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On any other day, Jax would have drawn this out just to make the guy squirm but between his pent up desire for this man and the nagging feeling that the guy following Dane hadn’t just been out for a leisurely stroll had him snatching the plastic base from under Dane’s arm.
“Dr. Winters?”
Both men turned at the sound of a woman’s voice and Jax recognized the girl walking towards them as Wendy, the young woman that was attacked at Callan’s ranch yesterday by the would-be arsonists.
“Hey, Wendy,” Dane said. “How’s the head?”
A wide smile spread across her pretty features as she glanced her fingers over the small bandage covering the injury. “Good. Little bit of a headache.”
Her eyes turned to Jax, then back to Dane. Jax could almost hear the gears turning in her head. Dane must have seen the direction her mind was going, but before he could deny there was anything between them like he clearly wanted to do, Wendy said, “The sheriff and Mrs. Greene got some folks together to go out to the CB Bar to help with rebuilding the barn. Maybe you guys want to stop by?”
“People from this town?” Dane asked, his astonishment clear.
Shame seemed to creep over Wendy’s features and Jax wondered what that was all about.
“Not everyone sees things the way people like Mayor Greene or Doc Sanders do. Or those awful deputies. But we should have stood up for Finn a long time ago when Hunter said all those terrible lies about him. I guess today is about trying to mend some fences. At least start to anyway.”
Dane seemed at a loss for words so Jax said, “When are you guys heading over there?”
Wendy immediately brightened. “We’re meeting at the high school in a few minutes. A couple guys went up to the lumber store in Missoula this morning and they should be getting back right about now,” she explained as she glanced at her watch.
“My friends and I were just stopping to see if Jimmy needed help with his stuff,” she said as she motioned to the garage behind her and blushed prettily when the good looking young mechanic waved at her from the driveway where he was getting into a small pick-up truck full of tools and equipment. Wendy’s sedan was parked near the curb and Jax counted at least four people in the tiny car.
“We’ll be there,” Jax said.
“K,” Wendy said as she leaned down to give Emma a quick tickle. “See you there.”
Jax finished putting the car seat base in the back seat, inwardly impressed with himself that he managed to secure the thing without Dane’s help.
“What was all that stuff about Finn and Hunter? Who is that?” Jax asked as Dane settled in the passenger seat next to him.
“Hunter Greene – he’s the mayor’s son. He and Finn went to high school together and I guess they were caught making out at some party by Hunter’s father a couple years ago. The kid told his father that Finn assaulted him so the guy wouldn’t find out he was gay.”
“Little shit,” Jax murmured as he started the car and followed Dane’s directions to the high school. “Where is he now?”
“College, I guess. Finn said he hasn’t seen him since that night.”
They both fell silent as they reached the parking lot which had nearly a dozen cars sitting in it, including a couple with trailers attached to them. A flatbed truck strapped with bundles of lumber was just pulling out of the lot so Jax fell in behind the last car in the caravan as it meandered its way out of town. The slow pace meant it took them twice as long to get to Callan’s ranch and by the time they drove under the metal archway with the initialsCBon it, Jax was teeming with frustration. He owed the man next to him nothing, but all he could think about was how badly he wanted to hear that smooth, rich voice tell him it was okay. That he understood that Jax had had no choice in what he’d done. That it had been the only way to get justice for the lives that had been stolen. But Jax knew there would be no such words and the sooner he accepted that, the sooner he could get his ass out of this place and back to where he belonged.
* * *
Dane’s stomach was churning by the time he got Emma out of the car. The place was already buzzing with activity as people started tossing the remnants of the burned out barn into the first of the two trailers. But all he could think about – all he’d been thinking about – was that Jax had set a man up to be murdered…and he’d used his body to do it. Dane had no doubt that this Rawlings guy had deserved whatever he’d had coming, but knowing Jax had been his judge, jury and executioner had left Dane reeling and conflicted. His body still wanted the man like nothing else, but his mind couldn’t deal with the truth of how dangerous Jax really was.
“Doesn’t look like your friends were expecting this,” Jax said from behind him, his burly presence catching Dane momentarily off guard. His eyes caught Jax’s and he thought he saw a flash of longing there, but then the shuttered expression was back.
Dane looked up to see Finn standing between Callan and Rhys on the porch of one of the two small cottages on the property. Rhys and Callan were watching the commotion with confusion and suspicion but Finn had a soft smile on his face. The young man looked like he was exactly where he was meant to be. A pang of envy went through Dane.
“I’m gonna go help out,” he heard Jax say and then the man was disappearing into the small crowd. Dane headed up towards the trio as they made their way down to where the barn had stood. Finn’s arm was in a sling and his eyes looked heavy, presumably from the pain medication he’d likely been given for his injury.
“Hey, how you feeling?” Dane asked and wasn’t surprised when Finn pulled free of his lovers and gave Dane a hug.
“Pretty good,” Finn said as he released Dane and carefully lowered himself down so he could be eye to eye with Emma who was flailing her arms in excitement. “Hi Emma,” Finn cooed.
“Do you know what all this is about?” Callan asked as he motioned to the group of people. Dane wasn’t surprised to hear the distrust in his voice.
“Think of it as baby steps, Mr. Bale,” came a sharp voice from behind Dane. Harriet Greene appeared carrying a box in her arms which Rhys quickly took off her hands. “Thank you, young man,” she said with a nod of her head before turning her attention back to Callan. “It’s not the whole town like it should be,” she commented as she glanced over her shoulder at the small group of people. “But it’s a start. It’s our way of asking for a second chance.”
Her eyes found Finn who carefully stood to face her. One of her gnarled hands reached out to pat his cheek. “My grandson did wrong by you. We all did.”
