Kicker (DS Fight Club Book 1) (20 page)

“She will be
fine
, Charlotte. Actually, she’ll probably be spoiled rotten when we get back.”

“Still . . .”

Tig kissed the back of Charlotte’s hand. “She’ll be fine.”

Charlotte made a conscious effort to put the worry about the baby kitten out of her head. Tig was right: Em and Mick would take care of her little Fiona. She inhaled a deep, calming breath and slowly blew it out.

Tig chuckled from the driver’s seat. “Baby, it’s not like you haven’t met everyone before.”

“Yeah, and they weren’t too impressed with me that time, either.”

Tig scoffed. “Fuck ’em. I’m telling you, if any of them are assholes, we’re leaving and that’s that.”

Charlotte appreciated his solidarity with her, but had some serious misgivings about coming between Tig and his family. He actually
liked
his parents.

“And another thing . . .”

“Oh boy,” Charlotte muttered.

“We’re sleeping in the guest room, together. Now, there can’t be any funny business, and you’re going to have to keep your hands to yourself, missy, but yeah, we’re sharing a bed.”

Charlotte harrumphed. “Don’t you think that will make it unnecessarily hard on you?”

“Nah. I can handle it.”

I’m sure glad you can, because I’m going to be wishing for something from my Happy Drawer to take the edge off,
thought Charlotte.

“We’re going to drop by Neil’s first, okay?”

Charlotte nodded, and it
was
truly okay. Charlotte had a smidgeon of hope of winning Neil’s acceptance, and that she would definitely take.

They pulled onto a small country road and followed that until they saw a Airstream camper and a large covered horse ring beside it with Neil riding a horse inside.

They walked hand in hand over to the ring and watched Neil while he finished his exercises with the horse.

“Well, hey, you two,” Neil said as he dismounted. He led the horse over to the fence where Tig and Charlotte stood. “I didn’t expect you to be here this early.”

Tig chuckled. “Paddy cut me some slack.”

“You mean you were distracted, and he kicked you out of practice,” Neil said with a barked laugh.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Charlotte.” Neil inclined his head in greeting.

“Hi, Neil.” The three stood awkwardly, until Neil said that he needed to tend to the horse. Charlotte surprised him by asking Tig to take the horse so she could talk to Neil.

Neil cocked his head at Charlotte after Tig led the horse away. “You’re different than you were the last time we visited.”

“Yes, I am. But my feelings for Tig haven’t changed. Well, actually they have—they’re stronger.”

Neil cleared his throat. “You know it’s nothing personal, right?”

Charlotte nodded. “Same here. But
you
need to know that I’m going to support Tig in whatever he chooses to do, whether it’s fighting, or training horses, or being a peanut farmer, or whatever. It doesn’t matter what he does, as long as I’m a part of his life.”

Neil looked at the small woman across from him. She looked fierce. No, she
was
fierce. He had completely misjudged and underestimated her.

He huffed a laugh. “Understood.”

“Well, then, now that’s settled. I know Tig won’t tell you, but he’s qualified for a Round Robin fight in a month.”

“Well, that’s great.”

“He’s going down to bantamweight.”

“What?”

“So it’s as big of a deal as I thought, isn’t it?”

Neil scrubbed his face. “Well, he used to compete at bantamweight, but that was over ten years ago, and as tight as he is, that’s still a big cut.”

“Is it dangerous?”

“It can be. I’ve got faith in that crew that he’s with now, though. They’ll take care of him. I, uh, went up to the fight club a while back, talked to Paddy Doyle and that big fighter that owns it—Carmichael. They’re good people. Trustworthy fighters. Old school as far as values go. They’ll keep him safe.”

“That makes me feel better,” Charlotte said with an embarrassed smile. “I was trying to gauge whether I should throw a fit or not.”

Neil barked a laugh. “Oh boy. You are something else, Charlotte Markham.”

“Yes, she is.” Tig kissed Charlotte’s cheek, and when she offered him her mouth, he gave her a peck on the lips. “You two have your talk?”

“Yep.” Charlotte nodded and winked.

“Yep.” Neil grinned and nodded.

“Okay, then I guess that’s sorted. We need to head to the house, baby. Neil, talk to you soon, okay?”

“Okay, son. Take care.”

The couple walked back to Tig’s truck, and Neil watched them drive off.

“Good luck with Floyd, Charlotte honey. You’re going to need it,” Neil said softly. “You’re
really
going to need it.”

*****

Floyd did a double take when he walked by the guest room and saw two sets of overnight bags sitting on the bed.

“Hattie, did Tig bring some buddies down here?”

Hattie, Charlotte, and Tig were sitting around the kitchen table, chatting, when Floyd entered and repeated his question, this time directly to Tig.

Charlotte arched her eyebrows at Tig and gave him a look, which Tig steadfastly ignored.

“Just Charlotte.”

“Now, Tig, you know—”

“Nope. It’s not up for discussion, Floyd.”

“Now, this is
my
house, boy, and—”

“Floyd, you need to really think about what you’re about to say to me.” Tig leaned back in the hard kitchen chair, his arms relaxed at his side and his shoulders down, but Charlotte could feel his knee jiggling beside her thigh. She laid her hand discreetly on his leg and gave it a squeeze, and she heard Tig inhale a calming breath.

Floyd looked at Charlotte, who blinked back at him.

“Floyd, you got something you want to say to Charlotte?”

“Oh, boy, I got a whole lot I want to say,” Floyd spat with a mean laugh.

“Then say it.”

Charlotte moved her hand from Tig’s leg to his wrist where it rested on the table. “Tig, could you and Hattie give me a little time alone with your stepfather?”

Tig got ready to protest, but his mother laid her hand on his shoulder and shook her head at him. He pushed back from the table, but Charlotte could tell he did not like it by way he cupped her cheek in his hand before he followed his mother into the next room.

“Well, you need to say something to me?” Charlotte’s words came out clear and calm.

Floyd barked another laugh and blew out a breath. “You got some nerve, little girl, coming in here like you know something about us.”

Charlotte took a deep breath. “I’m not here to disrupt anything, Floyd, not at all. But I
am
going to tell you what I told Neil: I’m here for Tig and nothing and nobody else. I’m going to support him, whether he’s a fighter or a farmer or something completely different—”

Floyd interrupted her. “Damn right you’re going to support him; he sure as hell can’t make a living fighting.”

“He’s saved this farm from being taken by the bank. I call that ‘being able to live.’”

Floyd’s eyes widened and his jaw set. “Who told you that?”

“Tig didn’t have to tell me. He’s not going to risk his career and his place on the roster by fighting in unlicensed matches for fun.” Charlotte scoffed at Tig’s stepfather. “And he sure doesn’t have any money left over from
those
fights or from the legitimate matches that he’s won.”

“I took him in when no one in their right mind would have him or his mother. Hell, my father gave me hell about it, telling me I shouldn’t take care of that little piece of jailbait and her Gypsy spawn. But I did. And even though Tig’s the one that’s half Traveler, my
own
boy was the one that left—and one day, didn’t come back. But Tig made a promise to Tyler: he said he’d look after the farm when Tyler couldn’t. He has
not
kept that promise.”

Charlotte slapped the table. “He
has
kept that promise. How in the world can you not see that he has?”

“He’s not committed.”

“Of course he’s not. He wants to be a fighter, and he has a chance to do it, to live his dream. Surely you can understand that. Haven’t you ever had a dream?”

Floyd stared at Charlotte, his jaw ticking.

Charlotte huffed a small, sad laugh. “You did, didn’t you, Floyd? And for some reason, you didn’t get to pursue it.
That’s
what this is about.”

“No, this is about the wrong boy being in the ground. I’m done talking to you.” Floyd shook his head and stood up. “Hattie, I’m going until
she
leaves,” he called to his wife.

Charlotte remained alone in the kitchen, thinking, until Tig poked his head around the corner. “Charlotte, I’m going to turn in.”

She turned and saw Tig looking uncertain and anxious. She wondered how much of the conversation with Floyd Tig had heard.

“I’ll go with you, if you don’t mind.”

Tig smiled with relief.

After they were under the covers and in each other’s arms in the guest room, Charlotte whispered, “Would you tell me about Tyler?”

She felt Tig take a deep breath, and then he burrowed his head into her shoulder. She thought he was going to ignore her request, but finally he started talking. About what it was like growing up with Floyd as a father and Tyler as a brother and how things changed when Neil came into his life. About how Neil took Tyler under his wing when Floyd did not seem to have much time for his son. About Tyler’s wanderlust. And about his need for a constant adrenaline rush, which is why he decided to be a firefighter, knowing that his frequent scrapes with the law would most likely discourage anybody in county law enforcement from hiring him.

“So he died working?” Charlotte asked as she hugged Tig even tighter.

“No, he died while drag racing when he was off duty.” Tig huffed a sad laugh.

“Oh, Tig. I am so sorry.”

“I was in the passenger seat.”

“Oh my God, Tig.”

“His buddies were the ones that rescued us. Well, rescued me. Cut me out of the car. Cut Tyler out, too, but it was already too late for him. That’s why Floyd says it was the wrong boy that died. It
should
have been me.”

“Tig . . .”

“It’s true. I had skipped school. I was a junior. Neil had been working with Tyler on his bronc riding, and—”

Charlotte interrupted him. “Wait. Tyler rode broncos? Like bucking broncos?”

“Yep. Remember, adrenaline junkie? Fighting fires, bronc riding, drag racing. If it got your heart pumping like crazy, he did it.”

Charlotte ran a flat palm over Tig’s back. “This is a memorial piece, huh?”

Tig nodded.

Oh, honey.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured into his ear and pressed her lips to his sweet face. “Thank you for telling me about him.”

“I miss him. I mean, there was a certain amount of hero worship going because, you know, badass bronco-riding, fire-fighting big brother, right? But he was a good guy. He had a big heart and would give you the shirt off his back if he thought you needed it.”

“What about the farm?”

“Oh, Tyler loved the farm. I mean, he took off and was gone for months at a time, but he was always back for plantings and harvests and to help when things got rough.”

“So things have been tough, financially, for a while?

Tig laughed. “Things are always tough for the little guys. But, yeah. Remember those floods back in the mid-1990s? Yeah, we got hit hard. I remember Floyd and Tyler arguing because Tyler wanted to quit high school and just work on the farm, but Floyd wouldn’t let him. So Tyler went and got his GED early. He worked hard and played harder; ergo, the problems with the law.”

Charlotte looked at Tig affectionately. “‘Ergo.’”