Page 85 of Recklessly Rogue

“So I can raise the prices and buy cheaper, crappier coffee?” I ask.

She laughs. “No.”

I wouldn’t do that, of course. And the coffee beans and menu board have nothing to do with our trip downtown this morning.

I glance over. I know Ruby doesn’t have as contentious a history with their father and his church as Scarlett does, but his rejection of them as children is still a part of her story and his overwhelming presence in this town and influence over its people still affects her.

“Actually, I want to check the coffee shop out because of Will and the guys.”

“They asked you to do this?”

I shake my head. “No. They just got me thinking. They’re from here. Grew up here. Raised their families here. Worked here. But they’re not comfortable coming downtown and hanging out at the local coffee shop. I figure the guys who are hanging out in there this time of day, a weekday mid-morning, are probably about their age, right?”

“They are.”

“So our guys probably know them. Maybe even grew up with them. But they ran our guys out of a place in their own hometown? I don’t like that.”

“You’re going to confront these guys at the coffee shop? Tell them that they have to accept Will and Dan and Charles and Ben?” She’s smiling, clearly amused. “Our guys don’t want that, Henry. They’ve chosen Dan’s place. He’s made it into what it is for them.”

“I understand. They’ve built their own little clubhouse to avoid all the stuff down here. And that’s their right. It’s just that…”

I think about how I want to explain this. I don’t know if it’s really for the best. I’ve known them one day. I’m feeling protective of them after a few hours with them. I realize this is typical of my over-the-top ways. But…I don’t care.

“I realize this comes from me having a place where I belonged and felt secure to being thrown out of that little bubble, and having no one, and then being taken into another bubble where it’s been literally myjobto keep the bubble intact—only certain people in or out.” I take a breath. “But it seems strange to me that these men and women have spent their lives here, have people they can call when they really need help, the way Will said he could ask his neighbor for help, and his neighbor’s brother, and the way he called Christopher’s grandfather last night?—”

“Wait, what?” Ruby pivots toward me in her seat. “What about Christopher’s grandfather?”

I sigh. Shit. I wasn’t going to worry her by telling her Christopher showed up at Will and Mandy’s last night. “Christopher went over to talk to April. But Will called his grandfather. He came over, talked Christopher down, and he left.”

Ruby is frowning but doesn’t say anything.

“Anyway, it’s clear these guys still have connections in this town. People who like and respect them. People they can reach out to and trust. That bigger community is there. They’ve just cut themselves off because of some bullshit with your dad’s church. I don’t like that. I just want to see if there’s any way to make all these separate circles into more of a Venn diagram. Find some overlap.”

Ruby is quiet for a moment, before she says, “My father likes it that way.”

“What way?”

“Everyone in separate, non-overlapping circles. It’s what happened when Scarlet wanted to get closer to him and get to know him. He told her that she had to become a part of the church. And that meant cutting off everyone else. She moved in with him. She stopped seeing her other friends. Including me. She spent time with church kids only. He does that on purpose.He wants them surrounded by people who think the same way they do, he wants them to only hear the ideas that he approves of.” She’s quiet for a moment. “It’s how you control people. Make them feel like they belong to the ‘right’ group and that everyone else is wrong. And keep them apart.”

I nod. “I suspected that. Humans naturally want to belong to groups. They want to be accepted. Many times, the church is that place. They preach acceptance and love, and people are attracted to that, of course. That acceptance and belief that you’re on the right side and everyone else is wrong or trying to harm you is what makes it hard to leave.”

“Right. And you fear that if you leave, the ‘other side’ will reject you, and you’ll be all alone. No one wants that.”

“But I don’t like that our guys have a history in this town, that this is their home, but they can’t reallylivehere, and feel cut off and unwelcome. That’s ridiculous.”

She grins. “I love that you think of them as ‘our’ guys.”

I look over and she’s smiling. “I already feel that way about them.”

“See? I didn’t really build that community. Maybe I came up with getting an espresso machine and bringing in cinnamon rolls, but they made thecommunitypart of it happen.”

I reach over and take her hand, linking our fingers. “I don’t like the idea of them feeling like outcasts at that bar.”

“You want them to come down to the coffee shop instead?”

“Not necessarily. Maybe we can give these other guys another place to go.”

“You’re going to invite new guys to the clubhouse?”

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