Driving Whiskey Wild

by Melissa Foster

  “I didn’t do anything,” Bones said.

  “You answered your phone and you stayed with my girl. That’s everything.” He reached for Finlay again, and the three of them sat on the porch steps. Finlay and Bones sat on either side of Bullet, and Tinkerbell climbed onto his lap, licking his face.

  “Any flashbacks?” Bones asked.

  Bullet stared out into the darkness without answering for so long, Finlay wondered if he was going to answer at all. She placed her hand on his thigh, and he covered it with his, lacing their fingers together.

  “They had pictures all over of their boy they’d lost, and pictures of you with him,” he said to Finlay. “I didn’t know him well, had only met him on that mission, and didn’t even know he went by the name Aaron. He was just Rush to me. But for you to have been with him, I’m sure he was a great guy. I didn’t have a flashback. Not even when I described his last moments, which shocked the hell out of me. I was bracing for the worst, but it never came. Then his parents lost it. They were so relieved, because like you said, they thought he’d died alone. I cried right along with them like a fucking pussy, but I didn’t feel like one. It felt good to give them peace.”

  “You’ve been with them all this time?” Bones asked.

  Bullet shook his head. “I went to see Mom and Pop. I figured if I was facing my demons, I should give it all I had.”

  “Oh, Bullet.” Finlay leaned against him.

  Bones leaned his elbows on his knees, worrying with his hands. “And…?”

  “Pop knew.”

  Bones held his hands up. “I swear I didn’t tell him.”

  “I know. Goddamn motorcycle community. Some doc who worked on me at Walter Reed, the military hospital in Bethesda, recognized my back tat. Biggs has known the whole damn time.”

  “And he never said anything to either of you?” Finlay was unable to disguise the awe in her voice.

  “He said…” Bullet paused, his eyes glistening in the moonlight. He cleared his throat, sat up a little straighter, put one arm around Tinkerbell, the other around Finlay. “He said he’d thought he’d lost me once. He didn’t want to piss me off and lose me again.”

  “And Red?” Bones asked.

  “Red…” Bullet repeated. “She didn’t give it up. I have no idea if Biggs told her or not. She just hugged me and cried. You know how she is. She’s either setting us straight or loving us up. I was on the loving side of things tonight. Tomorrow she’ll probably want to kick my ass.”

  “Won’t we all?” Bones pushed to his feet and embraced Bullet. “I’m proud of you, man. I love you. You had me worried tonight, but I shouldn’t have been. You’re invincible.”

  Bullet scoffed. “Hardly. Love you, little bro.” He patted Bones on the back and then patted his leg to call Tinkerbell and reached for Finlay. Tinkerbell came to his side as Bones started up his bike and drove away.

  Bullet gathered Finlay in his arms and said, “I’m sorry for taking off and making you worry. Thank you for not giving up on me.”

  “Thank you for not giving up on us.” She was so full of love for him, he’d become even more of a hero, but she’d never dare let those words slip out again.

  “I wasn’t sure if you’d be here or not, so I drove by your place first, and, baby…” A world of emotions rose in his eyes. “That’s not your place anymore, lollipop,” he said with all the strength and passion she’d grown to love. “I need you here with me all the time. I know I’ve got baggage, and that probably makes you unsure, especially after tonight—”

  She reached up and pulled his mouth to hers, kissing him into silence.

  “You don’t need me, Bullet. You want me. I’m so thankful I’m the one you chose, because I do need you…and Tink. And more than that, I want you both in my life. I moved here to put down roots, and I thought those roots would include only sisterly love. But you’ve shown me I’m still capable of loving and being loved. I’ve got baggage, too, but our love is so big, it’s help-each-other-unpack-our-baggage love, the kind of love that lasts forever.”

  “Thank you, angel,” he said softly. “But I do need you, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.” He brushed his lips over hers, his beard tickling her skin as he said, “Earlier today, you asked me if I had a favorite place, and I said I’d never had one, that I needed the open road. But I was wrong, baby. I found my place. It’s right here beside you.”

  He lifted her into his arms and carried her inside. “How about we go upstairs and make up for the time we lost?”

  “One orgasm for each hour we were apart?”

  “That’ll never be enough.”

  Epilogue

  “IZ, CAN YOU grab the pigs in blankets? Dix, do we need more plates? I think we need more plates—” Finlay started when Isabel grabbed her by the shoulders.

  “Fin, stop. We’ve got this. Don’t worry.” Isabel’s hazel eyes danced with confidence. She’d moved to Peaceful Harbor last weekend and had taken over Finlay’s lease, after Finlay had moved in with Bullet.

  “Don’t make me go get your mother,” Dixie teased.

  Finlay’s mother and stepfather had come down for the event, and last night, her mother, Penny, Isabel, Dixie, Gemma, Crystal, Red, and even Chicki and Babs, had helped prepare food for today’s fundraiser just so Finlay could go on the charity ride with Bullet this morning. While Finlay had been a nervous wreck, fussing over every little thing they cooked, her mother had been the eye of the hurricane, calm, cool, and collected.

  “Why are you so nervous anyway?” Isabel asked. “You’ve been acting like you had drugs for breakfast ever since you got back from the charity ride.”

  “I don’t know. I just want things to go well for Sarah, and I’m so full of adrenaline from the ride, I can’t seem to calm down,” Finlay said. The ride had lasted for three hours and had ended at Whiskey Bro’s, where the fundraiser was in full force. It had been two weeks since that fateful day at the meadow, and she and Bullet had been going for rides almost every morning since. Riding was just as addictive as Bullet was.

  “Okay, girls, let’s go. We have to get this food out there.” Finlay picked up two trays of burgers and headed for the door.

  Isabel and Dixie followed her outside, where hundreds of people milled about the tents and activities. They weaved between the dunk tank run by a host of handsome firefighters and a line of people waiting for a chance to get their pictures taken with the wooden photo props Truman had painted. For two dollars, they could put their face through the hole and become a woman in a bathing suit, a biker sitting on a motorcycle, or a child sitting in a sidecar.

  They passed the obstacle course of orange cones beside the food pavilion, where a dozen or more children raced Big Wheels toward the finish line, their parents cheering them on. Bones came around the pavilion carrying Bradley on his hip and holding baby Lila, who was patting his cheek with her pudgy hand. Bradley’s eyes were damp with tears, and his knee was scraped up. Sarah walked beside them, rubbing Bradley’s back and carrying Lila’s blanket, her favorite stuffed hedgehog, and a bottle.

  “Oh no. What happened?” Finlay asked.

  “I falled on a rock,” Bradley said. “But I’m not going to the hospital. Bones said he’d fix me right up here.”

  “Bones is good at that,” Finlay said. “Sarah, how are you holding up?”

  Sarah patted her burgeoning baby bump and looked adoringly at her children. “I’m good, thanks. Just glad to have my babies and Scott home.” Lila had recovered completely, and the plastic surgeon said the scars on her face and arms should become almost undetectable over time. Scott was still in a wheelchair with pins in one leg, the other casted, but his lungs were healing well.

  “We’ll catch up with you guys later,” Bones said. “I’ve got to get B-boy cleaned up. Bullet was looking for you a few minutes ago, Fin.”

  “Isn’t he always?” Dixie teased.

  Finlay smiled, thinking of yesterday evening, when they’d skipped dinner and made love fo
r hours. They were together as often as they could be, and when they weren’t physically together, they were together in their hearts.

  “For the record, Penny and I are jealous. The man worships you,” Isabel said as they passed the moon bounce.

  “You can bring those trays over here,” Bear hollered from beside it, where Kennedy was peering through the mesh at him.

  “No, they can’t,” Crystal said as she came out of the tent where the raffles were being held and took one of the trays from Finlay. “I’ll bring you and Kennedy plates,” she said to Bear, then to Finlay and the girls, “I’m so glad my stomach is better. I think Bear was hoping I was pregnant. Now he’s got babies in his eyes every time he looks at me.”

  “Babies are amazing,” Isabel said. “You should have one!”

  “Please keep her away from my husband,” Crystal teased. “There must be five hundred people here. Some of the raffles are up to thousands of dollars. Did you see the local newspaper guy? He’s taking pictures, and said he would do a whole write-up on the expansion of Whiskey Bro’s.”

  “It’s amazing what this community does for their own,” Finlay said as they entered the food tent, which smelled heavenly and was bustling with people. She was pleased as punch with the turnout, even though the food was gobbled up as quickly as she could cook it. Thankfully, Nate Braden, who owned Tap It, a local restaurant, and Jasmine and Joe Carbo from Jazzy Joe’s Café, were also taking part in the event, so no one was going hungry.

  Finlay looked across the tent at Penny, who was surrounded by families waiting for ice cream. Tegan and Isla, Chicki and Bud’s daughter, had come out to help her run the ice cream station. Several of the Dark Knights members’ wives and daughters were helping out with the food stations. Finlay felt lucky to have found her small hometown to be just as close-knit and welcoming as it had been when she was young. As she set the tray on a table, she spotted Red talking with her mother in front of the drinks station. It warmed her heart to see her two worlds coming together.

  “Would you mind watching over things so I can go find Bullet? I’ll be quick,” she asked Isabel, who was glaring at Jed as he snagged three cookies from the tray.

  “What? I’m sharing with my friends.” Jed motioned toward Quincy, who was waiting in line for ice cream.

  “Mm-hm.” Isabel shook her head. “The only thing Quincy has on his mind is getting a luscious lick of Penny.”

  Jed leaned across the table and said, “I could go for some licks.” He waggled his brows.

  Isabel rolled her eyes. “Why did I agree to work with you again?” She laughed and looked at Finlay. “Oh, right, because my bestie is here. Did Bullet like your surprise?”

  “He loved it,” she said, smiling to herself. When she’d shown him the tattoo she’d tried to get yesterday, he’d gotten a sad look in his eyes. At first she’d thought it was because she’d meant to have his name tattooed over her heart, but it had hurt so much, she’d gotten only one line, the left side of the letter B. But later, as they were lying in front of the fireplace, the flames casting shadows over their naked bodies, he’d run his finger over the line and said, I love that you wanted my name on you, but I wish I could have been there with you. I want to be there for all the important things in your life. Finlay had lined up a few catering jobs after the baby shower, and even though Isabel would be there to help her, Bullet had offered to go with her, too, when he could. The man claimed not to know anything about romance…

  “Go ahead, Fin,” Isabel said, and smirked at Jed. “I’ll keep the vultures away.”

  Finlay stepped outside the tent, scanning the grounds for Bullet as she made her way through the crowd. Even with so many leather-clad men milling about, her man was easy to spot, holding Lincoln near the temporary tattoo booth. She melted at the sight of her big, burly man with that sweet little one in his arms. As he pressed his lips to the baby’s head and closed his eyes for the briefest of seconds, she remembered what he’d said about wanting children. A heavy hand touched her shoulder, pulling her from her thoughts.

  “You done good, darlin’,” Biggs said as he stepped beside her.

  “This was a collaborative effort, and I’m so happy it’s going well.”

  “The event is going well, too, but I meant with my boy.”

  She looked across the lawn at Bullet just as Kennedy barreled into his legs, and he scooped her up into his other arm. He was the most loyal, loving man Finlay knew, and even though he’d struggled with what that meant when he was younger, she knew the man he was had everything to do with the parents who had raised him. Thinking of the life lessons Biggs had taught Bullet and the way he’d waited years, silently holding on to what must have been extreme curiosity until Bullet was ready to share his secret with him, she said, “You done good, too.”

  With that thought, her mind turned to her parents and how much she missed her own father. She thought about her mother moving away after they’d lost him. Then her thoughts turned back to the man across the field, the one who had become an even bigger part of her life as he’d come out from under his guilt a little more each day. Bullet saw things in Finlay that no one else—including her—ever had. Finlay hadn’t realized she’d needed closure with Aaron’s family, too, but Bullet had, and he had secretly set up a meeting with them. Little had she known when they’d set out for a ride last Saturday morning, they’d end up in Pleasant Hill having breakfast with Aaron’s parents. Or that later, as they’d driven home, she’d realized that if anything ever happened to Bullet, moving away from the harbor wouldn’t be enough to help her move forward. Their love was too deep and too big to ever leave behind.

  AS IF THEY were connected by energy bigger than the eye could see, Bullet couldn’t look away from Finlay as she crossed the grass in a long plum-colored dress that hugged her luscious curves. Her blond hair cascaded over her shoulders, softening the edginess of the black leather jacket she wore. Bullet was struck with the images he’d begun seeing in his mind lately. Images of their future. He’d never thought past the day he was living until he’d found Finlay, and now he couldn’t stop visions of her, her belly round with their baby, or cooking with a child on her hip and Tinkerbell by her side, from finding their way into his mind on a near-daily basis. He envisioned himself lying beneath the stars with Finlay and a gaggle of their children, Tinkerbell standing sentinel over them all. Sometimes, like now, as he stepped toward her with Kennedy and Lincoln in his arms, he imagined he and Finlay old and gray, riding over the bridge that led out of Peaceful Harbor and off into the sunset on his bike—knowing they’d be coming back over that bridge together.

  “Look how pwetty Aunt Finlay looks in her dwess, Uncle Bullet.” Kennedy waved at Finlay.

  “She sure does.”

  Finlay waved and blew a kiss to Bullet. Kennedy pretended to catch the kiss and pressed her hand to her cheek.

  “Hey, that was my kiss,” Bullet said.

  Kennedy giggled and pressed her hand to Bullet’s lips. “Now you have it, too.” She reached over and pressed her hand to Lincoln’s cheek. “And Linc has one, too.”

  “Thanks, princess.”

  Finlay smiled and kissed the babies. “Your uncle Bullet sure does have a way with you guys, doesn’t he? He always keeps you smiling.”

  Kennedy nodded, and Lincoln shyly pressed his face into Bullet’s neck.

  “Wait until we have our own,” Bullet said.

  “You’re going to have a baby?” Kennedy asked with wide eyes.

  “No, honey,” Finlay said, giving Bullet a why-would-you-say-that look. “Uncle Bullet is just being silly.”

  “Uncle Bullet doesn’t know how to be silly,” Kennedy said with a serious look on her pretty little face. “Mommy said he is too good at protecting everyone to be silly.”

  “I know how to be silly,” Bullet said, and blew raspberries against Lincoln’s cheek, making him giggle up a storm.

  “Do me!” Kennedy pleaded.

  Bullet did, earning lot
s of sweet little-girl giggles. He spotted Bear, and motioned for him to join them. “Can you take these little darlin’s for a bit?”

  “Absolutely.” Bear took Lincoln from him as Kennedy wriggled from Bullet’s arms.

  Kennedy took Bear’s hand and dragged him toward Bones, who was headed toward the food tent with Bradley. “I want to see Uncle Boney!”

  Finlay laughed. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to hearing her call him that.”

  “What do you think our kids will call him?” He draped an arm over her shoulder and headed for the bar.

  “I don’t know. You mean our little leather-wearing, ring-bearing, bike-riding kids?” she asked as they headed into the bar.

  “Don’t you mean our cake-baking, bike-riding kids?” He groped her ass as he closed the door behind them and guided her over toward the bar.

  “Bullet,” she whispered, as if the whole world might hear her chastising him for groping her. “I told Izzy I’d be quick.”

  “God, I love you, baby. You know that?”

  She blushed, and his heart swelled.

  “We’ll be as long as we’ll be,” he said as he took her in his arms and gazed into the eyes of the woman who had changed his life. “Do you remember our first kiss?”

  “Yes. I still get the chills when I think of it.”

  “So do I, lollipop. And when I think of the way you stood up to me, right over there”—he glanced across the bar—“in that pretty dress, your gorgeous eyes boring into me with such strength and conviction, I knew right then I’d met my match.”

  As he dropped to one knee and took her hand in his, he knew he should be more nervous than ever before, but he was dead calm, because this—him and Finlay—was the rightest thing he’d ever done.

  Her eyes widened, and “Bullet” slipped from her lips like a prayer.

  “Finlay, my angel, I have no idea how or why you agreed to go out with me—”