1.

G ARVEY

“You rang, my queen?” I said cheerfully as I walked into my boss’ office.

“Sit down,” Sis said with a frown as she waved toward the couch across the office from her desk. “I saw you walking up and called Pop. He’s on his way over.”

“What’s wrong?” I asked hesitantly.

“He wants to talk to you,” Sis said with a shrug. “Why? What’s your deal?”

“I feel like I got called into the principal’s office, and now I’m just waiting for the cops to arrive so they can take me in.”

“What kind of kid were you?” Sis asked with a confused expression. “Good grief.”

“I was a cop’s kid. We have a certain reputation to uphold.”

“How in the world did you end up here?” Sis asked.

“Well, back in my younger days, I had a little problem with authority that was exacerbated by drugs and alcohol,” I answered sarcastically. Sis burst out laughing, and I smiled before I said, “And when I got arrested, rather than cooperate and try to clear my name, I doubled down and fucked up my life even more.”

“If you had cooperated, would you have gone to prison?”

“Nope.”

“So, you’re basically saying that you’re a dumbass.”

“Exactly.”

Pop, our mentor and a good friend of mine, appeared in the doorway and asked Sis, “What have I told you about calling my boys dumbasses?”

“That I shouldn’t say it to their face because it might hurt their tender feelings.”

“Exactly,” Pop said as he walked across the office and took the chair next to the couch where I was sitting. “Garvey, my friend, I’m glad you had a minute or two to sit down and chat with me.”

I glanced over at Sis, and she grimaced when I said, “I didn’t know I had a choice.”

“You’re from Rojo, right?”

“You know I am, old man.”

“I’ve got a friend coming in today who is from the panhandle, and I’d like for you to get to know each other and see what comes of it.”

“Are you trying to set me up? You know I’m straight, right?”

“ She will be here in just a few minutes, and she wants to look around the place and see how I got it started so she can get some idea of how to get a system sort of like this going.”

“Is she an ex-con?”

“I don’t think so.” Pop thought about it for a second before he said, “I don’t rightly know. You might have to ask Blue and Brea. They’re coming over to meet her since they have a mutual friend in common. That’s how she found out about us.”

“She’s friends with Blue and Brea?” I asked in disbelief. “I didn’t think they liked people enough to make friends.”

“They don’t,” Sis said cheerfully. “But she’s a friend of a friend and they like her idea and want to see her succeed like Pop has.”

“I haven’t done nothin’ really,” Pop said as he shook his head. “It’s not my place to make a new life for my people, I just give them a starting point.”

“Speaking of which, I’ve got a few new resident applications to talk to you about,” I said as I pulled my phone out.

I scrolled until I found the email, but before I could open it, Pop interrupted me. “Let’s do that this afternoon when you’re finished showing her around the place.”

“Are you sure? I don’t know if that’s a good idea since she’s an outsider and all. Maybe we should . . .”

Pop leaned forward and frowned before he said, “Sis has this place running like a well-oiled machine, Garvey. I’ll never be able to thank you enough for all the help you’ve given us here, but there is one thing I want to see before I go.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Sis grumbled with a frown.

Pop ignored her and said, “I want to spread the good we’re doing for these men further than just this town, son. This girl has an idea, and if she gets a chance to run with it, I think it can be bigger and help more people than I ever have, especially the women.”

“You don’t accept many women here,” I said unnecessarily. Of course, Pop knew that the ratio of men to women who benefitted from his attention was very skewed. Few women were allowed to move into the compound, and those that did weren’t here for very long because, more often than not, they required more help than Pop or even Sis was able to give them. “She wants to open a compound for women?”

“I believe so. That’s the idea her friend pitched to Blue and Brea when she was down here visiting Stamp’s boy a few weeks ago.”

I heard some motorcycles pull up outside, but that wasn’t anything new, considering most of the men out here rode them and many worked at a garage that handled them exclusively.

“I think she’s here,” Sis said as she looked past us out the window. “And she brought some other women with her.”

I turned around and looked out the window so I could watch the women get off their bikes.

“Shit!” I hissed before I looked over at Pop and Sis. “I’ve gotta get out of here.”

“What? Why?” Sis asked just as the bell over the entrance rang. “Do you know them?”

I let my head fall back and stared at the ceiling for a second before I whispered, “Fuck!”

“What’s wrong, son?” Pop asked.

I took a deep breath and then looked at Pop before I asked, “You know that Blue, Brea, and the rest of the ladies around here are nuts, right?”

“All too well,” Pop chuckled. “They’re my girls.”

I pointed at the two women who were still outside and said, “These girls make your girls seem like sweet little ladies chattering away at luncheon after Sunday service.”

Pop laughed again before he said, “Sure they do.”

“Let me just go ahead and warn you that this is going to go badly.”

“Why? How do you know them?”

“Well, one of them broke my arm, one of them tried to drown me, and one of them tried to run me over with a car.”

“Ex-girlfriends?Damn, son,” Pop muttered.

“No. Well, one of them is sort of an ex, although we never officially broke up, but . . .” I sighed before I said, “This sucks.”

It took a second for Pop to get to his feet, and he studied the women who were still standing near their bikes. When he looked back over at me, he asked, “Which one tried to kill you?”

“All of them!”

“Which one tried to run over you?”

“My ex-girlfriend. The pretty one.”

“They’re all lookers, son. You’ll have to be more specific.”

“The one in the red and black flannel with a case of resting bitch face that has been known to scare animals and children.”

Pop grimaced before he said, “She is gorgeous, but she’s kinda got a cop vibe about her.”

“Because she is one,” I said angrily.

“Oh, shit.”

◆◆◆

ZOEY

As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, Marla hopped off her bike and yelled over her shoulder, “I’ve gotta pee!”

I laughed at her urgency, although I was admittedly nearing that level myself. I gingerly lifted my feet off the runners and set them on the ground, wincing when pain shot from my hip to my knee.

“Are you okay? Do you need help getting off or . . .”

“I’ve been doing that by myself for years, but thanks for the offer,” I retorted.

“Shut up,” Gracy grumbled as she threw her leg over the bike and stood up. “I was talking about the bike. How does your leg feel? Do you want me to . . .”

“I want you to stop treating me like I’m going to keel over any minute.”

“Well, I want you to stop being a martyr and tell us if you’re hurting,” Gracy snapped back.

“If I do, are you going to give me a massage to ease the pain?”

“You’re a test of my patience, Zoey. One of these days, I’m going to just haul off and knock the shit out of you.”

“And then you’ll be the one in pain,” I said with an obviously fake smile. “Let’s test the theory.”

Changing the subject because she knew I wasn’t going to back down, especially since I’d explained numerous times that they just needed to let me live my life without hovering like I was made of glass, Gracy asked, “So, they all live and work out here, at least when they first get released?

“I believe that’s the case. I’ve got to talk to the people who run the program about how they choose who comes to live here and who can’t, although I have a few ideas of my own.”

“I’ve got my opinion on that.”

“Don’t you always?” I asked with a laugh as I shifted back on my seat and lifted my good leg over the gas tank. Once it was clear, I spun around so that both feet hit the ground at the same time. We’d been riding for hours and I knew that it was going to hurt like hell when I finally stood up, so I waited a few seconds to give my legs some time to adjust before I said, “I can’t wait to see their set-up, but I have some different ideas for the way I’d like the neighborhood arranged.”

“I think it’s kind of funny that your neighborhood and theirs are both connected to a junkyard,” Gracy said with a grin.

“Bella said that some of the guys who live here work for a towing company that’s connected to the garage here,” I said as I looked up at the sign that proclaimed the business we were standing in front of as Yardbirds. I chuckled before I asked, “Do you know what a yardbird is?”

“A chicken?” Gracy asked.

“It’s slang for convict or prisoner.”

“Hmm. The more you know, right?”

When Marla walked out of the building, she had a woman with her, so I stood to greet her. Since I wasn’t quite sure how long it would take my leg to remember it had a job to do, I held on to my bike just in case I started to fall.

“Zoey, this is Sis,” Marla said when she stopped in front of us. “She’s one of the people you’re supposed to talk to today.”

I stuck my hand out and greeted the woman before I asked, “Have you heard from the other two women who are supposed to be here?”

“Brea, my mom, is always late which means that Blue will be cranky from yelling at her to get in gear, but that’s normal,” Sis said cheerfully.

“We’re actually a little early,” I allowed.

“One of our guys can show you around while we wait for them,” Sis offered. “He’s inside talking to Pop right now.”

“Do you mind if I use your restroom before we do that?” I asked.

“Not at all,” Sis said before she motioned toward the building. “Take your time.”

I did just that, considering that walking into the building was a test of my strength. This was my first long trip since I’d started riding again - on my new motorcycle since my old one wasn’t suited for a cripple like me. I internally rolled my eyes at whiny thoughts and tried again.

My beautiful motorcycle with the shiny new paint job that suited the brand-new me was perfect for someone with a physical disability like mine.

Yeah, that sounded better, and maybe if I said it enough, I’d start to believe it.

I easily found the restroom and took my time alone to do a few stretches and exercises to get the blood flowing in my leg and hopefully stave off the cramp that I could feel coming on. By the time I walked outside, there were two men standing next to Sis with their backs to the door.

I was too busy wondering about the shocked looks on Marla and Gracy’s faces to notice when they turned around, but the second I did, I stopped in my tracks and let out a horrified gasp.

“Gravy?”

Like he always did when I called him by the nickname I gave him when we were kids, Garvey rolled his eyes and took a calming breath. He eventually said, “Zoey, it’s a pleasure to see you again.”

“Yeah, right,” I said as I looked over at Marla and Gracy and asked, “How is it that we’re hours away from home and still managed to run into a Forrester?”

Garvey answered before either woman had a chance and said, “Pure luck, I guess.”

“The way my luck has been running for the last year, it doesn’t surprise me at all,” I mumbled before I stuck my hand out to introduce myself to the elderly man beside him. “You must be Pop.”

He took my hand and, instead of shaking it, lifted it so he could kiss my knuckles. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Duke.”

“Aren’t you a charmer?” I remarked as I smiled at the man. “You remind me of a man I know in Rojo.”

“Is that so?” he asked.

“Several of them, actually,” I said as he lowered my hand and let it go.

“I hope that’s a good thing.”

I smiled at him before I looked at the girls and asked, “Does he remind you of anyone?”

“He’s a mixture of Papa Smokey and Tink all rolled into one big sweetheart,” Marla said with a grin. “I think I’m a little bit in love.”

“Just a little bit?” Pop asked. He shook his head sadly and said, “I guess I’ll have to work harder then.”

“Garvey is going to show you around while I get some information from Sis and Pop about the grants we want to apply for and all the paperwork that will entail,” Marla said as she stepped up next to Pop and put her hand on his arm.

“Tad, will you come with us?” I asked imploringly.

“Not a chance,” Gracy said with a smile so smug that it was almost impossible to resist punching her in the face. “You kids have fun!”

“I didn’t realize you guys had become such good friends,” Garvey said as Gracy walked into the building with the others.

“I thought we were until about thirty seconds ago,” I said as I watched Gracy through the window. The others walked past it, but Gracy stopped and smiled at me before she lifted her middle finger and kissed it, giving me a salute that would have gotten her ass kicked if I thought I could chase her down. I looked at Garvey and said, “You should have drowned her when you had the chance.”

“I was too busy trying not to die. Besides, if I had gotten the upper hand and drowned her, you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to become such good friends.”

“I almost wish I hadn’t swerved to miss you at the last second.”

“You didn’t miss me!” Garvey yelled. “Your bumper hit my foot when I jumped to avoid becoming a hood ornament, and I ended up falling over the concrete barrier and rolling all the way down the hill and into the creek!”

“Obviously, you know how to swim. Your episode with Gracy proved that,” I scoffed, trying not to laugh at his outrage. “I can’t believe you’re still whining about that. It’s been years, Gravy. Get over it.”

“What the fuck did I do to deserve this?” Garvey mumbled as he looked down at the asphalt and furiously rubbed his forehead.

“I’d guess it has something to do with all that clean living and honest hard work,” I said sarcastically with an evil grin.

“I’ve never met a woman who makes me as crazy as you.”

“Because I’m fucking awesome. That’s why you’ve never really been able to get over me.”

“Not for lack of trying, that’s for damn sure.”