Broken Hero

I shake my head. “No, it absolutely did not.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not particularly, no.”

Logan nods. “Then we won’t. Let’s finish up this, and after we’re done, I’ll take you to the Red Flag for dinner and beer.”

“Make that bourbon and we have a deal.”

It takes us a couple of hours to finish. The sauna we’ve built is large, with double-deck benches and a massive electric stove. The glass door is frosted and swings beautifully on newly oiled hinges.

My sister will freak out, I know that much, but I have no idea what Lucy will think. Not anymore.

Logan and I drive in silence down to town. Weariness and tiredness chase one another; I want a burger and fries, I want alcohol, and I want to forget.

I’ve learned the hard way, though, that the last one is never as simple as people think. You can’t drown your demons, just as surely as you can’t outrun them.

The parking lot outside of the Red Flag is nearly empty when Logan and I arrive, but that’s not surprising. It’s a Sunday afternoon, and people don’t go to the Red Flag on Sunday afternoons. This town runs like clockwork.

“Oliver Morris!”

I know even without turning around who it is. The voice is familiar-it would be to anyone in this town. Lord knows I heard it often enough as a child, in church and in school.

“Good evening, Mrs. Masters.”

She stops a few feet away from me, her purse tucked tight under her arm. She shoots Logan a brief glance.

He gets the message. “I’ll be inside, man.”Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

I nod. Mrs. Masters continues to look at me imploringly, and fuck, it’s probably my turn to make small talk, but I can’t think of a single thing to say. This day has been awful enough already.

“Can I help you with anything?”

“There’s something I think you should know.” Mrs. Masters takes a step closer, her voice dropping. “The Rhodes girl? I saw Gavin Whittaker talk to her yesterday at that silly fountain event. I don’t know what was said, but she ran away in tears.”

Anger flares through my body, making my fist clench. The fucker.

I should have known. I’ve been an idiot, yet again.

“Do you know what he said?”

“It’s not hard to imagine, Mr. Morris. Gavin has been spending a lot of time gossiping this weekend, and none of it complimentary.”

For a moment, all I can do is blink at her. Never in my thirty-three years have I known Mrs. Masters to be helpful, not like this. Where is this coming from? Is she on my side?

She shakes her head at me with a disapproving frown, suddenly transformed back into the woman I remember. “Don’t look so surprised. I’ve never cared much for Whittaker boy.”

“Thank you.””Make this right, son. I don’t want her to move away.” She gives me a farewell nod. “She knows my order by heart now.”

And then she’s gone, walking down the sidewalk with her purse still tucked tight against her side to ward off any potential robbers.

Wow.

If Mrs. Master’s intervention is surprising, the information she shared sure isn’t. Of course Gavin swooped in, like a circling vulture, right when the innocent gossip started. Lucy doesn’t deserve his crap. Now I just have to figure out what to do about it.

I push open the door to the Red Flag and head towards Logan. He pushes a pint across the table to me. “I’ve ordered bacon burgers for both of us.”

“Thanks, man.”

“What did she want?”

I tell him everything. It’s more than I would usually share, but in this situation, I want all the help I can get. If I’m going to solve this with Lucy, I’m going to have to be more open and communicative than I’ve ever been before. It hasn’t exactly been my strong suit in the past.

Logan takes a sip of his beer. “So people in town know about you two, and now she’s freaked? That’s essentially it?”

“Yeah.”He shakes his head. “Look, man. If you have a shot at happiness, you need to take it. Chances like this don’t come around too often.”

“I want to take it, but I don’t think pushing her on this is a good idea. She asked for time and space, whatever that means.”

“Did she really mean that, though? It sounds to me like she was scared. Came to you for reassurance, and you sure as hell didn’t give her any. She asked for time-not to call it off.”

I lean back and look at him. My second-in-command, the brother who pulled me out of more dangerous situations than I care to remember. Logan’s never given me anything but the truth, the way he saw it.

He looks back at me. The circles under his eyes have lessened, I realize. He’s doing better.

“You can glare at me all you want,” he says. “I’m still right.”

I sigh. “I’ll be damned, but you are. I was an ass.”

“Yes.””Not for the first time, I might add. Shit.”

Logan smiles. “Not surprised to hear it. Just like I’m not surprised Gavin’s name came up again.”

“The things he said to her… I need to know what it was.”

He pulls a face. “I’m sure you can imagine.”

“Yes, well, I need to know.”

He pushes away the remainder of his food. “Let’s find out, then. Where might he be on an evening like this?”

“Usually here.” I drain the last of my beer. “This is where he always is. Just my luck-the one time I actually want to see his smug face.”

Logan nods to a table in the corner. “Aren’t those the same guys he was here with last time?”

“Yeah. They must have come in after us.”

“Well, if they’re here, he shouldn’t be far away.” Logan shifts so that he’s further back in the booth, half-hiding in the dim lighting. I move so that I’m sitting beside him. The bar is loud and familiar, but it feels like new territory as we watch it in silence. It’s nearly empty apart from the booth with Gavin’s friends and a familiar couple swaying to an old country song.