Lass Ride: Crossroads

Chapter 9

WWE might have been a big cloud, but that also meant it had a substantial silver lining. Hunter arranged for Becky to get to her apartment the day after she left her friends, and within her first week away she had everything packed up and moved to a condo in a completely different city, the new bike she was promised gleaming in her garage. After disconnecting her old number, she got a new one—as well as a new phone, just to be safe—and called her family, telling them not to worry about any rumours they might hear in the coming weeks and not to give her new contact information to anyone who happened to call. She couldn't remember if she had given her mother's number to Charlotte, so she was trying to cover all her bases.

She also texted Dean—Don, rather—since her promise nagged at her, but she didn't say much. Hi, Don! It's Ricki from the organic store. If he could pick an easy alias, so could she: a feminization of her brother's name. Your favourite granola bars just came back in stock. I'm on holidays for the next couple weeks, so I'll make sure some are put on hold for you. Dean had replied almost instantly—and frequently: several times a day for the first week—but Becky couldn't bring herself to reply right away.

As she expected, she didn't get to return to action immediately. There were the standard medical and physical examinations to undergo, and an afternoon of discussions with lawyers regarding the contract. Then, not long after she had finished unpacking and decorating at her new condo, Hunter had called. "Steph and I would like you to stay with us for a few days. We want you to have a few practice matches, just to get back into the swing of things," he explained, "but I don't want to put you at the performance centre. Everyone's signed NDAs, but you know someone's going to snap a picture and then your surprise return will be spoiled. We want to keep everything under wraps as long as we can."

Becky was frankly surprised they had managed it this long. She had done her part, wearing a dark wig out in public and clothes that weren't typically her style, but it was impossible to keep secrets for long in their business. "Sure. I can be—"

"Pack for a week, just to be safe. I'll have my assistant call you with your flight information." And that was that. Hunter's assistant had called a few hours later and the next day, after a first-class flight, Becky was being driven from the airport to Hunter and Stephanie's home. When she arrived, Hunter appeared to be holding back a teenage girl. "See?" he was telling her. "I wasn't lying, Aurora. Now let her—"

"BECKY LYNCH IS STAYING AT OUR HOUSE?" The girl's voice rose to an ear-splitting shriek. "Murphy! Vaughn! BECKY LYNCH IS HERE!"

Hunter did his best to block the doorway while Becky grabbed her bags and headed up the stairs. "Sorry about that. Aurora didn't believe that I had re-signed you, so I thought I'd offer her some proof, and now. . . ." He nodded in the direction of the flailing arms and wild hair behind him. "Yeah, you'll probably get suckered in. Work-outs, practice matches. . . ."

Becky peeked under Hunter's arm, where there were now two young girls pushing at him. "Practice matches, huh?"

"I've been training with Natalya!" one of the girls proclaimed. "I'm going to wrestle as soon as I'm old enough, no matter what Dad says."

"ME TOO! ME TOO!" A younger voice entered the fray, and Becky thought she heard Stephanie in the distance, hollering, "Sorry, babe! I tried! But Attila got in the way—"

"That's that, then." Pretending to roll his eyes, Hunter stepped to the side and motioned to the three young girls clustered behind him. "Becky, meet my daughters: Aurora, Murphy, and Vaughn. Girls, this is—"

"Becky!" Even though she was the oldest, Aurora was the one bouncing up and down. She settled down a bit at a look from her father, and then she squared her shoulders. "It's really cool to meet you, Becky. Can I take your bag?"