Brady Remington Landed Me in Jail

"Okay," I whispered and held onto the prescription paper he'd given me.

When I left, I glanced towards Kid's, but it was still closed. Brady's head was stuffed in some magazine while Frank Stephens watched him. I would've assumed that he'd look at Brady with loathing or hatred, but it wasn't there. I didn't understand it. Instead, the older man watched him with a guarded look.

I bypassed both and went into the pharmacy where no one else waited. When I gave my information and handed over the prescription, the pharmacist barely glanced at me before he started filling it.

"Hey." A hand clamped on my arm.

I screamed.

"It's just me," Kid soothed. He patted my arm again and frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just…I thought I was the only one in here." Brady hadn't heard me so I relaxed. No further fight was to be had. "You scared me, that's all."

"Oh." Kid frowned again, itched his head absentmindedly, and then handed over his own prescription.

"You're okay?" I was embarrassed at how raspy my voice sounded. Why couldn't I be normal once in my lifetime?

"Huh?"

"I mean, you were bleeding. You don't have a concussion or anything? What meds are you getting?"

"Personal much?" Kid mused, half grinning. "I'm just kidding, Rayna. I'm fine. Doc cleaned up some cuts I got from my car and then I was smart enough to ask for a refill of my allergy stuff. You?"

"Same. Allergies."

He nodded easily and then glanced over his shoulder. "That's a little eerie, isn't it? When my dad first found out that I got punched by some kid, he went berserk. And then, I don't get it. He just dropped the charges."

"What about the second time? Deputy Doug told me that your dad was in a tither. He wanted Brady charged to the fullest."

"Nah." Kid shrugged again and scratched his shoulder this time. "My dad's mostly talk. I think he kinda likes Brady, something about how 'he's a man and he stands up for himself'. I don't get it. He hates women and he doesn't seem to like you."

"I've noticed. He hates me." I shivered.

"Which is funny because he loves to…you know…with women, but he loathes them outside of the bedroom."

I marveled at how careless he sounded. He was talking about his father. Who talked about their dad like that? I didn't even know my dad.

"Um…did your dad ever know my mom?"

Kid snorted and turned to watch the pharmacist. "Probably. My dad seems to know every female around these parts."

"No, I mean…has he ever talked about my mom or anything?" I hated how I couldn't even ask a simple question. Then I did a very Viola-like thing and cursed under my breath.

Kid glanced at me. "Did you just swear?"

"No," I lied, wide eyed.

"It's okay. You can curse, you know. I mean, you're in love with Brady. Do you know who Brady is?"

I froze in place and couldn't look away from Kid's teasing eyes nor could I meet them. "What did you just say?"

I couldn't breathe.

Kid laughed again and threw an arm around my shoulder. He jerked me against his side. "I'm teasing, Rayna, but you are best friends with the douche. He swears all the time. Actually, thinking about it, he's not that bad when you're around." His hip bumped mine. "Good job, Janke. What other powers do you have?"

"I don't have powers."

"I'm kidding. I just meant…nevermind." He moved slightly away and scratched at his arm.

"You keep itching yourself. Do you have a rash?"

"Oh. No. I just do that sometimes when I'm around my dad. He has that power over me."

I stared, nonplussed, and narrowed my eyes. So your dad's never spoken about my mom?"

"Nah, but who knows. He gets around. He likes to chase skirts, but I don't know why. It's only caused him to become a bitter old man. I don't know about hating you, but he really hates your grandmother. My dad's messed up. Does your mom live around here? Isn't she in Florida or something?"

I swallowed painfully. "She moved to Florida before I was born."

"Oh. So you were born down there? I thought you lived up here all your life."

"I have. My mom thought my grandparents would do a better job raising me so they took me in when I was a baby."

"Oh." Kid shifted on his feet, uncomfortable. Then he relinquished, "My dad did the same thing. Or, well…I guess he didn't give me up, but he let my mom raise me. He didn't fight her about it. They divorced when she found out she was pregnant with me. My mom told me that she didn't want me to be raised with my dad as a role model. He was always having affairs, but after they got divorced, he went nuts. Or so I've heard. Some woman in the grocery store told me how he had an affair with a new woman every week when my mom divorced him."

I did the math and realized, "That must've been when my mom left for Florida. She'd been down there six months before I was conceived."

"Really?"