AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 1
––––––––
LANE PETERSEN DID NOTwant to go to Pearl Lake, a picturesque little village on the shores of a crystal-clear lake. It was a nice enough place to visit but there was no way he would stay any longer than he had to. He needed the lights of a big city to make him feel at home. If it wasn’t for his mother, Abbi, getting married he wouldn’t be heading there at all. Why he was going, next week, two weeks before the wedding was beyond him, but she had asked him to come early to help with the preparations. That was one lady he couldn’t refuse, his mom.
She likely was worried about him. And she had every good reason to. Hell, he would be too if here weren’t living it. Spiralling out of control seemed to be the new norm for Lane. And had been since finding out Jace, his best friend and only employee, had been skimming the profits for the past 8 years to the tune of $500,000. Lane had wanted to hurt him...bad. Every sacrifice and hardship he had endured to get his private investigation business to where it had been the worldwide success it was, was all down the tubes. Some investigator he was, he couldn’t even see that rat in front of his eyes.
It took Luke, Lane’s twin to calm him down with a night in the sleaziest bar they had ever had the pleasure of walking into. They had stayed until last call and then went in search of an all-night tattoo parlour. Lane didn’t remember a thing until he’d woke up in his own bed the next morning. The mother of all hangovers was pounding the inside of his skull while the sting of a thousand bees was burning around his elbow to mid forearm. Trying to focus his blurry vision on the cause was when it all came flooding back to him. Luke had held him down while he screamed in agony as the tattoo artist’s gun jabbed into his skin without mercy.
That day, he marked in his calendar to get checked for every transferable disease known to humankind, he fired Jace without a second thought, paid off the debts he could and put the building up for sale. When an interested buyer offered the asking price, Lane took it without looking back. He paid off the rest of his bills, sold his condominium and bought a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Didn’t matter that he didn’t have a license for it, he would get one.
Fast forward to the present. He just got a clean bill of health yesterday and today he walked out of the Drive Test centre with a full M licence. Life sucked at times, Lane could attest to that, but the little things made it worth it. Like the spider web that was forever etched on his skin, and it did look cool. Now all he had to do was get through the next few weeks up in Pearl Lake and he would be off on a cross country trip, just him and his hog. After that, Luke was buying his bike and Lane would be off to Switzerland. Maybe. He still hadn’t decided yet, where. He just knew he had to go anywhere in the world but Canada. At 31 years old, with no one to answer to but himself, he felt like his life was slipping by and he wanted to enjoy it while he was still young.
“Are you hungry?” Lane looked over to where Luke was sprawled out on the couch, playing a video game.
“Yeah, order Chinese, will you?” Luke said, without missing a beat. “I’ll go pick it up.”
Lane rummaged in the junk drawer for the takeout menu and dialed the number. A woman answered and he ordered the food.
It had been an adjustment, living with his brother after years of not, but it was a welcome change. They were identical twins in the looks department but were total opposites in personality. Luke was a carefree slob, while he was uptight and a neat freak. He would miss him when he was gone.
Lane disconnected the call and glanced at Luke. There was no way he would be picking up the food.
He grabbed up his keys and helmet and said, “It’ll be ready in 30 minutes. I’ll go pick it up.”
Never tearing his eyes away from the TV, Luke mumbled, “What will be ready?”
“Nothing,” Lane answered, and headed to the door.
“Hey, bring me back something to eat will yeah?” Shaking his head, Lane closed the door behind him and headed to where he’d parked his motorcycle.
He put the helmet on as he swung his leg over and straddled the seat, nudging the kickstand into place with his heel, he settled himself onto the sleek machine. The second his butt met the butter soft leather he felt right at home. Turning the key, he pulled in the clutch and thumbed the ‘on’ button. A thrill went through him at the sound and feel as the engine rumbled to life, and it had him wondering why it had taken him so long to get a bike.
Thankful for today’s technology, Lane hit a button on his helmet after buckling it in place and said, “Call mom.” As the call rang through, he kicked it down into first gear, released the clutch and gave it some gas and was on his way.
“Hello?”
“Hey mom, how—”
“Lane! Thank goodness you called!”
He just about forgot to shift gears at the sound of her frantic voice. That could only mean one thing. She was stressed about the wedding.
He chuckled as he cruised towards the restaurant and said, “That bad huh?”
“Yes! That’s why I’m glad you called. Can you come up tomorrow by any chance?”
He inwardly groaned at the thought of spending an extra week in the small village but knew she wouldn’t have asked if she didn’t need him. “Yeah. Sure, I can do that,” he replied half-heartedly as he pulled into the Chinese restaurant’s parking lot.
“Thank you so much. I’m just going a little crazy here is all.”
“Why?” He asked. Parking the bike, he killed the engine and sat waiting for her response.
“All of Ben’s family is coming to the wedding. Aunts, uncles, cousins. People I haven’t even met yet. Half the village invited themselves to the reception and Kim hired some girl to do the cooking... for everyone. How is one girl going to manage cooking for over 100 people? She says she can handle it but I’m having serious doubts.”
“Maybe she has experience with feeding large crowds?” he suggested to calm her down.
Abbi snorted. “Pfft... she looks like she’s 19.”
