Page 34 of Rolling Thunder

Evan held out his arm in a subtle gesture, stopping her slightly behind him to keep himself between her and the guy in the SUV. Weirder and weirder. She glanced at him and saw the charming flirt was gone and the mad-dog glare was back. It scared her to see him change so fast to something so different from the man who made her feel all the things she’d tried to shut off.

“I believe you’re Evan Holton. Previously known as Evan Flint? We’d sure like to talk to you.” She looked from one to the other. Evan had an alias?

“Who’s askin’?”

“I’m an interviewer with Hollywood Insider. We’re doing a story on you. We thought you might like to tell it yourself.” She gaped from the sleazy man in the SUV to Evan. Evan looked truly frightening now.

“Hollywood Insider?” she repeated softly, totally baffled.

“No fucking way.”

“You might want to take a look before you decide,” the man said, holding out an envelope. Evan snatched it with barely contained fury. “The story will break tomorrow, officially, with or without your input. My number’s in there.”

With that, the window slid back up and the SUV retreated from the driveway.

The tension radiating from Evan frightened her in a way he’d never frightened her before. She knew that dark look. She wanted to reach out to him and see if he was okay, but instead, she stood rooted to the ground, holding her breath, waiting. It was a survival instinct. Her mother had brought home some winners. Some had been violent. Sometimes, playing dead would spare you the worst.

He turned back toward her, but that dangerous glare had melted into anguish.

“Are you okay?” she dared to ask. He stared at her for a long moment as if he were about to say something. Then he shook his head in the manner of someone disgusted with something and swung back onto his bike.

“I gotta go talk to Dan. I’ll have to take you home. I’m sorry.” he said shortly. All the charisma that had enveloped her and drew her into him had evaporated. The motorcycle roared angrily. She didn’t want to ride with him, but she had no viable alternative. She was left feeling small and confused.

Back in her house, she gave in to temptation and pulled out her phone, punching his name into Google. First, Evan Holton. Then, Evan Flint. A half dozen search results popped up.

LOCAL MAN EXONERATED ON DRUG CHARGES AFTER ARREST OF CORRUPT COP

UP-AND-COMING REMODEL NETWORK STAR HAS A PAST BEHIND BARS

EVAN FLINT, OF HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA, SENTENCED TO 13 YEARS FOR CHARGES RELATED TO PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF METHAMPHETAMINE FOR THE IRON PIRATES MOTORCYCLE GANG

Meth. The Iron Pirates. She thought of his mysteriously humble little house in the swamp with a barn behind it hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of Indians and classic cars. Was it drug money? Was he associated with the club after all, even though he said he wasn’t? She’d never seen him wearing their patches.

After stewing for too long, she turned her phone off and headed for the barn. No matter what else was going on, if she wanted to keep her farm, she had work to do.

She pulled up short in the doorway of her barn. Bill was testing a new latch on the back doors to the stalls on the back side of the barn. He swung the door closed, and it latched perfectly with a satisfying click. Just when she thought she might succumb to despair, a wave of relief washed over her. The back stalls were once again usable for the first time in years. She could see a line of new hot wire extending off the back of the barn. He glanced at her.

“These are done,” he said unassumingly.

“Wow!” She was floored. Half the barn had been unusable since she’d been back, and Canyon Bill had restored it. She didn’t have enough training business to fill these stalls, but she could rent them to boarders, and it would bring in more than enough money to pay the mortgage. She could finally break free from Trent, once and for all. If he would let her go.

“I don’t even know what to say.” She sank down to sit on a tack trunk that had been left with Rocket, gazing at the refurbished stalls. He sat next to her.

“You ain’t got to say nothin’ at all,” he said, his voice heavy with some emotion she couldn’t quite identify. “You got a raw deal, Kayla. When y’all needed me, I cut and run. Your momma’s been off the rails since way before you was born. Don’t let her take you with her. You stay clear of them people. Remember, when you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.”

“I try, but…she’s my mother…”

“Well, she ain’t hardly ever acted like it. Tryin’ to help her is like trying to save a drowning horse with nothin’ but your bare hands. She’ll just clobber you and take you down with her.”

She knew in her soul he was right. Because that was exactly how it felt to interact with Leanne. And here she was, desperate to pay a mortgage on her grandmother’s farm that she’d taken out to put her mother in rehab. Now her mother was high as a kite again and wanted more money. There was no more. If Kayla were to survive, she had to get away from Leanne.

“It ain’t her fault exactly, Kayla. Her daddy was a rodeo cowboy. Ever hear of Cody Vegas? Hell, if you want to know the truth, your Grandma Kay was a buckle bunny herself, back in her day.”

Kayla laughed unexpectedly, hearing her eternally regal, graceful grandmother being described as a buckle bunny.

“Cody was a wild one. Practically dared them bulls to kill him every time they cut him loose out the chute. Eventually, one of ’em probably did.” Kayla didn’t follow the pro rodeo circuit very closely, but she’d heard the name. It was an unexpected blow. Canyon Bill was the only father figure Kayla had ever known. This was the first time in her life she’d known anything about the identity of the missing men in their lives—her actual blood grandfather. For a second, she longed to ask Bill if he knew who her father was, but she didn’t dare. Even if he knew, did she want to know who the man was who had never once showed up in her life?

“I would hear your momma yellin’ at Kay that if she hadn’t of took up with me, her daddy would have come back for her. The truth is, when he found out Kay was pregnant, he bought her this farm and split. He wasn’t never comin’ back. So, your grandma done what Cody couldn’t do; she quit rodeoing and settled down. She knew Cody wasn’t the settlin’ kind. She done everything she could do for your momma. But that didn’t matter to Leanne. She always thought Cody would hit it big in the PBR and come swooping in for her. Every day he didn’t, it seemed like she hated me and your Grandma more. By the time she was a teenager, she was meaner’n a snake and tight with the rough crowd. She ain’t never been otherwise.

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