Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 97275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
“When Cheyenne was pregnant with Phoebe, I decided to be helpful and get rid of all the old Tupperware containers in the fridge, except I didn’t know that that was where she had a stash of pudding that she was hiding from me. I’d just tossed them, loaded the dishwasher, and even ran it the damn thing. Three hours later when I’m in bed, she comes in there and literally rips me a new one when I was only trying to help.” Sam related.
Gabe’s story was interrupted by the sound of my cell phone ringing from the other room. Getting up, I went to pick it up. Reading the screen, I saw a number I was unfamiliar with.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hi, Max. This is Trish. I was wondering if you’d have some free time to meet with me.” A cheery voice said.
“Trish, as in my neighbor in Hainseville, Trish?” I asked.
“The one and only, honey.” Trish laughed.
Trish and my parents got very close since they both purchased their acreage around the same time. They both logged with the same logging company, and put cabins not very far apart. When my parents died, Trish watched over our land for me while I was unable. Ember hadn’t even returned to the place since their death until very recently.
Concern flashing through me, I asked, “When and where, sweet girl?”
“Can you come soon, like today perhaps?” She asked as fear crept into her voice.\
“I can be there in an hour if you need me to be.” I explained.
“Come up to the house. Gate’s unlocked.” She said steadily.
I hung up well and truly concerned. That woman was as tough as they came. Her husband died in the war when she was nineteen and he was twenty-one. She never remarried, and worked their farm by herself until her body just wouldn’t allow her to do it anymore. She retired at the age of seventy and bought the land beside ours not long after that. There she raised quarter horses in her spare time, and watched out for those around her. She was what you would call a busy body. She knew everything that went on around her, and most of the time knew it before the cops.
Walking back into to the kitchen, I saw that my team helped themselves to a bag of chips and some Little Debbie’s. “Y’all better have those replaced by the time Payton gets off shift.” I said before taking one for myself.
“What’s she doing working a day shift, anyway?” Elliott asked before shoving a whole Christmas tree shaped cake into his mouth.
“They both switched back to days.” Sam answered around a mouthful of chips.
Two of the day shift nurses from days retired, and freed up two positions for Payton and Cheyenne to move in to.
“I need to go out to the land. Anyone want to come?”
Sam and Jack had things to do involving the Freebirds, but the rest of the men were up to a little bit of a ride. Midway through December, the weather wasn’t the most pleasant thing to ride in, but the elements didn’t keep the urge of wanting the freedom at bay. Sometimes a ride is just what a man needs to clear his mind and come up with some solutions.
I changed into some long underwear, and then slipped my jeans back over them. The leather jacket I wore would protect my chest fairly well, but it would still be a cold motherfucker no matter what we did. I slipped on a toboggan and headed out to my bike for the first time today. It was parked on the side of the building under a portico with all the rest of their bikes were housed during the winter. Elliott, James, and Gabe were blocking my view, so I couldn’t see what had them roaring in laughter until I sidled up beside them.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I said trying to contain my laughter.
The woman was nuts. She sewed fucking tassels onto my leather saddlebags. In bright neon pink and purple. The Handlebars now sported tassels as well. In fact, now that I looked more closely, they resembled the ones that used to be on her scooter. She’d put a child’s toy horn on the handlebars, and reupholstered my seat with a Disney princess themed fabric. The only good thing I could say about it was that she’d used sticky tack instead of glue. If that had been the case, I would have busted her ass. The icing on the cake was the flag at the back of the bike that was embroidered with ‘Fat Girl.’
“I’m so going to spank her ass.” I said as I took my phone out and took a picture.
I wasn’t necessarily upset that she’d done it, more so that she was out here in the middle of the night doing it with it being so cold outside. I took the offending objects off as best as I could, and piled it on the side of the concrete. Putting on my helmet, I swung my leg over the bike and started the beast up with a throaty growl, cutting off the guffaws of laughter. It was either that or shoot them.
The beast was meticulous during the wintertime. It took a few minutes to warm up, but once it did, watch out. I hadn’t tried to race her since I was in high school, but I knew damn well that it could hold its own with any other newer bike belonging to the men.
The ride over was an adrenaline-charged one. The road to my cabin was set on mostly back roads. Wildlife was prevalent in this section of East Texas. When a ten point buck darts in front of four motorcycles going sixty miles an hour, there’s nowhere else to go but full speed ahead. The call was so close, that I could have put my arm out and slapped the deer on the rump as he passed in front of us.
“Did you see that shit?” Gabe asked with wide eyes as we pulled up to Trish’s cabin.