Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
The Truck
I crumbled up the foil of the gas station breakfast burrito and shoved it into the paper bag at my feet.
“Better?” Archer asked, shooting me a grin.
“Better,” I repeated. “I was getting hangry.”
“Getting?”
I mock-glared at him for a moment before changing the subject. “You sure she’s okay?”
“Lenni’s fine.”
“I still feel like a rotten person.”
“She told us to go,” he said.
“You know what, you’re right. Actually, she commanded us to go,” I said with a laugh.
When we’d told Lenni we wanted to cancel our weekend getaway, she’d adamantly shook her head and refused to let us.
I looked out the window.
“I miss her,” he said. “And Mildred.”
“Oh, thank God. I thought I was just being weak. I miss them too.”
“This is why it’s good we went,” he said. “I’m glad the weather cleared up. It was nasty there for a while.”
It was still cold, but the sky was blue and the sun was out. It would make walking around an outdoor festival much more pleasant.
Archer reached over the truck console for my hand. I gave his fingers a squeeze.
“Tell me something,” I began. “How did you and Brooks get jobs at Elk Ridge? I have no idea how you guys wound up here.”
“Cas called me months ago. He said his future father-in-law needed some extra ranch hands, and Brooks and I jumped at the opportunity.” He shrugged. “We needed a change of scenery, anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“We were on the rodeo circuit,” he explained.
“Brooks and I. We were working for a billionaire who was into racehorses. Nice guy, actually. Knew about Brooks’ past. He was okay with it, which is kind of insane.
But one of his colleagues found out about it and wasn’t fine with it. So, we got the axe.”
“I see,” I murmured.
Archer looked at me. “You look confused.”
“I’m not confused about that. That makes sense. Sounds like a shitty deal, but it makes sense. Then again, if you guys were still on the rodeo circuit, Poet and Brooks wouldn’t be getting married next week.”
“And you and I wouldn’t be together.”
“Do you think you’d have Lenni? If you were still on the rodeo circuit?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I wouldn’t have a lot of time for her. I’m glad it worked out the way it did.”
He squeezed my fingers and then took his hand back so he could place it on the wheel.
“You’re still confused about something, aren’t you?” he asked.
“Oh. Yeah. I’m wondering how the hell two bikers got involved with horses. I mean, I don’t know much about being a farrier, but it’s not like you can just decide one day to do it. It takes skill. Knowledge.”
Archer was quiet for a moment, his jaw clenching before he answered.
“When Brooks went to prison, I signed up for a farrier program. We’d been around horses all our lives.
Horses and motorcycles.” He shot me a grin.
“So, I took a few courses and then I did an apprenticeship. Then I found a job on the circuit and made sure Brooks had a job when he got out.”
“Ah.”
“I thought about working on motorcycles,” he said. “But that would mean I was constantly around bikers. And I wanted . . .”
I waited for him to go on.
“As much distance from the club as possible.”
“It must have been really bad then,” I said.
“Yeah, it was.” Archer ran a thumb along his chin. “The club had been going to shit for a long time. That’s why Brooks wanted us out. Things eventually got so bad the whole chapter disbanded. A few of the brothers went down to Waco and joined the chapter there.”
“Colt’s club, right?”
Archer nodded. “The others stayed in South Dakota. I don’t really know what they’re up to. I don’t keep in touch.”
“And after all that, why did you entertain the idea of joining up with the Coeur d’Alene chapter?”
“The devil you know. You can take the man out of the biker, but you can’t take the biker out of the man.” He shook his head. “Strange, though.”
“What is?”
“You’re family for the better part of a decade. Then one day, that’s not your life anymore. It’s like that phase of my life belongs to someone else. Someone I don’t even recognize.” He looked at me. “Does that make any sense?”
I took a deep breath. “Yeah, that makes sense.”
“What about you?” he asked.
“What about me?”
“Any phases that feel like they belong to someone else’s life?”
“I think it’s too soon to tell,” I admitted. “But the New York phase. That’s already feeling strange. I didn’t realize it at the time, but when Hadley moved home, that started a domino effect. And then Salem moved home. Then Poet settled here. I didn’t think I’d settle here. Not really.”
“No?”
I shook my head. “I really thought there was no way in hell I’d be able to find someone in a town the size of a pea when I couldn’t find someone in a city of eight and a half million people.”
“Not quantity, but quality?”
“Yeah.” I shot him a smile. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I wasn’t expecting you either.”
“I hoped for you,” I said. “Well, some version of you, anyway.”
“You mean a hot single dad with a killer mustache?”
I rolled my eyes. “You know what’s insane about online dating?
You answer all these questions, fill out those profiles.
You give potential partners as much information about you as possible so there’s hope you find someone with something in common.
But if you’d asked me who I was going to fall in love with, I never would’ve pictured you.
” I looked at him and smiled. “I’m glad it was you, Archer.
I’m glad you surprised me. I’m glad you’re nothing like anyone I’ve ever dated. ”
“I wasn’t the first, Wyn. But I’m damn happy I’m your last.”
We arrived at the downtown hotel that had been built in 1864. The new owners had preserved the Wild West ambiance. Antler chandelier in the lobby. Leather couches. Wooden floors covered in colorful motif rugs.
There was no elevator. The hotel was only two floors, so Archer hauled our luggage to our room that had one giant king-sized bed with a wrought iron headboard and a patchwork quilt.
The moderately-sized bathroom was due for a renovation.
I didn’t care though, because the room was clean and it was just a place to sleep.
After we dropped off our luggage, we checked in with Lenni who was having a grand old time hanging out with Poet at the bookstore. When they were done for the day, they’d have family dinner at the Ridge.
“You’re upset about missing family dinner,” Archer said with an amused smile.
“Damn right. Muddy is cooking. Who wants to miss that?”
We bundled up, ventured out of the hotel, and meandered through the town. Traffic was blocked off and despite the cold winter air, the town was hopping with patrons.
And there weren’t just wood carving booths. There were several other wares for sale, too. Loose-leaf tea. Honey. Hunting knives. Blacksmith’s goods. Archer felt right at home.
“What should we get Poet and Brooks?” I asked as we wove through the crowd.
“We have to get them something?”
I laughed. “A wedding gift.”
“They said they didn’t want anything,” Archer replied.
“You’re such a man. We have to get them something,” I protested. “Even if it’s something small.”
“I don’t know, what do you think they’d want?”
“No idea. That’s why I’m asking you.”
“You’re Poet’s best friend.”
“Brooks is your brother,” I shot back.
He sighed. “Right. Okay.”
I waited in expectation with my eyebrows raised.
“I got nothin’,” he said.
“Yeah, me neither.”
I stopped in front of a booth filled with wood-carved baby mobiles and my breath caught. One drew my eye immediately. It was a crescent moon and sun with faces. And several wooden stars of different sizes.
“What do you think about this?” I asked Archer, pointing to the mobile.
“I think that’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen,” he said, sliding his finger across the face of the crescent moon.
“One of a kind, too,” the owner of the booth said with a smile. “I don’t ever make the same two pieces.”
“I love that even more,” I said. “My best friend is having a baby, and I want this for her.”
“Should I wrap it up for you?” he asked.
“Please.” I reached for my purse.
“I’ve got it,” Archer said, his eyes on me.
“You sure?”
“I’m sure.” He smiled. “It’ll be their wedding gift.”
“That’s a baby gift,” I said with a laugh.
“Yeah, well, we don’t know what to get them for their wedding, but they are having a baby. Trust me. This’ll go over better than trying to find a perfect wedding gift.”
I sighed. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
My heart expanded when I saw the owner gently place the mobile in a box lined with tissue paper and close the lid. He set the entire box into a brown shopping bag with handles and gave it to me.
“Thank you for your business,” he said, handing Archer back his credit card. “Enjoy the festival.”
“We will. Thank you,” I said.
Archer took the bag from me, and we continued on our way. The other wood carving booths were interesting. Some had wall hangings of bears and large game animals, but nothing else caught my eye like the mobile.
After an hour of walking on the main drag, we turned onto a side street. There was a window display full of record players and old vinyl and in excitement, I dragged Archer inside.
There was a man behind the counter with thick glasses and a shock of bushy gray hair. He was working on something electronic with great concentration.
He didn’t greet us when we entered, no doubt unable to multitask. I didn’t take it personally.
The shop was crammed full of vintage vinyl, tape machines and record players in various stages of restoration.
“Wyn,” Archer called. “Come here a second.”
He was at the back of the store, and he waved me toward him.
“What treasure did you find?” I asked.
“It’s a fully restored vintage Pioneer record player. I was thinking, what with Lenni into the classics, she’d love a record player.”
“I think you found her a Christmas gift,” I said in excitement. “What a good idea!”
“Can I help you?” the man at the front called out.
“I think we found something,” I said as I headed toward him.