Chapter 8

"Hi, Brody."

He turned at the sultry voice but knew who'd be standing there.

"Hi, Sydney Jane."

She was a beautiful woman, but one he'd never thought about dating. There was just something man-eater about her he couldn't get past. Brody was a modern-thinking guy. He had no problem with a woman asking him out, but he liked to make some moves. He had a feeling SJ would be pretty forceful about what she wanted.

"Looking forward to the game. I have some new body paint, and I could sure use a hand putting it on." She winked at him.

"What she means, Dad, is that she wants to get you alone, and this is her way of achieving that," Ally said, walking out of the pet supply store with a new collar for Huffin, her dog. She also carried a squeaky stuffed rabbit.

"Right. Thanks for the clarification, Ally," he said, giving his kid the eye, which told her to shut up.

"Well now, aren't you cute," Sydney Jane said in a faux sweet tone. She then bent at the waist to look at Ally like she was a three-year-old. "I was just telling the guy I met in the Courtesy Turn Cafe over my spiced apple waffles how nice all you Duke brothers are and what a sweet little daughter Brody has."

"What guy?" Brody frowned.

"He was looking at the baseball team photos and saw there were a lot of Dukes in the one of the Leaders."

"I'm not cute, but I am truthful," Ally said. "My dad doesn't need to date?—"

"Okay, we have to go," he said, grabbing his daughter's hand. "See you around, Sydney Jane." Reaching the car, he opened the passenger's door and nudged Ally in. Rounding the hood, he got in too.

"What do you think?" Ally said, holding up the collar when he started the car.

"What I think is that manners are important, and SJ is an adult, and you didn't need to speak to her that way. What's gotten into you?"

"I don't like her. She's horrible and always chasing after you, Uncle Ryder, or Uncle Dan."

"Ally, I'm an adult and can take care of myself. I raised you better than that. Even if you don't like someone, it doesn't mean you can be rude to them—unless they are being mean to you. Then you go get an adult."

"Or punch them like Uncle Dan taught me. Uncle Sawyer also taught me to flip someone onto their back, and Uncle Ryder showed me the SING thing."

"SING thing?" Brody asked, not really wanting to know. This was the problem with uncles and an aunt who didn't take crap from anyone. They'd taught his kid how to look after herself, which was good, but it worried him she'd break out some of these things just because she could. Point of fact, her recent altercation with Jack Little .

"Solar plexus, instep, nose, groin," Ally sang.

"Right. Gotcha," Brody said. He then opened his window and wolf whistled at Linda, the owner of the Do-Si-Do diner, who was crossing the road. "Looking hot as always, Linda!"

She blew him a kiss.

"Why don't you just tell Sydney Jane that you're not interested in dating her, Dad?" Ally said with that perseverance he was usually proud of unless he wanted her to drop a subject, like now.

"I've known SJ since we were kids. She's harmless."

"I overheard Nana on the phone saying she hoped none of her boys were ever foolish enough to go there with Sydney Jane. Where doesn't she want you to go?"

Brody kept his eyes on the main street as he felt heat creep up his neck. Parenting, he'd realized, was the best thing in the world, until it wasn't. You thought you had it all worked out, until you didn't, and those times were usually when your kid asked you a question like this one.

"What did Nana say when you asked her?"

"She said that she'd left something in the oven that needed checking, but I smelled nothing burning."

Nice evasion, Mom.

"It was probably just a figure of speech. Maybe SJ wants someone to take her to… ah, to buy a new car. She can be really picky when she shops." Brody could feel the sweat breaking out on his forehead.

He'd talked to Ally openly about what went on between a man and a woman, but he didn't have another one of those talks in him right then.

"Okay, so not about you dating her or anything else like the book?"

Dating. Why didn't I think of that instead of the car shopping?

"Ah— "

"I know what goes on between a man and a woman, Dad. You read me that book, remember?"

"Right, the book. Sure, I remember. Anytime you want to reread it, you let me know."

"No, I'm good. I understand how it all works, like what happens when a man and a woman make love."

Ally had asked him about something she'd overheard at the playground about sex. At a loss for what to do next, he'd done an internet search. Who knew there were so many books about what to tell your kids? He'd bought one after hours of agonizing searching. He'd then read it, and Ally had listened, and unlike him, she enjoyed learning about the birds and bees. Yet another parental moment he'd been unprepared for.

"So, are you excited about Uncle Ry's cafe opening?" Brody said, changing the subject as casually as he could.

"He said I could wash dishes there, and he'd pay me in food and money."

"I just bet he did, but tell him you want the proper hourly rate for doing his dirty work," Brody said.

Ally snickered and thankfully didn't mention the book or adult procreation again. She then sang her new favorite song. He came in for the chorus, but the verses were beyond him. When he pulled up in front of his brother's cafe, the subject of SJ was thankfully behind them.

Getting out, he pocketed his keys. The roar of motorcycles had him turning with Ally to look up the street they'd just driven down.

"It's those Bandits," Ally said, glaring at the four bikes approaching. "What do they want now?"

"Get inside the cafe, Ally."

"Dad—"

"Now," he said, turning her and giving her a little push. She did as he said, dragging her feet the entire way. As she entered, Sawyer and Ryder came out with Caleb Stanway, Phoebe's brother, on their heels. Unlike the Dukes present, the man was all class, dressed in navy shorts to the knee and a button-down pale blue shirt. On his feet were leather loafers.

"What the fuck do these assholes want?" Ryder snarled, his face a pissed-off mask, which wasn't common for him. Sawyer, however, always looked pissed off with life, so it was nothing new for him to appear angry.

The Bandits were a motorcycle gang that had been causing trouble in Lyntacky for years, even though they lived out of it.

"Not sure why they ever need a reason for general assholery, which we know they excel at," Brody said.

"My guess is that this is just another visit from Grill and his buddies to let us know they've not forgotten about JD getting in their faces at the Circle Left, or me breaking Grill's nose a while back. Plus, all that other shit we've had niggling with them over the years," Sawyer added.

"Bandits?" Caleb said, moving to Brody's right. "I won't get blood on my new button-down, will I?"

"We got this, city boy," Ryder said, his eyes on the gleaming black and chrome machines rolling toward them. "You go on back inside and keep my niece company."

"I'm as tough as any of you," Caleb said. "I just wish my partner were here. He'd love this. Motorcycles and men being manly—he'd record the entire thing."

The bikes stopped before them with a final loud rev of their engines. Brody spotted Grill in the middle. His eyes were on Sawyer.

"Be cool," Brody said softly. "My kid will be inside with her nose pressed to the glass."

"You boys take a wrong turn again?" Sawyer asked. " Not sure there's anything here you want or, for that matter, we want you to have."

"No law against riding through any town, even a shithole like this one."

"I think you have that wrong, Grill," Sawyer said. "Shitholes are where lowlifes live. From where I'm standing, that's more likely to be any place you frequent."

"Is this us being cool?" Caleb whispered to Brody. "Because I'm not getting that vibe."

"I heard you were opening a cafe," Grill said, his eyes still on Sawyer.

"It opens next year," Ryder said calmly. "It's exclusive and invite only. Sorry, the guest list is full for the next ten years."

The bikers looked to the window behind them, and Brody knew what they saw. The words "opening soon" on an enormous banner.

"Aren't you the owner? Shouldn't you know when it's opening?" Grill said with a smirk.

"The problem here is my brother is polite. I'm not," Sawyer said. "Basically, we don't want any of you to set a foot inside this place."

"Ever," Brody added, making eye contact with all the bikers.

"And how do you plan to stop a paying customer?" Grill said, leaning closer but still not close enough to get one of Sawyer's dinner plate-sized fists in his face.

"I won't take your dirty money," Ryder said.

Grill bared his teeth. "Who's the city slicker?" he asked, looking at Caleb now.

"I'm a local, actually, but have a better dress code than most people." Caleb's eyes ran up and down the leather-clad biker. "We don't use terms like city slicker anymore. I prefer refined urbanite now. "

Grill looked confused, which had Brody's lips twitching.

"Who is the kid?" Grill asked, clearly not wanting to talk to Caleb anymore because he confused him. The biker had never been the sharpest knife in the block.

"The electrician's," Ryder said before Brody could speak. It took clenching every muscle in his body not to plow his fist into Grill's face for even looking at Ally.

"Get back on your bikes and head out of town," Sawyer said. "We don't need any trouble, and that's the only thing you Bandits bring."

"I don't take orders from anyone, especially not a Duke." Grill spat at Sawyer's feet, and Brody prepared himself for the fight he knew was coming. It pissed him off Ally would see, but he couldn't do anything about that. He never backed away from a Bandit. They saw that as weakness, and he would always stand with his brothers. He only hoped Ally stayed where she was.

"Boys."

Brody didn't take his eyes off Grill, who was about to punch Sawyer, but he knew who had just arrived on the scene because he'd been hearing that voice since he was born.

"You all should go on inside my cafe now. Bart, take the others with you," Ryder said.

He knew some octogenarians in Lyntacky got together to walk about the place in the name of fitness. He wished now was not one of those times. Brody shot a look to the right before returning to the bikers. Four elderly fitness fanatics stood there in their walking clothes.

"Is there a problem here?" Before he could stop the man, Tripp Lyntacky walked in front of Sawyer to face off with Grill. June and Bart Matilda followed with Leah Reynolds. Soon the elderly locals had created a gray- haired wall separating the bikers and the Dukes plus Caleb.

Fuck. Brody knew if Grill had to get through one of them to reach a Duke—especially Sawyer—he would. The man didn't care who he hurt in the name of revenge and had no morals.

"You all need to move," Sawyer said, attempting to part the walking-club members, who were all dressed in shorts and T-shirts.

Tripp wore a lime-green toweling band around his head to mop up sweat. Bart's shorts were, as usual, silky and cut far too high, so much so that it was seriously disturbing if you got a front-on view. Their shirts were tight red Lycra with white tassels running down both sides.

Fucking square dancing.

"This town," Brody heard Caleb say under his breath. "I can't even with these people."

"I'm the mayor of Lyntacky, and I don't want any trouble in my town," Tripp said in a voice that carried to anyone nearby.

"This is between me and him," Grill said, jabbing a finger over Tripp's head.

"He has a name, young man," June said in her ex-schoolteacher voice.

"You all need to move," Sawyer said again, this time a little louder. "Now."

"You should listen to the asshole. This doesn't involve none of you old people," Grill said, his tone menacing.

Brody was just about to grab June and Leah and put them behind him when June lifted a finger and waggled it in Grill's face.

"There is no need to cuss," she said. "And the correct way to say it is ‘any of you,' not ‘none of you.' Speaking correctly says a lot about a person, I've always believed. "

"I agree, June. Manners also maketh a man," Leah Reynolds said.

"Okay," Brody said, noticing that Grill's face was now the color of a ripe tomato. "I think we're done here. You all can move aside."

"On your bikes, or we'll let them have you," Caleb said, and Brody could hear the laughter in his words.

"Not helping," Ryder said.

"Grill, let's go!" one of the other Bandits said. "Now ain't the time. I'm not hurting no old people neither."

"Now isn't the time," June corrected the other big, burly biker, completely unfazed by the men twice her size sending her menacing looks, "and I will not hurt these old people. You need to think about your words before you speak them, young man. Improving your grammar will help you through life."

Grill pointed two fingers to his eyes and then pointed them over the shoulder of Tripp at Sawyer.

"That's a threatening gesture, young man! Apologize at once!" Bart said, clearly outraged.

Grill opened his mouth, but the only sound that came out was a low growl. Brody stepped between June and Leah, but the biker turned and got back on his motorcycle.

"This is not done." After those words, he fired up his bike and roared away.

"I need a drink," Caleb said.

"You all can't do stuff like that," Sawyer said when the elderly wall turned to face him. "It's dangerous. The Bandits don't care who they hurt."

June leaned in and patted his cheek.

"Not many are keen to take us on, Sawyer, dear. Now we have a walk to finish. We're very excited about your opening, Ryder. You make sure you have my favorite brand of English breakfast tea, and Bart, of course, will have black coffee."

Hands were raised, fingers waggled, and the walkers hustled away, leaving them with an uncomfortable view of Bart's scrawny butt cheeks in the tight, flimsy material.

"Someone needs to outlaw those shorts. A town ordinance or something," Caleb said. "I mean, we're forced to square dance. Should we have to endure those and his dangly bits too?"

"What just happened?" Ryder asked.

"Hell if I know. But coffee stat, I think," Brody said.

They all grunted their agreement.

"I'm just about ready to drink coffee with you"—Caleb jabbed a finger at Brody—"seeing as you appear to have grown up from the spoiled man-child you were when Phoebe left Lyntacky."

Fuck.