“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.”