Page 106 of The Fire We Crave

I can see Melody mentally deciding whether she should push or not. “It’s not as bad as you’re thinking. It used to be a needle into your bone marrow. But now, it’s preferred that you get a series of injections over a few days, and then you go onto a machine that collects the stem cells from your bloodstream. It’ll mean coming to New York for four or five days.”

Quinn sighs. “I’ve never left Colorado.”

“Oh my gosh, there’s a whole world outside this state. You’ll love it. Air travel. Bright lights. I?—”

“I didn’t go anywhere because Mom drilled it into us that someone had to be here, at the bakery, in this goddamn apartment, the whole time. So, whenever you were found, if you ever found your way back to us, one of us would be here. You think I wanted to be a baker? And yet, somehow, I’m still here. I gave up my life for yours, Melody. Please don’t add insult to injury by telling me how much I’ve missed out on because I did as she said.”

Melody looks utterly wrecked. Perhaps, in her mind, she’d reconciled the past. Thought that everything was okay now.

“Mel. You’ve come in like a wrecking ball with zero comprehension of what it’s been like. People in this town think I killed you. Do you know that? I’ve lived with the suspicion since it became apparent I was one of the last witnesses to see you alive. Me. A biker in an outlaw motorcycle club. I spent weeks trying to find you, to follow leads. The club organized full searches of every gully and ravine this side of Denver, because we thought we were looking for a dead person or a hostage, not someone running away. You plowed through all our lives like a tornado. And while I’m so sorry your kid’s sick, this hasn’t solved things. You have to know that.”

Her smile turns watery. “I’m sorry. I’ll keep saying that until you believe it. And I’ll keep showing you both for however long you all need. But my daughter doesn’t have that long. We need to decide whether to give her our half match and hope it works or a full match if we can quickly find one.”

“I’ll go get Dad’s number for you,” Quinn says, quickly jumping up. I hear the pad of her feet as they head to the kitchen.

“What you did to your family, me, and the people of this town who dedicated chunks of their lives to finding you is horrific, Mel. I don’t want your apology. I don’t want to know you. And if it weren’t for the fact there’s a kid in the middle of this, I would have kicked you out so fast, you bounced. But let me assureyou of something: I’m not that twenty-one-year-old punk who thought with his cock anymore. I’m the road captain of the Iron Outlaws Motorcycle Club.” I stand, bringing myself to my full height. “So, this is the only promise you will get from me. Half this town already thinks I killed you. Now, I’m actually capable of it. You fuck with Quinn, you hurt her, pressure her, guilt her, or do absolutely anything to interfere with her happiness, I’ll make you disappear for good. You will not fight for a share of the bakery, the apartment, or your mom’s things. You won’t take a single thing from her, because if you do, I will have zero compunction in taking your life to make up for it.”

Shellshock etches her features. I’ve seen it on firefighters’ faces when they return from a catastrophic fire. And it’s written all over Melody’s face, now. But I don’t have any compassion to offer her.

Instead, I leave Melody sitting in the chair and go find the only woman I actually care about in this whole shit show.

I hear her muttering and slamming drawers. “Where are my pens? And why don’t I ever seem to have a piece of paper on hand when I need one?”

By the time I get there, I find her, head bowed, hands white knuckling the edge of the marble counter. It’s an ugly peach-and-brown-veined slab that was probably cool in the eighties.

When I woke this morning, before all this shit went down, I was determined to help her start making this place her own.

It came to me, sometime around one, when I was wide awake and Quinn was cuddled up against my side, that she’d need to tear this place down to be able to move on. Even if she stays here, she needs to remove every trace of this period of her life.

Now, I’m even more sure of it.

She needs to shed this place like it’s a second skin.

A tear splats on the shitty marble I fully intend on taking a sledgehammer to.

Gently, I place my hand on her back. “Hey,” I say quietly. “Take a breath, sugar.”

She looks up at me and swipes beneath her eyes. “I didn’t think it would be like this.” Her words are quietly whispered. “In every variation I’ve ever thought about, this was not what happened that night. How could she be so cruel?”

“I know.” I pull her to me, and she buries herself against my chest. I wish there were a way I could carry some of this for her. I wish I could kiss courage and strength into her to bolster her when she’s trying to be so brave. I press a kiss to the top of her head. “It’s okay to feel everything you’re feeling.”

“I wish I could put into words what all those feelings are.”

I look at the list on the countertop, her plans to move forward with her life and decorate this place. “We’ll make a list.”

She huffs a laugh at that.

“What do you want to do now?” I ask. “If you want Melody to stick around because you need to know more, I’ll go tell Kinsey you won’t be down to help for a while in the bakery. Do you want some space, or do you want me to come back upstairs?”

“I want Melody to leave. I want her details so I can do some research about giving stem cells. But I don’t think I can talk to her again.”

I kiss the tip of her nose, then hand her a takeout menu. “Just write your Dad’s number on this. Then go get in the shower, and I’ll make that happen.”

Plus, I’ve got another long-overdue phone call to make.

33

QUINN

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