Page 12 of Bratva Past

“It’s stupid,” Lucy said.

“No, it’s not. You go on inside. I’ll grab the steaks and fire up the grill.”

She wanted to argue with him, but the truth was, there was nothing she could say. She wasn’t even in the car that night, but since then, after seeing the damage and losing her parents, getting into a car was the most impossible thing for her. Without question, she turned back toward her home and went straight through the main front door, slamming it behind her.

She didn’t want to cry, because she wasn’t wearing waterproof mascara, and that little devil was going to run and ruin the small amount of makeup she had worn. Clenching her hands into fists, she took several deep breaths, and then opened her eyes.

She missed her parents. It was moments like this that made it so much harder to deal with.

Once she had composed herself, she stepped into the downstairs bathroom and chanced a glance at her reflection in the mirror. She looked normal. Just a little sad. Which was exactly how she felt, and there was no changing that.

Her parents were gone, and she knew if they were here right now, they would be annoyed with her. She refused to face her fear, and had been doing so for six long years. If they were alive, they would make her face it.

They were not cruel parents, but they didn’t believe in allowing fear to control you. There were exceptions to the rule, like spiders, frogs, and whatever fear couldn’t be controlled. They didn’t force her to pick up spiders or anything like that. But they made sure she got over the fear of speaking in public. They wanted their daughter to be strong and capable, and she knew they would be so disappointed that after all this time, she still hadn’t stepped foot inside a car.

Chapter Five

The rain had come downthick and fast. Lucy had already called him that morning to ask how he was doing. There was no way he was opening the mechanic shop. There were already reports of flooding. From what he knew, her friends were not returning for a few more days, so Lucy was home alone, which he didn’t like.

After yesterday, when he realized she was taking a long time to get the steaks, he went looking for her. She had looked into his truck as if she had seen a ghost, or at least something that had terrified her. That was when it registered with him that she was staring into the nightmare of losing her parents. He felt like such a fucking idiot, as he hadn’t realized what she had been fighting.

Isaac had given her time to compose herself, and when she came out to the garden, she’d been back to her old sprightly self, but he’d known something was bothering her.

Pulling back his curtain, he looked out toward his own backyard, to see the puddles formed by the constant rain. It had started as he arrived home last night, and had been raining all throughout the night and this morning. Several places within town had already closed, including the diner. There had also been warnings of power outages.

He didn’t like this. The thought of Lucy alone with no power rankled him. She hadn’t asked for his company, but he let go of the curtain, made his way to his front door, grabbed his keys, and headed out to his truck. He knew it was dangerous, but as he climbed into his truck, already soaking wet, he turned over the ignition and listened to his truck purr to life. His father would have been proud of this truck.

When he arrived in Saint Falls, he didn’t have a car or a truck, and he found this heap of junk in the back of a trash yard. The guy had wanted fifty bucks for it, and it was Isaac’s problem to get it off the lot. It was a long shot that it would actually work, but this beauty had wanted a second chance. He turned over that ignition and against all the odds, he drove right out of there and back to this place.

He had already purchased this house many years ago. It was one of those purchases he made in secret. Again, this place had been a dump, and the plan had been to start fixing it up, get his dad involved. Then he had every intention of giving the place to his parents, along with the mechanic shop he purchased at the same time. That never came to pass.

Instead, he took the house, finished fixing it up, and owned and worked the mechanic shop. Living out the dream he had with his dad. Although, he always missed his father’s touch.

Pulling out of his driveway, he traveled slow, not wanting to create any chance that he might suddenly veer the car off the road.

It didn’t take him long to get to Lucy’s home, and he parked in the driveway. Climbing out of his truck, he got to the front door, and as he did, it opened up.

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