Page 7 of Destiny

“Hell no,” Lamone says. “I’m not sure I’ve ever been okay.”

I shake my head, clearing away his empty glass. He stumbles out the door just as Donny Steel and Callie Pike walk in and take a seat at the bar.

“Pat Lamone looks in a bad way.” Callie rolls her eyes. “Not that I give a damn.”

“The man’s a derelict,” Donny agrees.

I simply nod. After what he did to Callie, the two of them will never see part of Lamone deserves sympathy.

“What can I get you two?”

“Just Diet Coke for me,” Callie says.

“Margarita,” Donny says.

I hold back my chuckle. It cracks me up that one of the big and burly Steel men likes sweet drinks.

“Frozen or on the rocks?”

“On the rocks.”

“What was Lamone doing in here anyway?” Callie asks.

“He’s got some troubles.”

“Good,” she says.

“We were just talking to Ava,” Donny says. “She was asking us about the future lawmakers club over at Snow Creek High School.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. We’re going to look into it. Apparently, back in the day—I’m talking Brad Steel’s day—they were a pretty bad organization.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“How much do you know?” Donny asks me.

“Not a lot, mostly because Ava doesn’t know a lot. At least not yet. Ava and I don’t have secrets…unless someone else asked her to keep a secret, in which case I respect that.”

“Tell you what,” Donny says. “Why don’t you and I look into this? It would mean a lot to Ava.”

I slide Callie’s Diet Coke in front of her. “I’ll do anything for Ava. You can take that to the bank.”

Chapter Two

Ava

“I want to spend the night here,” I say to my mother.

Donny and Callie have been gone for an hour, and Mom and I have been talking. Dad went to bed. He’s still exhausted from his episode at the party.

“Don’t you have to open the bakery early?” Mom asks.

“Yeah…but I can get up early.”

“I wish you’d get someone to help you. You shouldn’t have to be there so early every single day.”

“We’ve been through this, Mom.”

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