“It was good enough for your mother.”
I stop pacing and look up to see Jack. He walks over to stand in front of me and squeezes my shoulder. “Your mother was proud of you, Memphis; so damn proud of you. Don’t you ever think otherwise, boy.”
I swallow back the anger and look up into Jack’s eyes. I can always tell when he’s telling the truth. I need to see right now. “Even after I put my father in the fucking ground? After I left her when she needed me the most? Huh?”
He squeezes my shoulder tighter as I hold his gaze. “That woman was proud of you until the day she took her last breath.” Jack shoves me away. “This.” He points at my father’s grave. “Was a huge mistake, but it happened because it had to. Ethan was a mess. Everyone knew that. Everyone could see it, but they chose to turn the other way because he was the Sheriff. You were the only one that stood up to him when needed. It was his time to go, and so he did. His place was no longer here.”
Jack walks over to stand in front of my father’s grave. He looks down at it for a moment before speaking again. “You need to leave your anger here, Son. It’s time for you to let go and try to move on.”
I clench my jaw and shake my head. “What if I can’t?”
“You will after you read this.” I watch Jack’s hand as he reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a small envelope. “Your mother asked me to give you some time before I gave it to you.” He looks up. “Now’s the time. You need to read this, but when you’re ready and after you get some damn sleep.”
I grasp the envelope in my hand and a flood of tears fall down my face as I look down at it. It has a painting of a guitar on the back. Not just any guitar, but mine. She knew how much I loved that guitar. She had gotten it for me on my fifteenth birthday before she first got sick.
“You should come with me and get some rest. I think you need to get out of that house for the night and clear your head.”
I look up at Jack and nod as I carefully place the envelope in the pocket of my hooded sweatshirt.
He’s right. I need some rest before I have to fight tonight. This is the big night. Asher has thirty grand on this fight. After this . . . Alex’s debt will be paid off. I’ll be free to leave and Lyric will be out of danger.
“Yeah,” I whisper, while staring down at the ground. “You’re right.”
Then I turn and walk away, hopping on my motorcycle. I really need to get my shit in check.
ABOUT AN HOUR AFTER MEMPHIS left my house this morning I heard him leave on his motorcycle. It’s now almost four p.m. and he still hasn’t returned. I’m trying my best not to worry, but I can’t help it. When I care about someone I worry. It’s natural.
I’m about to walk to my car and get in when I see Alex digging around in the back of his truck. I don’t have to be at work for another fifteen minutes, but to be honest at this point I really don’t care if I’m late.
“Hey!” I call out as I jog over to Alex’s truck.
Alex looks behind him and smiles his sexy, sweet smile when his eyes land on me. “Hey, gorgeous.” He nods to my car where I left the driver side door open. “You heading out for work?”
I nod my head. “Yeah. I just wanted to come and ask you if you’ve heard from Memphis.” I watch patiently as Alex gathers up a box full of drawings and tosses them into a bigger box with art supplies.
“He’s with my mother’s old friend, Jack. His ass was knocked out cold when I talked to Jack about an hour ago. He’s fine.”
Alex’s whole demeanor seems to change as he quickly reaches for the box and shuts the tailgate behind him. He suddenly looks tense . . . almost guilty.
“Okay . . .” I swallow and look behind me at my car. “I have to get to work. Will you tell Memphis that if he needs me I’ll be working until midnight?”
Alex nods his head while reaching over to kiss me on the forehead. “Sure thing, baby girl.”
He turns around to walk away, so I call out his name, stopping him. I just remembered that Ryan is supposed to be leaving sooner than we thought and now Styles is looking for a replacement. After seeing all the artwork in his box I have no doubt that Alex will be the perfect person to fill his spot.
“You should stop by Ravage Tattoos in a few hours.” I force a smile. “My manager is looking for someone to replace Ryan.”
“No shit.” Alex grins. “I’ll be there after I do a few things.” He starts backing away and winks. “Don’t miss me too much.”
I laugh as he turns around. “I’ll try my best, but it’s so damn hard not to,” I tease.