Page 8 of A Reaper's Secret

Daniel looked around the bar. Lost Creek had many singlewomen. Some were looking for their “forever” kind of guy. Otherswere merely looking for some lovin’ for a night. As for Daniel, hewasn’t looking for anything but to make money, and to keep the townas safe as possible. They needed tourists, but he also knew theyneeded to make sure the tourists didn’t trash the place.

The rest of the night went by without event,and no one put up a fight to leave, which he was thankful for. Hewas tired and even worse, he was grumpy. All week, he’d beenlooking forward to his Friday night dance.

Closing the bar, he made his way toward theback where his office was located. From there, he accessed the doorthat took him to the apartment above the bar. He could afford tolive anywhere else in Lost Creek, but he didn’t have a problemliving above his bar.

His father had owned this place beforehim, and his father before that. He’d been told as a young boy that owning this barcame with a shit ton of responsibility. This bar was erected onceThe Reapers finally rid the town of the bad shit that had takenroot there. He, his father, and his father before him had aresponsibility to hold the fort, to put a call out when they sensedthe threat of danger. This was also the place for The Reapers togather. No one knew who a Reaper was, but a Reaper did. It was asingle tattoo, mingled into another tattoo, right next to theirchest. For Daniel, his Reaper sign, which was simply two Reapersback-to-back, was encircled by a moon on his chest.

He took his job seriously. Before Nigel hadgiven him the title of leader, he had earned his right to be aReaper, to take care of the town of Lost Creek. This was not a gangfor personal gain. Yes, they made money through tourism, and theyalso banded together to help provide for those in need.

Like the twenty thousand in cash Billy hadstolen. That money hadn’t come through illegal means, but byrounding up what they could from the town to help a young couplewhose house had burneddown. Now, it did help that the house had been destroyed because ofa couple of tourists, too drunk to care what they had been doing.The majority of the twenty had come from them. The rest had beenwhat had been collected and given to help the couple. The house wasnearly complete, and to keep it from happening again, the mayor hadalso invested in more fire hazard and prevention equipment. Again,another member of The Reapers.

No one could know their identity. Apart from theirpartners, and only then, according to Nigel, you must trust thewoman you’re with. The goal of a Reaper is not to take personalcredit. The main focus is to take care of the town, the people, andthe land. Nothing was for personal gain.

Billy had to learn the lesson the hardway. Daniel moved abouthis apartment, and he couldn’t help but wonder if Amy would be ableto handle who he was and what he did. He knew, without a shadow ofa doubt, this life wasn’t for everyone, and he couldn’t help butwonder if it was for Amy.

Chapter Three

Penelope continued to mope and Amy wasgetting tired of seeing her so sad.

“You know, we have customers,” Amy said.

“I know. I know. But I am hurting.” Penelopestuck out her lip as if that was going to make it all better.

Martha tutted. “So another man screwed youover. Have you ever thought about not showing a man the goods?”

“That’s easy for you to say … you had theperfect marriage with the perfect guy. Lost Creek doesn’t havethat!”

Martha snorted. “That, Missy, is where you’re wrong. Lost Creekis flooding with ripe and willing men. Men who will call you back.Men who will take you on a date. The biggest problem you have,sweetheart, is that they will take you back home. They have nodesire to leave Lost Creek. You decide you want to stay and settledown, you’ll be in for a treat. You don’t, then you’re going tokeep being used and discarded.”

Amy didn’t want to stick around and listen as it didn’t apply toher, but Martha had a way of telling it like it was, and, well,Penelope didn’t like to hear the harsh reality.

“Now, your boss gave you an instruction.Unless you want to add ‘unemployed’ to your list of bad stuff happening, I suggestyou get to it.” Martha clapped her hands, and that was the end ofthe discussion.

Penelope let out a huff, got to her feet,and left. Amy wasn’t too worried, though. She saw the smile on her friend’s face, and sheclearly just wanted to have a stern talking to.

“I honestly don’t know how you do it,” shesaid.

“It’s simple. I tell the truth and I don’ttry to be tactful.Penelope wants to leave Lost Creek, but she wants to do so withouthaving to work hard. That’s never a good sign, or a good ending.She is going to end up old, lonely, and possibly with a child ortwo who will feel unloved.” Martha shook her head. “I’ve seen itmany times before.”

“Between the two of us, I don’t know why shewants to leave Lost Creek so much. It’s beautiful here.”

Martha agreed. “I put it down to those sillytelevision shows. Always making the cities look appealing and smalltowns seemingly … weird.” She wrinkled her nose. “I have no timefor them.”

Amy began to chuckle. She knew frompersonal experience that Martha was more of a sewer and knitter inher spare time. In fact, the last time she visited Martha at home,there hadn’t been a television as the older woman simply didn’tlike the poison that wasplaying. She much preferred music, or just general peace andquiet.

Amy didn’t have a lot of time fortelevision. Shepreferred a good book, and she had also picked up knitting. Hergrandmother had taught her one winter. The boiler had konked out,and the plumber was waiting for some parts. The house was freezingcold, and to keep their fingers nimble, they knitted blankets. Hergrandmother’s blanket looked perfect, with each different stitch ona square. Hers looked a mess, but that hadn’t stopped her frommaking them and loving it. She still had her knitted blanket, alongwith her grandmother’s.

In that moment, she couldn’t help but feel aloss because of her grandmother and her mother.

Martha patted her hand, and then left thekitchen. Amy was the oneto cook the food on Saturdays, and she loved it. She rarely had togo into the main café to see or talk to anyone. After a night ofdancing, she normally liked the solace, but she didn’t get herdance last night. It had been way too busy.

The orders started to come in, and Amy gotstuck with the work,frying up the waffles as needed. She never liked to cook them aheadof time. With each order, she was able to forget her worries. EvenPenelope became less of a problem, and the frown quickly turnedinto a smile, which could only mean one thing—she had seen another potential conquest. One day,she hoped her friend found love, or whatever she wasmissing.

There was a sudden clearing of a throat, andAmy looked toward the doorway to see Daniel there with Martha.

“You have a visitor, honey,” Martha said.“And there is no way I am letting this fine-looking man go away. You keep himhere.”

Amy laughed, but then Martha left themalone. “Is everything okay?” she asked, concerned.

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