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HA! I don’t hear cheering anymore.
A deafening silence moves over the room as everyone starts to get the implication of Kandy’s words.
“Hold up now. Just wait, wait. You’re not going to be making your pies anymore, Kandy?” Tommy asks from his spot in the middle of the room.
Kandy shrugs with a sassy grin I’ve come to love. “Funny. When I woke up this morning, the urge to bake pies was totally gone.”
She turns and gives me a mischievous look. “Must have been the mysterious and spooky powers of the wedding dress.”
“Could be.” I nod, playing along. “Good thing we are set to burn it tonight!”
“Damn, Kandy, that’s just mean. You know we’re all just happy you’re not pining over that moron anymore.” This came from one of the guys standing by the counter.
Kandy rolls her eyes and turns back to the crowd. “I appreciate everyone’s deep and abiding concern about my love life. If I knew you were all so interested, I would have updated my social media more often. What do you think, Theo, should I start sending out a newsletter or do old-timers want me to post a bulletin down at Town Hall?” She casts her gaze over the entire crowd.
I couldn’t fight the chuckle that shakes my shoulders at seeing the discomfort flitting across the faces of pretty much every single man in the room.
“Now, no need to get testy, Kandy. We were all just concerned about you. Wanted to make sure you were okay. No offense, Ryder, but you’ve been gone a while and people well, they change.” Theo gestures to me.
“Hmm.” Kandy taps her chin with a finger. “And I wonder who would have let them all know there might be a reason for concern in the first place? Who was it who came to fetch me for a call yesterday morning? Who would have had more gossip than anyone about the status update in my life?”
Kandy looks pointedly at Theo, and damn if the old man doesn’t blush and squirm in his spot. “Aww, Kandy, c’mon.”
“Yeah, I’ll give youaww, Kandy. You’re cut off. No pie for you for a month!” She points her finger at Theo before turning the finger on the rest of the crowd. “As for all of you, if any of you want to eat pie again in this town, I suggest you sit down and shut the heck up while I work on getting you breakfast.”
And damn if every person in that room doesn’t clamp their mouths shut and shuffle to try to find seats. I swear I’m tempted to swipe her up and head back to the city so she can help me corral my board of directors. The pushy lot of them step on every nerve I have left and from the looks of it Kandy is my solution.
Kandy moves to the kitchen. “And you all better be hungry for pancakes and bacon because that’s all I’m cooking today. Drag me out of my warm bed on my day off for this shit and think…” Her voice trails off as she disappears behind the swinging doors.
I look around the room to find more than one person suddenly extremely interested in their placemats or coffee cups, unable to meet my eyes. Anger and pride wars in my chest. I am so goddamn proud of my girl for standing her ground and not letting her neighbors get to her.
On the other side, even though I have a feeling these people mean well and truly care for Kandy, I won’t be here to serve as backup come tomorrow, and it pisses me off to think of Kandy facing down this crowd of busybodies without me at her back.
I stand to my full height and clear my throat. Slowly, all eyes in the room turn toward me. I carefully examine the faces staring at me. A few look away as sheepishness creeps into their expressions, but most meet my eyes, their features careful as their gazes weigh my mettle.
My first instinct is to threaten violence, but I hold myself in check. I might be all Marine and former SEAL at heart, but I didn’t build one of the most successful tech companies in the world by giving into my baser instincts. One look at this crew tells me the threat of finding themselves on the receiving end of my fists will not be the deterrent I want it to be. This is a rough group. Chances are these men don’t think of a brawl as a warning, but rather as a fun way to spend a Sunday morning.
I need another way to keep them from hounding Kandy once I leave. In the short time I’ve been here, it has become exceedingly clear the people of this town count on Kandy for far more than her pie. As I look around the room, meeting the gazes of each man in turn, it becomes clear to me, Kandy is the heart and soul of this town.
I pull on the hard-ass bulldog face I used on my men. “I can appreciate you might all be concerned about Kandy and this,” I flick my hand to encompass the room, “gathering is your way of letting me know she has your protection. I get it. Most of you only knew my parents and not me. Let me put you at ease. Me and my old man aren’t too different. Tommy I think sees it more than most.” I nod to my father’s old friend and get one in return.
Satisfied expressions pass over a few faces, telling me I’ve hit the nail on the head. Yes, this is a small town and many of them came in for the latest round of gossip, but many of the men here came here to let me know I need to watch my step where Kandy is concerned.
“But,” I continue, “I’m letting you know, embarrassing Kandy and intruding into places in her life you have no business intruding—that stops now. Your concern has been noted. But I plan on sending a few of my boys back this way to fix a few things and set up some security at Kandy’s place. If I get even a hint from them that you guys are pulling this shit again, I’ll be back.”
“You think we’re afraid to take you on?” This comes from a man sitting on a stool at the counter. He is about my size and the glint in his eyes tells me he might welcome the chance to take his fists to me. As I look him over more closely, I can see a hint of anger simmering in his eyes.
Isn’t that interesting. This guy, and likely a whole bunch of others, showed up for another reason this morning. One I forgot to consider.
They wanted to see if the gossip was true. They wanted to find out for themselves if Kandy had given her body to someone. And the reason they are so interested is because they all had hopes of being the guy she finally gave it up to.
My chest tightens. And looking at this man, I can see why he thought he had a chance with my Kandy. He looks a lot like me—big, bearded, an attitude clearly showing he isn’t afraid of shit. If I’m proof Kandy has a type, then once I move on, this guy can easily take my place.
Fuck.Just thinking about it has me wanting to pound my fists into him.
Rage fires through me and fuels a need to stake my claim; fight off anyone wanting a piece of what ismine.
Except Kandy isn’t mine.
