Page 31 of Legions

I stood there watching her leave. Waving back one more time before she turned the car and drove away.

Hands slid around my middle, and the scent of spice and cigarettes joined the hard body pressing up behind me. “Your mom heading to Florida, I take it,” Thatcher asked.

“Yeah,” I replied, then tilted my head back to look up at him. “She said she’d see me in Kentucky.”

The corner of his lips quirked. “Figured it was time your mom was more involved in your life.”

I wanted to say it would be even better if I was riding in the Derby, but he’d done so much for my mom that I didn’t have it in me to press him.

“Thank you for all that,” I said.

“All what, little doll?”

I waved a hand out toward where my mother had driven away. “Her, that, she looks fantastic, she’s so happy she’s bubbly. You made all that happen.”

His eyes dropped to my mouth. “Hmmm,” he replied. “Why don’t we go back to the house, and you can show me how thankful you are.”

I grinned, wanting nothing more than to do just that.

• Seventeen •

Get your life together. Build a new one. Don’t be a bastard.

Thatcher

I finished my cigarette as I watched Clark Jewel walk out of the soup kitchen where he volunteered most nights. He was thinner, aged about ten years in less than two months, his thin hair now leaving a bald spot on his head, and his shoulders slumped forward. Whereas his ex-wife was looking more like Capri’s sister than her mother and loving life. The call I’d gotten from her today that said she was ready to end the revenge had surprised me. Seems she no longer hated him and wanted to move on with her life, not having the weight of his current situation on her shoulders. He had already ruined the life he had built. She thought that was punishment enough for him.

I disagreed, but this was her revenge. Not mine.

“Clark,” I called out his name, not moving from where I stood leaning against my truck.

His entire body tensed as his head swung in my direction.Maelee hadn’t gone to prison like I had threatened. I’d had them drop the false charges and let her go forty-eight hours later. She’d found out that Clark was broke and left him.

He began walking toward me as if he were headed to the fucking gallows. I started to reach for another cigarette and stopped myself. Capri had mentioned her fear about my lungs, and I was doing my best to cut back every day. Only for her would I even try.

“What can I do for you, Thatcher?” he asked, his voice holding none of the authoritative vibrato it once had. He was a broken man. I’d taken it all from him.

“Just came to set you free,” I replied.

His eyebrows drew together. “What do you mean?”

“Your penance is over. You’re free to live your life however you choose. Granted that you keep your distance from both Capri and Charlene. If they ever want to see or talk to you, they’ll let you know. Otherwise, they are off-limits. Thirty-mile radius distance from Capri and don’t step foot in Florida.”

“Florida?” he asked, still appearing completely dumbstruck.

“Your ex-wife lives in Florida now. She’s happy. I want it to stay that way.”

He blinked. “She moved? What about the house?”

“Sold it. Donated all your shit in it.” I enjoyed seeing his face when I told him that.

I shoved off from the truck then went to open the truck door.

“What do I do now?” he asked.

I shrugged, then spared him one backward glance. “I don’t know, Clark. Get your life together. Build a new one. Don’t be a bastard.”

“What about the thing you stuck up my nose?”

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