Chapter Six

Bethany

During a phone check in a couple of days later, I told Reggie about what happened. The news clearly rattled him. "I hate that Rufus got in your face. He's always been a slimy fuck. Are you okay? Do you need me to cut my trip short?"

"No. Like I said, Lucas happened to show up and took care of the situation. I'd be highly surprised if he came back."

"Look, Bethany. If that asshole steps foot in the store again, just call the police. I'll back you up on it. Don't let him scare you."

"Reggie, he's just one in a long line of creeps I've dealt with over the years. Rufus isn't the first guy to harass me, and he probably won't be the last. I don't think he's the type to attack someone. He the kind that thinks he's a slick talker."

"I don't like this, Bethany. Not at all," Reggie mused out loud.

I could hear Thomas in the background asking what's going on. Reggie told him all about it while I nervously bit my nails. Truth be told, I was acting like this was no big deal even though the situation really freaked me out. I didn't trust Rufus, not one little bit. I think the minute he realized that Coyote wasn't from around here, he'd be back in a flash.

Unfortunately, Reggie didn't get a vacation every day. In fact, he hardly ever took a day off. I would feel absolutely terrible if he left his nice vacation over this situation with Rufus. Especially as it looked like Thomas might pop the question. "Stay put and enjoy your vacation. I'll give you a call if anything else pops off."

"Are you completely sure about this, Bethany?"

"One hundred percent sure. Now, go catch a show, and for once don't worry about what's going on at the store."

Reggie's relief was evident in his voice. "Alright, if you're sure."

"I am," I lied. "Look, I've got to go. A customer just walked in."

"Alright, stay safe, sweetheart, and if you need anything give me a call."

"Will do. You two have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. And remember what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."

Reggie seemed reassured by my words. "Okay, take care."

"You too."

I put my cell phone down on the counter and stared nervously at the front door. I didn't know what the chances were of trouble walking through it, particularly in the form of Rufus. But I couldn't discount the possibility that he would circle back around for round two. Now that my safe space at work had been violated so easily, some small dark part of my mind realized that it could happen again and again. Today was Sunday, so we were only open half day. That meant I only had to hold it together for another fifteen more minutes.

I went back to planning Coyote's grand opening to distract myself from my anxious thoughts. So far, the rockabilly idea had proven to be the more difficult theme of the two. Rockabilly performers were few and far between in our area. We'd have to fly them in, which would be cost prohibitive.

The antique car show idea was turning out to be much easier to plan. I sent out feelers to a couple of car clubs in the county. The idea of pulling together a car show had been met with a fairly enthusiastic response. Apparently, there was much more interest in antique cars than there were individuals willing to host events for them. I was starting to learn the terminology, apparently antique cars are forty-five years old and above, vintage go up to the nineteen thirties, and classic cars are twenty years old—as they say, every day' a school day. Having a car show at the grand opening was definitely a good idea. It meant Coyote wouldn't have to pay for entertainment. The parking lot would provide the space, and car enthusiasts would provide dozens of interesting cars. That was a win-win in my book.

I was caught off guard when the door chimed. My eyes darted fearfully towards the sound, only to find the person coming through the door was Coyote, rather than Rufus. In that moment all of my anxiety fled. I could feel my face light up, because he was looking good today in a tight black T-shirt and matching black jeans. His dark hair shone in the sunlight, making him look more handsome than I could ever remember him being.

When he smiled at me, my heart exploded into a thousand pieces. "Hello, again," I said warmly.

He jerked his chin over his shoulder towards the door. "The sign on the door says your store is closed after one. I was wondering if you might want to step out and grab something to eat with me?"

Ahh, this was a slippery slope. Although I wanted to spend time with him, spending time with him was going to lead to me wanting him even more than I already did. However, when he was standing in front of the counter, looking ten kinds of gorgeous in his Dark Slayers cut, it was nearly impossible to say no. I grabbed for my purse before I even made the conscious decision to say yes.

"Where were you thinking of going?" I asked as I walked towards him, with my planning book tucked neatly under one arm. This would be a great opportunity to show him all my ideas.

"What do you suggest?" he asked casually.

"The sandwich shop directly across the street is fabulous. They even make calzones."

"That's good enough for me," he replied lightly.

As I came closer, his eyes slid appreciatively over my body. Having his attention on me after so long felt amazing. Whatever spark we'd had before I took off was still burning bright. If I were being honest, I would admit there was still a Coyote-shaped space in my heart that only he could fill.

He waited patiently as I shut everything down and locked up. I had almost forgotten how he hovered protectively around me when we were in public. There was something about how he stood between me and road with his body bladed slightly to side, like he was ready to pounce on anyone who messed with me. God, I missed this, how he made me feel so sheltered and safe.

He glanced down at the planning book and then back up to my face. "I see you brought some work with you. Do you have to work from home often?"

"Not usually. My boss doesn't like us to worry about work during our off hours. I brought my planning book to show you the ideas I've been working on for your grand opening."

His eyes lit up with genuine curiosity. "I can't wait to see what you've come up with. I've sunk about every cent I have into this business and I'm hoping this grand opening will draw a lot of people."

We walked into the eatery, placed our orders, and grabbed a seat in a corner booth. Setting my purse aside, we both squished over into the corner part, and I held my planning book close to my chest. It seemed rude to launch into my ideas without some small talk, so I asked about his sister. "How has Callie been doing?"

"She's doing fine, now her youngest is a little older she's working on her dream of becoming an interior designer, I'm her first client. Callie's happy, and Breaker is really good to her. That's all that matters to me."

"That's great. How about yourself? Since you're wearing a cut instead of a prospects vest, I know your dream of being patched into the Dark Slayers MC must have come true."

He nodded, "Yeah, I honestly love the Slayers. Being part of the brotherhood has been good for me. Being part of something bigger than myself gives my life purpose, you know?"

"Yeah, I remember how you used to look up to the brothers when you were prospecting. Even I could see that they were great role models."

"Breaker took me under his wing when I had nothing and helped me become the man I am today."

"I know. You seem so much more confident and are opening your own business. That's a huge step."

The server brought our drinks and when she walked away, he said, "Enough about me. Tell me what you've been up to."

"I'm ashamed to say that I didn't thrive after leaving Griffinsford. I drifted aimlessly for a bit, worked odd jobs, and ended up getting pregnant." That wasn't quite true. I got pregnant first though didn't realize it, until I'd run off after the rape, but phrasing it this way would make him think there was no possibility she's his. I felt awful lying to him, but I couldn't be honest about paternity if I wasn't a hundred percent sure myself. I believed in my heart that he was her father, but I couldn't know if she belonged to the man who forced himself on me. What an ugly situation this was, I thought to myself. It made my heart ache.

As for Coyote, he froze and just stared at me blankly as though he was struggling to process what I just told him. I rushed ahead with my story to cover the awkward silence. "I had a really hard time keeping a roof over our head and food on the table. Reginald, that's my boss, Mr. Archibald, saw me wandering around the grocery store, feeding Nessa from samples they were offering and took pity on us. He offered me a job and let us stay at what he calls a mother-in-law suite on his property. Truth be told, I think it was a pool house at one time. That was about eighteen months ago."

His hand drew into a tense fist and his jaw locked for a brief second before he spat out, "What kind of fucker is this Reginald? Does this asshole take advantage of your vulnerability? Make you do things to for him to earn your keep?"

I reached out to cover his fist with my hand. "No, of course not! He's an older man who never had a family of his own. I believe he sees me as the daughter he never had or something along those lines."

"Old men can be the worst," he grumbled.

"My boss has been nothing but nice to me. Only someone with a kind heart would see a mom struggling to feed her toddler on free samples and offer her a safe place to live and a job. Plus, I'm not his type."

Coyote frowned, "Not his type? You are a beautiful woman, to not see that he'd either have to be blind or—"

He stopped as the penny dropped.

"Reggie's got a boyfriend, that's who he's with in Vegas right now," I added.

"Still, even if you didn't want me, you could have to come back to the Slayers' clubhouse. Storm would have taken you in. Grit would have probably given you your old job back at the gym. There was no need for you to suffer that way."

"I know the Slayers have a creed when it comes to protecting women, but I didn't want to be anyone's burden, they'd already helped me so much."

"You were never a fucking burden, Bethany. Everyone loved you. Any brother would have considered himself lucky to have captured your notice."

I nodded. "Yeah, I get that. The problem is, how would I ever know if that brother was with me because he cared about me, or because he pitied me?"

He opened his mouth to object, but I cut him off. "There comes a time in every person's life when they have to pull themselves up and start making decisions that spin their lives in the direction they want to go. Once I ended up pregnant, my all-consuming desire was remake myself into a mother my little daughter could be proud to call mom."

He swallowed thickly and I could see his Adam's apple slide up and down his throat. "I saw the goodness in you all along and would have helped you without any strings attached. You could have gone to college, look how Callie's managed to juggle everything."

I shook my head, my emotions were all over the place. Callie had a supportive husband and money, at my lowest point Nessa and I were living in my car, and I was desperate for anything to avoid catching the attention of social services. Reggie straight up saved our lives. "Callie's smart. I'm average at best. Not everyone is cut out for college, Lucas."

Calling him by his given name instead of his club name affected him. He was quick to point out, "You're smart too, querida. I wish you could see yourself the way me and everyone else sees you."

"I have to walk my own path in life. Maybe one day I'll see in myself what you see in me. Until that time comes, I'll just have to struggle through, I guess. You don't need to worry about me. I'm doing fine now. Better than fine actually. Reggie's training me to be an event coordinator. It's a career I really like, and it pays well. It's something I can do without a college degree and I'm grateful for the opportunity."

He looked down at my hand covering his and turned his hand to clasp mine. "As long as you're happy and at a good place in your life, that's all that matters, right?"

We sat there for a long moment holding hands and staring into each other's eyes. Just when he opened his mouth to speak the server came with our food. I slid my hand out of his and looked away. I took a sip of my iced tea and tried to get a handle on my emotions.

We ate and talked about safe subjects like how Callie was helping him design a waiting room that was modern and looked professional. I don't know why, but I found all the details fascinating. Between Callie designing his decor and me planning his grand opening, I envisioned him making an impact on the citizens of Griffinsford. As lunch wound down, we pushed our empty dishes aside and I opened my planning book.

I explained how the rockabilly event wasn't viable because of the costs of hiring entertainers. "But the car show idea was well received by a couple of local antique car clubs." I showed him images of a large white canopy and grills for hire. "I was thinking of setting up some tables with coffee, light refreshments and maybe some hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill. What do you think?"

He leafed through the pages, carefully inspecting all my ideas. "I like the idea of a canopy and refreshments. Antique car shows always draw a crowd. Do you think I can afford something like this?"

I nodded, "Yes, we can rent the equipment and buy the food at wholesale prices through our company. My planning got stalled out when I realized that I had no idea of the size or layout of your business."

He scratched his head. "I'm not sure exactly what you need to know. We can make a site visit sometime if you like so you can feel for the space."

"That would be wonderful. When do you want to do that?"

He shrugged. "My time is pretty much free. Working on my business is the only thing I'm doing right now. What day of the week works best for you?"

"I try to spend Saturdays with my daughter and work Monday through Friday. Sunday afternoon or any evening works for me this coming week. My boss is coming back next week, so that opens up most any day."

Coyote closed my planning book and asked, "What about this afternoon? Is that short notice?"

"No, Sunday afternoon is the time I normally reserve for chores and whatever else I need to do. Reggie's nieces help with childcare at the weekends, and they were taking Nessa to an activity center this afternoon. My daughter loves it, and it frees me up for a few hours to do all things that are difficult to accomplish with a little one climbing all over me."

Coyote chuckled. "I can almost see that in my mind's eye."

The server laid our bill on the table, and he grabbed it before I could get to it. "Why don't you pull your car around and I'll pay the bill. You can follow me to the auto repair shop. Would that work for you?"

I came to my feet and smiled down at his handsome face. "I'll be back in a flash. I saw your bike in front of our store. I'll wait for you there."

Walking out of the eatery with my planning book tucked neatly under one arm and a gigantic smile eating up my face, I couldn't believe I was about to get the grand tour of Coyote's new business. I was so proud of this man that I could burst.

My happiness was short lived, because when I approached my car I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. It was Rufus leaning against our store, smoking a cigarette. The look he gave me was absolutely lecherous. When he pulled his cigarette out of his mouth, threw it onto the ground and began walking towards me, I jumped into my car, locked all the doors, and started the engine. One minute he was standing on the passenger side of the car, bent down and staring through the closed window at me, and the next there was the throaty roar of a motorcycle engine, and he was gone. Feeling a chill creep up my spine and settle in my chest I remembered the last time a man like that got his hands on me.

Suddenly, there was a knock on my driver's side window and looked up in a panic to find Coyote make the gesture for me to follow him. I pulled out, eager to put as much distance between me and Rufus as possible.