Going quietly upstairs, she nearly tripped a dozen times from the floor covered with bikers in sleeping bags before she was able to let herself out the front door. Once outside, she was grateful she had driven her car and didn’t have to hike through the woods.
She let herself into Mag’s house, sending home her neighbor before going to bed after showering and putting on a fresh gown.#p#分页标题#e#
She breathed in the clean scent of the sheets, thinking of her mother and how disappointed she would be in her. After all the years she had stifled the more untamed part of her personality, burying the needs she had felt in her body in books and church, that part of her nature had finally been released. She was deathly afraid she couldn’t control it. What if she went too far and had to live with the regret for the rest of her life? She had thought her love of Cash protected her from that part of herself; instead, it had added fuel to the flame.
She needed time to think, to decide if she was going to douse the flame or enjoy the fire until it burnt out, leaving nothing but devastation behind.
Chapter 36
Jo picked her up at Mag’s house. They had to postpone their dinner until Mag had felt better—Rachel had only left her for brief periods of time.
“I’m ready.” Rachel had offered to pick her up at her dad’s house, but Jo had refused.
“How’s it going since you’ve been back?” Rachel asked as soon as they were both sitting in the tow truck.
“Same as when I left,” Jo replied as she drove toward town. “Sorry about the ride. I had to sell my car to help Dad pay a few bills.”
“I don’t mind. Where do you want to eat?” Rachel asked, turning the subject to something more positive. “We could go to the Diner or the Pink Slipper. There’s King’s place; it’s new, and the food is really good.”
“Mick still have hamburgers and fries?”
“I guess. He has bar food, but—”
“Good, I’m hungry,” Jo said, bringing the tow truck to a stop in the parking lot of Rosie’s.
“Jo, this is a—”
“Biker bar. I know. Is that red Trans Am Curt Demaris’s?”
Rachel looked closer at the car in question. Several of the locals still hit Mick’s, leaving before the bikers showed up after dark.
“Yes. It’s the same one he’s driven since high school.”
“I heard he’s the coach now.”
“Yes.” Rachel knew Curt was a sore subject with Jo. He had been the one accused of trying to rape Jo. “Let’s go to King’s.”
“I feel like eating here. It’ll bring back old memories,” Jo said grimly. “Dad used to bring me here when my mom was at work so that he could get a drink.”
“Jo, some memories aren’t worth repeating.”
“And some are worth confronting,” she said ominously, getting out of the truck.
Rachel sighed. She liked Mick, but she was really beginning to dislike his bar.
She went inside after Jo. There wasn’t that many customers; Curt and… Rachel swallowed hard when she saw him sitting with Jared. The two were cousins and not only did both believe they were God’s gift to women, but both were asses. It wasn’t a good combination.
Jo sat down at a table not too far away from the men. She was staring a hole through Curt until Mick came to take their order. Jo’s expression softened as she got up from the table to hug the man who twirled her around. Rachel was surprised at the closeness the two shared.
“I heard you were back in town.” Mick’s misty eyes stared down at Jo.
Jo grinned back. “I told Rachel I needed a good hamburger and fries.”
“Coming up. What can I get you, Rachel?”
“I’ll take the same.”
While Mick went back behind the bar, Rachel felt everyone’s eyes on them. Not only Jared and Curt’s, but Train was sitting across the room with Crash. She saw him reaching for his phone. She knew he was calling Cash. She wasn’t going to feel guilty; she owed no explanations to Cash about what she was doing. From the look on Train’s face, however, he didn’t agree with her. She blushed bright red remembering Friday night.#p#分页标题#e#
“So, I hear you and Cash are an item.”
Rachel waited until Mick placed two beers in front of them then left before answering. “I wouldn’t say we’re an item.”
“What would you say, then?”
Rachel cleared her throat. “I don’t know.”
“I see he hasn’t changed since I’ve been gone. None of the women in town knew, either.”
Rachel nodded, knowing Jo wasn’t trying to be mean, just trying to help her get her head on straight.