“Still can’t get over the fact that you’ve gone from Green Beret to construction worker,” Patience mumbled, shaking her head. “Isn’t that like culture shock or something?”
“It’s kinda a nice reprieve from shootin’ people and gettin’ shot at, Baby Girl. And you’re avoiding my question,” he remarked pointedly, his grey eyes pinning hers. “What the hell is happening here?”
Patience remained silent, and she was rarely without something to say.
Turning his attention to Abel, Ice raised an eyebrow. “Abel? You wanna share? Honest to Christ, you’re all starting to freak me out here.”
Abel exchanged a long look with Patience before replying, “Tanner Suarez is back, Zachariah. He’s back and he’s brought trouble with him.”
“What kind of trouble?” Ice asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn’t need to ask who Tanner was; all of Paradise County knew the story behind the son of a bitch that had wrecked Harmony’s life.
“The only kind there is. The bad kind,” Patience muttered. “He pinned Harmony, Heaven and Honor in here today, roughed Harmony up and threatened her.”
“Harmony’s with her man now. Zeke carried Honor back to the house. Faith and Cain are already home with Heaven,” Abel further explained.
Blinking, Ice raised an eyebrow. “Wait a second,” he ordered, holding up a work roughened hand. “Harmony’s got a man now? Is this the Jake Stone I’ve been hearing about?”
Patience nodded. “Yeah, although it’s in question whether he’s still her man or not. I’d dump his ass like a hot potato if I found out a man was spying on me and my family.”
“Huh?” Ice’s eyes went back to Abel.
“Long story. It’ll get clearer when we get all the family in one room,” Abel informed Ice grimly. “But you haven’t told him all of it, Hellion.” He stared hard at Patience, waiting for her to comment. “What happened to Harmony is bad, but what we learned from Honor…”
“We don’t know anything yet, Abel! None of us has really gotten to talk to Honor yet. You can’t draw assumptions based on a few things she muttered. She’d had a fright.”
“Cut the shit, Patience” Abel said softly. “I was here this afternoon. Standing right here in this kitchen, I heard what Honor said. I saw her face. You did, too. Everybody but Zeke witnessed what happened, and somebody is gonna have to tell that poor bastard about it. That man,” he remarked, pointing a long finger toward Zeke’s brother, “is probably gonna be the only guy in a tri-county radius that can lock Zeke down when he finds out the truth.” Seeing Patience open her mouth to reply, he shook his head. “Argue with me all you want, but you know – I know you know deep down in your heart that Zeke has gotta be told about this shit tonight. Hell, when he finds out we’ve been sitting on this shit an afternoon, all hell is probably gonna break loose.” Watching a crack form in the hard mask Patience wore, Abel took a step toward her. “Hellion,” he said softly, “You know I’m not talking out of my ass here.”
“We’re not sure, Abel,” Patience whispered, staring at the floor as uncharacteristic tears pooled in her eyes.
“We’re sure, Patience,” Abel countered softly.
Straightening, Ice’s body stiffened. “What the hell are you two jabbering about?” he asked, his voice deceptively quiet. “What the hell does Tanner have to do with Honor? Harmony, I get. I understand that, but Honor?”
Reaching behind him, Abel grabbed the bottle of Jose Cuervo that Patience had dropped on the counter. Holding it out to the other man with one hand, he gestured at one of the stools around the large metal baking table. “You’re gonna need to sit down and take a shot, Zach, because you’re not gonna like what I have to tell you.”
~~***~~
Honor McKinnon and Ezekiel Monroe
Zeke’s SUV
5:07 pm
Easily navigating his vehicle through Paradise’s version of rush hour traffic, Ezekiel Monroe frowned as he studied Honor McKinnon out of the corner of his eye. Statue-still, she sat next to him with her hands folded demurely in her lap, her trim legs crossed and her pretty face an expressionless, unreadable mask. Only the fact that her right thumb kept relentlessly rubbing the top of her left hand gave away her inner turmoil. The action was one of her few tells. Not many would notice it since it wasn’t as obvious as biting one’s lip or twirling one’s hair, but it was there and he’d seen it. Of course, he wasn’t most people. No, he’d was a man that had spent years cataloguing Honor’s every movement and reaction.