Page 3 of Loch
Then there was the sad building that seemed to come out of nowhere, my bar. Theonlyone in town. It was in my name, but it was for the club. It was a crappy building that I was surprised was still standing. A little ways past the bar was the club compound. There was a line of trees on the opposite side of the main road, concealing the compound from the highway. The trees grew thicker as you pulled out of town. Somewhere, hidden right before you pulled out of town was the town shut-in and meanest drunk I’d ever met. The only reason he was still alive was because Axe had said to leave him alone. But that is not my story to tell.
I parked in my driveway then cut across the lawn to Ethel’s place next door, balancing the pan in one hand. I knocked three times and waited for her cheerful reply before she opened the door.
“I don’t have time for whatever you’re sellin’!” she yelled before pulling the door open. Once she saw my face, she flashed me a giant smile and waved me in. “Oh, Nathan. So good to see you. Did you bring me food?” She eyed the pan in my hand with a wide smile.
“Sure did. Mel made you some. Only gotta heat it up in the oven a bit.” She took the tray and I followed her through the house and into the kitchen. She poured me a fresh cup of sweet tea. After I thanked her, I leaned against the counter as I drank it.
Ethel was a vibrant seventy-something lady. She never let age slow her down. I’d lived next to her all my life, and after my parents died I decided to stay there. Even though it was hard losing both my parents at seventeen, I was glad I had Ethel. Something about her being right next door seemed like home. There I was, thirty-nine and it still felt that way. I watched out for her and she did the same for me and the club. She would always tell me stories of my parents and constantly relived my childhood with me. It helped keep me from forgetting them; which, deep down, was always a fear.
“You want to stay here and eat?” she said, messing with the knobs for the oven.
“Nan, we need to call a plumber. The shower upstairs is dripping and I couldn’t get any hot— Oh!” The voice caught me off guard and I turned around with a jerk.
My breath caught for a second as my eyes landed on the source of the beautiful voice. She quickly pulled the mesh bag of laundry up to cover herself. Her chin dipped down, obstructing my view of her face. Through her dark blond curtain of hair, I could see a tiny sliver of a blue eye peeking out at me.
“Don’t mind him, Reagan. He’s… what you kids call it these days…? Oh, right, aman-whore. He’s not fazed by what little you’re wearing,” Ethel said, and I nearly choked on my spit. I shouldn’t have been surprised though; Ethel was a real spitfire and never held her tongue. “You know in my day we called that a stud. Damn feminist…” she went on mumbling. Going on about how now women have to share their rightfully earned “whore title” with men.
“Nan!” Reagan lifted her face in surprise at Ethel’s words. Then I saw it. Her face had brown and yellowish bruises that looked like that had been a lot worse at one time. My eyes trailed down to her neck where she had distinct finger marks as well. Before I could say anything, she hid her face again as Ethel stepped beside me.
“You remember my granddaughter, Reagan, right?” Ethel said. I closed my mouth tight and give a firm nod. “Been, what, five years?”
I remembered seeing Reagan throughout the years. But she was never here that long at any one given time. I’d always seen her as some kid. Never really paid any attention to her. Until that moment. She wasn’t a kid anymore. Her round face had thinned out into more of a heart shape. Her lips were now full and luscious. Her awkward, lanky body was now lean and curvy in all the right places. As I scanned the length of her body, taking in the woman before me, I felt like a dirty old man. Then I felt like a jackass, quickly remembering the bruises that covered her beautiful face.
“What happened?” I asked, my tone a little harsher than I meant for it to be.
“Oh, I was mugged. At a rest stop. My face got the worst of it. I got away.” Reagan said, her words were rushed and choppy, and then ducked her face down again. I could tell she was lying, but I thought better than to say anything at that moment. I glanced over at the old woman and saw it in her eyes; the look that said there was more going on but she didn’t know what.
Maybe it was that I was just a sucker for a sad story. Maybe it was the knight in me wanting to save the damsel in distress. Maybe it was the different colors swirling in her eyes that seemed to pull me in. But something in me tightened. I stepped closer to Reagan and her breath hitched as she looked up at me. Her eyes were beautiful. I had never seen anything like them. The grayish-blue color was striking. But what got me was the burst of hazel and green that stretched out from the middle. One eye was heavier with green while the other was lighter with more hazel.
I heard Ethel shuffle off in the background, but I couldn’t break the trance I had on Reagan. Something about it felt a little wrong. She was so young. Someone like her would never look twice at an old man like me. Not to mention that I wasn’t the best of people. Without thinking, I reached up and lightly cupped her face. The pads of my thumbs brushed softly over some of the bruising on her cheeks. Her pink, pouty mouth parted slightly.
“Never again,” I whispered, before pulling myself out of my daze. In my mind, I had made a vow to always keep her safe. I dropped my hands from her face and cleared my throat. Taking a few steps back, I turned to Ethel as she pretended to make herself busy in the kitchen. I had no doubt she knew what she was doing.
“I’ll be by in the mornin’. I’ve got some stuff I was gonna do over here. I’ll fix the bathroom, too.” Ethel gave me a warm smile and a nod. I turned and headed out the front door without one last glance at Reagan. I couldn’t shake the hold that she had on me. I was afraid if I turned around I’d be sucked back in.
CHAPTER TWO
Reagan
I don’t think I breathed until after the door shut behind him. I did remember him, the man from next door. I remembered I used to watch him with excessive curiosity as he fixed his bike in his driveway. I remembered seeing him when I was younger, wondering about what he did and who he was. I always wondered why he was overly protective and taken with Nan. But, I’d never been close and personal with him like I was a moment ago. And never in my life had ever felt the way I felt when he touched me. Something I couldn’t explain. My knees wobbled and I felt shaky all over.
His short brown hair was now peppered with white and he had a patch on either side of his head where his temples were. His hair was shorter on the sides, parted carelessly on the side, and left somewhat unruly. I itched to run my fingers through it. A god’s face on top of a strong body and I wondered what his defined muscles looked like under his shirt. His lips were full and his brown eyes swirled with intensity as he looked down at me. A scar across one brow that somehow managed to make him even more rugged and sexy.
After a few frozen seconds, I shook my head and continued on my way to the laundry room. Unfortunately, in my hasty retreat from my apartment, I didn’t get a chance to grab any clothes. Which meant I was down to the one outfit I had been wearing at that moment. Luckily, my messiness paid off, and I was able to find a few things in the backseat of my car. It wasn’t much, and after being at Nan’s for three days, I was definitely running out of clean clothes to wear. Which had left me walking around in a thin, light pink shirt and a pair of cotton lounge shorts. Not much covering me and if it wasn’t for that laundry bag, I was sure he would have seen my hard nipples clear as day.
“You hungry?” Nan called out. “Nathan brought some food.” I moved to sit at the table as she placed two steaming plates of lasagna down. I did my best to push Nathan out of my head and bite my tongue to all the questions I wanted to ask about him.
Later that night, I tossed and turned in bed. Visions of what happened flashed through my mind every time I closed my eyes. Liz sprawled out on her bed. Her eyes glassy and blank. The fear shot through me with the same paralyzing feeling it did that night. I kept telling myself that I was safe here. That he didn’t know that much about me and that he wouldn’t come looking. However, the more I tried to convince myself of that, the more I felt the opposite was true. My eyelids finally gave in sometime in the early morning hours.
I woke to a clinking bang followed by a deep voice muttering profanity. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and swung my feet off the bed. I wasn’t sure what time it was. Yawning, I pulled on my clothes, making sure to cover myself more than last night. I glanced in the mirror over the dresser to make sure my hair wasn’t a wild halo around my head.
The girl that peered back at me looked strange. The fading bruises and puffy skin wasn’t the only thing I saw. No, there was something deeper. The dirty stains I had picked up throughout my life were starting to seep through to the surface. I stared hard as if the person on the other side held the answers to the questions in my head. But she only looked back at me with a blank expression.
There were dark circles under my puffy eyes and it turned out that my hair was a matted mess. I quickly ran a brush through my hair, giving up half way and putting it up in a ponytail.
I desperately needed to brush my teeth, but I dreaded going into the bathroom, where I knew Nathan was. Not going to lie, even the simple thought of seeing him had me sweating a little. This wasn’t good. I didn’t need anything like that right then. I had too much on my plate and it was bad enough coming here. The idea that something could happen to Nan because of me was making it harder to stay. But at the same time, I didn’t want to go. I had done my best to convince myself that I was safe there.
So I needed to grab my toothbrush. I did my best to focus on that rather than the crazy thoughts in my head. Maybe I could ninja my way in there and grab my stuff. I was hoping he was too wrapped up in the shower and, fingers crossed, the curtain would obstruct me.
