Page 48 of OctoBEARfest

"What the hell does that matter, youcrazy bi?—"

Bill tightened his hand on the back of her father's neck. "I would watch my language if I were you, Mr. Booker."

"It doesn't matter," Gwen said quietly. "Bill, I'm really sorry to do this to you, but?—"

"Go," he said immediately. "It's okay. I can handle this guy." The last two words dripped with disgust. "Go find my parents. They'll take care of you until the cops get here. And Gwen?"

She hesitated, already on her way inside, but looking back. Bill smiled. "I love you."

The ice in her chest burst in a flash of heat and joy, and all of a sudden, despite her father, everything was all right. "I love you too."

She fled inside.

CHAPTER 28

Her father was still howling, "That bitch broke my nose!" when the cops took him away less than an hour later. Gwen was almost certain she hadn't actually broken it, and the officer on duty apologetically told her that she might be up on a misdemeanor assault charge whether she had or hadn't.

"But," the officer said almost cheerfully, "it's a first offense, and you can probably get a defense for heat of passion to knock it down to a fine, if the judge even goes that far. I'd have punched the son of a bitch, too. Not that I told you that."

"I didn't hear anything," Gwen promised in a whisper. She hadn't wanted to come back out for the arrest, but she was the victim in the larger crime, so she kind of had to. Bill's family had absorbed her into compassionate silence when she'd explained what was going on, and in the aftermath of her father's arrest, Bill wrapped her in his arms. He didn't ask, or even say anything, and after a long, shivering moment, she whispered, "I'm okay. I think."

His arms tightened around her. "Wanna go back inside?" At her nod, he walked her slowly back into the building, and spokeover her head to his family, who were all still clustered in the events room. "Could somebody get Gwen an Irish coffee?"

"That sounds amazing," Gwen whispered. Half his family immediately headed out to the bar, and the rest backed off, giving her, and Bill, space. Gwen couldn't help a very quiet laugh. "I'm going to have a whole lineup of Irish coffees, I guess. I'm okay," she said a little more strongly to the remaining family. "Thank you for…" She trailed off, looking at the four tall people in the room, and found an actual smile. "For all being so large and reassuring. Honestly I thought Bill was going to?—"

She broke off, suddenly unsure of how open she should be about his ability to turn into a bear, but Bill picked up with a rumbling laugh. "It's a good thing you punched him. I was about to shift and knock him into the mountains."

"Part of me really wanted you to," Gwen admitted in a soft rush. "But I'm glad you didn't. It would have been more trouble for you than it was worth."

"I knew him," Heather, Bill's mother, said in distress. "Not well, but he used to come into the pub sometimes. I'm so sorry, Gwen."

"He changed his name," Gwen pointed out. "There's no reason you could have guessed. It's all right. He just…" She wanted to sit down all of a sudden, and Bill, as if sensing it, led her to the couches. Gwen collapsed, face in her hands until there was a faintthunkon the table in front of her, and the scent of whiskey-flavored coffee rose to her nostrils. "Oh, God, thank you." She lifted the drink and sipped, wincing at the heat, but the combination of caffeine, alcohol and sugar was honestly soothing right then. "That's good. Thank you."

Someone made a pleased noise in response, and Gwen had another couple sips before feeling fortified enough to look up at Bill's nervously gathered family. A giggle broke from her chest. "Look at you all, looming."

"What's goingon?" Penny's voice rose over the gathering, and the Torbens parted to let the arriving band members see Gwen on the couch. Penny's entire body radiated worry. "Somebody out front told us that Gwen'sdadshowed up? Are you okay, hon? What the hell is happening? Did he really show up? Did you kick him in the fucking nuts?"

"I punched him in the face," Gwen offered.

A huge grin split Penny's face. "Amazing.Excellent. That's perfect. What the hell happened?" She crowded through to sit next to Gwen, opposite Bill, who still had his arm around her. "Are you okay?"

"I am. I think I am. He's been living here for years under an assumed name," Gwen said with a nod toward Heather. "I'm almost sure it's going to turn out he's burned through everything he stole. I think he saw the ads for the shows this weekend and decided he'd come back and get more money out of me."

Penny, blankly, said, "But you don't have any money," which made Gwen laugh.

"He doesn't know that, though. And if things go well with this album…"

"Thenhestill won't have any money. I hope he rots in jail for the rest of his miserable life. Do people do that for stealing money these days?"

"If they're not really rich to begin with, yeah," someone else muttered, and a low grumbling chuckle went around the whole group. Bill's family began to filter out of the room, heads ducked together so they could gossip quietly. Gwen figured they'd be gossiping forever about this, and made a face.

"Oh, God. This is going to hit the news in a big way."

Myles cleared his throat. "The album's ready."

The whole band looked at him, varying degrees of confusion on their faces, although Gemma started to smirk even before heshrugged. "I'm just saying. We don'thaveto wait until next year to release it. It's ready now. And you're about to be a news story."

Sandy, after a pause, said, "You mean there's no such thing as bad publicity. Here's Gwen Booker, AKA Emma Hart, whose dad stole her life savings and drove her into retirement at age eighteen?—"

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