In Your Honor (5 page)

Luke looked up to see Lenny watching
him from the doorway of their room on the bus. She was dressed for
bed, tank top and little shorts, her blonde hair almost reaching
her waist. He let out a contented sigh as she crawled across the
bed on her knees and curled up next to his side.

“
You're gorgeous, you know
that?” he asked as he kissed the top of her head.

“
That's why you were
thinking so hard just a minute ago?” she asked
playfully.

“
No... I was just thinking
about stuff.” Luke wrapped his arms around her and held
tight.

“
Tell me,” she whispered
gently.

Luke pondered her request. It's not
that he didn't want to tell her, he did. He just wasn't sure how to
say it. He barely knew how to think about it. He had already told
her his concerns about Blake, and she'd been receptive and
thoughtful. He didn't want to disrupt their happy family, but he
couldn't shake the feeling in the pit of stomach that something big
was coming.

“
I have the feeling...” He
paused, a little afraid he was going to sound stupid, but he pushed
past it. “I mean, things have been going really great. And I
guess... I'm wondering why it feels like there's a storm
coming.”

Lenny traced the lines of his tattoos
on his bare chest for a few minutes. He enjoyed feeling her warmth
by his side. Like she fit in the place next to his heart where he
hadn't realized there had been a hole.

“
There's always a storm
coming,” she said at long last. “But we'll get through it like we
do everything else. Together.”

***

Lucy put her old guitar away, being
careful to tuck the aged blanket that her mother had made around it
before closing the case. It had been a good practice. They were
getting better and better, but she was still apprehensive they
wouldn't be ready in time for the show Thursday night. She had been
a last minute fill-in for the regular guitarist, Bobby. He had
gotten stage fright as it got closer to the date and had
bailed.

Taylor Stevens had frequented the
diner for several weeks and he had become friendly with Lucy. He
knew she played guitar some, and who her father was. It didn't come
as a real shock to her when he asked her to fill in. What was
shocking was how well they all seemed to work together. This wasn't
a garage band made up of friends from high school. No, Taylor
Stevens was serious about his music, and he hand-picked the
musicians he would play with. Truthfully, Lucy was
honored.

“
Good job, Newton. Same
time tomorrow.” Taylor gave her an earnest nod as they left their
rehearsal space. His full, manly beard and clean-shaven head, thick
shoulders and athletic build made him look more menacing than he
really was. The only thing he took seriously was his music,
otherwise he was fairly easygoing.

Lucy cranked the motor on
her 1970 Pontiac GTO that had really seen better days. The color
was supposedly called
Palisade
Green,
but it was more of a dirty avocado
to Lucy. Not that she minded, it went nicely with her infrequent
trips to the car wash.

She loved her car, it was a gift from
her father as one of the first things he bought for himself when he
started to make money from his music. Someday she would have it
restored and possibly repainted. But not while she was still
running the diner full-time and singing at Red's on the
weekends.

The drive across town was fast, a
benefit of living in a place with a small population. She had hated
the year she'd spent in Tulsa. Big city life had never been her
fit. She supposed it probably would have grown on her in time, but
she didn't have to worry about that anymore. She was home. This is
where she belonged.

The parking lot at the diner was full,
and she was worried for a moment that they would be behind, but as
she entered the kitchen through the back she saw that Mac had
things under control. As usual. She loved having her family help
out so willingly in the business that her grandmother had built
with her tiny, bohemian hands.

Having taken over the diner right
around her eighteenth birthday, it had been an important part of
her rise to adulthood. Even after her year away, she came right
back to it, easy as pie.

“
How was rehearsal?” Mac
asked as she pulled her hair into a tight bun at the nape of her
neck.

“
Good. I wish you could be
there to see us, it's going to be a huge venue.” Lucy grabbed a
nearby apron and tied it around her waist.

“
Are you nervous?” Mac
asked with a wink and handed her an order ready to go
out.

“
Never.” Lucy smiled
widely and pushed through the doors to the front. “Comin' out!” she
called.

The night went by fast, and Lucy was
looking forward more and more towards Thursday's show. She was
humming and singing to herself as she waited tables, took orders
and bussed the front. Completely wrapped up in one of Taylor's
songs while she swept behind the counter, she didn't hear the
question that Mac asked her until he put a hand on her arm and she
jumped.

“
Hey, kid, calm down.” He
laughed at her reaction. “I was just asking how many pies you
wanted for tomorrow.”

“
Oh, probably one apple
and one cheesecake,” she answered quickly, and then frowned as she
thought about it some more. “But make an extra apple
tomorrow.”

Mac made the note on the whiteboard.
“You're the boss. Why an extra apple? You expecting to sell more on
Thursday?”

Lucy didn't have an answer; her gut
spoke and she listened. It only worked out for her half the time,
so she wasn't sure why she still listened to it.

Last night's rehearsal had gone so
well that Lucy wished that it had been their performance. Taylor
was so pleased he almost smiled. Almost. Hopefully they could
replicate it tonight when it counted.

She blew a stray hair out of her face
as she adjusted the pie in the glass case. Lunch rush hadn't
happened and she was wondering what on earth she was going to do
with an extra apple pie. Maybe she'd send it home with Kaylee, the
other waitress who was working with her today. College kids need
food, right?

She came back around to the back of
the counter where Kaylee leaned her elbows against the top and
sighed dramatically. Her cute blonde ponytail seemed to sigh with
her as it bobbed slightly.

“
This day is taking too
long!” She pouted. “I want to see you sing tonight.”

“
Soon,” Lucy smiled and
tapped Kaylee's nose with her index finger. “And I only sing on one
song tonight. It's not me you're coming to see.” She raised an
eyebrow at the younger girl. “You're coming to stare at Taylor
Stevens.”

“
I admit it, I have a
ginormous crush.” Kaylee's cheeks went cherry red. “I think it's
the beard... who can resist that beard?”

“
You're boy-crazy,” Lucy
corrected with a smile. She turned away from her and started to
straighten the coffee cups and saucers. For some reason, the kids
she'd been having close at night always put the coffee dishes away
so sloppily. She was going to have to get after them about
that.

“
So, I like boys... that
doesn't make me boy-crazy,” Kaylee muttered, and Lucy snickered
under her breath.

“
I don't like
all
guys... just the
really,
really
hot ones.” She continued to defend herself. “Like
that
one. Holy crap,
Lucy, check out this guy!”

Lucy sighed and rolled her eyes. She
liked working with Kaylee because she was high energy and the
customers enjoyed her antics. But sometimes Lucy was worried she
would have to hose her down. Every lunch shift she was drooling
after one guy or another, and Lucy had to hear all about their
rippling pectorals, their beastly biceps and their yummy backsides.
She had pointed out to Kaylee that her behavior was no different
than when men objectified women, but she had been met with an
open-mouth stare.

She turned to look at the current
object of Kaylee's attraction. The shadows that bounced around the
entryway from the sun's position behind him made it hard to
distinguish a face. She narrowed her eyes and tried to focus. She
had to be seeing things she decided, even as her mouth went
dry.

He pulled open the glass door and
stood in the entry for a handful of seconds. Scuffed motorcycle
boots, ripped-up jeans, old ZZ Top t-shirt, perfect five o'clock
shadow, mirrored aviators, and jet-black hair that was too messy to
be an accident. Lucy knew she was supposed to be shocked, but he
looked so normal standing in her diner. Like he had never
left.

She carefully and slowly smoothed the
front of her apron as her heart pounded against her ribcage,
threatening to shatter it to pieces. She had no idea if he had seen
her yet, she couldn't see his eyes behind the shades. No matter, he
was going to see her when she asked him if he wanted coffee with
his pie.

“
Lucy Newton.” He smiled
warmly as she came around to the front of the counter. She had no
restraint when it came to this man. And that had never been good
for either one of them.

“
Blake Diedrich.” She
smiled back, wondering if he could see through her and know that
inside, she was coming unhinged. It was the same feeling she'd had
when she'd gotten caught outside during a storm as a little girl.
The same helplessness as the approaching tornado shook the ground
under her feet and pieces of the barn blew past her face. The
overwhelming roar of the power bearing down on her had paralyzed
her. Her daddy had yanked her into the cellar at the last
second.

But no rescue was coming this time.
She was completely exposed, and she couldn't take her eyes off of
him.

Suddenly his strong, corded arms were
around her waist, wrapping her body in a hug that made her heart
ache. He lifted her feet off the floor, his face buried in her
neck. The stubble on his face scratched her skin and raised
goosebumps on her arms. They inhaled each other's scent
simultaneously. Her thoughts went fuzzy as they filled with the
smell of a nighttime rainstorm coupled with the feeling of danger
that accompanies the electricity in the air right before lightning
strikes.

“
I hope I get that kind of
a greeting.”

Lucy opened the eyes she hadn't
realized she had shut so tight and saw Harrison standing behind
Blake. She hadn't even noticed that anyone was with him. But Blake
had that effect on her. She took a steadying breath.

“
Harrison.” She smiled as
he hugged her as well. “I had no idea you guys were in town.” That
was only half a lie. She knew they were performing at Rocklahoma on
Friday—she had tickets to the show. But she had no idea they would
be here the day before.

“
We're here on business,”
Harrison joked lightly as his eyes shifted to Blake, who hadn't
said anything since hugging Lucy. He was still standing way too
close to her.

“
Well,” Lucy swallowed and
put on her friendliest face, “y'all want some pie?”

“
Only if you have apple,”
Blake finally said, pushing his sunglasses up to rest on the top of
his head.

“
We always have apple,
Blake. You know that.” Lucy remained casual in her demeanor even
though she was pretty sure her heart had already started packing
its bags to leave her.

“
I'll get it!” Kaylee
volunteered, overly excited. “Are these friends of yours, Lucy?”
She wasn't being too subtle on wanting an introduction.

“
Yeah.” Lucy thought about
how awkward and strange that word was to describe Blake. “They're
my friends. Blake is
from
Pryor but they haven't been back around here for
a few years now.” That she knew of, anyway.

She moved to get coffee behind the
counter as the two men sat at the bar. That was good, Lucy needed a
barrier in between her and Blake. If she wasn't careful, the heat
that radiated from him would be enough to make her forget all the
reasons she had asked him to stay away.

Her eyes were drawn to the ink on his
left arm. Red and white lightning wrapped around his forearm and
disappeared into dark clouds under his shirt sleeve. She fought
back the urge to reach over and run her hand across it, push the
sleeve up and see the rest. See what else was new.

But she couldn't do that. They weren't
in that place anymore.

“
I had no idea that Lucy
had such famous friends,” Kaylee gushed as she set down pie for
both of the musicians. “I mean, everyone knows her father, but
that's not the same thing.”

“
I don't know about that,
Triny Newton is kind of a big deal to us,” Harrison
chuckled.

“
Lucy, why didn't you tell
me that you knew these guys?” Kaylee's voice was reaching a higher
pitch. She turned back to Harrison. “She has never once mentioned
you, I'd remember.”

Lucy didn't answer, she felt Blake
watching her as she set the coffee in front of him. She finally met
his sea green eyes and it took every ounce of willpower she had not
to melt into the floor. He stared back, unflinching.