“She’s working where?” Kenny yelled as he, Quinn, Blake, Will, and Doc sat on the back patio of their house. Abigail and Frank were inside of the house.
“I know, I truly understand your concerns and upset, but she insisted that she could handle it,” Doc replied then took a slug of beer.
“Handle it? Little Lena, the same young woman living in that cottage that flinches every time one of us comes close to touching her?” Blake added, filled with annoyance.
Kenny glanced at his watch. “It’s eleven o’clock. What time does she get off?” Kenny asked his father.
“I don’t know, Kenny. She’s a grown woman, and we have to respect her desire and need to work for a living.”
“Fuck that. We should head over there and check on her. You know, make sure that no assholes are trying anything with her,” Quinn stated as he stood up and tossed his empty beer bottle into the trashcan.
“Is there any particular reason why the three of you are compelled to take care of Lena?” Will asked his sons.
The three of them stared at one another. Maybe his brothers didn’t have the guts to say it but he did.
“Since the moment I caught her, literally, running from your office and looked into those big, aqua-blue eyes of hers, I knew I was never gonna be the same. She pissed me off, insulted me, then gave me such attitude.” Kenny ran his hand through his hair and paced the porch.
“She definitely has attitude, but she’s also scared. I want to know where she’s really from. I want to know more about her,” Blake added.
“She gave you a fake last name, right, Kenny? That’s what Wyatt told me,” Quinn said.
“She sure did. I think the three of us should go check on her. What do ya say?” Kenny asked, and they all agreed.
* * * *
“So, what do you think?” Will asked Pete as they watched their three sons head toward town.
“I think if they show too much aggression that Lena is going to run like heck out of town.”
“No? Really, you think that?” Will asked.
“I, too, would like to know a bit about her past. She ran from a troubled life. Detroit she accidentally told me the other day.”
“Detroit? Hell, she’s a far ways from home.”
“When I asked if that was where she lived, she told me ‘lived’ wasn’t the right word, but she survived by getting the hell out of there. She thinks if she stayed, then she’d be dead by now. She’s tough, but she’s also very smart. She mentioned staying all day in the library during the winter months and reading and learning computers.”
Will shook his head.
“That poor thing lived on the streets?”
“I hate to think she did, but it seems like that’s what happened. The little bits of information she drops here and there say enough. She’s fearful and untrusting. We need to gain that trust.”
“Maybe our boys will be able to help a
nd at least provide some protection and safety,” Will stated and Pete nodded his head, hoping for some happiness in the family.
Chapter 5
Lena had been dodging hands all night. It was a wild crowd for a Friday, and the men were trying to grab her ass as they tucked twenty-dollar bills down her shirt.
“Excuse me, gentlemen, but I need to get by,” she stated to the backs of three very large, tall men. Their backs were wide and muscular, and she figured they were ranch hands or bronco riders. At least that was what Stella, her new friend and fellow waitress, told Lena. She had a tray of drinks in her hand and needed to get to table five before the guys got more pissed.
“Excuse me!” she yelled this time and was shocked when the man with the dark-colored shirt turned toward her. She looked up and up and finally locked gazes with Blake.
He looked her over and scolded her with his eyes. He would think that she liked flaunting her assets, but truth was she hated this kind of work.
“Blake, what are you doing here?” she asked in what sounded like mixed emotions to her own ears. She was surprised and scared.