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“I think so. I need to check with them.” Taylor said.
“How about you, Max? The brothers attending the event?” Taylor asked the sheriff.
“I think they will be. I’ll just be stopping in for a bit,” Max told them.
Mike watched her walk over to her friends’ table.
“She’s a gorgeous woman. You and your brothers lucked out big time. She’s really sweet, too,” Taylor told Mike, and Mike nodded his head and thanked him. They did get lucky, but there was still a lot to learn about her and her past.
* * * *
Marlena was relieved when Mike, Taylor, and the sheriff left the diner. It made her very nervous, and for some strange reason, she felt guilty. It was like she was the bad person and did something wrong in her past and that hiding it was being dishonest. It made her think about Peter and also about Detective Morgan. Could she call the detective and find out an update? Or should she just forget about Peter, Connecticut, and the past and move on? Last night after the men left her house, she had terrible nightmares. They were worse than the usual ones where she was caught in the flames in her apartment. In these, she actually got burned and felt the excruciating pain. She could have woken the dead, her screams were so loud. It woke her up as she gasped for breath. She was soaked, too, and needed to change her T-shirt.
Right now she felt a bit of an anxiety attack coming on. She stepped outside in the back of the diner a moment to catch her breath and ease her mind of the nightmares. She closed her eyes and let the warm, beautiful sun caress her skin. She loved it here. She really felt that Chance was the place she was meant to find and to live a new life. It made her want things. Things that hadn’t crossed her mind since being hurt physically and emotionally by Peter.
She gasped and jumped to the side in a fighting stance as the door loudly opened.
Regan was standing there looking concerned.
She covered her chest with her hand and caught her breath.
“Shit. I didn’t mean to scare you. Are you feeling okay? You seem distracted and then I heard you breathing kind of funny.”
“I’m okay. I just needed a breath of fresh air and this beautiful sun that’s shining today,” she said and smiled then headed toward the door. Regan stopped her by touching her hand.
“Sweetie, you know that Rita, Roy, and I care about you? That you’re more than just an employee here? And not because something is brewing between you and our three sons either.” She felt the emotions get the better of her. She watched the way Roy, Rita, and Regan interacted with one another and around their sons, too. It made her long for things she never really had. For family, for parents who would love her and could help her deal with this problem she had. But they weren’t hers to have. She was alone, aside from her three new best friends. That had to be enough.
“I appreciate that, Regan. You’re great bosses and I love it here. I wouldn’t want to leave, unless I really had to.”
He scru
nched his eyebrows together. “You planning on leaving?”
She pulled her bottom lips between her teeth.
“Honey, are you in some kind of trouble?” She began to shake her head in denial but Regan held his hand up for her to not even bother.
“This town is more special than I think you realize. There are people here that protect and watch over every one of us. The men are supposed to watch over the women so they feel safe, secure, and are able to live full, happy lives. It’s how the town operates. So let’s say that you’re running from something, or someone from your past, from before coming to Chance. You can tell the sheriff and he’ll be able to help you with everything. We all look out for one another. We’ve got rules that need to be followed. So please, if you need help. If you’re confused, overwhelmed, or just need people who can help and will care for you, then talk to us. We’re here for you,” he said.
“Is everything okay?” Rita asked as she approached wiping her hands on her apron.
“You know Rita always wanted a daughter. You’re sweet, you’re beautiful, and remind me a lot of Rita. Don’t think that you’re alone. Okay?” he asked, and Marlena couldn’t help herself. She hugged Regan tight and then pulled back, forcing the tears away.
“I’d better get back,” she said, her voice filled with emotion as she exited the kitchen and came back to two tables and a new one. Four more hours and she could head home to work on the kitchen with one of the guys. Whom, she didn’t know, but she didn’t care. She felt safer with one of them around, and that in itself was enough to swallow and get used to.
As she took the orders and waited on the tables, she thought about the town, the rules, and Mike, Danny, and Jack. Could she trust them enough to tell them about Peter? Could it turn them off or make them push her away? Was it better to find out now before she fell deeper for them? She felt that anxious feeling deep in her belly. She needed to make a decision and soon. She didn’t want them to hate her, but like her friends said, if they found out later, when she had to disappear, it would be worse, and maybe she would lose them forever.
* * * *
“What was that all about, Regan?” Rita asked her husband as she placed her hand on his arm. She could see the shocked expression on his face. When Marlena hugged him, there was sadness in her eyes and such emotion. She hightailed it outta there quick.
“I don’t know,” Regan said and looked toward Roy. His eyes filled with concern as he flipped the burgers and held their gazes.
“She’s scared, isn’t she? Is it from our boys? Are they pushing her, or asking too much too soon?” Rita asked. Regan knew that their sons were demanding men and were older than Marlena. He understood his wife’s concern about them pushing Marlena too far too quickly. Especially with Marlena being new in town and unused to the ways a ménage relationship works. But there was more going on here with Marlena. If she were in some sort of trouble, he hoped Marlena would confide in his sons. They would protect her.
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. I think it’s more. You know as well as I do we saw something in her eyes that day she came here looking for work,” Reagan said to her.
She pulled back and clasped her hands in front of her.
