Page 35 of Rolling Thunder

“When your momma got pregnant with you, she just went even more wild. Kayla, I don’t think she’s comin’ back no matter what. She takes after her daddy that way. But if she ever straightens up, it’ll be because she decides to do it, not because of anything you do or don’t do.”

Kayla glanced over at his weathered face, swamped with both sadness and relief. She prayed that what he was telling her was true. She’d turned her mother away out of desperation, but she needed so badly to be validated that it was the right decision. Especially considering the loss of the family she never even had a chance to know. She needed to hear that she wasn’t like her mother, and that there was another life for her.

“Now it seems like Evan is mixed up with some bad stuff. I thought he was a straight shooter. He did some time, and it had something to do with the Pirates,” Kayla blurted.

She hadn’t had a confidant since her mother spirited her away from the farm and she lost contact with Gram Kay. She’d had only the influence of her mother and Trent, who both pressured her into the worst situations. Suddenly, she saw Canyon Bill as the voice of reason and a chance not to be alone with her worries about Evan.

The Iron Pirates Motorcycle Club had been a dangerous presence in South Florida since the 1970s, and Kayla knew Bill was well aware of them. He leaned over and nudged her shoulder with his.

“You really think I’da let him hang around this long if he had anything to do with the Pirates? I may be old, but I ain’t dead. I still know some people in the life. I asked around about him, fire ant. He’s all right.”

That was a surprising endorsement from Bill.

“Would you quit calling me fire ant?” she demanded, shoving him back with her shoulder.

He laughed. “No, I won’t. Somebody’s got to remind you that you’re a badass. You might be little, but you got a hell of a bite to ya.”

He put a huge, gnarled hand on her shoulder. “You ain’t like your momma, you hear me? You never was.”

She met his eyes for a moment. They were pale blue, like her grandmother’s. Yet she and her mother were brunette and darker complexioned. It was just another reminder that she was like her mother, just like her in so many ways.

“I think I’m more like her than you know.” Kayla said softly. “When she finally left here and took me to Fort Myers…” She trailed off. What was she going to tell Bill about that? She lived in a weekly motel room by Trent’s bar. Where eventually she’d succumbed to all manner of horrible things, right alongside her mother. She didn’t want him to know any of that.

“Way I see it, when you had a choice, you came back here,” he said simply. “I’m mighty sorry I didn’t do better by all of you back then. Me and you are still on the right side of the grass, so we still got a chance to make things right.”

“Well, I guess if I’m gonna do that, I better get to work,” she muttered, and stood up. She wanted to believe everything Bill said. When you had a choice, you came back here. Her eyes stung. She hadn’t had any choices in the beginning, even if Trent had made her think she did. Bill’s belief in her now was a breath of hope to raise her up. She was a scrapper, she didn’t need much. A little validation went a long way.

Maybe Evan was all right, and she wasn’t destined to follow in her mother’s footsteps.

CHAPTER 14

Evan couldn’t stand the indignity of more false accusations, more judgments. Amber coming out of the woodwork now brought back all the memories of the shock and horror when the cops had laid out their case against him. It was an incredibly surreal feeling to stare at a backpack full of meth that he had never seen before and be told he’d do hard time for it. And he couldn’t believe he was going to have to rehash all this for a second time. Only now, the media circus was bound to be worse than when he’d originally been released, because then he was a nobody. Now, he had a TV show. In hindsight, he almost should have gotten ahead of it and just told everyone who he was before he signed. At the time, though, he thought it might sour the deal for Dan, and he didn’t want to do that. He of all people knew it was almost worse to have the possibility of success or redemption dangled ahead only to have it snatched away. They were neck-deep in cancel culture. The only question was whether they would be canceled. Amber was busy chatting away on her YouTube channel about things real or imagined. She hadn’t gone so far as to outright lie, but she’d made insinuations that were enough to cast doubt about his character.

He rolled up in front of Dan’s colorful cottage, the outside of which was decorated with brightly colored shells and a hand-painted surfboard some hippie girl made for him. He’d made up his mind what he wanted to do, but he had to be sure it was okay with Dan. Last time, he’d simply changed his name and disappeared into the swamp, trying to hide from the past. No more hiding.

This time, he was going to grab it head-on. He would say his piece. If it affected Jake, to hell with him. Evan had turned enough of his life upside down trying to protect Jake and paid the price for it every step of the way.

“I’m doing the interview,” Evan said when Dan opened the door.

“Okay.”

“But I don’t know what it’ll do to the show. So, I came to tell you I’m sorry. I hope I don’t ruin your chance.”

“You’re the only reason there even was a chance, remember? If you hadn’t bought us that first place to flip, we wouldn’t even be doing this. You do what you need to do.”

That was Dan. He’d basically been this same person since they were kids.

“Anyway, how about a beer? I got some new properties to show you. That one in Buckingham that we’ve been stuck with forever is finally under contract, so I think we can afford to buy something new.”

Dan had a passion for the business end of it. He had a few Realtors on speed dial who kept him in the loop because they were happy to be able to unload wrecked houses that would never sell in their current condition.

Just when Evan thought he couldn’t be more surprised that day, when he got back home, Kayla was sitting on his front step. She stood up as he swung off the bike. Her hands looked shaky, and she nervously scrubbed them on her pants. He shook his head. She must have read the headlines and didn’t want to date a guy who’d been in prison for drug charges related to a notorious motorcycle club. Maybe she’d even stumbled upon Amber’s character assassination. Everything she didn’t want in her life. The dread of the interview was sucking the life out of him. It had put him right back in the dark space he’d inhabited years ago. He could remember, clear as day, his mother nervously wringing her hands as his father exploded out of his chair in the interrogation room, refusing to help put up bail. They’d both marched out and left him there, left him to his fate. They’d never listened long enough to realize he had done nothing wrong.

“If you didn’t want to see me anymore, you could have just texted me and saved yourself the trouble,” he said. He was absolutely hollowed out, and he had no more reserves for this shit.

“What?” She looked genuinely confused.

“I get it. I did time for meth. I’m sure you’ve heard by now. I’m fucking done defending myself for a crime I didn’t commit. So, if that’s what you want, just go home.”

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