Page 32 of Tangled Threats on the Nomad Highway
“Luke, Thad—ready to have some breakfast?”Bane stood with his arms out, and both boys arrowed directly to himand ran into his embrace. He liked that Bane didn’t hold back hisaffection, giving each boy a close hug and leaning near to sayquietly to both of them, “Marian made pancakes and bacon. Eggs areall gone, but you snooze, you lose.” He grimaced as he released theboys. “Myrt had to head back upstairs, but I don’t think she’ll beready to eat for a while.” Bane moved the empty plates to the farend of the counter, as if they were offensive. “She’d already pukedonce this morning, so I didn’t think about it as we came down.”
Morning sickness?There’d been acouple of comments yesterday that weren’t quite specific enough topoint to a pregnancy, but Bane’s statements didn’t leave much roomto question. They’d only known each other for a handful of weeks.Einstein frowned and looked at Bane. If she’d gotten pregnant rightaway, she still wouldn’t be experiencing morning sickness.
As if feeling Einstein’s scrutiny, Baneturned to face him. Taking in Einstein’s expression, Bane mouthed,“Later.”
Good enough for me.Even if there wasa story here, it wasn’t his to get involved with anyway.
“I can get a scramble going.” Moving withthe familiarity working alongside Marian had provided, he retrievedthe eggs and set the previously used skillet on a burner. Listeningto the boys and Bane chatting while he scrambled up and servedanother batch of eggs had him gritting his teeth. They seemedoblivious to their missing sisters upstairs, going on about thepeople they’d met over the past few days, Bane chiming in withlittle details that turned each name into a fuller version of aperson.
He deliberately pushed aside his annoyance,focused instead on taking advantage of the unexpected opportunityfor information gathering.
“Horse is one tough son-of-a-gun.” Bane’schuckle told volumes about his respect and brotherly love for theman Gunny’d been ready to go to pound-town on last night. “Backwhen I was trying to join the Freed Riders, they initially didn’twant me.”
“Why didn’t they want you, Bane?” Thad’squestion was asked through a mouthful of eggs and bacon. The boyhad foregone the pancakes, leaving them for Luke, who was plowingthrough syrup-soggy bites rapidly. Thad swallowed as he shook hishead. “They were crazy. You’re awesome.”
“Well, thanks for that.” Bane reached outand gripped the boy’s shoulder in a quick gesture, pulling back togive Luke’s arm a squeeze too. “I don’t blame them one bit. I waskind of a mess back then. Looking for something and findingeverything except the one thing you want will do that for you.”
“What were you looking for?” Luke reachedfor another slice of bacon, shoving it into his mouth in onego.
“Something better than I had. I grew up in adysfunctional family, afraid every day that I’d somehow manage tocatch their brand of crazy.” He shrugged and glanced at Einstein,the direct look telegraphing Bane knew he was listening. “I’d justabout run the breadth of the country looking. Found a variety ofpeople I’d connect with, but there’d always be something not right.Something missing. I’d heard about Blackie and his crew, and thestories sounded too good to be true. Then I got there and found outeverything I’d heard was right. They felt right. Like a family. Atrue one.”
“Did your daddy beat you too?” Luke’s lowquestion had Einstein’s breath stuttering in his chest. Thematter-of-fact way the boy had opened the door on his treatment athome was devastating. Glancing at Bane, he saw evidence of the samedismay. “If he did, then I wish you’d had a sister like Marian.She’d stop him every time she caught him doing that to either ofus.” He gestured towards Thad, whose fork was frozen midway betweenplate and mouth. “Didn’t matter she’d get it worse for not knowingher place. You shoulda had a sister like Marian.”
Bane cleared his throat, Einstein followingsuit, glad the boy hadn’t asked him a question.
“Not my daddy, but my grandpa. And mybrother. I didn’t have a sister like that, but I got real good atrunning and hiding.” Bane’s hand curled around Luke’s neck, and hepulled him close. “Found out early that there’s no shame in turningtail if it’ll save me gettin’ my ass whipped for no reason. That’swhat was different about Blackie’s crew.” He paused, throat visiblyworking. “Found something worth fighting for in them. And now, I’vefound the same with you four. You guys, your sisters—it’s my honorto have you be part of my family.”
“Not everyone had someone to step in andkeep them safe. Myrtie didn’t.” Thad’s fork clattered against theedge of his plate, ringing out a staccato beat of bad memories.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there.” Bane’s wordstrembled with an ill-suppressed rage, bringing both boys’ attentionback to him, and Einstein watched as Luke’s face softened whileThad’s developed hard lines. From what he’d seen so far, thatreaction typified the boys—Luke the empathetic one and Thadeveryone’s protector. “I’d give anything to turn back theclock.”
“You had your own row to hoe.” Thad’sheadshake looked older than his years, a reluctant acceptance ofthings he couldn’t change. “You want to turn back the clock? I wantto turn it forwards so I could have been old enough to saveMyrtie.”
Luke’s bottom lip dropped, and he turned hisface, burying it again against Bane’s chest. The silence around thetable grew, elongating until it was heavy in the air. Einsteinneeded to change the subject before one of the boys innocentlyasked about his family.
That frantic fear drove him, and his… “Bane,what kind of plans do you have for the clubhouse today?” might havebeen louder than normal, but he needed to be sure his topic changewould stick.
The grateful expression on Bane’s face saidhe welcomed the question, and he rattled off a dozen tasks hedeemed most pressing. Their conversation flowed naturally. From thecorner of his eye, he watched as Luke pulled away, and the boysslowly went back to eating, finishing their meals withoutprompting. He gathered the empty dishes from the counter as Banecontinued, rinsing and placing them in the dishwasher while askingclarifying questions about details.
Walking around the end of the island, hepaused with his back to the room as he listed various suggestions.It was clear Bane hadn’t worked construction, making Einstein gladhe was here before they started tearing down and building back. Hefinished with, “We’ll need to map out the load-bearing walls andbeams, and ensure they’re left intact, even as we open up thebottom floor as much as possible like you want. There’s a lot ofplanning into that part, but we can do a good portion while we’reclearing out the trash. No big.”
“I want to help.” He turned to see Marianhad come back downstairs and was nervously rubbing her palmsagainst the sides of her thighs. She’d changed pants, and woreboots now, hair scraped back from her face. Her glance at him waspleading, but it was Bane she spoke to. “Myrt needs to rest andshouldn’t be around the chemicals anyway. I can clean while you dothe other stuff.”
“Not turning down offers of help.” Bane’seasy response surprised Einstein. “But don’t feel like you have to.Nobody’s asking that of you.”
“I know.” Her smile was fleeting. “There’snot much to do here. I’m used to keeping busy.”
They all turned at the sound of the frontdoor opening, and Einstein watched the man from the bonfire lastnight, Horse, walk inside.Not my house, not my place to ask whyhe’s here.Gunny’s words resonated through his head, turninghis instant on-guard a match for Gunny’s wariness. Last nightEinstein hadn’t yet met Marian, didn’t know how fucking terrifiedshe was, hadn’t understood the threads of people-pleasing warringwith a bone-deep anxiety inside her.An hour working alongsideher don’t make me an expert, but she’s a woman who’ll need carefulhandling.If Horse was aiming at an old lady, he’d have anuphill battle to fight by picking Marian.And she’s going toneed to want it.
“Hello the house,” Horse called, an easysmile on his lips. His eyes darted from Bane to Marian and stuckthere. Einstein watched as warm color slowly tinted Marian’scheeks, her gaze pinned to the toes of her shoes.
“Hey man,” Bane returned easily, remindingEinstein that these men were patch brothers and had known eachother for years. He thought about the stories circulating of howBane had reacted to Marian’s plight, the way he’d dealt with herand Myrtle’s father—and Einstein relaxed a hair.
“Thought you might need an extra pair ofhands today.” Horse continued walking until he stood near thetable, gaze swinging back to Bane. Even without his scrutiny onher, the blush Marian wore deepened.
Her hands are trembling.Anxiety orexcitement, it was hard to tell which from the few clues she’dprovided. He scooted farther around the counter, moving towardsMarian as he made space for Horse, blocking the man’s view of her.Close enough to hear her take a heavier breath in followed by aslow exhale, he leaned his forearms on the edge of the island andstretched a leg back, tapping her ankle with the toe of his boot.Another slow breath in and out, and a brief pressure appearedagainst his foot.
Maybe she just needs to know someone’s inher corner.
