AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m surprised he didn’t reach out sooner, especially after the manner in which I left Charlene’s house. I would’ve expected Charlene to call, but I’m guessing Toby told her about Kellan’s intervention. She probably understood my position and the issue that arose when Kellan found out about my work with her. Nevertheless, I agree to meet with Toby over coffee at a small but delightful little bakery in Hershey—a neutral ground.
“Thank you for coming,” Toby says as the waitress brings us tea for me and a latte for Toby, along with a plate of chocolate chip cookies and hazelnut wafers. “I’d like to apologize, first and foremost.”
“Toby, if anybody needs to apologize, it’s me,” I reply. Soft jazz music pours through the surround sound as I try to formulate a proper response for a man who has been nothing but kind to me. “I didn’t know there was bad blood between Kellan and Charlene. I didn’t know they had any history whatsoever. All I did was text him the address, since he’d agreed to come pick me up after work.”
Toby doesn’t need to know about my motivation behind it all. I stirred up this shitstorm, so the least I can do is try to diffuse it as much as possible on my end. Toby gives me a long, sullen look, despite the warmth in his voice.
“Avery, you don’t need to apologize. After I spoke to Charlene and told her about the incident, she asked me to give you some space before asking you to meet me here,” he says. “She may have a bad rep in this town, but most people don’t know the whole truth.”
“And what is the whole truth, exactly?”
Toby sighs deeply and takes a long sip of his coffee, his eyes never leaving mine. “Charlene made some terrible mistakes in the past. She was misguided, overly ambitious. She never had a mentor to keep her on the straight and narrow, so to speak. Over the years, she made a lot of money, but it was never enough. Her talents were in high demand. It got to a point where she lost control of the entire system that she put together. She got in over her head.”
“I understand she was sentenced to twenty years in jail, Toby. That’s a lot for financial crimes.”
“Yeah. She had a crappy defense lawyer, what can I say?”
“I also understand that she was involved with Bill and Elizabeth Cassidy, business-wise,” I reply, carefully analyzing his reaction, yet the man doesn’t yield a single micro-expression. “They don’t have a good reputation, either.”
“As I said earlier, Charlene has made plenty of mistakes,” he replies. “She’s not proud of her past, but the parole board deemed her fit to be rehabilitated, and that’s all that should matter in the end. She’s keeping to herself, doing her best torebuild her life and move on. And she feels terrible for the way you fell right in the middle of it, Avery. Charlene had no idea that you and Kellan were an item.”
I narrow my eyes, hoping to give him the impression that I’m not rushing to buy into this story just yet. “Why did she go see him at the sheriff’s office? He’s one of a few who helped put her away, isn’t he?”
“She’s just trying to mend broken bridges,” Toby says. “There’s no ill intent there, I promise. All she wants to do is renovate her parents’ house, move in there, and live out the rest of her life in peace. She doesn’t like conflict and she doesn’t want to fight with anybody, but she also knows that she needs the law on her side going forward. It makes sense that she’d want to make amends with the Sheriff of the county she’s living in, don’t you think?”
That’s a fair and reasonable argument.
Toby goes on to tell me about how awful prison life was for Charlene. The beatings, the bullying, the viciousness of her fellow inmates. He swears she’s not the ambitious vixen she once was. Prison humbled her in more ways than one. She has learned her lesson, and now she just wants to figure out what she’s going to do with her life. Since she is prohibited from any financial dealings, Charlene can’t even open a bank account these days, which is why Toby and her sister appear on all of the official documents. She’s looking into a way to rehabilitate herself in that sense, too, he tells me. A good lawyer should help, or so he hopes.
I can tell that he cares deeply about her. Perhaps more than a PA should. It makes me doubt the sincerity of the messages that she’s trying to send me through him. Toby may be too involved emotionally to be thinking clearly. Then again, who should Ibelieve? Kellan, Fallon, and Luke have also acted shady about this situation. They kept her a secret, lying to me while still telling me that everything was okay when it obviously wasn’t. I had to resort to minor scheming just to get a reaction out of them, hoping for a morsel of truth.
“My point is, Avery, if you still want the remodeling job, it’s yours,” Toby says. “Your tools are still at the house. You can come back any time you wish. But if you decide to drop the project, Charlene won’t hold it against you, and she won’t demand a refund on that advance, either.”
“I don’t know what to say,” I reply, careful not to make a decision on the spot. It’s good money and I’m enjoying the work. Things are still complicated with my men and there are still plenty of unanswered questions. I have to be honest with myself and cover my own ass, no matter what and regardless of my feelings for them. “Toby, I like Charlene, I really do. But if this job is going to cause tension in my personal life—”
“Hey, I get it,” he cuts me off, half-smiling. “And so does Charlene. All I’m asking is that you take some time to think about it. There’s absolutely no rush. And whatever you decide, we will respect and honor our prior arrangements. You have my word.”
“Thank you. That’s reassuring. Gosh, this is so messed up…”
“Tell me about it. I had a mind of smacking the Sheriff right then and there when I saw the way he yanked you out the door.”
“Please don’t hold it against him. Kellan is so gentle and righteous. For him to become angry, well, it takes a lot, which is why I understand that the issue with Charlene runs deep and painfully so. He was acting out of character, and it’s probablybecause I sort of blindsided him. He didn’t know I was working for Charlene.”
“Even so, Avery. Are you sure he’s the right guy for you?”
There was a time when I would’ve laughed at such a question. But given how things have been spinning out of control lately, maybe it’s something I need to think about. Kellan, Fallon, and Luke took me in and protected me and my girls. When I needed them the most, they were there. Yet from the moment I told them about my pregnancy—a moment that unfortunately coincided with Charlene’s release from prison—I’ve started to see a side of them they didn’t show me before. Maybe I should’ve been more cautious with my heart.
None of that matters at this point, though. What’s done is done, and I’m in too deep. Heart, body, and soul. I can either fight for what we have and accept that my men will tell me the whole truth when they’re ready, or I can walk away now. But every fiber in me screams against the thought of leaving them behind, especially since I’m carrying their unborn child in my womb. It’s a delicate situation, to say the least.
“He’s a good man,” I reassure Toby. “Truly. I think I’m the one who created a mess that day.”
“If you ever feel unsafe—”
“Don’t even worry about that,” I cut him off, not liking the tone of the conversation and fully aware that Kellan is kindness incarnate. There’s not a sliver of truth in Toby’s suggestions. “If there is one thing I can tell you with certainty, it’s that I am safe with him. I’m a domestic violence survivor. I went to hell and back with my ex-husband, and I never thought I’d be able to trust another man after that. But when Kellan came into mylife, he reminded me that not all men are like my ex-husband. He took care of me. He still does. I feel safe and loved with him. Please, Toby, don’t think for a second that I’m not in a happy and healthy relationship because I am. It’s his history with Charlene that has added unnecessary tension, that’s all.”
My statement silently involves Luke and Fallon too. But that is our secret. I’ve never been happier, despite the recent turmoil.
“You make a fair point,” Toby concedes. “I’m glad you’re happy and safe with him, then.”
