HORIZON MC

by Clara Kendrick

  “More like coppery,” Katie said, lowering her sunglasses to check. “Damn, I’m jealous.”

  “It’s just melanin,” Amy said, giggling. “Sloan, will you get out of the pool and help me with the sunscreen?”

  “Yeah, Sloan,” Haley said. “And after you do that, take a bathroom break. Please.”

  “The purple in the pool isn’t a thing, though, right?” he asked, dripping water as he hoisted himself out of the deep end. “Right?”

  “Why?” Jack asked, laughing as he pushed himself in the hanging swing that had also been a housewarming present. I was beginning to suspect that he had purchased a majority of the furnishings for the porch and pool area, which went to show just what kind of a guy he was generous. “Would you be surrounded by a cloud of purple if it were?”

  “No,” Sloan said with a quick glance up toward Chuck, who was purposefully ignoring him as he flipped steaks. “Definitely not. No cloud of purple for me. This is the perfect time for a bathroom break.”

  “You’d better check the chemicals in it, Chuck,” Ace recommended, examining the progress on the meat. “I don’t trust Sloan as far as I can throw him.”

  “If he’s upset the pH in the pool, then he’s going to get to take a road trip to buy us some new chemicals,” Chuck said, his voice raised meaningfully toward Sloan.

  “Or you could just force him into servitude,” Jack added, pushing his sunglasses on top of his head. “Sloan Norris, pool boy for life.”

  “Only if I get to wear a speedo,” Sloan said, waggling his hips suggestively as he rubbed sunscreen into Amy’s shuddering back as she laughed at him. They were sweet together. As big of an idiot as Sloan could be sometimes, she saw right through him, to the part of him that was true. Seeing them together like that made me wistful for a relationship of my own. You got to a certain age and the thrill of the one-night stand sort of faded.

  Or maybe that was just me. Maybe I really was being maudlin.

  “I’m the only one around here who gets to wear a speedo,” Chuck said, punctuating his words by closing the lid to the grill with a clatter. “My house, my pool, my rules.”

  “You keep threatening us with that speedo, bud, but I don’t think it’s ever going to materialize,” Ace remarked. “I don’t think you have the balls to rock one.”

  “Or maybe the balls are the reason I don’t rock one,” Chuck countered.

  “I know you all aren’t over there discussing your balls,” Haley called up from the poolside. “I know that because you are all grown men with legitimate jobs who are all socially well-adjusted.”

  “Are you so sure about that?” Katie asked.

  “Which part?”

  “The socially well-adjusted okay, all of it.”

  Haley heaved a long-suffering sigh. “I am honestly just trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.”

  “Let me lay your doubts to rest,” Chuck said. “Ace, will you take the grill?”

  “I’ve been trying to get you to let me take the grill since I got here, bud,” Ace said, accepting the tongs and popping the lid again. “What’s in these foil packets?”

  “Baked potatoes, except for that big one,” Chuck said, pointing. “That one’s vegetables.”

  “Vegetables?” Ace snorted. “Who’s ever heard of such a thing at a barbecue?”

  “You just wait,” Haley called up. “You will be singing a different tune after your first bite.”

  “You going swimming, man?” Chuck asked, jerking his chin at Jack, who shook his head.

  “Don’t want to frighten anyone,” he said, tapping at his torso. I’d only seen it once or twice, but the scarring from the explosion that had done its best to rob Jack of his life was pretty extensive. There was a reason he usually declined to take his shirt off in front of people.

  “You know damn well that nobody gives a shit about that,” Chuck scoffed. “You’re just sensitive about that beer belly you’re growing.”

  “You skip one or two ab days, and then the beer belly just comes for you,” Jack drawled, grinning. “Let my example serve as a warning to all of you poor bastards.”

  “Let’s try and be body positive, please,” Chuck said, stripping his own shirt off.

  “Is that something you read on the internet somewhere?” I teased him.

  “Just something I believe in.” He shucked his shorts off next, and…

  “Jesus. The speedo wasn’t a joke.”

  “My eyes,” Sloan complained faintly.

  “Jealous?” Chuck executed a few impressive poses he probably saw while watching wrestling or something before running and doing a cannonball directly into the pool. The wave he generated soaked Amy, Haley, and Katie, making the three of them shriek with laughter.

  “I’m a lucky woman,” Haley said, and I couldn’t tell if it was sarcastic or not.

  Chuck came up for air. “Damn, I love this pool. Come swimming with me, sweetheart.”

  “I don’t want to get my hair wet,” Haley said.

  He splashed her helpfully, and she shrieked again, trying to block the onslaught of water. “There. Now you don’t have anything to worry about.”

  “You’re the one who’s going to worry when he wakes up next to a woman with green hair,” she grumbled, but joined him in the pool all the same.

  “Okay, I am really, really going now,” I announced to the party at large. “It has been a wonderful day, though I have seen and heard things that I would like to forget about.”

  “I know you’re going to think about me all evening,” Chuck said, grinning broadly as he bobbed around the pool with Haley on his back.

  “I think I’m going to drink on the job to ensure that doesn’t happen,” I assured him. “Have a good night.”

  “I’ll be by later, probably,” Jack said, but I waved him off.

  “No rush. You know the bar will be fine if you take a night off. Just enjoy yourself.”

  “This beer of yours isn’t that bad,” he acknowledged, lifting the bottle I’d given him earlier. “Maybe we could try it out.”

  “We can talk later,” I said. “I really have to go. You know there’ll be people waiting for me to get there.”

  “Call if you have any issues.”

  “Okay.”

  It was already nearly dark by the time I got on the road. It was hard to extricate myself from my friends sometimes, but someone had to open the bar. It was my livelihood, sure, but I also enjoyed it. If only I could get the people of Rio Seco to embrace craft brews, my life would be complete. Until then, it was just a goal I kept pushing toward.

  My motorcycle roared down the pavement, and I really opened the throttle, intent on making good time back into town. The traffic was light, the weather was good, and the bike was a living thing between my legs, bearing me toward the bar. Near the intersection with the interstate, though, I squinted, seeing the dim outline of a figure in the beam of my headlight. The closer I got, the more details I saw. It was a woman, she was tall, her hair was wild, and she was oh, God.

  She was stepping out into the middle of the road like someone with a death wish, a grin pasted on her face, and it became clear, even as I braked heavily, rolling the handlebars out of the way, that I wasn’t going to be able to avoid her.

  Book 4

  Chapter 1

  I didn’t know what it wasluck or physics or some stray guardian angel left over from my days as a Marine that made me miss the girl standing in the middle of the road. Maybe I’d swerved just neatly enough to keep me astride the motorcycle and her alive, or maybe she’d had the sense to step back at the last moment.

  All I knew, my chest heaving as I turned the bike around and idled back to her, was that a massive tragedy had just barely been averted. How had I seen her in time? The black of the desert surrounding Rio Seco at night was absolute. If I’d been any deeper in my thoughts, I would’ve hit her.

  I opened my mouth to ask her if she was all right, but she obviously was, standing
at the side of the road, giving me a look that told me she was clearly unimpressed with my driving skills. It barely registered that she was beautiful long legs, smooth skin the color of nutmeg, a halo of hair floating up and out, away from her face, not enough clothes to ward off the chill of the autumn night. The initial panic I’d felt quickly gave way to anger.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I spat, yanking off my helmet so fast that I nearly gave myself whiplash. “You could’ve gotten us both killed.”

  “But I didn’t.” Whoever she was, she obviously didn’t give a shit. She looked as relaxed as if we were having a conversation about the weather. My heart was pumping like I’d just run a marathon.

  “What are you even doing out here?” I asked her, still flummoxed. If she was aiming to disarm me by confusing me, she was doing an awfully good job at it.

  “Looking for a ride,” she said, and left it at that, as if that would explain everything.

  “There’s nothing out here,” I said, spreading my arms for emphasis. “How did you get here?”

  “Hitched a ride with a trucker.”

  “And the trucker just left you out here?”

  “He said he wasn’t going all the way into town.”

  “So he just left you at a crossroads? Just like that?”

  “He brought me all this way from Phoenix.”

  “And he couldn’t take you just a couple of miles out of his way?”

  She laughed. “Hey, man, take it up with the trucker. I wanted to get out here. It’s beautiful country. The sunset was just dynamite.”

  I blanched, and swallowed hard. It was pitch black outside, now. “How long have you been waiting for somebody to come by?”

  “Late afternoon,” she said. “There’s only been a handful of people to pass by.”

  “It’s a small town,” I said. “Plus, it’s a school night.”

  “What day is it?”

  “Sunday.”

  “Really?” She looked a little surprised. “It’s hard to keep track of them. Sunday. Huh.”

  “What day were you expecting?”

  “I don’t know. Not Sunday, I guess.”

  “You’ve been waiting here since it was still light?” I asked, her very presence still befuddling me. “What in the world have you been doing?”

  “Trying to get a ride, of course,” she said. “And enjoying nature. Taking pictures.”

  “Taking pictures?”

  “It’s kind of my thing.” She smiled at me. “And you’re the first person who stopped for me.”

  “Because you were standing out in the middle of the road, trying to kill yourself or something.”

  “Wrong. Just looking for a ride into town. So, do you mind? Or should I keep waiting? I don’t care, either way.”

  “You don’t?” I shook my head at her. “There’s no telling how long you’d be standing out here until the next driver happened by, and then there’s still no way of knowing if they’d stop.”

  “I was just about to get my tripod out of my backpack and start taking some long exposures of the stars.”

  “What?”

  “Pictures.” She pursed her lips and mimed holding a camera to her face and mashing the button, clearly making fun of me. “Taking some pictures.”

  “Plus you’d, uh, be cold,” I spluttered. “Aren’t you cold?”

  “I don’t mind the cold,” she said. “I think it’s nice out, for being fall. And I’ve got a jacket in my backpack, too.”

  “So you’ve got this thing all figured out, right?” Why in the hell was my next inclination to offer her my own leather jacket? I tamped down the urge. “Well, I’ll leave you to your picture-taking, then, if you do.”

  If my decision fazed her, she didn’t let on to it. “All right. Drive safe out there.”

  I huffed, taken aback that she was so willing to let me roll out of her life like that. “It was a joke. Of course I’ll give you a ride. I’m not going to leave you out here like some kind of asshole trucker.”

  “Man, you’ve got something about truckers,” she said, hefting up her backpack.

  “They seem to always want to run us off the road, from time to time.”

  “Well, motorcycles are hard to see sometimes, when you’re driving.”

  “I can’t believe you’re taking their side.”

  “Said the guy who almost ran me over with his motorcycle.”

  “Said the girl standing in the middle of a dark highway.”

  “It’s Nadine, actually.” She stuck her hand out. “Nadine Kimble.”

  “I’m Brody Rockland,” I said, shaking her hand. “Nice to meet you. Here. Take my helmet.”

  “I’d rather you wear it.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re the one driving this thing. We need you to be protected. Plus, I want to feel the wind in my hair.”

  “I’m going to have to insist that you wear the helmet,” I said. “You’ll still feel the wind.”

  “All right, I’ll follow the rules.”

  “Climb aboard, then,” I said, revving the engine. “I’ll introduce you to Rio Seco.”

  “Pleased to meet it.”

  There was nothing impressive about Rio Seco, but maybe that was the inexplicable charm in this place. People drifted through, and more often than not, decided to stay. Beyond a few smatterings of residential neighborhoods and trailer parks, Rio Seco was nothing more than a main street with a gaggle of historic buildings and a park. The motorcycle club I belonged to, Horizon MC, was working on a series of fundraisers to help revitalize the town, and revamping the park had been a recent victory for our efforts. Bit by bit, though, attracted by the nice park, more and more interest was being shown in preserving the historic downtown. Buildings that had stood empty for years were getting new tenants, and eateries were springing up on roads that used to be nothing more than patches of sand, cacti, and Aloe Vera plants. Some people complained about the development, but it was good for the town. As long as we kept the chain restaurants out, I was confident Rio Seco would retain its charm and revitalize itself as much as it needed to in order to survive.

  “This is so cute,” Nadine said behind me. “I can’t wait to see it in the daytime. I’m going to photograph the shit out of this place.”

  “That’s…nice, I guess.” I slowed down to the speed limit as we passed the row of buildings. Horizon MC Bar was at the end of the row, near the park. “How long are you planning to stay in town?”

  “I’m not sure yet,” she said, after a pause. “I’m kind of just letting the wind blow me around, decide where I go next. I don’t have any assignments at the moment, but that’ll change. It always does.”

  “Assignments?”

  “Yeah, the photos,” she said. “I’m a photographer.”

  “Ah. I thought you were just taking photos for fun out there in the desert.”

  “I do take them for fun. But assignments are fun in that they give me money, though I can try to sell some photos to magazines and galleries and on my website.”

  “You have a website?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Could I maybe see some of your photos?”

  “Yeah. It’s just my full nameNadine Kimble dot com. Easy as that.”

  We rolled to a stop. “This is the bar,” I said, parking the bike and accepting the helmet from Nadine, who climbed off the back of the motorcycle without assistance. “I just have to open it up really quick and I can take you wherever you need to go.”

  “Oh, I’m here,” Nadine said.

  “Pardon?”

  “Where I’m going. I’m already here.”

  I stopped for a moment, blinked at her. “You were planning on coming to the Horizon MC Bar tonight?”

  “No. I wasn’t even really planning on Rio Seco. I just wanted somewhere photogenic in New Mexico, but that’s practically the entire state. I’ll stay in Rio Seco for as long as I’m able.”

  “Well, if
that’s the case, it’s just a short ride to the motel,” I said. “Within walking distance, even, of the bar. Lord knows we’ve all made that stumble once or twice.”

  Nadine pulled a face. “Motel? Do you have any hostels close by? Pensions?”

  “I don’t know what those are,” I said, confused. “Are they places to stay?”

  “Yeah, but really cheap.”

  “Sorry. The motel’s about as good as we can do.”

  “I’ll figure something out,” she said brightly. “Mind if I tag along with you for the time being? I won’t bother you.”

  “You’re fine,” I said, surprised, wondering how she planned to “figure out” a lodging situation with the motel being her only option in Rio Seco. “Follow me.”

  I approached the bar and was relieved that there was only one person waiting for me to open it. I’d been afraid there would be an entire line.

  “I thought you weren’t going to show,” said Marty, one of our regulars. He had a mournful face, like someone was constantly threatening to take away everything he loved. In this case, what he loved most was a place to drink. Horizon MC Bar was the only place to do that in town.

  “Of course I was going to show,” I said. “This place pretty much stays open, doesn’t it?”

  “That’s handy, for a bar,” Nadine commented. “People need a place to go.”

  “Only place in town,” I said. “People have to come here if they need a place to go.”

  “Bet you all do pretty good business,” she said, following Marty as he made a beeline for the bar even as I was still flicking the lights on.

  “We do all right.”

  “Then I kind of have a proposition for you,” she said, sitting directly next to Marty at the bar even though there were so many other seats available. Marty was an alright guy, but he wasn’t much to look at. Nadine, however, didn’t seem to care.

  I popped open a bottle of beer for Martyhe didn’t vary in his tastes and slid it to him. “What’s your proposition?”

  “You hire me here.”

  That made me halt in my prep, which didn’t mean much more than stocking up with cherries and slicing lemons and limes and oranges. “You want to work here?”