Rachel's Rebellion (Moss Bayou) (14 page)

Gabriel or
Deke, it didn’t matter to her. She needed him.

Reminding
her brain of where she was, Rachel watched him from the corner of her eye. He
carried himself differently now. His walk was different. The way he presented
Deke to the world was nothing like the real Gabriel. The real man she felt so
comfortable with, so designed for, that she met him secretly. Another smile
threatened the corner of her mouth. Thinking over the past month, she realized
everything between them had been her initiative. He’d let her take the lead.
She was glad he had. She was drawn to him in a way that thrilled her and
confused her all at the same time.

He glanced
her way briefly, then cast his eyes around the room. She suddenly wished for
the beautiful ice blue eyes he hid. If only everyone else could see who you
really are, she thought. Once everyone knew the truth, things could be
different. She prayed. She hoped.

Loud voices
raised above the hum of the crowd drawing her attention. It was coming from
Tyler Devlin. Gabriel and Wyatt were standing there. She mentally corrected
herself. Deke and Wylie were standing at Ty’s booth. Wylie, his face looking
fierce, was saying something only Ty could hear. Deke, standing beside Wylie, reached
out and grabbed Ty behind the neck. From the face Ty made, it was not a
friendly grip. Wylie leaned in close and whispered something to Ty.

“What’s
going on?” Brody moved to stand and Hope grabbed his arm.

“Brody,”
Hope begged. “Stay here, please.”

“I can’t let
Ty get into anything he might need help with.”

“They won’t
hurt him,” Lily mumbled and everyone looked at her. “I mean, they won’t hurt
him…we are all watching.”

Rachel gave
Lily a look and she answered with a slight shrug.

“No one
needs to deal with them,” Brody continued. “They’re just trouble. They need to
get out of here. Matter of fact, they should just leave town.”

“I have
questions about them,” Heather added from across the table as she looked Rachel
in the eye.

“What kind
of questions?” Brody glared at his younger sister. “You don’t need to know
anything about those losers.”

“I just said
I have questions, Brody.”

Heather
glared at Brody and he returned the favor.

Voices grew louder
and Ty’s friends started to stand up. Ty, for his part, remained seated. Wylie
grabbed Darryl’s shirt as he stood. When Darryl went to throw a punch, Wylie
grabbed the flying fist and used it to lever Darryl to the floor. Thomas jumped
up to defend his friend and Wylie, with lightning quick movement, flung Thomas.
The man landed almost on top of Darryl. Ty jumped at that moment and Rachel’s
eyes zeroed in on him. Deke had the grip around the back of Ty’s neck so tight,
his skin seemed to stretch across his throat. Ty gave one last effort and swung
his fist toward Deke. Without hesitation, Deke Johnson’s free hand fisted and
landed hard into Ty’s gut. Wylie grabbed Ty by one arm as Deke grabbed the
other and began to half walk, half drag Ty with them. They stepped over Darryl
and Thomas. Both had sense enough to stay on the floor. Quickly, they marched
Ty out of the café.

Everyone in
the café seemed as shocked and frozen as Rachel felt. Brody, who had wanted to
help, remained still thanks to Hope’s death grip on his arm. Lily grabbed her
hand under the table as blue lights flashed through the plate glass windows
lining the front of the café. Silently, everyone watched as Russ Patterson got
out of his police car and went toward Ty, Deke, and Wylie. Words were
exchanged, Ty said something and then to everyone’s astonishment, Deke, Wylie,
and Ty kept walking while Russ Patterson got back into his car. The blue lights
shut off and the car slowly pulled from view.

Slowly, the
sounds of the café began to seep back into place. Utensils against plates, ice
cubes rattled in glasses, young children talking without their inside voices.
Little by little, talk from just about every table began to join together in
what sounded like a muffled hum. Rachel looked at everyone seated at their
table. Hope whispered to Brody. Lily continued to hold her hand tightly.
Heather looked at her with an unreadable expression.

“I’m going
to the restroom,” Lily announced to no one in particular.

“I’ll go
too.” Rachel had to get away from everyone for a minute. She had to process
what she had just seen. Yes, Gabriel was a cop. Yes, Gabriel was working
undercover. Her brain knew how to process what she had seen but Ty had been
hurt. Ty was her friend. How could she accept what she had seen? With no answer
in sight, she followed Lily.

Once in the
restroom, Lily searched the stalls. When she found them empty she turned to
Rachel.

So, they
weren’t here to pee?

Lily cast a
quick glance her way and then positioned her eyes on the door.

“I have to
talk to you.”

“About?”
Although, she had an idea of the subject matter. Lily seemed as antsy as she
felt.

“Are you and
Deke Johnson having a thing?”

How did she
answer that? Yes, I’m involved with someone who just rammed a fist into one of
our friends.

“Why ask
now? You saw what you saw, Lily.” She shrugged.

“I, um…”
Lily did a shrug of her own. “I guess I want to know is all.”

“I figure
this has more to do with that kiss between you and Wylie, than it does me.”

Lily paced
the floor in front of the wall of sinks. “Maybe. Maybe that and…”

“I don’t
know how to process what I just saw,” Rachel finally said.

“You’re
thinking about ending things?”

Rachel
thought about Gabriel. He made her feel alive. Wanted. Loved. Was that enough
now? She looked at Lily and shook her head. “I’m not thinking clearly.”

“It’s what
it is,” Lily whispered. “I don’t think you should give it much weight. Not
yet.”

“You don’t
think his ramming a fist into Ty’s gut needs consideration?”

Lily looked
away for a moment. “No.”

“What’s with
you, Lily? Was one kiss that good?”

As she
waited for Lily’s reply, she saw different emotions play across her face.

“Lily? It
was just one kiss, right?”

The door
opened and Heather walked in. She made no pretense of needing the facilities.
“So, Rachel…” She gave her a look and then turned to Lily. “You too.” Heather’s
finger pointed as she spoke. “Something is up with you both. We’ve got possible
drug ring members lip locked with each of you. We’ve got Mavis and Velma having
a field day with a juicy story that’s taken on a life of its own. And now,
we’ve got a friend being beaten and dragged out of the café. Somebody needs to
fill me in.”

“Um, fill
you in?” Lily stammered and looked away.

“Yes, fill me
in before I inadvertently screw up whatever this is. There is definitely
something here. I saw things, remember?” Heather paused and sighed. “Look, I’m
not here to judge or point fingers. I don’t have that right. Obviously, I had
secrets, too.  I’m only here as a friend.”

“How about
being friend enough to not ask right now?” Lily’s plea was written all over her
face. Rachel couldn’t help but feel there was more than just a kiss. Had Lily
and Wyatt spent time together?

“Okay.”
Heather smiled as she gave them a nod.  “If I have to wait, I’ll wait. I
know and love both of you. I’ll assume there are solid reasons for whatever
this is.”

“Thanks,”
Rachel told her. “Soon, okay?”

Heather
nodded. “We better get out of here or Hope will be in here wondering about this
secret meeting.”

Heather was
right. Drawing any more attention to her feelings for Gabriel was not what she
wanted. Hope would definitely sense something was going on. The three of them
walked out of the restroom and back to their table. They took their seats just
as Silas and Aurora Prescott walked through the door.

Rachel saw
Brody and Hope exchange a look. The memory of Edward Prescott must still haunt
Hope, she figured. It was a reasonable reaction. It had only been eleven months
ago. Once the town’s golden boy, Edward had shot Charlie, kidnapped Hope and
left her in a burning house to die. Then he took his own way out of the spiral
he had fallen into when his power and prestige couldn’t help him cover his
crimes. Since Edward’s crimes and suicide, Silas and Aurora Prescott, nor
Edward’s widow for that matter, really didn’t mingle with the people of Moss
Bayou very often. Rarely were they seen around town now whereas before his
death, Edward’s campaign for the Senate had the Prescott family politicking and
kissing babies everywhere. Silas was always working behind the campaign scenes,
forming political alliances for future use her father had once said. Tonight it
made sense to see them, though. Aurora was Violet Cross’s older sister. Laurel
was her niece. When Rachel had gone with her family to the Cross home, Aurora,
looking regal as always, sat beside Violet and held her as Moss Bayou came to
pay its condolences.

“Didn’t
expect to see the Prescotts here,” Lily mumbled to no one in particular.

At that moment,
Russ Patterson walked through the door. Rachel looked at him. Guess he hadn’t
really left. When he saw the Prescotts he went up to them, shook Silas
Prescott’s hand and started speaking softly. Rachel wasn’t surprised. Russ
Patterson, like the town, was probably offering condolences.

Their
waitress, Becky Thibodaux arrived with a tray of appetizers and plates.
Everyone looked a little surprised.

“Decided to
get a snack while everyone went to the restroom,” Brody explained. “By the way,
Lily. Anyone call Jesse and Paige?”

“Yes. Mom
was able to send him an email. He called from the ship.”

Rachel half
listened to Lily and Brody’s exchange but couldn’t take her eyes away from the
group standing near the door. It seemed longer than a typical quick greeting
and sympathy offer.

“He wanted
to come back for Tanner,” Lily was saying.

“Will they?”
Hope asked.

“I think so
but I never really did speak to Mom about it.” Lily hesitated. “I didn’t see
them last night.”

Rachel
turned to look at Lily. Their eyes met and quickly Lily looked away.

What’s up
with that?

She ran a
mental check of the events of last night at the hotel. The only thing she was
sure of was she and Gabriel left before Lily. Lily had walked away. With Wyatt.
Holding his hand. Where had Lily gone?

The voices
from the group near the door grew a tad louder.

“We’re going
to stop this stuff from invading our town,” she heard Russ Patterson tell the
Prescotts.

“Whoever is
putting our children in danger, needs to be stopped,” came Silas Prescott’s reply.
“I know Dex Greer has the police department working overtime to clean this mess
from Moss Bayou.”

“You can be
sure of that Mr. Prescott.”

“Good, Russ.
That’s good.” Silas placed an arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Family and
safety are important. In this town, family is everything. We can’t let
criminals come in here and destroy what we’ve all worked so hard to protect.
Moss Bayou doesn’t need that.”

“We’re not
going to let that happen, Mr. Prescott. This town is big on family, just as you
are.”

Silas pulled
Aurora in closer. “Yes, my wife is very important to me. Right now she’s
hurting with the pain of her niece’s death. You know the police department has
my full support.”

“I’ll be
sure to pass that on to Chief Greer.”

Rachel, like
everyone else in the café watched and listened. When Russ and Silas shook hands
and said goodbye, she turned her attention back to her friends.

“Wow.” Brody
whistled through his teeth. “That was like a public service announcement.”

Rachel sat on Brody and Hope’s back porch. Down the porch
steps and to the right was the newly completed outdoor kitchen as Hope called
it. With a built in grill on one side, it had a deep fryer and cooktop on the
other. Off of the side with the grill was a large boiling area for seafood.
Brody called it his outdoor man cave. Now, he stood at the grill, tending
chicken, sausage, and burgers. One by one, they had all arrived on the pretense
of having a normal friendly dinner. Rachel didn’t feel normal. She, Heather,
and Lily had migrated together into their own private group. They were bound by
secrets and little Levi. He slept peacefully in a portable crib beside them.
They all shared in watching over him.  Luke stood out with Brody at the
grill and Phillip was there, too. Phillip was playing his role. As chit chat
rattled around her, Rachel tried to see Gabriel in place of Phillip but she
couldn’t place his image in the group of friends she saw before her. That made
her sadder than she already was. And yet, sad wasn’t really the right word. She
couldn’t name how she felt.