Love At Peace (Hometown Heartstrings #3)

Chapter 18

Roarke

A fter we came, we fell asleep. So warm and snuggled together like that, sleep was almost inevitable. With her arms wrapped around me, I was lulled into a deep rest that I only seemed to get in her presence. Under her weight, as I kept her draped over me, she gave me a sense of completion that filled my heart.

When I woke, though, too soon to feel fully recharged, I looked at her dozing fitfully. Her brow was creased. Her eyes were squeezed shut. I hated that she could be plagued with a bad dream, and I felt shittier when I realized just what she could be stuck on in her mind.

David.

I was usually a pretty good judge of character and was glad that I could read people relatively well. From the moment I saw David, I knew he wasn’t any friend of mine. Hearing, at last, about how terribly he’d treated Heather, he’d ensured that he would forever be my enemy.

I let her nap, lying there and holding her close so she would physically feel safe despite whatever her mind told her in her dream world. Several minutes passed, and she did calm down, not as visibly tense in my embrace.

But when we got up, when she moved apart from me, how could she get that peace again? Who would comfort her? Herself? She was an independent woman with a deep survivalist mentality, but I worried that she wouldn’t be able to self-soothe herself out of this misery David still presented.

I wanted to be the one to take care of her, to see to her being provided with the freedom to live her life as she pleased. It wasn’t so much of a possessive need to be a hero, but more of an innate draw to love her. To cherish her and know that she wasn’t lacking for anything in life.

But once she chose to leave...

I sighed as I continued to think about it all. She slept, and I lay there processing all that she’d shared.

I wouldn’t hold a grudge against her for wanting to leave Burton. David was a reminder of a dark time in her life. She’d done the brave thing to leave him and show that she wanted him in her past. With him coming here, following her here, he was threatening to prolong her misery.

Just seeing him bothered her on an elemental level, and I couldn’t blame her for that. Trauma was no fickle thing to manage. It was wrong to assume she’d “just get over it,” and I wouldn’t ever suggest that sort of a blanket platitude.

What I didn’t agree with was her logic.

She wanted to move away to leave David again. He was here, sleeping around with my niece, but I wasn’t ready to accept his actions the same way Heather had.

Is he moving on?

Physically, yes. He had moved on to sleep with Nevaeh. He’d impregnated her. There was no disputing that.

But I wasn’t sold on the idea that David was giving up on Heather.

He’d come all the way out here to track her down. He’d hung around, not leaving after a couple of days. That led me to suspect he was determined and wouldn’t stray from getting her back in his life. I saw the drive in him. I heard the vicious greed in his voice when he told her to “come home” with him.

Why would he move on to Nevaeh, anyway?

I gazed down at Heather sleeping at my side. Her cheek rested on my chest, rising and falling gently as I breathed.

She was gorgeous. It wasn’t just an endearment that came to me naturally. Heather was drop-dead beautiful. She took pride in taking care of herself. She looked healthy and vibrant. From her long, glossy hair, her flawless skin, her toned body, and her hot-as-fuck curves, she was a walking wet dream. Aside from her superficial appearance, she was a catch in abstract ways, too. She was smart, witty, driven, and successful with her job.

Heather was a catch. She was classy. She was experienced and sexy.

Nevaeh was not. She was young and crude. Rebellious and often slacking in her own hygiene and appearance. I had no clue where she was doing laundry or showering when she wasn’t crashing with me. I had no idea when she’d last seen a dentist. The only effort she put into her appearance was in constantly dying and re-dying her hair. I was no expert, but with the amount of chemicals she was putting into her thinning, damaged hair, she would continue to look more ragged and strung-out. Furthermore, she had no job. No prospects. Not even a welcoming attitude or allure of friendship with her nonstop chip-on-the-shoulder personality.

Why would David move on to Nevaeh after someone like Heather?

It didn’t make sense. It didn’t add up, and for that, I felt like I was missing something in this campaign to keep Heather in my life.

Eventually, I dozed off again. Heather woke me with a nudge to my shoulder.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” she teased, laughing lightly. “Your phone won’t stop ringing.”

“Hmm?” I opened one eye, hugging her close.

“Your phone,” she said, slipping out of my hold.

I sat up to see that Marty, Todd, and Gavin had called me. “Shit. I forgot.”

“What?” she asked as she tugged a robe on.

“I’m supposed to watch the game with them.” I looked at my watch. “Eh. I’m not that late.” With too many thoughts on my mind after our talk, though, I didn’t feel confident to ghost them. I saw how vulnerable she was now. I hated that she had to be so sensitive around me yet, but it was a critical cue to obey.

I didn’t want to overstay my welcome. I didn’t want to risk her regretting opening up to me. If she needed space, I’d grant it.

“Well, you can still get the second half of the game, right?”

I nodded, standing to get dressed. “Not that it’ll matter.” Shaking my head, I sighed.

“Niners still aren’t doing well?”

I pouted at her. “Hush up about that now.”

She smiled.

I walked up to kiss her soundly before leaving, and I swore to myself that it would not be a final goodbye between us.

At the bar, I quickly sought help from them about this matter. Heather had told me those things about David in confidence, and I wouldn’t betray her trust. Besides, she told me that she would speak up and tell her story to Marty, even if she doubted that he could or would succeed in helping her or Nevaeh.

Over a couple of drinks and a pathetic game playing on the screen overhead, I told my coworkers, my friends. Marty jotted notes, but all three listened with rapt interest and worry.

“She went to the cops?” Marty asked after I shared it all.

I nodded. “And a woman’s shelter.”

“Damn.” He shook his head, looking more pissed.

“That motherfucker,” Todd drawled. “I shoulda shot ’im on her front step.” When Marty gave him a look, Todd merely switched his chew to the other cheek.

“No wonder she’s considering moving for another job,” Gavin said. “She got away from him once. Now she’ll try to again.”

I held up my finger though. “That’s what I’m not sure about,” I said. “She thinks that David’s moving on to Nevaeh now. And because he’s got a new...prey, a new woman to control, he’ll leave her alone.”

Marty shook his head. “No, he won’t. Or he hasn’t so far. I got a call from that young man at the bank. He called me up to tell me ‘in confidence’ that David approached Heather and harassed her. He got in her face and said that she’d never be happy without him.”

That doesn’t sound like he’s moving on to Nevaeh.

“It coincided with a call about someone screaming,” he said. “Nance admitted to screaming to shut David up and scare him off. There’s your proof that he’s not giving up on Heather. If he was done with her and moving on to Nevaeh, he wouldn’t have any motivation to continue to harass Heather.”

“You’d think,” Gavin said. “Or maybe he’s just that much of an asshole to always want to make everyone else’s life hell no matter what.”

“What can she do?” I asked Marty. “I don’t want her to be scared off to move again. And even though she’ll never listen to me or care that I give a shit about her, what can I do to protect Nevaeh?”

Marty huffed. “Well, Nevaeh doesn’t seem to be in the mindset that she needs protection. I dropped her off at the station on Main after she got caught shoplifting, and I have no clue where she took off to. She’s got to be shacking up with David somewhere.”

“He’s got no record, man,” I reminded him. “He’s sneaky, but that can’t mean he’ll never be caught or stopped from bothering women like Heather and Nevaeh.”

“Oh, I could tell from the beginning that he was a sly player. He’s sneaky. And he’s definitely got connections. But mark my words. No one is above the law. At least that’s how the law works around here.”

I smiled at my friend’s confidence. I wanted to believe that too. For all that David had done to make Heather the traumatized and scared woman that she was, he had to pay for his wrongdoings.

And maybe once he’s caught and charged, she’ll see that she can stay. That she can put down roots and belong.

With me.

“He’s already on my radar,” Marty said.

“Mine too,” Todd added in a snarl.

Mine as well.

“He caught my attention the first time I pulled him over for speeding. Then when you fought him here,” he said, gesturing at the bar, “he was on my personal shitlist. This investigation into Eric’s injuries is the strongest link that makes him a person of interest, too. Just know that the second I can charge him, the minute I have evidence to bring him down, by the power granted to me by the town of Burton, I will bring him down.”

Hearing this support solidified my determination to help Heather. With a little help from my friends, it would be a simple matter of teamwork to show her that she damn well could fit in with the people of Burton standing up for her, for once, not judging her like an outcast.