’ll run and hide—stop living your life? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure that’s what you’re already doing. Oh, and that was her message for you.”

“What?” Linc met his eyes, his attention captured now.

“Lily, the girl who, for unknown reasons, seems to care about you—she told me to tell you life was for living. Seems I’m not the only one who thinks what you’re doing out here is a waste.” He looked around them. “Exactly what are you doing out here anyway?”