Clearing my throat, I spoke loud enough for all on board to hear, “Congratulations, Ember! I’m so happy for you, but you are hereby banned from all water activities except for basic swimming until further notice.” As I had hoped, my declaration lightened the mood.
We stayed on the water for several more hours, until everyone agreed it was a good time to head back for dinner. I couldn’t speak for the others, but I couldn’t recall a time in recent years when I’d had more fun. Judging by the smiles on the faces of some of my closest friends as well as the woman I loved, I would venture to say they felt the same. I stopped Harper on the dock and pulled her into my arms for a kiss I poured my whole heart into. “I love you, Harper, so fucking much.”
She grinned. “I fucking love you, too, Chase Walker.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Harper
Entering the lake house after our day on the water, I screamed when I spotted a man standing by the kitchen island. The next few seconds were a blur of activity. I’m not sure how it all happened, but in the blink of an eye, Chase, Duke, and Dash were in front of me, shielding me, but they weren’t doing anything.
I heard Titan growling and snarling, but I couldn’t see anything. Then I heard a familiar voice request, “A little help, brothers.”
The boys parted like the Red Sea revealing none other than Phoenix, badass president of The Blackwings MC, standing on top of the kitchen island while Titan stood on his hind legs, front paws on the countertop, snarling and snapping at his motorcycle boots.
“Calmati,” I sternly commanded Titan. He silenced and came to stand in front of me.
Phoenix jumped down, eyeing Titan warily. “Tell me that’s one of Ruben’s dogs.”
Chase proudly answered, “Of course, Prez. I wouldn’t have anything less for my Old Lady.”
I rudely interrupted, “What are you doing here, Phoenix?”
He laughed. “Don’t worry, Harper, I’m not staying. I just wanted to stick around long enough to say hello after dropping off Shaker and Hilarie.”
“Oh, no, you’re more than welcome to stay. We were just about to get dinner started,” I replied.
“As tempting as that sounds, I’ve got to get back. Annabelle hasn’t been feeling well, and I don’t like leaving her for too long.”
“Is she sick?” I asked.
“No, it’s just worse with twins,” he answered, then instantly slapped his hand over his mouth.
“Daddy?” Ember hesitantly asked, standing hidden behind Duke and Dash.
“Fuck. Your mother is going to kill me,” Phoenix said, swiping his hand across his forehead.
“Mom’s pregnant?” she asked.
Phoenix sighed. “This isn’t how we wanted to tell you, or your brothers, but yes, she’s pregnant with twins.”
Ember smiled so wide it was a wonder her face didn’t split. “Me, too! I mean, we’re not having twins…” she trailed off, realizing what she’d just said to her father.
“I guess we’re telling people,” Dash mumbled.
“Okay, this conversation did not happen,” he looked pointedly at Ember, then to Dash. “Announcements can be made when you two get back, yeah?”
“Of course, Daddy,” Ember answered, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.
Phoenix opened his arms wide for her. She didn’t hesitate to run to him and be engulfed in a hug. “I’ve got to get back to my wife. You guys enjoy your weekend, but please behave. I really have no desire to bail anyone else out of jail in the near future.”
“Jail?” I screeched. “Is that where they were?”
Phoenix cursed under his breath. “Yes, but that’s all you’re getting out of me.”
“Where are they now?” I demanded.
“They both wanted to shower and sleep. Shaker was too wound up to get any sleep last night, and Hilarie was too scared,” Phoenix said.
Phoenix seemed anxious to get back to Croftridge, so we said our goodbyes and started preparing dinner. Between the smell of food and the noise we were all making, I thought for sure we would see Shaker or Hilarie make an appearance, but by the time Chase and I were climbing the stairs for bed, we still hadn’t seen them or heard a peep from either one.
I sat up in bed and glanced around, unsure of what woke me. Titan was awake, but he wasn’t barking or growling, which put me at ease. I was just about to lay back down when I heard the sounds of someone moving around downstairs. Curiosity got the better of me, and I found myself tiptoeing down the stairs in my pajamas to see who was doing what in the middle of the night.
When the kitchen came into view, I saw Hilarie bent over with almost half of her upper body in the refrigerator rummaging around for something. “If you’re looking for the leftovers from dinner, they’re in the bottom drawer,” I said.
She squealed and jumped, banging her head on a shelf. “Shit, Harper. You scared the hell out of me!” She closed the refrigerator and turned to face me, shoving her hands into the hoodie she was wearing.
I giggled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” I made my way into the kitchen while she fidgeted and shifted her weight from foot to foot. “Hey, are you okay?”
She cleared her throat but didn’t meet my eyes when she spoke, “Yes, I’m fine. I was hungry and looking for a small snack. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I meant with everything that happened last night. We weren’t given any details; I only know that you two were arrested and kept overnight. Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
“Would you be offended if I said no? It’s so embarrassing. I’m still coming to terms with the fact that it even happened,” she replied.
“No worries. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You know I’m here if you decide you do want to talk about it,” I assured her.
“I know. Thanks, Harper. I’m going to go back to bed. I’ll see you in the morning,” she said before descending the stairs.
It wasn’t until I was drifting off to sleep that I realized she never got anything to eat. And why the hell was she wearing a hoodie in the middle of summer?
***
I sat in the front of the boat, casually observing my friends. Something was off, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. The fun and carefree feeling surrounding us the day before had all but disappeared. We had spent most of the day tubing and swimming. While the activities were fun, the interactions between the guys seemed stilted, and Hilarie wouldn’t say more than one or two words at a time. There was also an obvious rift between Hilarie and Shaker.
I continued my casual observations for the rest of the day. Not once did I see Hilarie and Shaker interact—no touching, no talking, nothing. Shaker didn’t seem to have any trouble talking to Reese or Ember, but he said little to nothing to me, and he only acknowledged the guys when they spoke to him first. What in the hell was going on? Surely, I wasn’t the only one who noticed the odd behavior.
Back at the lake house, Chase and I finally had a moment alone. “Did you notice anything odd about Shaker and Hilarie today?”
He carefully answered, “No, but I’m aware of what happened Thursday night, so their behavior made sense to me.”
“You mean Shaker’s behavior made sense to you. You don’t know Hilarie well enough to make that judgment call.”
He gave me an appraising once-over and stepped closer. “What’s this really about, Harper?”
I sighed, exasperated with the whole thing. “I wanted this weekend to be a fun getaway, not a weekend full of unspoken tension and awkwardness.”
“Okay, baby. I’ll take care of it. Let’s get showered and get dinner started. I’m starving.” He finished that with a quick slap to my ass before he sauntered into the bathroom. Cocky bastard. How did he think he was going to take care of it? I rolled my eyes and followed him to the shower.
After dinner, I was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher when I felt a presence behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see Shaker standing by the kitchen island. I arched a brow.
“Did you need something?”
He cleared his throat and looked everywhere but directly at me. “Uh, yeah. I wanted to apologize for my attitude today. I can be pretty grumpy when I’m tired, plus I’m still pissed about what happened yesterday. But, none of that is anyone’s fault but my own, and I’m not going to let it ruin the rest of this awesome weekend you planned for us.” Then he went in for the kill with his puppy dog eyes and his killer grin. “Forgive me?”
“Of course, I will,” I said, opening my arms for a hug.
“Do you need any help?” he asked.
“No, I’m almost finished. Thank you for offering. I’ll be downstairs in a few minutes.”
It was obvious to me that Chase made Shaker apologize to me, and it was sweet of him to do it, but I wondered if his attitude would change. I wasn’t going to get my hopes up.
I found the whole group waiting for me downstairs. To my surprise, they were chatting with one another, and the tension from earlier seemed to have vanished. Chase noticed me first. “All right, ladies. Do any of you know how to fish?” Of course, Ember and Reese did. Me and Hilarie, not so much. With a promise to teach us, we followed the rest of the group down to the dock.
Chase magically produced fishing poles, tackle boxes, bait, and a host of other things that were apparently required to fish. He briefly explained how to cast and then handed me a pole with a hunk of something nasty dangling from the end of it. “Do I even want to know what that is?” I asked, pointing to the nastiness with a scrunched-up nose.
He laughed at my theatrics. “It’s Ember’s homemade bait. None of us have ever used it, but she said the people on some fishing forum swear by it.”
Shrugging, I followed his instructions and tossed the dangling chunk of yuck into the water. I flopped into my chair and watched everyone else toss their lines in and get situated. “Now what?” I asked.
“Now you wait,” Chase said.
“Wait for what exactly?”
“You’ll know when it happens.”
“I love your vague answers.”
I have to admit. He wasn’t wrong. When it happened, there was no question. The end of my rod started bouncing and bending, so I did what anyone else who was new at fishing would do. I jumped to my feet squealing, “Help! What do I do?”
Four male voices shouted, “Reel!”
I started reeling, and my pole just kept bending, to the point I thought it was going to break. It also felt like the thing was trying to pull me into the water with it. “Help me! It’s going to snap this rod in half or yank me in with it!”
“You need to adjust the drag,” my brother added.
“Like I know what the fuck that means.”
Duke reached in front of me and did something on the reel. Suddenly, the reel started making a strange noise, and the pole wasn’t bent nearly in half anymore. “Keep reeling,” he instructed.
I was starting to get excited. This fish had to be huge if it was this much trouble to bring in. Grinning from ear to ear, I reeled my heart out. When it got close, Chase used a net to scoop my fish out of the water. “What is that little thing? Where is my big fish?” I asked.
Chase chuckled as he removed the hook and held up my fish. “This is your fish, baby. It’s a decent sized catfish, maybe two or three pounds.”
“That little thing was what I had so much trouble trying to reel in?” I asked, not believing a word he was saying.
“Yes, baby. Now you know how fishing stories get started,” he replied.
“Well,” I huffed, “that’s disappointing.”
“Do you want me to put some more bait on your hook?”
“Yes, please. I have no desire to touch whatever that is,” I said, eying the jar of nastiness with disgust.
Ember laughed. “It’s just hot dogs.”
“No way. Hot dogs don’t look like that.”
“They do when they’ve been fried in butter and dumped into a jar of apple cider vinegar, strawberry Kool-Aid, and garlic,” Dash added with a shrug. “It makes the whole house stink when she makes it, but it works better than any bait I’ve ever used.”
To further prove his point, his pole started bouncing, and he reeled in another catfish about the same size as the one I caught.
By the end of the night, everyone in our group had caught at least two fish. Ember pulled in the biggest fish I’d ever seen firsthand in the wild. The thing was huge and ugly. I had no idea creatures like that lived in the lake. The boys, and Ember, assured me that the 35-pound beast, otherwise known as a flathead catfish, and his comrades didn’t bother humans, but I would be googling that fact for myself when we got back to the house.
Despite the rough start, the rest of our long weekend getaway was perfect. The weather was beautiful, and everyone was in a good mood. It was perfect to the point that I didn’t want to leave. Unfortunately, I found myself saying goodbye to Chase, yet again on a Monday. He asked me to stay, but I had laundry and grocery shopping to do before the work week started, and I needed to catch up on the sleep I missed due to our late-night activities.
With a promise to call him as soon as I got home and tears in my eyes, I pulled onto the road and pointed my car toward Sugar Falls. I was glad Shaker had driven Hilarie home from the lake house because I needed the time to myself to think. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, leaving Chase and living our lives in completely different states had been getting harder and harder for me and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to keep doing it. I also didn’t know if I was ready for the changes ending our weekend-only romance would bring to my life.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Carbon
I watched her drive away. Usually, I was the one leaving, but it wasn’t any easier being on the other side, and I was at a loss as to what to do about it. My life, the one I worked hard to rebuild after it was destroyed years ago, was in Croftridge. She knew as well as I did that I couldn’t and wouldn’t leave Croftridge. My only living family members lived in Croftridge. My club was in Croftridge. She was the only thing missing.
Sleep eluded me that night. My mind was in overdrive trying to figure out a way to get Harper to Croftridge. As the sun slowly began to light the sky, the answer to my problem finally came to me. I jumped out of bed, showered, and started the coffee. I waited as long as I could, but by 7:00 am, I was on my bike speeding to the farm.
I found Duke in the barn, getting one of the horses ready for a training session. His head shot up when he heard me approaching. The scowl on his face relaxed when his eyes landed on my face. “Morning, brother, I wasn’t expecting you. Everything all right?”
“I wanted to talk to you about something. Do you have a few minutes?” I asked.
“I do if you don’t mind talking while I’m getting Jelly Bean ready. I’m the only one here so you can speak freely.”
“Jelly Bean?” I asked.
He scoffed. “Yeah. Happens all the time. These rich fuckers pay thousands of dollars for a quality horse and let their kid name it. That’s how you end up with a champion named Jelly Bean.”
“Right. So, I wanted to talk to you about your sister.”
That got his attention. Duke stood and turned to face me. “What about my sister?”
I explained the situation with Harper to him and then shared my idea. Thankfully, he thought it was a great idea and even offered some suggestions to help. We spent over an hour talking out the details. By the time we finished, I was more than ready to get the ball rolling.
As I was stepping out of the barn, Keegan slammed into my chest, screamed louder than a banshee, and stumbled backward covering her mouth. “Keegan! What’s wrong?” I barked, harsher than I intended.
Her eyes were wide, her breathing was labored, and her little hands were shaking. She was terrified of something. “N-n-nothing. I’m just running late, and you scared me.” She was still panting and held a hand over her chest as if that could magically slow down her breathing.
Duke came barreling around
from the side of the barn. “What the hell is going on?”
Keegan’s eyes widened even more at the sound of his voice. Was she afraid of him? I narrowed my eyes at Duke when I spoke, “Nothing. We ran into each other, literally, and I scared her.”
Duke looked at his watch and back to Keegan. “You’re late.”
She visibly swallowed and lowered her head. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
I reached for her chin and tilted her head up. “Don’t bow your head to him or any man for that matter.” I studied her for a few moments before I spoke again, choosing my words carefully. “You know you have the club’s protection if you ever need it, right? All you have to do is ask.”
She smiled, though it was forced. “Thank you, Carbon. I’m fine, really. I was running late and didn’t expect to run into King Kong in the barn,” she said, gesturing to me.
I chuckled lightly at her remark. I didn’t believe her for one second, but there wasn’t much I could do if she didn’t want the help I offered. We said our goodbyes and I went in search of Ember.
After checking her office and the organics farm, I doubled back through the stables. At a loss, I pulled out my phone and called Dash. He informed me that Ember wasn’t feeling well when she woke up and was probably still at home. It briefly crossed my mind that I should wait until she was feeling better, but I decided to let her tell me that herself and was soon knocking on her front door.
“Carbon? Is everything okay?” she asked, clearly surprised to see me standing on her front porch.
“Everything is fine, Ember. I wanted to talk to you about a new project of sorts. Is now a good time?” I asked.
“Sure, come on in.” She made coffee, and we took a seat in her living room. I explained my idea and the reasoning behind it. Just like the bleeding heart she was, Ember jumped all over it. “I think that’s a great idea, Carbon! I’m a little disappointed in myself for not thinking of it first…” she trailed off and started rubbing her palms together, her tell that she was nervous.
Carbon (Blackwings MC Book 4) Page 15