Page 45 of Playing for Keeps
Oh well, she thought and moved around her father to go inside. They wouldn’t have the shop much longer anyway, so she wasn’t going to stress over losing their fee. Besides, she’d just found the perfect gift for Del and she was like a kid filled with excitement as she waited for Christmas Day.
Rylan was inside the waiting area of the shop by the time she heard the tow truck pull off. Her father had stepped inside and walked on back to his office without saying another word to her. Rylan was still standing at the front desk going through their mail when Del came in.
“Hey, you!” she said when she looked up and quickly moved around the desk intending to give him a hug.
But she stopped just a few steps away from him when she noted the angry glare in his eyes.
“What’s going on?” she asked when dread circled in the pit of her stomach.
“You kept my truck here longer than you first said you needed to,” he said through clenched teeth.
It was Rylan’s turn to frown. “I told you, our supplier couldn’t get the part on time.”
“And when I told you about Shannen, you never once thought it might be nice to tell me you had Renaldo Wimbley’s car here? That the bastard that killed Shannen and cost me my job had been here in town? In this shop?”
Rylan took a step back. Not out of fear, but because her mind was reeling now as she tried to figure out what Del was saying.
“You told me about Shannen just last week. And you didn’t mention anything about anyone named Renaldo Wimbley. I don’t even know who that is,” she said slowly. “Del, tell me what’s happened? First, I get here and one of our biggest accounts receivable is being hauled off by the cops. My father’s pissed because that’s money lost and now, you’re in here looking like you’re about to explode. I’m just trying to catch up here.”
“So, they took the car. What the hell did you think was going to happen? I’m lucky I wasn’t arrested after your father told them that I had Wimbley’s car as well as my truck here to hide them from the cops. Oh, and that’s exactly why they thought I killed Wimbley, because obviously we’d been working together all along. How else could I have walked away from the DEA and come here to open a restaurant?”
Now, she was confused and getting angry. “Wait, my father did what?”
“He told the cops that I was working with a drug kingpin! The sheriff came into the bar to serve me with a search warrant. They went through my truck and my house but found nothing because I’m not a criminal. But obviously your father feels differently.”
He’d started pacing at that point and Rylan could only stare at him. Was she hearing all this correctly? Had her father done this to him and if so, why?
“I should’ve known better!” he yelled. “I knew it was a mistake. I should’ve stayed the hell away from you on a personal level. If Will didn’t want me with his darling daughter, all he had to do was say so!”
His words were harsh and slapped at her as if they were a physical attack. Whatever confusion or anger she’d begun to feel about this situation was now replaced by fury. Knowing it was best to put some distance between her and Del at this point, she moved back again, until she was once again behind the desk.
“Del, I really don’t know what’s happening right now. But it might be a good idea if you go home and cool down. I’ll talk to my dad to get a clearer story.”
“I just gave you the story!” Del yelled.
He crossed the room until he stood directly in front of her.
“I was almost arrested; do you understand what that means? Pencil-neck Mal was all but running to the city council to tell them that I was up to my old tricks again and use that as a reason to shut the restaurant down. I could’ve lost everything because of you and your father!” he shouted.
Rylan blinked and prayed that the tears stinging the backs of her eyes didn’t fall. Was he serious? Did he really think her father had intentionally tried to sabotage him and his friends?
“First, you need to step back outta my face and then you should really lower your tone. I’m not one of your suspects that you can berate and scream at to get the answers you want.” Her body was shaking with rage at this point, and another emotion she didn’t want to deal with right now. “Better yet, you should definitely leave before this situation gets any worse.” She didn’t even know how that was possible, but what she did know was that she wasn’t about to stand here and take this crap from him, especially since she still didn’t know what the hell he was talking about.
Now it was his turn to take a step back as if he’d been slapped. He took a deep breath and she could see him struggling to release it slowly, to calm down perhaps. But really, it was probably too late for that.
“Look,” he started, his voice at a lower and more even tone now. “I’m sorry for yelling, but I need answers. Why would you and your father set me up like that? You had to know what the consequences would be.”
Rylan could only stare at him as her heart thumped in her chest. She was glad it was thumping instead of actually breaking which was what she knew would happen the moment he walked out.
“What you’re not going to do is stand here and blame me for something I know nothing about. Whatever you’ve gotten yourself into in the past that’s now come back to haunt you, is your thing, Del. Not mine or my father’s and I’m beyond offended that you would even come in here spouting that type of nonsense.”
“This is my life, Rylan. My business, my brothers’ business, all that we’ve worked for is the most important thing to me.”
And she was nothing. She was the woman who he’d been sleeping with for the past few weeks, but who ultimately meant nothing to him.
“I don’t have what you need, Del,” she said and felt a sort of finality to those words. “I obviously never did.”
Del ran his hands down the back of his head and sighed again.
