5. Quentin

5

QUENTIN

I pull the truck into a parking space and kill the engine. Charlie unclips her seat belt and stretches.

“Where are we?”

We’ve parked in front of the town square of a bustling small town. A woman pushes a stroller past the truck and takes a seat on a park bench near a box of bright flowers. People mill about, walking briskly or sitting in groups on concrete stairs that surround the centerpiece of the town square.

Charlie peers out the window, and her head tilts up to take in the statue at the center of the square. It’s an eagle made of brass panels and it stands as tall as two tanks. The wings are outstretched, encompassing the town square. It would look impressive if it wasn’t for the giant clock embedded in its chest. The proud bird has been turned into a time piece.

“Kings County, Tennessee.”

She wrinkles her nose. “Never heard of it. Is this where the festival is?”

She hasn’t read her itinerary. “We won’t reach the festival until tomorrow night. This is our lunch stop.”

Charlie frowns. “But we’ve been driving for hours.”

The eagle clock shows it’s just after midday.

“We’ve been driving for five and a half hours.”

She slides her feet into her boots and goes to rest the left foot on the dash to tie the laces. I give her a pointed look, and the foot hovers in the air before coming down on the seat instead.

It’s a small victory, but I’ll take it. She’s not defying me on everything.

While Charlie gets her boots laced, I slide out of the cab. It gives me an opportunity to stretch out my back where she can’t see. It’s been aching for the last hundred miles, but I won’t let Charlie see that.

I do some stretches, and when I hear her door slam, I straighten up and walk around to the front of the truck.

“Was this place on the itinerary?”

Charlie smirks at me as if forward planning is something to be ashamed of. If it was left to her, she’d wing the entire trip.

“A lunch stop is on the itinerary. I chose this town because of the famous eagle clock.”

Charlie glances up at the weird clock tower. “Really?”

“No. I randomly took an off ramp and here we are. The eagle is a happy accident.”

Her mouth falls open in mock surprise. “Did you just make a joke?”

I give her a deadpan look. “I never joke.”

I can’t help the smile that tugs at my lips, and when Charlie sees it, she smiles too. I don’t usually joke, but I like making Charlie smile.

“Let’s walk. We need to stretch our legs.”

The town square borders a river, and we walk along the path for a ways. Swans glide across the water, and a small mechanical boat cruises next to them. Across the lake, a man crouches next to a small boy, helping him use the remote control that controls the boat. The boy smiles with delight, and the man ruffles his hair.

There’s a pang in my chest as I watch them. I dedicated my life to the military, and there wasn’t room for anyone else. It’s a tough life on families, and I never regretted my decision.

But the last few years, seeing all my MC brothers settle down with kids, I wonder if there’s something I’m missing.

“Ooh donuts!”

Charlie pulls me out of my thoughts, and when I turn she’s got a huge grin on her face. The sun catches on the pink highlights of her hair, and her eyes light up in delight.

She practically skips over to the donut van that’s parked near the lake.

“Dana’s Donut Delights” is written in cursive script on the top of the van, and a woman who looks not much older than Charlie loads a tray of colorful donuts into the display cabinet. They’re decorated in thick pink frosting with chocolate sprinkles.

Not what I’d consider lunch food, but Charlie’s already talking with the woman. When she turns to put the tray behind her, I notice her belly is round with a baby bump and her cheeks are rosy. Darn fertile woman everywhere I go. I wonder what Charlie would look like with a pregnant belly; her cheeks flushed like this woman’s.

The thought stops me in my tracks. Why the hell am I imagining Charlie pregnant?

“Quentin?”

Charlie’s looking at me with concern in her eyes, and I realize she’s said something and I have no idea what it is.

“You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I shake the image out of my head and swallow hard.

“We’re not having donuts for lunch,” I say a little too harshly, and hate myself for it when the smile slips from Charlie’s face.

She narrows her eyes at me and turns back to the woman.

“Two of the pink ones please.”

Two minutes later, I’m sitting on a park bench taking a bite out of a pink donut. As soon as my lips close around it, the sweet taste of chocolate and sugar frosting and dough floods my mouth.

Charlie moans, and when I look over her eyes are closed as she chews slowly. She moans again, and there’s a twinge in my groin at the sound.

I stand up quickly, and her eyes fly open.

“This is good, right?” She’s got a sparkle in her eye that lights up her entire face. I turn around so she won’t see the effect her moans are having on me.

“It’s a good donut,” I concede. “But I need something else.”

I set off back down the way we came to the main square. Charlie follows, still munching on her donut. I can’t risk looking at her or this twinge in my loins is going to turn into something more.

She just needs to finish the donut and stop looking so sexy while she does it.

“I’ll have yours if you don’t want it.”

“No.” I clasp the paper bag with the remains of my donut close to my chest. The last thing I need is for Charlie to moan over another donut.

“I’m saving it for dessert.”

She chuckles at me. “I didn’t know you had a sweet tooth.”

And I didn’t know you looked so damn sexy when you eat.

“There’s a sandwich shop.” I cross the town square, choosing the least sexy food I can find. No one’s going to moan over an egg sandwich.

A few minutes later, we’re on the steps under the eagle clock munching on egg and cress sandwiches. There’s no moaning, no pregnant woman, and I’m able to think straight and look Charlie in the eye.

“What made you leave the military?” she asks.

I finish my mouthful, getting my thoughts together. I don’t talk about this much, but then again, no one ever asks.

“My parents passed.”

Charlie places a hand on my arm, and the warmth of her touch is comforting. “I’m so sorry. That’s terrible.”

“It was a long time ago, and I’ve come to terms with it.” I still miss them of course, but I’ve learned to live with it. “I thought I would be in the military for life, but after they passed, Kendra went off the rails. I was the only family she had, so I came home.”

Charlie drops her hand from my arm. “I heard Kendra was wild until she settled down with Travis.”

I grunt at the comment, because I’ve still not come to terms with my oldest friend hooking up with my little sister. Even though they’re married now and expecting their first baby.

“Not as wild as you.”

Charlie cocks her head, and a smile plays on her lips. “I’m not as wild as my dad thinks I am.”

It’s my turn to be surprised. “So you didn’t ride across the country on your own to get to his wedding?”

Charlie shrugs. “Oh yeah, I did that.”

I shake my head. Raiden was happy when his daughter turned up for his wedding but furious when he found out how she got here. A three day road trip on her own. All the way from California biking alone on the roads and staying in cheap roadside motels.

“I’m independent. I’ll claim that. But I’m not wild.”

“Careless is what that is. A woman riding on her own.”

She sticks her chin out, and her eyes flash dangerously. “You think because I’m a woman I shouldn’t do things on my own?”

“I think there are a lot of assholes out there who could do you harm.”

“Perhaps.” She pokes at the egg in her sandwich. “I think there’s a lot of fear out there. And I refuse to put restrictions on myself because there may be a bad man lurking.”

Anything could have happened to Charlie on the roads. Her bike could have gotten a flat, she might have had an accident. It’s not just the fact that she’s a woman biking alone. Long distance riding alone is dangerous for anyone.

“Anything could have happened.”

“But it didn’t.”

I run my hand through my hair in exasperation. She’s lucky nothing happened.

“Why did you decide to stay anyway? Why not go back to Santa Cruz?”

Charlie takes a bite of sandwich and takes her time chewing before answering. “Dad wasn’t around much when I was growing up,” she says quietly.

It’s true. The military life is hard on families, and in the early days we were deployed for long stretches in Iraq. It put huge pressure on his new family.

Raiden and I were in the same platoon. Both sergeants working up the ranks, we became good friends.

I remember the day he got the call from his ex-wife, Charlie’s mom, telling him she was moving back to California with Charlie. Raiden was devastated, but there’s not a lot you can do from a war zone.

By the time he got out of the military, Charlie was sixteen and making her own choices.

“It’s nice to get to know him again,” she says quietly. “It’s different here than California.”

She looks like she wants to say more and I wait, but she crumples the empty sandwich wrapper and stands up.

“Is there somewhere to get a coffee for the road?”

The smile is back that doesn’t quite meet her eyes, and I wonder what haunts her from California.

I’m only her father’s friend, the bossy ex-sergeant who disapproves of her choices. Only I don’t disapprove. The more time I spend with Charlie, I approve of her very much.