10.

R OOSTER

Hanging out at my sister's house for an hour while we got her medication in order wasn't exactly the way I wanted to spend the evening with Rosie, but she didn't seem to mind. If anything, she made the evening much more interesting. It didn't matter what I'd rather be doing, my sister's health was my priority, and if there was ever going to be a future with Rosie, she would have to understand that.

Madison was just as important to me as my daughter, which was probably due to the fact that I had known that as my mom aged, Madison's care and safety would become my responsibility. That had just been a given since she was born. My sister, just like so many adults with Down syndrome, lived a productive and fulfilling life, but she still needed the support I was more than happy to give.

There were facets of Madison's personality that made the world even more dangerous for her than other young women her age. The majority of those problems came from people who doubted her or shunned her from the second they got a good look at her face, whose features proclaimed to the world that she wasn't like the people around her. But it was her honest heart and giving personality that I found the most problematic. Not because that's what made her uniquely my Chicken Little but because there were people in the world that would take advantage of her in a heartbeat.

As difficult as it was to witness, none of us had sheltered her from the assholes of the world because we knew that if something happened to us and she was left alone, she'd need those lessons to fall back on. However, I didn't have a problem letting whoever was a problem know that if you messed with my little sister, you weren't just messing with me, but every man in my MC and every friend of mine who loved her as if she were their own family.

Somehow, I had a feeling that if Rosie became part of our lives - because if she was with me, then that was exactly what would happen - she'd be a big part of not just Kerrigan's life, but Madison's, too, and she would protect them with a ferocity only a woman could understand.

"I like how you are with her," Rosie said as she reached for my hand. I looked down at our entwined fingers and then up at her face and she asked, "Is this okay?"

"Absolutely," I assured her as I squeezed her hand. "I like it."

"Some men don't appreciate PDA."

"I've got no problem publicly displaying my feelings about anything - whether it's attraction or anger."

"That's good to know." We walked a little further in silence before she said, "I've enjoyed spending time with you, Rooster. I really never thought I'd see you again, and now that I have, it's made things . . . difficult."

"How so?" I asked.

"I'm not going to be here forever, and it seems like getting to know you better is just setting myself up for pain later on, so I made a deal with myself this morning that I'd keep our . . . whatever this is . . . distant enough that it wouldn't hurt too badly when it's over."

"Why would it have to be over?"

"My life and my family are in Rojo. My career is in Rojo. My home is in Rojo. All of those same things are here for you."

I stopped walking and tugged on her hand to get her to stop beside me. With another gentle tug, I pulled her into my arms.

"I don't want to go into this looking at an end date, Curious."

"But there is one."

"Sometimes certain sacrifices have to be made to find our ultimate happiness." Rosie smiled at me and I said, "What? Even a biker can be hopeful and introspective."

"I'm fully aware of that. I'm just trying to figure out if you understand who would be making all the sacrifices if this did happen to go any further than a short-term fling."

"They would all be on you. I can't argue with that or offer to make any myself because I'm completely tied to this land and the people living on it with me. I hope you understand that."

"That's why this has to be short-term, Rooster."

"That just means I have to enjoy every possible minute I can with you in the hopes that you'll change your mind." I gave her a lingering kiss and then leaned my forehead against hers when I heard my animals causing a ruckus. Apparently, one of them had smelled my scent on the air and alerted the others so they could start to voice their complaints about how late I was to serve them dinner. "Let me give you a little advice, Curious."

"What's that?"

"If someone offers you a chicken, say no."

Rosie laughed as she tilted her head back to look into my face. "I don't exactly have room for a chicken, but if I did, then why should I say no?"

"Because chickens are a gateway drug. Ask anybody, and they'll tell you that's true."

◆◆◆

ROSIE

The chorus of the irritated animals got louder as we passed my cabin, and by the time we made it to the fenced-in area behind the last cabin, Rooster's home, there was a line of animals yelling their disapproval of his tardiness.

I burst out laughing before I said, "It looks like they're all lined up to speak to the manager."

"There's a reason I don't work the front desk here unless I absolutely have to," Rooster said as he unlatched the gate. "Wait out here, and I'll lead them toward the back. Once the angry mob is chasing me, you can come in if you want."

I watched as he nudged chickens out of his way - gently, even though they were scurrying around his boots - and then pushed a donkey aside who seemed to be intent on standing in his way. When Rooster was halfway through the large corral, I let myself in and followed at a distance, watching him interact with each animal.

"So what's your reason?" I called out over the noise of the worked-up animals.

"For what?"

"Not working the front desk."

"People who work the front desk are supposed to smile and be pleasant. In the bar, it's almost a given that you'll be surly and not give a shit what anyone thinks of your opinions."

"And you're that guy?"

"Absolutely," he said emphatically as he scratched another donkey between the ears.

"Do your animals have names?" I asked as I picked my way around some hens scratching near a large pile of rocks. Suddenly, a black and gray goat jumped up and perched himself on the tallest boulder to stare at me. "What is the goat's name?"

Rooster looked over his shoulder as he unlatched the door of a small metal building and said, "That's Goatzilla. He's a destructive bastard. Watch out because he'll try and eat your clothes."

"Good to know," I said as I gave the animal a wide berth.

Rooster walked out of the shed carrying a couple of bundles of hay. The goat standing on the rock hopped down and rushed toward him. If Rooster hadn't jumped out of the way, he would have barrelled into him.

"Don't fuck with me, asshole!" Rooster shouted as he walked toward the middle of the enclosure with three donkeys and two goats crowding him as they tried to get to the hay he was carrying. Once he shook the hay out into the long trough, they left him alone. He bent over to pick up a hen that had been patiently staring up at him as he worked. "Hi, sweetheart. Did you miss me?" I smiled at the sweet way he spoke to the bird in his arms and realized I was seeing a side of Rooster that I had never imagined. As he looked around the pen at the scratching chickens and dogs laying on the grass near two ducks who seemed to be prancing around with no destination in mind, he asked, "Are you an animal person?"

"I'd like to think so," I said as I walked closer to him. "I've never actually been this close to any of these kinds of animals before, though."

"City girl," Rooster said knowingly. "Well, let me introduce you to my drugs of choice."

"Please do."

"You already met Goatzilla, and that's his pal, Billy the Kid," Rooster said as he pointed to a reddish brown goat who was enjoying his hay. He pointed at each donkey as he said their names, "That's Pancho, Lefty, and that one over there is Girth Brooks."

I burst out laughing and said, "Those are the best names!"

"This girl here was what I was talking about," Rooster said as he used his finger and thumb to scratch beneath the bird's feathers. Her eyes closed in bliss, and she seemed to go limp in his arms as he said, "This is my first hen. Her name is Mother Clucker."

"It is not!"

"The other girls are Amelia Eggheart, Hennifer Aniston, Angelina Jopeep, Chick Jagger, and Mary Poopins," he said as he pointed at each one. He cocked his thumb at a large red rooster strutting nearby and said, "That's Cluck Norris. He's sort of an asshole." He motioned toward the chicken coop that was near the shed he'd opened earlier and said, "They live there."

I looked over at the coop and saw a sign that read "The Egg Plant" and started laughing again. "You're giving me some great insight into your sense of humor."

"I don't have a sense of humor," Rooster argued good-naturedly. "I'm a big scary biker."

"Yeah," I said as I looked at the hen who seemed to be asleep in his arms. "I can see that."

"The geese are new. They won't let me touch them yet, but we'll get there."

"What are their names?"

His response didn't disappoint when he said, "Hugh Quackman and Feather Locklear." I was still laughing when Rooster turned around and started walking toward the chicken coop and said, "Come on, ladies. Let's get you settled in for the night."

The chickens followed him toward their home and filed inside before he murmured something to the hen in his arms and then set her down on the ground. She looked up at him longingly before she turned around to get settled in for the night as he shut the door behind him. I looked around the yard as he worked to unlatch the panels that were propped up, probably for shade, and covered the wire mesh of the enclosure, securing them safely against predators for the night.

He walked over to a rounded coop and stood next to the door as he made a ‘tsk' sound a few times. The geese seemed to know that he was calling to them and waddled into the small enclosure so he could get them settled too.

Once he was finished with the geese, he walked my way followed closely by the dogs who now had his full attention. "These guys are Bo and Luke."

"Is Bo the border collie?" I asked.

"Yes, and Luke is a mutt of some type, but he's great with the other animals. I tried to make them housepets, but they're both more content out here. It's in their nature to protect the herd, so I let them do it." The dog he'd called Bo dropped onto the ground and rolled over onto his back. Rooster chuckled as he squatted down to give him belly rubs while Luke nudged his other hand for a scratch behind the ears. "Let me get them fed and change their water, and then I'll be finished here."

"Okay," I said as I looked around. "Dianna said you have cats too."

"They come and go as they please throughout the day, but they're probably waiting on my porch for their dinner right now," Rooster said as he stood up and walked over to a large barrel. Once he had it open, he bent over and scooped at the contents and came out with two big metal dog bowls full of food. He set them down, and as the dogs bent to eat their dinner, he gave them each a final pat and then walked back over toward me. "Let's go to my place, and I'll introduce you to the cats."

"I've already met one of them."

"Well, there are three more, and they're probably plotting my death because I'm late."

"I'll let them know it's my fault."

"They won't care," he said as he opened the gate to let me out. "Cats don't give a shit about excuses; they only want results."

Rooster's house wasn't anything like I had imagined it would be. It had the same exterior as the other cabins around us, including mine, but I could tell as we walked toward the back of his house that it was much larger than I'd realized.

From the day I'd arrived in Red River, I had admired the covered porch that had planters across the front rail, two rocking chairs, and a porch swing, but the back porch had a totally different vibe. It was glassed in and looked so inviting that I knew if given the opportunity, I could spend hours sitting inside curled up with a good book.

Rooster unlocked the door and motioned for me to go ahead of him. I looked around and found it even more inviting than it looked to be from the outside. There were braided rugs here and there, covering the glossy wood floor, and a wood-burning stove in the corner with a neatly stacked pile of wood next to it. The couch looked so tempting that I almost couldn't resist going over to test the cushions on it, but the wide rocking chair seemed to call to me, so I walked over and ran my fingers across the back of it to feel the ornate carvings there.

"This is beautiful."

"My buddy made that for me last year," he said as he reached out and pushed the chair so that it began to rock. "It's a rocking chair for two because Kerrigan is getting too big for us to sit together and read in our old chair."

The image that explanation created made my eyes well with tears. The thought of this big strong man snuggled up by the fire with his little girl as he read to her made my own longing for a child of my own so tangible that I felt an ache in my chest. I reached up and rubbed my chest with my free hand as I stared down at the chair in front of me.

"If you want, I'm sure I can get him to make one for you," Rooster said, not quite understanding the longing he could feel coming off of me in waves.

I didn't just want a rocking chair, even a beautiful one like this. I wanted one that came with a baby for me to rock by the fire and maybe even the man next to me sitting nearby as he watched me feed our child.

I shook off that image and reminded myself of all the reasons this entire relationship was a very bad idea.

I took a step back and looked up at him as I shook my head. I turned around and rushed toward the door we'd just come through as I said, "I've gotta go!"

As I ran across the yard to my own cabin, I heard Rooster yelling my name, but I ignored him. I managed to make it into my cabin and slam the door before the tears started flowing, and when he knocked on the door, I was leaning against, I ignored him and put my hand over my mouth to stifle the sobs I could feel bubbling up.

Obviously, my mind hadn't quite convinced my heart that a relationship with a time limit was acceptable. My maternal clock was ticking louder than ever right now and clearly hadn't gotten the memo either.