“It is, yes. You’ve done construction, right?”
“I did a few years ago, when the business was slow. I needed the money and things changed a bit when a new prez took over.”
“Care to go into details?” Micah asks.
“Not one bit brother, no offense, but I want to keep that part of my life in the shadows. Plus, I’m still trying to make sense of it all.”
“Can you just answer me this? Were you into anything illegal?” he asks.
“Not knowingly,” I say simply as he nods.
The front door to the bar opens and a tall man walks out and towards us. He holds out his hand and smiles.
“You must be Micah’s brother? I’m Noah.”
“Cooper.” I reply taking his hand.
“I’m hoping that you can help me whip this place into shape.”
“You got a crew?” I ask.
“One of my guys, Wyatt will be helping with the build outs and everything, but mostly everything will be done with Luke and myself. Not too much Luke, since he’s got a new kid and a practice to run.”
“You’ve mentioned Luke before, but again, who is he?” I ask looking back and forth between my brother and Noah.
“Luke is our town doctor. His wife, Rhi also works at the bar, and they just had a baby earlier this year.”
“Cool.” I nod.
“You guys hungry? Perce is starting up the grills and I was going to have a breakfast sandwich made up.”
“We ate at the diner, because Coop has a crush on Gladys,” Micah laughs.
“I mean, if you’re into that kind of thing. But Gladys is married, sorry man,” Noah smiles.
“Fuck you,” I slap my brother in the stomach. Micah keels over, clutching his stomach while still laughing.
“Just kidding, he’s got his eye on Nydia.”
“Nice. Nydia is cool people.” Noah nods.
“I’m suddenly regretting coming here,” I mumble under my breath.
“Small towns man, everyone knows everyone’s business,” Micah replies backhanding my stomach in payback.
Chapter Four
I’m sitting in the same booth that I’ve dubbed as mine. All my meals have been eaten here and I think that I’ve nailed down Nydia’s schedule. Each time she sees me, she looks happy to see me. Although, every time that I ask for her number, she still declines.
“Do you know how to cook?” Nydia asks placing the pot roast in front of me.
“No, would you mind teaching me?” I ask her with a tilt of my head.
“Sorry, I burn toast,” she says apologetically.
“I don’t know how to boil an egg,” I confide.
“I can make an amazing bowl of cereal,” she offers.
“I can make PB and J,” I wink as she laughs.
She leaves me to my dinner and continues with her other tables. It doesn’t take a genius to know that we were just flirting, so why is she still not giving me her phone number?
She hands me my bill and I place my hand on hers as it lingers on the table in front of me.
“You willing to give me your number yet?” I ask her.
“Why do you want my number so badly?” she asks pulling her hand out from under mine slowly.
“Because I wanna take you out.”
She tilts her head and quirks an eyebrow.
“You don’t know me, and I don’t know you.”
“I know that your name is Nydia and I know that you have fantastic taste in food. I even know where you work,” I reply coyly.
“Even though you’ve been here every day, I don’t even know your name,” she says placing her hands on her hips.
“My name is Cooper, I’m new in town, and will be working for my brother doing some new construction gig for the bar. See, now we know one another. I think that’s also what a date can be used for, you know – getting to know one another.” I reply with a smile.
“Oh cool, I heard about that new project that’s going in there,” she nods, ignoring the rest of what I said.
“Do you hang out at The Neighborhood?” I ask her.
“I go occasionally, I work a lot, but I do make it a point to have a little fun sometimes.”
“How about we make a plan to be there at the same time, you know to just hang out?” I ask.
“Do you want anything else this evening, Cooper?” she asks with the corners of her lips lifting.
She clearly wants to move on from the subject and I stop pushing, so I sit back in the booth.
My cell phone vibrates in my pocket. When I pull out the phone, I don’t recognize the number on the screen. I swipe and put the phone to my ear.
“Coop? Hey Coop, you there?” a scratchy voice on the other end asks.
“Mayhem?” I ask.
“Ah, there you are. Shit is going down here, when are you coming back? People are saying that you’re the reason why all hell’s breaking loose,” he says is a hushed tone.
“All hell’s breaking loose? What’s going on?” I ask.
“The blues raided one of the shops, made out with a case of guns and arrested Pinky. Word has it that they’re getting permission to check out the other businesses within the club.”
“I don’t think that I know who Pink is, what business is he in?” I ask.
“He’s the old fella who runs the bait and tackle shop.”
“Oh shit, that guy? Bummer. What’s Prez saying?”
“He’s holed up in Church and there’s whispers of your name.”
“I’m working for my brother right now; it’s legit work and I can’t break away.”
“You haven’t said anything about what we do to anyone, right?” Mayhem asks.
“Fuck no, I wouldn’t rat any shit out. Plus, I don’t know anything, only found out what Eddy was into after the fact.”
“A’ight, man, a’ight. I’ll keep in touch, but make sure you answer if Prez comes a callin’, because I have a feeling that he will,” Mayhem warns, then the line goes silent.
I put the phone down on the table as the diner door chimes, loud boots stomp in my direction and soon a guy with tattoos, brown messy hair and sunglasses sits in my booth.
“Do I know you?” I ask cautiously.
“Micah told me where I could find you. Name’s Wyatt, we’ll be working on the expansion project together,” he holds his hand across the table, and we shake.
“I’m Cooper, but I figure that you know that already?”
“I don’t know a damn thing man. I’ve been in the city for the past two weeks. I just got word that you were here about ten minutes ago. Alls that I know is that you’re the brother and you’re here for a bit to help.” Wyatt shrugs. “So, Cooper, do you have any experience on a job site?” Wyatt asks.
“It’s been a few years since I worked in construction, but I’m a quick learner.”
“What do you do, normally?” he asks.
I shrug indifferently. “I do a little bit of this and a little bit of that.”
“Alright, well the deal is, keep your nose clean and no illegal shit on the site, I don’t give a crap what you do on your off time, but when we’re working, it’s straight up work, got it?”
“What makes you think that anything that I do is illegal?” I ask out of curiosity.
“I’m an ex-con,” he says in his explanation, as if that would mean there’s some secret language.
“Hey Wyatt!” Nydia comes up to the table and my jealousy is immediate with her tone.
“Hey Nyd., can I get a coffee, please?” he smiles up at her.
“You betcha,” she says walking away.
“You got something going on with her?” I ask angling my head in her direction.
“Nydia?” Wyatt points his finger in the direction she disappeared to.
I nod and await his answer. Perhaps this is the reason why she keeps turning me down, she’s got a man.
Wyatt shakes his head, “No, I’ve got a woman, a mighty fine spitfire of a woman. Nydia is a fr
iend. You’ll see that the longer you’re here, that this is a small as fuck town, with character and it’s cool. But everyone knows each other here and there are really no secrets. We’re all friends here.”
Small town. No secrets. Can’t wait.
Chapter Five
First day on the work site, I’m standing over a bunch of plans and waiting for Noah and Luke to get to the shop so we can all chat before Wyatt and myself start.
The front door opens and a preppy looking guy walks in carrying a tray full of coffees. He offers one to me that I happily take while I lean against the wall awaiting instruction.
“First off, thank you both for helping with this project,” the guy says, he looks to me and extends his hand. “I’m Luke, you must be Cooper?”
“Nice to meet you,” I offer with a nod.
“Everything has been approved by the county and the chamber. The town of Mercy is excited to have this addition for the children of our community and for future growth of Mercy,” Luke says.
Noah walks into the space looking like he just got out of the shower.
“Sorry, I closed last night and getting up this morning sucked,” he offers to us shyly as his excuse.
“Bullshit, your woman is the reason you’re late,” Luke jokes with him.
“I wish, she’s still not feeling well.”
“Are you sure she isn’t pregnant?” Luke asks as Wyatt clears his throat.
“I know you guys are bro-ing over there, but I want to get as much work done today as possible. Mags and I have plans tonight,” Wyatt says breaking up Luke and Noah’s moment.
“Right, sorry. Let’s get to work,” Noah claps his hands together and steps closer to the plans on the table in the middle of the room. The four of us huddle over the table while Luke and Noah point here and there. Soon enough, we’ve been left to get to work, Wyatt turns on some music, and we work around one another like we’ve been working together for months.
Before I know it, it’s lunchtime and the front door opens. I turn around and am surprised to see Nydia holding two paper bags standing just inside the door with a smile.
“I heard that you two started on this today, and I asked Rick to let me hook you guys up with some sandwiches,” she holds up the bags as Wyatt steps over wood and tools on the floor to make his way to her. Her eyes barely deviate from me, only to smile and hand over the bags to Wyatt.
“Thank you,” I say as Wyatt steps back and hands me a bag. “Very nice of you.”
“Well, you know, a lot of people will benefit from this place, so yeah. It’s the least that I can do,” she blushes and looks down at her hands nervously wringing in front of her then back to me. “Well, I better be going.”
“Thanks a million Nydia!” Wyatt calls from the back wall as he leans against in and slides down to sit on the floor as he digs into the bag.
“I’ll see you later, thank you,” I smile.
“See you tonight,” she replies and exits.
I watch her as she practically skips past the windows and in the direction of the diner.
“So, what’s the deal there? You like her?” Wyatt calls from his seat with a mouthful of food.
“What?” I whirl around to face him, “Oh, nah, I don’t cook much, so I go to the diner and see her there.”
“Yeah, sure. I know that look,” he wiggles his eyebrows.
“What look?”
“That’s the very same look that I’ve seen on a man who wants a woman, but doesn’t yet have her.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, man.”
“Whatever, she likes you,” he says chewing.
“What makes you say that?” I ask sitting beside him.
“Well, we have an amazing kitchen menu at the bar, no offense to Rick, but Percy’s food is killer, and Nydia knows that. But she came over here anyways and brought us food. More importantly, brought you food.”
I think about that. I haven’t had any of the food from the bar, as I’ve eaten all my meals at the diner, but if it’s known, then it’s known.
“So, what’s your next move?” Wyatt asks.
“I don’t have one.” I admit.
“Well buddy, you should probably get one together.” Wyatt says and we continue to eat the rest of our lunch in silence.
We worked the rest of the afternoon making steady progress until Wyatt’s phone went off.
“Well, that’s the end of the day.”
“You have an alarm that tells you this?”
“Yes, it’s called my girlfriend.”
“I’m not getting it.”
“Maggie, my girlfriend and I have plans tonight, so I need to make sure that I’m home before her day is over.”
“Pussy whipped.” I laugh.
“If you were in my place, you would be too. See you tomorrow, same time, same place.” Wyatt says unbuckling his tool belt and slinging it across one shoulder.
“How do I lock up?” I ask.
“You see that door right there?” Wyatt points, “just lock up from the inside and go on through. The bar is on the other side there. Before you got to town, we created the connection. It’s rough though, we will have to refinish it.”
“Cool, thanks, and have a good time tonight.” I say following him to the door to lock it behind him.
“Go home and shower before you try to woo the girl,” Wyatt says.
“Yes, mom.” I roll my eyes. But I do as he says, and as soon as I step out of the second bedroom in my brother’s place, he stops me.
“Where are you off to?” he asks.
“Heading over to the diner.” I push my arms through my jacket sleeves.
“Mind some company?” Micah asks.
“Sure,” I shrug.
We’re sitting in what’s become my normal booth in the diner and Nydia is nowhere in sight. I look around and as the waitresses come in and out of the back room, she’s not one of them. I’m a little disappointed.
She said that she would see me tonight, so she knew that I would be coming here.
Chapter Six
I was mid-bite when a slim figure came into my peripheral and stands beside the booth that I was seated.
“Hey, how’s it going, Nydia?” Micah asks.
I slowly look up and her. She has her hand holding onto the strap of her purse standing nervously, and she’s dressed in her street clothes.
“Good, how are you, Micah?”
“Good. Good. What brings you over… here?” he looks back and forth between me and Nydia and as if a light was turned on, he wipes his hands and picks up his plate. “Oh, I’m going to get this to go, I just remembered that I have to do payroll.”
I don’t say anything as I continue to look at Nydia, who watches Micah walk up to the counter, then returns her gaze to me. Wordlessly, she slides into the seat that my brother vacated and folds her hands on the tabletop across from me.
“Hey Cooper,” she smiles softly.
“Hey Nydia, not working tonight?” I ask wiping my hands and sitting back against the seat.
“I got the night off, figured that I would plan to be in the same place as you to you know, hang out,” she says repeating my words back at me.
“Do you want something to eat?” I ask.
“No, I was hoping you would want to go and hang out over at the bar? I mean, I like this place and all, but I’m here enough and would rather not hang out at my work.”
I pull my wallet out of my back pocket and throw a few bills on the table, then slide out of the booth. I offer her my hand and when she places her petite hand in mine, I want to immediately pull her against my body and kiss her. Instead, I motion for her to walk in front of me and I watch her luscious ass walk ahead of me.
We walk side by side down the street to The Neighborhood Bar and once inside, she leads us over to one of the tables towards the back of the space just before the booths that line the back walls.
One of the waitresses come and place a few coasters in fr
ont of us.
“Hey guys, what can I get for ya?” she asks.
“Hey Deb, can I get a whiskey on the rocks?” Nydia asks as my head swings to her in shock with my mouth open.
I return my gaze to the waitress and smile, “I’ll take whatever you have on tap.”
“Do you want local or local?”
“I’ll take local,” I reply smiling.
“You’re Micah’s brother, right?” she asks.
I nod, “I am. My name is Cooper,” I hold out my hand. After she introduces herself, she turns on her heel and walks towards the bar.
“So, Ms. Whiskey on the rocks, I didn’t paint you for a dignified drinker.”
“My pop raised me on the good stuff, also the whiskey here is just that, the good stuff. It’s from my family’s distillery,” she smiles.
“Nice. I’m more of a beer guy, but I respect a woman with good taste.”
Our drinks are placed in front of us and the waitress walks to another table. I look around the space while I put the lip of the beer against my mouth. The bar is dim, but clean. Not one of the dive bars that you normally would expect to see in a small town. The floors are clean, the guests wandering around the space are your average hard-working person and the staff look happy. I haven’t been in a bar that was welcoming where people liked to be there just to hang out in quite some time in any of the bars that I have hung out back home in Texas.
“So, Cooper,” Nydia begins, “where are you from?”
“I’m from a small town in Texas, what about you? Are you a local Mercy resident?”
“Yep. Born and raised, I grew up just outside of Mercy to the north,” she says.
“So, that’s opposite from this city that everyone talks about, right?” I ask.
“It is. There are three ways into Mercy. The north, the south and the west. The west will take you to Hollybrooke, the south is likely where you came through into town and then I’m up north,” she replies before taking a small sip of her whiskey.
“Are you still living north of town?” I ask.
“I am, I have a bit of property that was passed down in my family to me, fairly close to my folks. So, how long are you staying in town?” she asks.
Your Neighborhood Biker: The Neighborhood #7 Page 2