Chapter 17
Ranger
Today, I’m riding with the boys. Since the club officially disbanded, we still try to get our bikes out on the range as often as possible. The last few months have been hard with what happened to Lottie and the vet clinic, but today is our day. It always pisses me off when I think about what happened with the Club that I became a part of when I moved here, but the pain is eased when the guys are around. The majority of us are here in this town because of Sarge, and everyone other than Davis served with him at one point in time or another. He’s the soul of us. And these guys? They are my family. Not my brother. Not my ex-wife. And not my fucking parents who decided to stick by my brother and deserted me when I needed them most.
After the craziness, today we all felt safe enough to leave town. Mostly. I still worry about Elle and what those flower petals meant. But I’m not bringing that up with the guys. Sarge is leading us, with Davis and Tiny following him, and Joker and myself bring up the rear. We also have an old Club friend, Preacher, riding with us, which works since one of our stops is going to be his brother’s farm in Briar Mountain where we’ll have lunch. Sam Carmichael, his nephew, is riding along. Him and Joker have an interesting relationship with Joker’s proclivities to skirt the law and Sam being the law, but they get along and work together.
“This is the life boys!” Sarge yells as we rev our engines to hit the road.
It’s the perfect day. Early spring with the sun shining. Not a rain cloud in the sky and the wind is brisk and cool on my face. The wind whipping around me is almost a comfort. The only thing that would make it perfect? If a set of arms were wrapped around me, holding me tight as we fly down the highway. Fuck. No. I don’t need that. Or want it. I’m fine alone. End of subject.
Once we’ve made the fifty-minute ride to Briar Mountain and are sitting at tables in the orchard, Joker sits next to me.
“How’s the side project going?”
“Same thing as every week. He goes to dinner at the Mexican place. I’m not even sure they talk. Then she leaves, he leaves, they go home. Separately. Have you had any luck finding a name?”
He shakes his head. “It’s like she doesn’t exist.”
“But you know she does.”
“I haven’t been able to find it. Thinking about getting Nate involved.”
“Will that involve Daniel, too?” I’d rather keep him out of all of this. I know he takes his risks running a security company, but he’s got a family to think about now.
“Don’t know yet. But if we need to pull him in, we will. I have a bad feeling about all of this.”
“Do you really think he’s cheating on her?” I ask, knowing he might be too invested to answer honestly.
“I don’t know. That would make it so much easier to get rid of him, wouldn’t it?” He gets an evil grin on his face. “I’d enjoy watching her take his balls off.”
“I bet you would,” I laugh. “And as far as bad feelings go, we’re both alive thanks to that gut of yours. You know I’ll listen to anything you have to say about it.”
We look up to find Tiny and Davis sitting side by side, their heads together, a phone between them and both wearing goofy grins. After a particularly loud cackle from the two of them, Sarge finally asks what we’re all wondering.
“What’s so fucking funny?”
Davis can’t keep the smile off his face. He’s totally whipped—and I’m really happy for him.
“The girls are all in Baltimore on a surprise wedding dress shopping spree,” Tiny tells us.
“A surprise?” Sarge asks.
“Yup. Right now, Elle has them trying on evening gowns not fit for public consumption. They are hideous,” Tiny confirms.
“Have they figured out they are there for wedding dresses yet?” Joker asks.
“If the pictures of them crying say anything, then yes.”
“And Elle is still alive?” I ask.
“Oh, yeah. She had a secret weapon. The moms,” Davis tells us. “My mom was so happy Elle called and invited her.”
“I bet that meant a lot to Trish,” Preacher adds, a small, fatherly smile on his face.
We move on to discussing the week of the wedding and when we should all head out. Tiny tells us about Elle’s opening and invite to be there Friday, and I adjust my own schedule to arrive in town the same day she does.
“How are the kids taking you two getting married?” Sarge asks Davis.
Trish and Davis grew up together but fell out for a while. When she moved back to town to take care of her siblings when her mom passed, they reconnected and life went sideways for a little while for them. Secrets and surprises kept them on their toes, but things seem to be calm in their lives now, and on top of the wedding, Davis is really excited to become a father.
“Harper and Owen are excited about it, and Harper is over the moon happy about the baby. Owen is worried he’s going to be pushed out, but he’s still excited and hopes it a girl.”
“So he can still be the baby boy?” Sarge guesses.
“Bingo. And Lucas…well Luc is as happy as—”
“A masturbatory new teenager who’s surrounded by his own funk can be?” Joker helpfully adds, making us all laugh.
“Something like that. He’s been hanging with Zach a lot. Staying over at his place a little bit more, but he’s adamant he isn’t moving out.”
“He’s a good kid,” Sarge tells us all. “He’s just finding his own footing in a world that has changed so much the last few years. From losing his mom, to Zach, and even Abigail coming home threw him into a tailspin for a while, but I think he’s evening out.”
When the Club broke apart, the county tried to take the clubhouse the former president, Raider, owned. Sarge bought it from them and has turned it into a safe place for kids—mostly boys—who need something they aren’t getting in their lives at home, if they even have homes. Him and Rosie, his lady love, have become certified foster parents and focus on the older kids who might need additional help. He’s been working with them all in the garage he owns, teaching them about the restoration of classic bikes and general maintenance for automobiles. It gives them a focus and a skill, and all the kids love it.
“That’s good to hear,” Davis says, a look of relief in his eyes. “He won’t talk to Trish at all about anything going on, so she’s been worried. And if she’s worried—”
“You’re worried,” we all chorus together.
“Owen is excited about the baby and going to the beach,” Tiny tells us. They have a bond that can’t be broken. He’s the uncle Owen never had, and Owen is the nephew Tiny doesn’t have yet.
“I think we’re all looking forward to the beach.” Joker nods. “A few days away from the grind, from the usual.”
“As long as Haper doesn’t throw any attitude.” Davis raises a brow.
“What attitude?” Joker challenges. “Careful there, Harp’s my girl.”
“Then you’re on Harper duty. Just watch out for the pre-teen tears.”
“Tears? Why are there tears?” Joker grimaces.
“Because she’s twelve. Ginny was the same, Trish was the same. I bet if you ask Lottie she’d tell you she was also a weepy, moody, angsty, boy crazy thing at that age. With attitude. Part of me wants to lock her up until she’s thirty.”
“Make it forty.” Joker nods.
I look around at all the guys, relaxed and having a good time, but Preacher catches my attention. He’s sitting on the edge of the group, watching us all like a proud papa with a contented smile on his face. Sam is next to him, but he’s looking at the orchard surrounding us and the land.
“Preacher, Trish been coming to see you?” Davis asks the man.
“She has. With Harper. I think Owen wants to start coming out, too. Harper’s really good with the horses, I think we’re going to try to find her one of her own to take care of. Start teaching her how to ride.” He gets a wistful look on his face. “Wish I had made sure she was on the back of a horse years ago.”
“You can’t live in regrets, Old Man,” Sarge tells him with a knowing look in his eyes.
“Only regret I have is that I didn’t take care of Raider sooner.”
“We all have that regret,” I tell him. “You are coming to the wedding, right?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. I didn’t have any of my own kids, just the nephews like Sammy here.” He reaches over and messes Sam’s hair up to laughter from the group. “But Patty Cake was my girl. She got the raw end of a lot of sticks, and we’re making up for lost time now. I might not be her blood relation, but she’s as much family to me as anyone else.”
Sam smiles at his uncle, having heard the stories by now.
“And this one is thinking about leaving the nest.” Preacher bumps Sam’s shoulder with his.
“What?” Joker perks up.
“There’s an opening for a junior detective down here. Your boss recommended me to the new Chief and we’ve been talking.”
“Nope.” Joker speaks up, but there’s a smile on his face. “I don’t like it, I just got you broke in.”
Sam laughs, shaking his head. “Sorry man, guess you’ll just have to start doing things by the book.”
Joker scoffs, like he’s offended. “I do everything by the book. It’s all perfectly legal.”
“You are so full of shit.” Sam laughs again.
“Are you really thinking about transferring?” Preacher asks him.
“I am. Boulder Canyon seems pretty clean these days, but it looks like trouble is still brewing around Briar Mountain. The college makes it an easy place to drop drugs.”
“After all the shit with the Pavlov family,” Joker adds. “It’s a fucking free for all, isn’t it?”
“Seems that way,” Sam agrees. “And it’s an opportunity to do more than write tickets and help old ladies across the street, you know?”
“As long as you remember where you came from and come back every once in a while,” Preacher tells him.
The heavy conversation seems to be over with those words, and we all break off into smaller groups. Preacher’s brother comes out to the orchard and the two of them wander off, looking at some branches. Sam and Joker talk about the drug movement up and down the range, and Davis and Tiny go back to the updates they’re getting about the dress shopping.
“What’s going on with you?” Sarge asks, sitting down next to me at the table. “You seem out of sorts.”
“Only you would see that,” I tell him.
“It’s my job. Is it a case or the girl?”
“’The Girl’.” I finger quote. “You say it like she’s a thing and not a person.”
“Fuck off with that,” he barks at me. “You are trying to classify her as a thing, not me. Because if you see her as a person, you might start to care.”
“I do see her as a fucking person, Sarge.” I seethe.
“And yet, you’re mad at me for asking.”
“I’m mad at the assumption that I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Do you? Know what you’re doing?”
I stare at him for a long moment, debating on how to answer. With the truth, or with the same fucking lie I’ve been telling myself for weeks.
“Won’t do you any good to lie about it,” he calls me out. “I’ll know, then I’ll have to beat the shit out of you, and you’ll go home all bloody, and Rosie’ll kill me if I hurt my hand again.”
“Fine. No. Is that what you want to hear? That I have no fucking clue what I’m doing?”
He smiles, but it’s not a happy smile. “No, Ranger, it doesn’t make me feel better. One day you have to realize that your capacity to care and to love is immense and the only person who can’t see it is you.”
Before I can respond, my alert goes off, notifying me that Keith is leaving Boulder Canyon. I look up, making eye contact with Joker, who shrugs. He’s not heading this way, but toward Diamond Cove. Joker tilts his chin and pulls out his phone, calling a contact he has to keep an eye on him. Maybe he can identify the woman. Maybe he can catch him cheating, which is what Joker is hoping for.
Sarge stands and pats me on the back. “You don’t have to give me a response. But think about what I said, son. Know that no matter what happened in the past, your future is what you make it to be. And that can be happy with someone who challenges you and makes you feel, or you can keep up the damaged grump thing you have going on. I’ll stand by you, either way.”
I nod to Sarge, but don’t have any words to give him. I hear him sigh as he walks away, but I know he knows I’ll think about everything he said. I’m completely in my head when Tiny announces that the shopping trip was a success and the girls are on their way home. It’s load up time. We hit the road headed north. A few more minutes to enjoy the wind in our faces and the freedom that comes with sitting on a bike.
We all break off and go our separate directions when we make it to the town line. I go home and shower, grabbing something to eat, giving the girls enough time to get back to town. I drive by Elle’s apartment and see her Jeep in the driveway and a light on in the apartment. There’s something on her porch, but I don’t want to be found out by looking at what it is. We need to get cameras on her front door.
I head to the shop, knowing I’m not going to sleep anytime soon. There’s always paperwork to be done when you own a business—and I own two. So I sit in the office with the cameras on, and when I see Elle sneaking through the darkness and up the back stairs, I can’t help but smile. Something told me she’d be here tonight, and I feel better seeing her, even if it’s through the camera lens. Only when I’m sure she’s in her studio for the night am I able to go home and go to bed. Knowing she’s safe is all that matters. And that thud I felt in my chest when she came on screen? We’re just going to ignore that for now.