Page 37 of Peaks and Promises

I started to say she couldn’t possibly blame me, but she didn’t give me the chance.

“You’re fired,” she snapped.

“You can’t fire me because of this.”

“I just did. I’m not dealing with this shit.” She turned to go back inside. “Tess, go home. We’re closing for the day.”

Anger swept through me. Fired? I didn’t care about the diner—it was a crappy place to work—but I had to put food on the table. I had to pay rent. I had to take care of my son. She wasn’t hurting me, but she was hurting Nate, and that was enough to make me snap.

“You uncaring, ungrateful, miserable excuse for a human,” I said, clenching my fists. “You treat your employees like shit, and you don’t even care when one of them might be in serious trouble.”

I took a step toward her, rage building inside me.

“Whoa, Summer,” Tess said.

I ignored her, ready to lunge at Terri. “You might as well throw my son out on the street, you stupid—”

Tess’s arms wrapped around my waist. I pulled against her grip, trying to take a swing at Terri’s stupid face. She let go, and I was about to tackle Terri when someone else grabbed me.

Someone much bigger.

Reese picked me up like I weighed nothing and spun me around.

“Let go!”

“Easy.” His voice was soft, in stark contrast to his iron grip.

“Get her out of here, or I’m pressing charges,” Terri said.

I struggled against Reese’s hold, twisting so I could yell at her. “I’m glad they broke the windows. You deserve it.”

“Come on.” He moved me toward his SUV. “Nate’s watching.”

The reminder that I was setting a bad example for my son almost made me lash out at Reese. But I had just enough common sense cutting through my anger to know he was right. We needed to go, and I needed to stop trying to thrash my ex-boss.

I cooperated, letting Reese lead me to the passenger door. With one arm still locked around me, he opened it.

“I’ll get in,” I mumbled.

He let go but kept his body between me and Terri while I climbed in, then closed the door.

Still seething, I crossed my arms. Reese got in, and a moment later, we were back on the road.

Nate didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure if I’d freaked him out—he didn’t see me lose my temper very often—or if he was just being quiet. I kept my eyes ahead, not really seeing anything, letting my rage cool.

Fired. Not for the first time, I was unexpectedly without a job and didn’t know if I’d have enough money to pay rent next month. Nate would be out of school soon with nowhere to go, but it didn’t even matter because his stupid sperm donor was lurking in town, and I had no idea what he planned to do.

Reese believed Axel would kidnap Nate if he had the chance. And I had a terrible feeling he was right.

CHAPTER 9

Reese

Summer’s rage was palpable. She stared straight ahead, arms crossed, her jaw tight. It had been a long time since I’d seen someone go mama bear like that. My mom had done it, standing up for her kids when we’d needed her. I’d never forget the first time I witnessed her chewing out an adult at school. My mom was usually gentle and soft-spoken. But not when someone mistreated her kids.

I glanced at Nate in the rearview. He’d been quiet, but he didn’t seem upset. Hopefully he could see that his mom’s outburst hadn’t been about her. She didn’t give a shit about that job. She was mad because getting fired was bad for him.

A lot ran through my mind on the way to the grocery store. Whether the cops would come looking for Summer to get a statement. How far Mayhem would go to screw up her life. How long it would take them to figure out who I was and where I lived. And ultimately, what I was going to do about them.