Chapter 24 SCARLETT
SCARLETT
“Here you go, baby.” I set the plate of raw burgers beside the grill and stood on my tiptoes to kiss Luke’s cheek.
He bent, turning in time to get my lips instead. “Thanks, beautiful.”
“What else do you need?”
“Nothing.” He opened the barbecue’s lid and began putting on the patties, the meat sizzling as it hit the hot grate. “We’ll be ready soon.”
“Cass isn’t here yet.” I frowned. “Maybe she changed her mind.”
“She’ll come.”
“I hope so.”
I hadn’t seen Cassandra since that night at the Warrior clubhouse.
She hadn’t returned to Clifton Forge since the kidnapping.
Her parents had gone to visit her and check in.
They’d returned her car. And when Luke and I had spoken to them, they’d given me Cass’s number.
But besides a handful of text messages, she’d been avoiding me.
Even when we’d gone to Missoula and tried to arrange a visit, she’d made excuses.
When I’d spotted her car in her parents’ driveway this morning, I’d texted her an invite for dinner. To my surprise, she’d said yes.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have asked her over with so many people here.” Our new deck was filled with friends.
Since I had the interior of the house the way I wanted it—for now—my focus over the past three weeks had been on the yard.
We’d hired a local construction crew to build a deck.
The landscaping we’d tackled ourselves. Luke had come home every evening from work and whatever I hadn’t been able to do during the day while he’d been at the station, he’d helped me with after dinner.
The yard had been transformed in less than a month, and now that the project was mostly finished, we’d invited everyone over for a Saturday barbecue.
The deck stretched nearly the entire width of the house and was filled with planters and chairs and couches.
My buying spree had been expensive, fast and so much fun.
He’d scoffed at the number of seats, but as I looked around at our friends lounging comfortably, I made a mental note to get a couple more chairs.
“You guys need another beer?” Dash shoved up from the chaise where he’d been sitting, walking to the coolers we’d set against the iron railing.
“I’ll take one.” Leo raised a hand from his seat on the curved sectional.
Emmett and Shaw, seated beside him, both simply nodded.
And Isaiah, cuddling his four-month-old daughter, Amelia, adjusted her sunhat with his tattooed hand and met Dash by the cooler. “Any more of those root beers left?”
Dash dug through the ice, pulled out a handful of bottles and stood, delivering them to the guys. He’d twisted the top on his own beer just as his sons, who’d been playing in the yard, bounded up the deck and collided with his legs.
“Can I try a drink, Daddy?” Xander asked.
“No.”
The four-year-old didn’t listen. He walked to the cooler, his hands sifting through the ice.
“Me too.” Zeke, a year younger than his brother, started digging too.
“What’s this one?” Xander tugged Luke’s favorite amber from the ice and Dash snatched it out of his hand.
“Not for kids.”
The look the boy sent his father was full of dare and challenge.
Emmett laughed. “God, I can’t wait to watch him push every one of your buttons.”
There was no doubt that the Slater boys were going to be a riot. They were already giving their parents a run for their money, but Dash and Bryce seemed to love every minute.
“I’ve got something special for you, Xander.” I walked over and opened the other cooler, the one we’d filled with waters and soda and juice boxes. I found one for each of them, pushed in the attached straws and sent them on their way to the yard.
All they had to play with was a soccer ball and frisbee, but soon, the space would be more suitable for kids. Maybe a swing set and a slide. A covered sandbox might look nice beside the flower bed I was going to put in along the fence.
“Uh-oh.” Presley came out of the french doors, followed by Bryce and Genevieve. “I know that face.”
“Me too,” Luke muttered from the grill. “It means another project.”
I shrugged. “This yard needed me.”
He chuckled and tipped his own beer bottle to his lips.
Presley held out two glasses, both filled with ice but different colored drinks. “Margarita or sangria?”
“Oh, I’ve got a beer inside.” A nonalcoholic beer. I had it stashed in the mini fridge in the garage. I’d snuck in there earlier and poured one into a pint glass, hoping no one would see me or the empty bottles in the trash.
Luke and I had just found out two days ago we were expecting, and though I was excited to tell my sister, I wasn’t quite ready yet.
For now, it was our secret.
We hadn’t gotten pregnant on a rainy day—maybe next time, if we were so blessed. This house needed babies.
From what we could guess, we’d conceived right before the drama with the Warriors. Luke and I hadn’t used a condom when we’d come home from the Smith River trip. We’d forgotten a few times in the tent too.
I liked to think we’d made this baby on the river.
Whenever it had happened, he or she had been made with love and would soon be joining the fray.
“Should we talk about the Warriors and get it over with?” Dash asked as Bryce settled onto his knee.
“Yeah.” Luke closed the lid on the grill. Then he took my hand, fingering the diamond on my ring finger along with the coordinating wedding band, and led me to an empty chair.
I perched on the armrest as he settled into the seat, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.
“I talked to Maria yesterday. Three guys are out on bail.”
“Who?” Emmett asked.
Luke listed off the names. “From what she told me, they’re some of the newest prospects. Not full members.”
“Could be a problem.” Dash shook his head. “If they’re trying to get in Tucker’s good graces, they might be willing to act out his revenge.”
“I’ll dig into them some,” Emmett said.
“And get us some pictures so we know who to watch for,” Shaw added.
“I’ve already got them inside,” Luke said. “And I’ve passed them around to my team at the station so the officers on patrol can keep an eye out.”
“Any word on Tucker?” Leo asked.
Luke nodded. “The judge didn’t grant him or any of his senior members bail. They’ll be in custody until their trials.”
“And when is that going to be?” Genevieve asked, settling beside Isaiah and their daughter. She worked as a lawyer in town and I had a feeling in the coming months, she’d answer a lot of my questions.
“Maria said the prosecution is hoping to start them within the next few months,” Luke answered.
Few months? That seemed like a long time to wait. But since we were talking murder and drugs and whatever else the Warriors were involved in, the process would probably be slow. I’d make it a point one of these evenings to visit Genevieve and Isaiah’s house and pull her aside for some questions.
I didn’t know how the criminal justice system worked, and though Luke was here, whenever I brought up the Warriors, his shoulders bunched and his forehead furrowed. Much like they were now.
We were all looking over our shoulders and the stress was weighing him down most.
It would be that way for a while. That was unavoidable. But I could ease the burden just a little by saving questions for Genevieve or having a list of projects to keep Luke’s mind on other things.
The group went silent, each of us absorbing. All of our lives had changed since the Warriors had been arrested.
Everyone was on full-scale alert.
Shaw drove Presley to work at the garage each morning. Dash rarely let Bryce and their kids out of his sight. Genevieve and Isaiah were much the same.
And Luke . . .
Luke was terrified for his wife.
When he wasn’t home, I had a protection detail. The Clifton Forge Police Department had few resources to spare, but one of his officers was stationed at the house during the day until Luke returned home each night.
I didn’t go anywhere—to the grocery store or to lunch with Presley or to the backyard—alone.
He wouldn’t hear me complain. I had no desire to cause him trouble.
Luke lifted a hand to cover mine and I met his worried gaze. “It’ll be okay,” I promised.
I had to believe that. We’d come too far to let the Warriors ruin our lives. We’d be cautious, but I wasn’t giving up the future and hiding.
No more hiding.
“Anything else?” Emmett asked.
Luke shook his head. “That’s it.”
“Let’s just stay vigilant,” Dash said. “Tucker might be behind bars, but he’s always going to be a threat.”
“Until he’s dead,” Presley mumbled. “Maybe we should order a hit? Like that Tiger King guy.”
“You do remember that I’m a cop, right?” Luke asked.
She laughed. “Pretend you didn’t hear that.”
Luke chuckled and ran a hand down my back before standing and going back to his station at the grill.
For today, the Warriors were not a problem. Tomorrow, that might be different, but all I wanted was to enjoy an evening with new friends and my husband.
The one more thing I’d asked of Luke before we’d gone on our camping and floating trip had been to swing by the courthouse so we could get married.
It had been a no-fuss affair. Presley and Shaw had come to stand as our witnesses. And when Luke had slid his mother’s diamond ring on my finger, a ring she’d given him before she’d died, the two of us had exchanged vows.
I hadn’t needed a fancy affair. I’d just wanted Luke.
My dress had been a simple white, strapless dress Presley and I had found at the one and only women’s clothing store in town. After the judge had pronounced us husband and wife, we’d celebrated with dinner at Stockyard’s.
Then we’d come home as Mr. and Mrs. Rosen.
The doorbell rang.
Cass.
“I’ll get it.” I jumped from my chair to race inside.
“Will one of you go with her?” Luke asked Dash.
Dash was already standing to escort me to the door since Luke was busy cooking.
“It’s probably Cassandra,” I told him as he turned the deadbolt. His tall body blocked the view, then he stepped out of the way so I could peer past his shoulder.