Second Chance Love (Heaven Hill Book 6) Read online

  Walking into the office, she turned on the lights and shut off the alarm. It was quiet here, almost unnerving compared to what she was used to, but she enjoyed the work. Regardless of what had gone on between her and her dad, she loved being around her family. She loved getting to watch Liam grow and blossom into the man he was now. It was one of the greatest joys of her life. It had been just the two of them for so long, she, in some ways, felt like his mother.

  There was a soft knock at the door before someone came in.

  “Morning.” She smiled as Liam came in. He sat across from her and handed her a cup of coffee. “Thank you, I didn’t see your truck when I got here,” she told him as she blew at some of the steam that was rolling off.

  “Just got here,” he yawned. “I had to drop Drew off at a friend’s house. Figured I’d come in and talk to you. We haven’t had a chat in a while.”

  They hadn’t, and that had been one of the things she’d loved most about him. He was easy to talk to and he never judged, but it was like once he’d gotten his own family, she felt uncomfortable. Not because of him, but because of herself. “You’re right, we haven’t.”

  “Seriously Roni, how’s it going? I’m not liking the way you’re lookin’ lately.”

  How did she explain to him that no one could help her? No one could give her what she wanted except for the one man that she didn’t want to be around. “I’m good, tired, but good.”

  “That’s horse shit and you know it. I’m worried about you. Please let me help with whatever it is,” he begged her, running his hand through his hair. “Is it Rooster? He and I are good now. He and Tyler have even been hangin’ out. I’m planning on bringing him in on some stuff, so you better tell me now if it’s him.”

  “I will not ruin your friendship with him again,” she told him, taking a drink of her coffee.

  “Fuck that, Roni. You didn’t ruin anything. We were kids, but we knew exactly what we were doing when we told those cops that we took care of that guy. There was no doubt in either of our minds that we were going to take care of you. It was our decision to make. You can’t hide behind it for the rest of your life.”

  “You think I hide behind it?” Tears were pooling and her breath was coming faster. He was onto what her security blanket was. He had figured out that she hid behind it like it was a shield.

  “Yes, and I’m telling you now, you are thirty six years old, I want nothing more for you than for you to live your life. I don’t know for sure what William made you do when we were younger, but I have a good idea. I’m here to tell you that there is no one stopping you but yourself. I want you to love, I want you to laugh, and I want you to live.” His voice was hoarse as he spoke to her. “We were both put in shitty situations by circumstance, but look at us, look at me. I wear a ring on my finger and go home every night to a woman who brightens up at the sight of me; I have three amazing kids that love me. I never thought I would have that, but you gave that to me. I owe you my life now.”

  “I didn’t give you anything.” She took to straightening up the papers on the desk.

  “The hell you didn’t. You may not have known it when you suggested we use Denise, but you made my life, now I want to make yours. If you wanna be with Rooster, be with him. Give him a chance. No one in this club is going to stop you. You have my word on that. You’ve always taken care of me.” He got up and came around the desk. He pulled her up and hugged her tightly around the waist. “Let me take care of you for a change.”

  A sob broke the surface, one that she didn’t even know she was holding in. “I don’t know if I can,” she cried. “I don’t know if I have it in me to be that trusting anymore. Maybe I’m ruined.” She wiped at the tears on her face.

  “You’re not ruined, you’ve been scared because of circumstance, but you can live again. Look at Christine, look at Meredith. You are one of the baddest bitches I know,” he complimented her. “You would stare William down in the face when he was talking bad to me. No one else I knew would stand up for me with him, but you.”

  “That’s because he’d already gotten to me.”

  “Who gives a shit? You’re my sister and you’re the one who’s always watched out for me. Now I’m watching out for you, and I’m telling you to follow your heart. Will it be happily ever after? I don’t know. None of us do, but I do know that you will never forgive yourself and I will never forgive myself if you don’t. If you have to tell yourself you’re doing it to make me happy, then so be it.”

  Who was this guy and what had he done with her brother? It was amazing how a woman could change the dynamics of a guy’s mind. Could she change Rooster’s? When he found out what she’d done because of William, would he still want to be with her?

  “I see what you’re doing and I’m going to give you some unsolicited advice. Let him make his own mind up. He’s a smart man, even though he’s made some bad decisions, just like the rest of us. Don’t make up Rooster’s mind for him. That’s just gonna piss him off.”

  “Okay,” she breathed harshly. “Okay, I’ll do it. You’re right, I’m not getting any younger and I’m sick of being alone all the time,” she admitted. That had taken a lot, to tell someone out loud one of her secrets. She hated being alone and it felt like more often than not, now. That’s what she was.

  “No reason to be when there’s a decent man wanting to share his life with you.”

  She didn’t know what to say to that, she knew that was Liam giving his blessing. “Thank you.” She hugged him tightly.

  “No big thing.” He shrugged as he went to exit the office. “Oh, you better look alive ’cause he starts work here today. We’ve got him helping out with some stuff we’ve got going on.”

  Roni threw a glare at him. “I fucking hate you.”

  “You love me.” He grinned as he walked out, slamming the door harder than he had to, knocking a picture off the wall.

  Roni shook her head and walked over to pick the picture up. “Swear to God, sometimes he hasn’t grown up past thirteen.”

  Rooster pulled into the lot at Walker’s Wheels nervous as hell. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been here when it wasn’t on official sheriff business. That was the weird part about being a former officer of the law, sometimes it was hard to differentiate. He’d known; however, when he turned his badge in that his time there was done. He couldn’t take it anymore. It had been wearing on him for too long. He’d also known that there would never be a shot for him and Roni if he hadn’t started being true to himself.

  He’d hated wearing that badge after a while. He’d realized that the people who were sworn to uphold the law were a lot of times worse criminals than the people they were supposed to apprehend. He’d quickly grown disillusioned and wanted a change, but he’d had to bide his time. Liam hadn’t been ready to forgive and in all honesty, neither had he. It had taken them both a while to get there. It wasn’t something that had happened overnight either. If he was asked, he wouldn’t be able to tell anyone when it had actually happened, but he was glad it had. Parking the bike, he stored the helmet and took off for the garages, where he saw Liam and Tyler standing.

  “Mornin’,” he called out to them.

  “What’s up?” Tyler asked him, sticking out a hand.

  Rooster had learned early on that the person’s good side he needed to get on was Tyler’s. Liam was the leader, but the younger men followed Tyler in a lot of things. They looked up to him in a lot of ways, and one of those ways was how to feel about outsiders and new people. It had taken a while for him and Tyler to come to terms with each other. Childhood best friend versus adult best friend was sometimes difficult, but they had managed to make it work.

  “Excited.” He shook his shoulders out. “I’m excited to have some steady income.”

  “Not much work for an ex-lawman, huh?” Tyler was definitely curious.

  “There is, but it’s not the kind of shit you wanna be involved in, ya know? Nashville has a ton of security positions, alon
g with some around here, but who the fuck wants to do that? Glorified cops with doughnut guts. I need to actually do something.”

  “You’re in luck.” Liam clapped him on the back. “We have a shit ton for you to do here. We’ll keep ya busy.”

  That’s what he needed more than anything and he was going to be damn grateful for the work.

  Chapter Five

  “I swear to God, the only person he is nice to anymore is Tatum,” Denise mumbled under her breath as Drew stomped his feet up the stairs.

  “What’s the problem?” Liam asked, coming in with Tyler and Rooster in tow. They had finished early at the shop, thanks to Rooster, and he’d invited them over for a beer.

  “Your son is a jackass,” she told him, rolling her eyes as Drew slammed his door.

  “Welcome to life with a teenager,” Rooster laughed, looking back and forth between them. He’d seen it many times on the force, parents who were at the end of their rope with their children.

  “What he said, he’s a teenager,” Liam reminded his wife.

  She cut her eyes at him. “Yeah, I’m aware. Not only did I give birth to him, but I clean up his bathroom.”

  The guys chuckled.

  “Totally not sure I’m gonna survive this, and if he woke Tatum up, I will jerk a knot in his ass,” Denise fumed, listening closely for the child. “She finally went down for a nap.”

  “I think we’re safe from diva waking up,” Tyler grinned, talking about the newest addition to the Walker family.

  “Only because you treat her like one, is she one.” Denise grinned back. “Where’s your better half at, anyway?”

  “Volunteering at CRISIS. She and Christine went over there earlier in the day. They got a few refugees at the center, and if there’s one thing Mer knows how to do, it’s get shit done.”

  Nobody could argue with that. Over the last few months both Meredith and Christine had taken to volunteering at the place that had offered Christine safe haven after her ordeal with a mad man. It made them all feel good to know that people in the club were contributing.

  “Damn, I wish I had known she was going over there, I had some clothes that Tatum’s already outgrown and some stuff from the twins. I meant to text her but forgot.”

  “I’ll let her know if she doesn’t come over here when she’s done,” Tyler assured her.

  “We’re gonna head out back,” Liam told her.

  “Have fun! There’s beer in the fridge on the porch.”

  Liam loved this woman; she was learning what to say and always knew when to make herself scarce. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek before leading the men out back.

  “So what did you want to talk about?” Tyler asked as he walked over to the fridge and grabbed them all a cold one.

  Liam glanced back at the door to make sure that Denise was in fact gone before he took a cigarette out of his pack and lit it, inhaling deeply before speaking. “I got an anonymous tip the other day.”

  “What the fuck?” Rooster laughed. “Like Crime Stoppers?” He mentioned the local crime program that offered a reward in capturing local criminals.

  “Something like that.” Liam nodded. “They told me to watch the boys that Drew’s been hanging around with. Word has it, there’s some illegal shit going on with the football team.”

  Tyler shook his head. “Not Drew, man. I work out with him every day.” He refused to believe that the boy wasn’t on the up and up. He’d watched Drew put in long hours right along with him at the gym and run miles before anyone woke up for their day.

  “I’m not disputing that, but do you wonder that we all think so highly of him we’re willing to overlook that something is going on? He’s my son, but he has been a motherfucking jackass the past few weeks,” Liam argued.

  “Wait, were they talking drugs?” Rooster asked, taking a healthy swig of the beer that sat in front of him.

  “They didn’t come right and say it, but I think they were talking steroids,” Liam said quietly. He didn’t want Denise to hear and he sure as hell didn’t want Drew to hear. The last thing he wanted to do was accuse Drew of something he wasn’t doing, but at the same time he had the rest of the family to protect.

  “Steroids are class of drugs, not a type,” Rooster mumbled. He’d had some experience with them. They’d never been prevalent in Warren County, but that didn’t mean they weren’t starting to take hold. “More than likely what they’re talking about anabolic, and if they are being used, it’s not good. At all.”

  “Shit,” Tyler spat. “He knows better than to do that. I’m tellin’ you, little man ain’t doin’ it.”

  “He ain’t so little anymore,” Liam interrupted. “And that’s what worries me.”

  Tyler defended him again. “He’s workin’ out with me in the morning, and I don’t go soft on him by any means, and now he’s doing two-a-days. You ever think that maybe he’s hot after being out there all day and he’s naturally horny? He’s a fifteen-year-old boy.”

  “Mandy came to me the other day.” Liam swallowed roughly, hating to even choke out these words. “And told me that he’s been mean to her. Tell me that the boy in that room would be mean to her. They are twins and have been inseparable since the day I met them. I’ve never heard him raise his voice to her in anger, and before two weeks ago, I never heard him backtalk his mom the way he’s been doing. I had to jerk him out here and have a talk with him,” Liam explained. He looked between the two men he called friends. “If both of you think that I’m bein’ overly suspicious and critical, I need you to tell me. There’s no way in hell that I want to accuse him of something that he’s not doing.”

  Rooster couldn’t believe he was about to say this. He had just started working at the shop, but if there was one thing that would get him in with the guys, it would be making a sacrifice that they didn’t expect. “Get me in that school, working with the football team or on security detail. I’ll find out what’s going on,” he told him.

  “Wait, wasn’t that secretary sweet on you? What was her name? Stacey? I’m sure she could get you in if you go ask her,” Liam laughed.

  “Don’t remind me. She and I went out a few times. I almost had to get an Emergency Protective Order out on her. It was scary shit. Ask Bianca if she can help us. I’m willing to bet if it’s going on, it’s the worst kept secret at that school.”

  This hadn’t been what Liam expected at all. He hadn’t brought the two of them out here to get Rooster to volunteer to do a club job for them, but he appreciated it all the same and wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. “I would really appreciate if you would do that. I don’t want to tell Denise anything until I have concrete evidence. She’s already not sure about letting him be on that football team because she doesn’t want him aggressive. That’s all she needs to hear is that he’s going to be even more so ’cause he’s using a performance enhancer. I’ll talk to Jagger and see what Bianca needs to get you in there, I might even have a talk with her about what she’s seen and heard.”

  “What are you gonna do if he is?” Tyler asked. He hated to even think that. He and Drew had grown very close since they had been working out together. Tyler treated him like an equal, not like a teenager. If Drew was doing this, and to him it was still a big if, he was going to be disappointed and scared. What if Drew’s genetic profile predisposed him to addiction? He didn’t want to think about that at all.

  “We’ll deal with it, if he is. Whatever way we need to. We’ve all done stupid shit, and like we’ve all said, he’s a teenage boy. Look at what we all did as teenagers.”

  Rooster cleared his throat. “Real freakin’ bad example. You were in juvie, he was in an orphanage, and I was in a camp for wayward teens. That boy upstairs has had a good life since he started calling you ‘dad’. There’s no reason he should throw it all away just because he wants to get bigger muscles. If he is doing that we’ll beat some sense into him and make sure he knows what the side effects are and what the consequences are.”

>   That was the way real parents did the job, Liam had to remind himself. They didn’t take care of their child’s problem; they disciplined and made sure that the child was aware that they had done wrong. That was something that had never been shown to him, he was always talked down to and never shown the right way. He wanted nothing more than to prove to Drew that there was a right way to do things and you didn’t always have to be the disappointment. “First, let’s figure out what the fuck is going on there. Rooster, let me know what you need to get in. I’ll talk to Bianca, but she might need to share a few things with you, hopefully she can get you past Stacey. I know you’re kinda scared of Stacey,” he snickered.

  “That woman told the waiter at the restaurant we went to that her name was Mrs. Brandon Hancock and then signed the ticket that way. I am in no way doing anything with that woman unless I have to.” Rooster slammed his hand down on the table.

  “Just remember that if you do have to do something with her, it’s for the sake of my son.” Liam threw him a shit-eating grin.

  “Laugh it up, you two. Payback’s a bitch. Just remember that if I do have to get close to that little piranha.”

  Chapter Six

  Roni sat down on her couch and breathed a sigh of relief. It had been Rooster’s first day at the shop and she’d been on edge for most of it. Every time he walked towards the office, her body tensed up and her stomach rolled. It wasn’t that she was afraid of him, she was afraid of herself. After he’d cornered her the night before, she’d not been able to do anything but think about him. How they’d been during the summer they’d spent together. It hadn’t mattered to either one of them that she was older than him by a few years, all that mattered was the animal magnetism they had for one another.