Sinner's Steel

Which was one of the reasons she’d agreed to go out with Viper. No chance of losing her heart to a man who looked so fierce and feral it was hard to believe he was as articulate, entertaining, and well-ma

“What about Ty?” Co

“I’m not sure yet. I need to give it some thought.” Her hand hovered over her purse again. “He has a right to know about his son, and I need to know the truth of what happened that night. But I don’t want Ty to get hurt if Zane’s not interested in being part of his life. Zane didn’t come looking for me. If he hadn’t been chasing Axle, he would have been content to spend his life not knowing or caring where I was.”

“Well, you probably don’t have to worry about it.” Co

“I’m not. And I’m definitely not interested in getting it on with a man who would shoot someone in cold blood.”

“’Cause Vipe’s such a saint, is that right?”

“You’re very irritating.” Evie huffed. “Did I ever tell you that? And I haven’t seen any evidence that Viper is a bloodthirsty killer. He’s a biker is all.”

Co

“Maybe he’s too old for me.” Evie lowered her voice when she spotted one of Ty’s friend’s moms headed in their direction.

“Didn’t seem to bother you until you laid eyes on the same version—intense outlaw biker, leather cut, kick-ass bike—but twenty years younger.” Co

“That’s true. But when I think of Viper in bed as compared to … oh, I don’t know … maybe Zane, there really is no contest.” She glanced at Co

“I’m not wearing pink to your wedding,” Co

The school bus door opened and the crowd surged forward taking Co

“You are SO a wedding girl,” Co

“You’ve got it backward.” Evie gave in to the tide and let the crowd push her forward. “It’s the wild in me that’s gone into hiding. When Zane and I were in high school, we’d do all sorts of crazy things—climb trees, walk fences, drag race … stuff like that. One Saturday night we got up on the church roof, watched the stars, smoked a joint, and talked until dawn. Then we rang the church bell and just got away before my dad and his deputy showed up. Jagger used to have fits when we told him what we did, although I think secretly he was jealous. He was just too responsible to join us.” She hesitated, bit her lip. “I always felt the most like me when I was with Zane, like I could do anything and he would be there to catch me. I still miss that feeling.”

She made it to the front of the crowd just as Ty came down the steps. “And, by the way,” she said over her shoulder. “If I was going to have a wedding, my first song would be Radiohead’s, ‘True Love Waits.’”

Co

“Hey, bud. How was summer camp?” Evie squeezed Ty in a hug as soon as he stepped off the bus. He had grown over the last two weeks. She didn’t remember his head coming up to her shoulder, or his dark hair brushing his collar, but he was thi

“Great.” He returned the hug and then just stood in the circle of her arms, still young enough not to be embarrassed by her affection like some of the older kids were. Her Ty was quietly affectionate, grounding himself in stillness. Just like his dad. She suspected he would never be one of the kids who pushed their parents away. After what they had been through in Stanton, they were very close.

“Hi, Tiger.” Co

Ty pulled out of Evie’s embrace and frowned. “Superman?”

“No.”

“Fourth of July?”

“No again.” Co

“Is Co

“Co

“I heard that, and now I’m only talking to Ty. Not you.” Co

He was like Zane in so many ways, and now that she knew Zane lived in Conundrum, how could she not tell Ty he was here? Over the years, she’d shared as much of the truth as she thought Ty could handle: his father left before he was born, and although she tried to find him, she’d been unsuccessful. She had been careful to make sure he understood Zane’s absence wasn’t a rejection. There was no point in sharing her bitterness or turning him against a father he didn’t know. Maybe because she’d always hoped one day she would find Zane again.

Well, now she had found him, but things hadn’t gone as she imagined they would. Her anger at his abrupt departure had paled beneath her outrage when he told he had come back and left again when he’d seen her with Mark. All those years missed with his son, and he had the audacity to be angry with her. With so much hurt and so many secrets between them, she couldn’t imagine they would ever find their way back together, but she didn’t want to stand in the way of a relationship between Ty and his father.

If that’s what Zane wanted.

“Should we go out to lunch to celebrate?” She gave Ty’s hair a tug from behind. He had been fair until he turned four, then his hair had darkened and he’d taken to wearing it long—too long for a mother’s taste. But now, having seen Zane, the resemblance was unmistakable. No one could doubt he was Zane’s son.

“Can we get pizza? Camp food was crap, except for campfire nights.”

“Don’t swear, Ty. You know I don’t like that language.” At least not from him. But at Bill’s shop, swearing was a way of life, and she’d long since stopped trying to get the mechanics to curb their language.