Page 17 of Property of Bigfoot
“Ungrateful? Who the hell am I ungrateful to? You haven’t done a damn thing for me to be grateful for.”
“I worked your damn job the past two days.”
“Boo-fucking-hoo, Colleen. You’re supposed to put in your share. I’ve been working seven days a week for the past two years because you wouldn’t pull your weight around here. You can fuck all the way off!” I turned back to the phone and glared down at it because I wanted my dad to feel the weight of my words. “Get your wife off my property, and so help me God, if she gets in my business again, comes near any of my property, or so much as whispers in my direction, I will not be held responsible for how I respond to that threat! She has five minutes and I already started the timer.”
I turned my back and walked toward the cabin that I’d called my home for the past couple years. I didn’t bother to look back, to tune in and listen to what Brady or my dad had to say. I didn’t care what Colleen had to say, either. I opened my cabin up, stepped inside, and then shut and locked the door behind me. My family was complicated, my feelings toward them more so. I loved my dad - the man who was there for me while I was growing up, anyway. The man who he became after my mom died and he married Colleen was a different story.
I quietly moved through my cabin, grabbed a protein bar on my way through the kitchen, choked it down, snagged some fresh clothes out of my closet, and then went to take the mother of all showers. Once I was cleaned, I crashed on my bed and was out like a light before my head even hit the pillow.
9.FIND HER
BIGFOOT
“Am I in danger of dying?”
“Well, no, but we don’t want you to impede your recovery by leaving too early. You might not realize it, but you’ve been on some pretty heavy duty pain killers, and they can make you feel like you’re a lot better off than you really are.”
“I’m not staying in this hospital another fucking day. An hour is too long.”
“We know where she is,” Baffle said to me as the doctor all but ran out of the room to get my paperwork started.
“I know you do, but she doesn’t know that I’m coming for her. Melissa made her think that I have a woman.”
“What are you afraid of, man? Think she’s going to run off and marry the first man she sees in an attempt to get over you?”
“I’ll fucking kill him. She’s mine. You know how it is for the men in my family. She’s the one.”
“Then we’ll make sure you get to her as soon as humanly possible. Sit back and relax until the doctor comes back with your papers. It will give me time to get a cage here to pick you up.”
“Fucking hell. How is my baby?”
“I’m sorry to say that your baby is down for the count, but she might have some parts that are salvageable if you want to do a custom build with her.”
I shook my head. “Just scrap her. Putting any piece of my wrecked bike on a new one feels like bad luck.”
“Maybe it would be good luck. That wreck brought Sammy into your life.”
I stopped to think about it for a few minutes and then shook my head again. “Nope. The bike can go. I’ll get a new one as soon as my arm heals. Sammy can be my good luck. Gonna put her on the back of my bike as soon as I’m able to ride again.” I struggled to get my boots on my feet but refused to ask Baffle for help. As I did, I felt the energy drain right out of me. Fuck, getting boots on my feet shouldn’t completely drain me.
“Maybe you should listen to the doctor and stick it out another day, just to be…”
“If you say ‘just to be safe’ I’m gonna knock your teeth down your damn throat. Since when do any of us play it safe?”
“Just a suggestion considering all the color drained from your face when you bent over to try to get your fucking boot on, you idiot.” Baffle leaned down and tugged my boot over my foot and then laced it up. “These fuckers saved your toes, but they look like the road ate the shit out of them.”
“I’d say I don’t know how I made it out without more damage, but swear to fuck, Baf, it was because my guardian angel was there that night.”
My asshole friend laughed at me. “You know she didn’t do anything to help you out, right?”
“She shot a man before he could kill me,” I reminded him.
“Yeah,” He waved that off. “I meant, she didn’t really give you any first aid or whatever. She checked to make sure you were breathing and told me what she thought might be wrong with you, so I could pass it on to Doc.”
“She was there. I kept fighting to come back to her voice over and over again when I would slip.”
“Yeah, okay, I guess that’s something.”
“It’s everything. You might not understand now, but one day you’re going to meet a woman who is going to click for you, and you’ll see what I’m talking about.”
