Page 11 of Property of Riptide
“True,” I say. “Anyway, what are we going to do about Van? That’s her name, right?”
“Checked into her, that’s one of the things I wanted to do before we sat down. Her given name is Savannah but she goes by Van.Everything I’ve found on her says she’s legit. No unpaid parking tickets, she pays her taxes and holds down a full-time job.”
“So she’s on the up and up?” I probe.
“Yeah, Rip. The only decision she’s ever made that has me questioning her intellect is getting involved with Gage.”
“Thought you’d forgiven him, Rio.”
“Forgiven but not forgotten. He put my woman in danger and that’s not something I can easily brush aside, Rip. Even a lifelong friendship doesn’t give him a pass when it comes to Issy.”
“And you let her go off with this Van woman before checking her out? That doesn’t seem like you, Rio.”
He snorts before looking me dead in the eyes, saying, “I would never. I put a man on them the minute I knew they were heading to her rental cabin. Cell phones come in handy when dishing out orders.”
“Greatest invention ever,” I say in agreement. “As long as you aren’t being traced.”
“Which we aren’t,” Rio conveys. “Our phones and other electronic devices are watched like a hawk.”
“As are ours,” I verify. “Do you want me to join you when you talk to this woman?”
“Yeah, brother. I would. I don’t want to get emotionally involved and end up saying shit I wouldn’t say otherwise. Women have a way of sneaking in there and having you admit shit that, if you weren’t trying to walk around the topic, you wouldn’t.”
A burst of laughter escapes me at his deadpanned proclamation. No truer words have ever been spoken. Fuck knows Zoey andLetti have caught me in a web a time or two and I’ve said shit I shouldn’t have. “They’re great interrogators. Especially when they’re trying to analyze every word coming out of your mouth.”
“No kidding. I’ll keep you updated and let you know when I’ve scheduled a meeting with her. I’m gonna make some calls that I’ve put off this morning and will see you later.” Rio’s never been subtle when he dismisses you. I wave at him as I head out and go to the room they’ve set me up in. I need to unwind from the ride so a shower and a nap are needed, and not necessarily in that order.
CHAPTER
SIX
Van
Lunch turned into an entire day event. Isla, or Issy as she insists on me calling her, spent hours with Gagey. She did time with him, fed him his bottle and the mushed food I’d processed for him before we left home for the road. She told me stories about Gage and things they did and got into as kids roaming the ranch. They started competing in rodeos together and eventually branched out into doing it solo. She shared the same worries as I did every time he rode those damn bulls.
As I dropped her off, I felt as if I’d made a new, lifelong friend. I swore to her, no matter where I end up, she can be a part of my son’s life. She’ll be his forever aunt, a gift for Gagey from his father because I’m an only child, whose parents passed not long after graduating high school, so he has no living relatives on my side of the family. She’s someone who can tell him things about his dad that I’ll never be able to and that brings a smile to my face.
It’s times like this, when I’m feeling conflicted, that I wish I had someone to talk to. Gage was that person for me and now he’s gone. The only thing Issy was willing to tell me was that he made some bad choices that made his childhood friends question his loyalty. Our timelines matched up and were concurrent with whenInoticed a drastic change in him. It makes me more curious about what he’d gotten himself into than ever before.
This morning, I woke up to a message on my phone from Rio. He and a friend from out of town, another man who grew up with Gage, are coming to my place for a chat. But now that the time has drawn near, when I anticipate I’ll be getting some of the answers I’ve been seeking, I’m both nervous and hesitant on if I still want to hear about what they have to say. My thoughts and feelings are all over the map, and they can’t make up their mind of where they want to land.
My boy is in his crib with some toys to keep him occupied while I run around putting together finger foods for us to munch on while we talk. When I get nervous I eat, but I try to be healthy about it while doing so since my curves are more prominent now than they were before I got pregnant. I’m splitting and cutting some stalks of celery and broccoli into bite-sized pieces, unwrapping the cellophane bag of carrots, and making cucumber sandwiches with cups of ranch on the side to dip everything into. I know it’s not manly food and the guys may recoil at it but seeing as I don’t keep bread and other starches around they’ll have to deal or go without.
As soon as I set the platter down on the kitchen table there's a knock at the door. I wipe my sweaty palms on the thighs of my jeans and inhale then slowly release it. I notice they’re shaky but I’m out of time to try and steady myself by meditating to calm my racing heart down, so I use the breathing techniques Ilearned at Lamaze class as I make my way through the arch of the entrance.
I gather my wits and swing it open. “Hello,” I utter in greeting.
“Hey, Van,” Rio says in response. “This is my blood cousin and club brother from East Texas, Riptide.”
“Nice to meet you,” I reply, swinging the door open wider and waving them in. “Come in and take a seat. I moved Gagey’s crib into the living room so I can keep an eye on him but he’s not underneath our feet. I hope y’all are alright with that, I don’t do well when he’s out of my sight when there are strangers around.”
“That’s no bother at all,” the man, Riptide, tells me. “I was actually hoping to meet the little guy.”
“Well, you’ll have plenty of opportunities for that while you’re here,” I banter. “He loves attention.”
“Just like his dad,” Rio states. “He used to do the wildest things and rope us all into his shenanigans.”
“Hell yeah, he did,” Riptide chortles. “I used to get my ass spanked raw for some of the shit he talked me into.”
