by Jamie Begley
“Nope, I’m finished. Thanks anyway.” Rachel turned to him, giving him a smile before closing her trunk. Train and the girls were all loading their groceries into the back of his truck.
“You seem to be in a better mood since I saw you last,” Cash said casually.
“Why wouldn’t I be in a good mood? It’s a gorgeous day.” Rachel sidestepped him, going to her car door and unlocking it.
Before she could open the door, Cash reached out and opened it for her. As he reached forward, his arm brushed against her breasts. She sucked in her breath sharply, bringing his eyes back to hers.
“Yes, it is. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow night, then.”
Rachel had lost her train of thought but quickly regained her equilibrium. “Bye.”
She got into her car, starting the motor. She then gave them a brief wave as she pulled out.
“Shit.”
She had never expected Cash to come to Mrs. Langley’s party, knowing her three brothers would be there. Surely the four of them could behave long enough for the celebration, though, right?
Butterflies swarmed her already-tense stomach at having them together. She would just have to make sure to keep her brothers under control and Cash separated from them. Her nerves settled down once she had a plan of action.
It would be fine. She had everything under control. She had just proven to Cash and herself she could put that night behind them. What could go wrong?
Chapter 8
“Want to grab us some lunch?” As Lily lay down the paperwork she was working on, Rachel bounced up from the stool.
“I thought you would never ask. I’m starving. What do you want me to bring you back?”
“A hamburger and fries.”
Rachel’s mouth dropped open. Health conscious since she had become pregnant, Lily was obviously needing a junk food fix.
“Sure thing.” Rachel grabbed her purse.
“Stay and have lunch at the diner. It’s slow now; take your time and enjoy.”
“I might take you up on that.” Rachel left the church store, crossing the street to the diner.
Opening the door, she found the restaurant busy. Searching for an empty table, she noticed Willa dropping off some pies to sell. Rachel perked up, going to stand beside her at the counter.
“Hi, Willa.”
“Hi, Rachel. Lunchtime?”
“Yes. Have you had lunch yet?”
“No.”
“Join me, then. I hate eating alone,” Rachel proposed.
“I’m not in a rush, so I can sit awhile.”
“Thanks. Let’s snatch that table before someone else does.” Rachel and Willa sat down at the empty booth, ordering their drinks and food, plus Lily’s to-go order.
“What have you been up to?” Rachel asked her shy friend.
“Nothing much.” Willa shrugged. “King’s restaurant opens next week. We came up with a couple of things for his menu.”
“That’s all you need is more work.” Rachel shook her head at her as the waitress set down their drinks.
“What does that mean?” Willa tilted her head to the side.
“It means you never get out and have any fun,” Rachel complained. “Are you coming to Mrs. Langley’s party tonight?”
“I’m busy,” Willa hedged.
“You can spare an hour. Be there,” Rachel ordered. “Lily, Holly, and I will be there, and we are party misfits.”
“I don’t know.”
“Please,” Rachel pleaded for her friend’s own good.
“All right, but if I’m miserable or make a fool of myself, then I’m never going to talk to you again,” Willa threatened.
The waitress put their food down in front of them. Rachel bit into her chicken sandwich, staring at the plain salad Willa was eating.
“Is that any good?” Rachel stared down at the salad made of mostly lettuce.
“No.” Willa picked through it, eventually taking a bite.
“I have a big ass,” Rachel admitted.
Shocked, Willa looked across the table at her.
“I do. I shove it into Spanx, and if I’ve had more than one too many fries, it jiggles like Jell-O.”
Willa’s laughter filled the restaurant and dimples peeked at Rachel.
She motioned for the waitress. “Bring her a grilled chicken breast and some of the asparagus that’s on the lunch menu.” The waitress moved off.
“I’m tired of dieting all the time,” Willa confessed.
“Then don’t. You’re beautiful; you really are.” Rachel reached across the table, laying her hand on hers. Warmth flooded from her into Willa. “I wish I looked like you. You’re soft and feminine. I look like a tomboy,” Rachel confessed. “I’m twenty-three and look seventeen. When men look at you, they see a beautiful woman, Willa.”
When the waitress set the plate down on the table, Rachel pushed it toward Willa. “Cut it up and put it on your salad.”
Willa did as told and then took a bite.
“Better?”
“Yes. I was being too strict with myself. Then I get tired of eating boring food and splurge with a cupcake,” Willa confessed, beginning to eat her salad.
“If I was surrounded with your cupcakes, my ass would be as big as a barn.”
Their laughter drew many appreciative male glances, which brought the color to Willa’s cheeks.
A large group of men who had been standing at the doorway approached their booth.
“Mind if we join you? The restaurant is busy, and you have a few extra seats.” The men seemed friendly enough, and they were surrounded by familiar faces in the diner, so Rachel slid over. Willa did the same after shooting Rachel a worried glance. Rachel sent her a reassuring look before taking in the men who had sat down with them. She had never seen them in town before.
“Are you traveling through Treepoint?”
“Is it that obvious we’re not from here?” The one sitting next to her with blondish-brown hair cut short answered for the group.
“I know everyone in town, so yeah, it is a little obvious,” Rachel said, staring at the men sitting around their booth.
“We’re new to the area. We’ve moved to Jamestown and decided to spend the day exploring the nearby towns. If I had seen Treepoint first, I would have picked it over Jamestown.” He held out his hand to Rachel. “I’m Scorpion, and the one sitting next to your friend is Vaughn.”
“It nice to meet you. Treepoint is smaller, but it’s prettier with the mountains,” Rachel agreed.
“I was thinking more about the women.” He smiled.
Rachel smiled in return, liking his easy attitude. He wasn’t coming across as aggressive, just slightly flirtatious. Rachel’s confidence received a much needed boost from the appreciation she saw in his eyes.
“My name is Rachel, and this is Willa.”
Scorpion reached out his hand, shaking Willa’s while introducing his other two friends, Yancy and Scott. The men nodded in acknowledgment as the waitress brought coffee and took their orders.
Rachel was aware Willa felt uncomfortable with the situation and was about to excuse themselves when the door opened and Cash, Shade, Dean, and Rider came in, taking a table. Rachel couldn’t have felt more self-conscious with the men’s curious eyes on their table.
“So, you’re both from Treepoint?” Vaughn asked, staring at Willa.
When she didn’t answer, Rachel did. “Homegrown.”
She straightened her shoulders. She had nothing to be embarrassed about, sitting at a table of men. Neither she nor Willa belonged to The Last Riders and could do as they wanted.
Yancy had tried to talk to Willa and received only monosyllabic replies, but Scott was more determined, eventually able to pry information out of her about her baking business. When he found out she had brought in pies to the diner, the men all ordered a piece to go with their coffee. The peach pie had the men silent for several seconds as they cleaned their plates.
“I could eat the who
le pie by myself,” Vaughn complimented Willa, bringing a rosy flush to her cheeks. “Could I have your number? The next time we have a cookout, I’ll order a couple.”
Willa hesitantly reached into her purse, pulling out a card and handing it to Vaughn. At that point, Rachel felt a chill run down her spine. Instinctively, her gaze went to the table The Last Riders were sitting at; the men seemed furious. Rachel couldn’t understand why they were so angry, and she was tempted to sit there longer but decided to put Willa out of her misery.
“I have to get back to work. It was nice meeting you all.” Scorpion stood, letting her slide out of the booth while the others stood, letting Willa out. The waitress had already set Lily’s take-out food on the table, so Rachel bent down to pick it up with the check, yet found herself forestalled.
“Our treat.” Scorpion smiled, taking the ticket.
Rachel started to refuse but was quickly cut off. “For letting us disrupt your lunch and keeping us company.”
The gesture was a friendly overture that Rachel saw no need to turn down. “Thanks.”
Rachel smiled as she and Willa turned to leave. Unfortunately, they had to pass The Last Riders on the way out and not a single one tried to hide their displeasure. What the hell was up with them? Oblivious to the men’s stares, the door was no sooner closed behind them than Willa gave a relieved sigh.
“That bad?” Rachel asked sympathetically.
Willa gave a brief nod. “I become an idiot around men. Just once, I wish I didn’t act like a dork.”
“You didn’t. You’re shy, Willa, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“There’s a lot wrong with it, Rachel. Just once, I wish I could be more like you. You had those men listening to your every word.”
“Willa, you’re wrong. Three out of the four were trying to get to know you. You’re too hard on yourself.” There was no middle ground with Willa. Like her salad, she starved herself from both food and male companionship because, to herself, she didn’t measure up to this ideal she felt she could never reach. The Barbie syndrome was a bitch to live up to. Rachel felt it herself, which was why she could understand Willa’s feelings.
“I’ll see you at the party tonight,” Rachel reminded her, hoping she wouldn’t back out.
“Do you want me to bring anything?” Willa offered.
“No, you’re already bringing the birthday cake, and that’s enough. The party’s in four hours, so just go home and relax.”
“All right. Bye, Rachel.”
Rachel left Willa, crossing the street to the church store. Lily was still doing paperwork. Handing her the takeout lunch, Rachel began to pull out the donations from the previous day to organize them.
“Was the restaurant busy?” Lily asked, digging into her lunch.
“It was packed. Some men from out of town asked to join Willa and me.”
Lily’s violet eyes sparkled. “Any of them good-looking?”
“A couple of them were. One managed to get Willa’s card from her. I bet he ends up asking her out. I hope so; she needs to get out more.”
“You think it’s safe? If they aren’t from Treepoint, you really can’t know anything about them.” Lily paused, taking a bite of her hamburger.
“I got their names. I’ll ask Tate to check them out if she decides to go out with him.”
“Lewis won’t be happy,” Lily said.
“No, he won’t.” The recently divorced man had three children of his own and was raising his sister’s two after her imprisonment and subsequent death. He was determined to make Willa his, despite her running in the other direction whenever she saw him.
“Shade was at the restaurant, eating with some of his friends.”
Lily nodded. “They probably stopped there for lunch, coming back from Jamestown.”
“Jamestown?” Rachel separated the toys from the clothes.
“They were meeting someone about buying property there.”
Rachel’s heart sank. The thought of The Last Riders possibly moving out of town had Rachel about to question her further; instead, she snapped her mouth closed. It was none of her business if they moved to the larger town or not. She had turned over a new leaf; anything to do with Cash was off-limits. With that decided, the women worked steadily the rest of the afternoon.
“If it doesn’t get busier soon, you can cut your hours down until it picks up near the holidays. I hate to waste your time when there isn’t much to keep you occupied.”
“It gives me a chance to get out of the house a few days, Lily. But I may take you up on it next week. I want to get a few more plants I discovered replanted into my greenhouse before the first frost hits.”
“I can always help out if she gets busy.” Brooke Patterson came into the room from the side that connected to the church. She was dressed expensively in a yellow silk dress that showed her figure in a way no minister’s wife should. The low cleavage alone would have the men in the congregation thinking about breaking one of the commandments. She looked overdressed and out of place in the church store.
Lily didn’t respond to Brooke’s offer. She was always friendly with everyone, thus it was unusual for her to ignore an offer of help.
“Rachel, if you want to leave early to get everything ready for Mrs. Langley’s party, I can stay.” An internal warning shrilled loudly within Rachel at Brooke’s offer.
“I have it handled already. Holly and my brothers are taking care of setting everything up. All I have to do is drive there after work.”
“Oh, you’re going to wear that?”
Rachel’s hand gripped the counter at the subtle insult. She was aware of her shortcomings, but she would be damned if another woman would point them out to her.
“No, my change of clothes is in my car.”
“I see. You’re just on top of everything.” Rachel didn’t take her cattiness for a compliment. The woman didn’t seriously believe she didn’t know when someone was being condescending to her?
The door to the store opened, and Shade came in. The menacing biker took in the women standing at the counter, his mouth tightening into a thin line as he took off his sunglasses. He went behind the counter to place a kiss on his wife’s lips.
“Rachel told me she saw you at the diner. I thought you would have already gone home.” Lily smiled up at her husband.
“I thought I would stop by and see if you wanted to close the store early and take a nap before the party.”
Lily bit her lip. “We haven’t had a customer in two hours.”
“Go ahead, Lily. I’ll stay,” Rachel offered, not missing the envious look that was quickly concealed by Brooke.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. Go. I have to stay in town anyway,” Rachel urged.
“All right, then.” She gathered her purse.
“Go ahead. I’ll be right behind you,” Shade said. Lily shot her husband a curious look but left without question.
“Do you mind excusing us, Brooke?” His tone of voice implied he really didn’t give a damn if she did. Rachel was shocked at his rudeness; Shade wasn’t the friendliest man she knew, but she had never seen him be outright rude to a woman.
Brooke’s face blushed bright red. “Not at all.” She turned on her high heels, leaving with an expression that made Rachel shiver.
“Anything wrong?” Rachel asked.
“Could be. You tell me.”
“What about?” Rachel didn’t understand why he was looking so angry.
“The men you had lunch with, how long have you known them?”
“An hour. Willa and I were having lunch, and the restaurant was crowded; they asked if they could sit with us. Is there a problem with that?”
“Those men are bad news, Rachel. Stay away from them,” Shade warned.
Rachel felt her anger rising. “Let me get this straight. You’re telling me not to talk to them again?”
“Yes.”
“Shade, I can talk to anyone I want. I don’t
even let my brothers tell me what to do anymore,” Rachel snapped.
“Listen, Rachel. They aren’t someone to get involved with. You’ve never dealt with men like them before. You’re a friend of Lily’s, so I’m giving you a heads up.”
Rachel swallowed back her anger. “As Lily’s friend, I’ll take it under consideration. Willa and I shared our booth with them. We ate, we left. It was that simple.”
“And Willa gave them her card?”
“They want her to make some desserts for them for their next cookout.”
Shade nodded.
“Satisfied?”
“Not really, but I guess it’s all I’m going to get. You might drop a word and tell Willa to think twice about going out with one of them. You’ll handle it better than me.”
“Of that, I have no doubt.” Rachel gave him a wry smile. She thought he may be overreacting to the presence of a new group of men in what they considered The Last Riders’ territory.
“All right, then; I’ll see you tonight.”
“Bye, Shade.” She watched him leave then walked across the store, going to the front window and looking out. Shade crossed the street back to the diner where The Last Riders were sitting on their motorcycles, waiting for him.
While he talked to them for several minutes, Cash’s angry expression was easy to see even from this distance. As Shade got on his bike and they rode out, heading in the direction of their clubhouse, Cash rode out next to Viper in the lead, his body language showing his irritation.
She wondered what had him so pissed off. Surely it wasn’t the fact she had shared lunch with those men, was it? She had told Shade there wasn’t anything to it, and she was sure he had repeated her words to The Last Riders.
She went back to work, straightening the store until a couple of customers came in, diverting her thoughts.
After they left, she closed the store and drove toward Mrs. Langley’s house. She would talk to Willa at the party tonight. The woman would never have met the men if she hadn’t let them sit down at the table with them.
Rachel hoped she hadn’t set something in motion that was too late to prevent.
Chapter 9