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The place hadn’t changed much since he was a kid. He always remembered the day his grandfather had sat him down and told him how his great-grandfather had come all the way from Wales during the California gold rush, and ended up owning a livery stable and saloon in the new settlement before buying himself a ranch on the profits. Having a whole town named after your family was something special, and Billy had sworn to his grandfather that he’d never let his family down.
He grimaced as he went into the post office. He’d sure messed that up. Twenty-three years ago the disappearance of his wife and baby daughter had almost destroyed him, and sent a tremor worthy of an earthquake through the lives of his four sons and his mother, Ruth. It had taken him twenty years to come home, and he was still working at being forgiven.
He sorted out the mail noticing none of it was actually for him, but that his mother had received a whole bunch of Christmas cards. A couple of letters had stuck together, and when he separated them out he discovered one was addressed to his old friend Bella Williams at the Red Dragon Bar.
Being close to the bar, which sat on the corner of Main and Morgan, he walked around into the parking lot and approached the back entrance. The door was open, and Bella and some guy were standing on the threshold. Something about the young guy’s stance set everything protective in Billy to attention. He altered his angle of approach and came up behind the man.
“Axel, I asked you to leave.” Bella was speaking, her voice calm.
“And I told you to give me my wages or I’ll take them myself.”
“Jay will be back any second now.” Bella raised her chin. She wasn’t a tall woman, but after running a bar for twenty-five years she wasn’t easily intimidated. “Do you really want to take on a retired Navy SEAL?”
“He’s not coming, Bella,” Axel said. “I saw him heading out on the county road toward Bridgeport.” Axel took a step closer, invading Bella’s personal space. “Give me my damned money, bitch!”
Billy gently cleared his throat. “Hey, you.”
Axel swung around, his hands curling into fists. “What the hell do you want?”
“I want you to leave.” Billy held up his cell. “I just sent a text to Nate Turner and he’s coming right now, so maybe you’d better stop menacing women and take a hike.”
“Like you’d be able to stop me,” Axel sneered.
Billy stepped closer and held the young fool’s gaze. “Do you really want to find out if that’s true?”
Something in Billy’s eyes made Axel pause, which was just as well because Billy had survived a year in prison and was nobody’s pushover.
A siren blared on Main Street, and with one last disgusted snarl, Axel ran off into the parking lot, got on his motorbike, and roared away.
Billy instantly went over to Bella. “Are you okay?”
She let out her breath and pressed her hand to her heart before reaching for him. “Thank goodness you came along, Billy. I was getting scared.”
“You didn’t look it.” Billy wrapped an arm around his old school friend and she leaned into him, her whole body trembling. “You’ll be okay. It’s just the shock.”
“I know.” She took a deep, shaky breath. “There was something in his eyes that frightened me. Do you think he’s on drugs or something?”
“Probably.” Billy looked up as Nate Turner, the local sheriff, pulled into the parking lot. “Do you want to talk to Nate, or shall I do it?”
“Why don’t you both come inside my kitchen and we can talk there?” Bella suggested. “It’s cold out here.”
Billy hadn’t noticed the chill, but he was used to working outside in all weathers and had grown up on the ranch herding cattle and riding horses. After being incarcerated for a year, he’d yearned for open spaces, and never felt happier than when he was out in the fresh air.
“You go on in.” Billy patted her shoulder. “I’ll bring Nate.”
He waited as Nate got out of his truck and put on his official hat before strolling over to greet him. Nate had been to school with his sons, and was another local boy.
