by Jayne Blue
Sawyer was smart, and so were my other McCall cousins. They’d kept this place quiet and renter free in the decades since it was a family fun destination during my Grandma’s life.
It was hidden. It was ours. And I knew Sawyer would keep everyone else away.
I pulled the bike around to the back, just in case, and then we hunted for the rock that hid the key.
“This place is certainly hard to find.”
“Yeah, can’t see it from the road or the water. We’ve got a dock in the shed. I can put that in the water if the trees still hide it. We’re about as safe as we can be here. No one can see us by land, air, or sea. Aha! Here.” I found the key and hoped the lock wasn’t rusted. If it didn’t work, I’d have to break in and worry about repairs later.
But it worked. I opened the door, and we walked into the dark house. It was musty, to say the least.
“There’s no electricity until I get the solar generator going.”
“What? Solar?”
“Sawyer has this place equipped to be off the grid. That’s why I brought you here. We’re going to stock up on a few things in town, but we have power, water, heat. I’ll get a fire going later.”
I flipped on a light and Daniella got her first good look.
The kitchen ran the length of the back of the house, facing the driveway. The sitting area was huge. I remember we all used to hang out and play board games if the weather didn’t let us get in the water.
On either end of the living area were the bedrooms. One end had three rooms and a bathroom, the other a master bedroom and bathroom. We used to pack into the three rooms like a summer camp, and my Grandma would occupy her master suite. She was long gone, and I never knew her as an adult, but those summer memories stayed in my mind.
Daniella walked around the place and took it in.
“AAH!” She screamed when she found the master bathroom area and I came running.
“What?”
“That’s the biggest spider I’ve ever seen!” She was backing up from the bathtub. I walked in and squished it with my boot.
“Yeah, you might see more of those. We’re out in the wilderness.”
“Ooh, okay, well, like I said, my wilderness experience is exactly zero.”
“You’ll be a pro in no time.”
“Right,” she said and backed out of the bathroom like the spider might re-animate.
I followed her back to the kitchen.
“Hey, we have a sink, a stove, an oven, and a toaster, but I see a problem.”
“What?”
“No microwave, I might starve to death.”
I pulled her into my arms.
“I think maybe you should learn how to make something complicated like toast?”
“Well, if I have a recipe.”
I kissed her on the top of the head. I was tired as hell. I’d been up since the day before. In fact, I had no idea when I’d slept last.
“Listen, you lay down. I’ll learn how to work the homestead.”
“You sure?”
“Yep, I wasn’t the one driving the last five hours.”
“Okay, but join me soon. Okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And don’t go outside in the dark. There’s a lot of things you need to be aware of. I’ll show you in the daylight.”
“No problem, good night sweet prince.” She went up on her tiptoes and kissed me. I was the farthest thing from a prince. Since I’d met her, under my watch for God’s sake, she’d crashed her car and been hit in the jaw by fucking Dirt. Some prince I was.
But she was right about the fact that I needed sleep. I needed to rest my eyes and my brain so I could puzzle out what the hell came next.
I left her in the kitchen, exploring the strange contraption called a stove. I crashed down on a mattress in the master bedroom and was out by the time my head hit the pillow.
It had to have been hours later when I finally woke up. The sun was streaming in the window. It made the dust that was in this room even more evident. I hoped Daniella hadn’t found any more spiders or the deal might be off.
I got up, took a leak, and started to wonder just where she was. And a small bit of panic set in.
“Babe?” I called for her, no answer.
“Daniella,” I said as I walked into the living room. Still, no answer. Fucking A! If she’d gone somewhere, or worse.
That’s when I felt the cool breeze and saw her. The sliding doors that lead to the deck were thrown open. And the dust that I’d seen in the bedroom was cleared out in the family room.
“Jesus.” The entire kitchen and family room smelled and looked clean. And she’d moved on to sweeping leaves off the deck.
I walked out, and she stopped and looked up.
“Shit Hammer, your body makes me think all kinds of thoughts.” I looked down. I was shirtless, shoeless. I’d slept in my jeans.
“Yeah?” I scratched my head and tried to shake the sleep out.
“For sure. While you were asleep, I made a list of what we need. I dusted, found sheets, got the laundry going. You know, I’ve never had an apartment or a trailer with the laundry in the place. I always have to go to the Laundromat. Anyway, it works great. I even got to wash my wardrobe. Well, what little clothes I have. Grab me your stuff, and I’ll wash it too.”
“Oh shit, this isn’t going to work. We’re through. I’m sorry. Get out,” I said to her in complete seriousness.
She stopped sweeping and talking and looked up at me with the saddest, cutest face.
“Why? What did I do?”
“You’re a morning person, that’s a deal breaker,” I said and tried not to smile.
“Ham!” She charged me, and I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder. We had a lot to do on her list. But we’d get to it.
“I thought we could get an early start! Ham! Do they have crochet yarn around here do you think?”
“Sure, probably, but you need to learn how I handle life if I don’t get coffee. I take it out on you.”
I tossed her onto the mattress, and we tested it out.
It worked great.
Sixteen
DANIELLA
The bed worked.
But after that unshocking discovery, I really did want to explore. I wanted to take a look at the nearby town, and for sure shop. Just a few things and we’d be good to go here. And I was itching to crochet. I could envision sitting on the deck, and relaxing with a project.
When we got here at night, it was a little scary. We traveled dark, wooded and twisty roads, with me riding on the back the bike, which was so big it felt like a small car. The roads had led to a hiding place we desperately needed. And in the dark, I wasn’t too sure about this place. But as the dawn broke, I was almost giddy, seeing how adorable this cottage was. And how epic the view was from the back deck.
After Hammer crashed, I decided to make myself useful. The cottage was dusty and looked like it hadn’t been lived in for a long time. So, I got to work.
I found cleaning supplies, rags, a linen closet, and I wasn’t kidding about the washer and dryer. I’d always had to haul my stuff to a Laundromat or to some apartment common area. The fact that there was a laundry room here felt like the biggest luxury of my life.
And then there was the view. We’d driven to the cottage at night, of course, and from the front, you had no idea what was behind it. The whole back wall was comprised of windows or sliding glass doors. Before dawn, I opened one of the sliders. It was a little creaky, and I tried to move it slowly so I wouldn’t wake up Hammer. I stepped out on the deck, and my jaw literally dropped open.
The cottage was almost on a cliff, I guess. Stairs started at the deck and wound down through trees. Over the trees, the expanse of Lake Michigan was incredible. I had to imagine that the first European explorers to see this view had to have thought they were looking at an ocean. It was huge, blue, and right now, the waves were gently washing against the shore.
I carefully made
my way down the stairs, ignoring any cobwebs or potential spiders that might have been in my path.
The beach itself wasn’t huge; it was a sandy area nestled between rocks on both sides. I wondered if tides covered it at times? It would be a question for Hammer.
I took off my tennis shoes and dipped my toes into the water. Yikes! It was cold as heck. But I hoped that, if we were here for a little while, I’d be able to enjoy a hot July day in this very spot.
I sat on the shore for a moment and let the events of my life unfold in my mind.
Rex Lynch was straight-up after me. He had sent Dirt. He had made a deal with Hammer’s club. He was doing everything he could to grab me.
For what purpose?
I could only think one thing. He wanted to kill me. Why else would he go to such lengths? I thought back to the way he treated me. He was possessive. He wanted to control what I wore, where I went, who I talked to, and it went from zero to sixty in such a short time. Was that love in his twisted world? Did he want to have me back as his girlfriend? I had to believe that his goal was to teach me a lesson on what happened to people who ran from him.
He thought I had enough information to get The Devil’s Hawks in trouble with the law. That’s what he told Hammer and his club. That’s how he got the Great Wolves to come after me. He said the dealers, the gun runners, and the criminals I’d seen were the real threat. Rex claimed at that meeting that he needed the GWMC to find me so Lynch could save me from something worse.
It made no difference really. Either way, I already knew what life with Rex Lynch was like. I’d had a scary glimpse of the way he wanted to control me. And the way he responded when I didn’t do what he wanted.
I ran for a reason, and for now, I was safe. No one could possibly know about this little patch of beach in the vast wilderness of the Upper Peninsula.
I took a deep breath and thought about what brought me here. While Rex Lynch was willing to do anything to control me, Hammer was willing to give up everything to protect me. It was a world of difference.
And then there was the way I felt about Hammer McCall. Hammer’s touch, the way he talked, his laugh, just everything about him thrilled me on the one hand and made me feel protected on the other.
I was here now, in this moment, with this man. I was worried about Granddad, but I’d figure something out when this settled down. It had to settle down. There was no way Rex Lynch was going to keep giving a shit about me. He’d get sick of it, realize I wasn’t going to come back or cause any trouble. I just wanted out. He’d get that, right?
I stood up and looked back at the million steps that lead up to Hammer McCall’s cottage. Well, his grandmother’s cottage, I guess. I wasn’t sure how long I’d be here, but I was going to make this moment count. I was in some sort of fantasy bubble with Hammer. I thought about being here with him, having coffee together, and looking out at this view. If it weren’t for the way this came to be, it would almost be too good to be true.
I climbed up the steps again and got to work getting rid of some of those cobwebs and leaves on the deck. Getting rid of leaves on this deck was probably a never-ending full-time job. But I was happy to see the fruits of my work, even though I knew it was temporary, as the next breeze would blow and sprinkle it with whatever was loose on these trees. And I was happy to see Hammer, looking at me, like he loved me. It was still something I was processing, exploring, trying to get my head around.
And I was also trying to understand how even the quickest kiss could lead to me, clothes off, in the throes of toe-curling ecstasy five minutes later.
He’d appeared on the deck and – bam! – he was making love to me a second later.
I snuggled into him. And decided, no matter what came next, I was going to love him now, love this place, and live in this bubble.
But I did need to shop, at least a little, to finish cleaning out the cottage from however many years of neglect here on the shore of Lake Michigan. I had never been so far north in my life. It had to be far enough from Lynch, and the Devil’s Hawks. It had to be.
I wanted to explore this place a little. I wanted to see where we were in the world.
“Okay, so, when can we go into town? And what the heck town is it?”
“Manistique. And it’s pretty much tiny.”
“That’s good, right?”
“It is. I mean summer is tourist season by any lake in Michigan, but it’s going to be a few weeks before it’s warm enough to really bring people.”
“You think Lynch has any idea we’re in, uh, Manistique?”
“No, I don’t think so, but then, he found us in Petoskey.”
“Hammer, we need a few things, food for one.”
“Yeah? I’m not enough to keep you happy?” Hammer squeezed my rear end and I squealed.
“Hey!”
“I’d say you’re too skinny as it is, so I guess we do need to get some food around here.”
“Too skinny?” I’d always thought I was a little too curvy. A man who wanted me to eat? I was sold.
“Shh.” He stopped my questions with a kiss. His lips on mine did something to me. They felt right like they fit, or like my lips were created to be connected to his. It was chemical but, more than that, each time we connected.
The kiss heated up. I knew exactly where this was going and decided to go on strike.
“Hold up! You’re trying to distract me.”
“What? From going out in the world and being discovered and putting yourself in danger and leaving my arms and, yeah, I am.”
“Hammer, we’re fine. We will be fine.”
“Yeah, I’d say you’re probably right. We lost, what’s his name, Mud?”
“Dirt.
“Yeah, we left Dirt in the dust, for now. We have a little window. Can you be ready to roll in fifteen minutes?”
“Ten.”
“I love a girl who doesn’t spend hours getting ready.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, and I like that you’re not hiding behind fifteen pounds of makeup, but when we’re in town, you’re going to have to buy some.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah, makeup, hair color, something. We need to make you look different. That will be another way to help keep you under the radar.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now get moving, I want to get shopping and you keep distracting me.” He teased me, and I nibbled his strong jaw. He pulled me in close to his body. And then I got out of that bed as fast as possible to stop us from losing another hour in this bedroom.
I’d stocked the bathroom with freshly washed towels. The shower felt good and, like I’d promised, I was ready to go in ten minutes, nine if he was counting.
“You smell good.” Hammer leaned down and nuzzled his chin into my neck. It produced goosebumps on my arms.
He leaned back and then, from his back pocket, he produced a ball cap and sunglasses.
“What’s this about?”
“My goal is to make sure no one in Manistique knows what Daniella Moore looks like. That beautiful hair needs to be covered, and so do those bedroom eyes of yours.”
I waggled my eyebrows up and down in response to the bedroom eyes comment.
“Fine, now you need to show me around Manistique.”
“Always with the orders.”
I walked toward his bike, expecting to take the familiar spot on the back but he grabbed my arm.
“Nope, your gorgeous self is going to attract attention and so is my gorgeous bike.” He led me over to the unattached garage that was positioned in from of the cottage. The two structures created an “L” shape. He undid a padlock and then lifted the garage door. It creaked and moaned as it slid up the track.
“And I’d be careful where you step. There has to be a mouse or two keeping warm in here for the winter.”
“Great!” I said with full-on sarcasm. I walked into the garage like it was a littered with land mines.
“There’s enough gas to get us t
o town, if she starts, that is.” I looked at Hammer with fresh eyes and realized he had ditched the leather biker look. He wore jeans, a t-shirt that had an old-timey looking barbell club logo on it, and athletic shoes. He wasn’t inconspicuous by any stretch, but he also didn’t look like a biker anymore. He looked like a hot as fuck Michigan Marine, or maybe The Rock’s younger brother? Whatever he did he was going to get attention from any woman with a pulse.
I shook my head and hoped no one had eyes on Manistique. Then I returned my attention to not stepping on mice.
I looked around. The garage was filled with water sports stuff: a kayak, a little canoe, and all manner of summer fun. I wondered about Hammer and his family. I really didn’t know much about him. I hoped that would change now that we had time here together.
“Come on, darlin’,” he said and opened the truck door for me. I loved it when he called me sweet names. At work, it was annoying, the way that customers sort of patronized you, but when he said things like darlin’ it gave me a warm feeling inside.
I buckled into to the front seat of the old truck, and I thought wistfully of the car I’d totaled. It was a decent car and it also cost me decent money. Money was on my mind, and I couldn’t continue to pretend that it wasn’t an issue. Soon, very soon, I’d have to get a job.
I decided not to bring it up though. I’d pay for food, and stuff to disguise myself, and household products, and whatever we needed. I was not here to have Hammer pay my way. I was here, well… I didn’t know why. Other than I was trying to get away, and Hammer helped me, and beyond that, my new love for him didn’t mean I was going to let him foot the bill for this, whatever this was.
It was a fifteen-minute drive to town. The Upper Peninsula was like an enchanted wood. I had no idea how remote, and wild, it really was, being from southern Michigan. The trees, the winding road, the water; it was stunning to look at. I tried to remember not to have my mouth hanging open as we drove.
It was still morning. Manistique was quiet, little, and it was hard to believe that anyone from the Flat Rock Chapter of The Devil’s Hawks would make their way here. It seemed like another planet compared with the drugs, the bikes, the smoke, and the violence that Rex Lynch lived in.