Shade's Fall (7 page)

After Beth and Razer left, Lily showered and put on her pajamas before going downstairs to watch television. A music show was on and Lily found herself dancing around the living room. Penni would often dance with her when the mood struck Lily to dance, which was something she had never done with a boy. She enjoyed dancing when no one was watching, though.

Lily laughed when she finished one song, spinning herself until she was almost dizzy. She didn’t often let herself go. Her personality was always held in check, so when she finally did, she did it wholeheartedly.

She was getting a drink of water when the doorbell rang, and she looked down at herself, seeing her dark blue fleece pajamas.

Going to the door, she looked out the peephole before answering it. Shade stood there, holding two pizza boxes and a six-pack of beer.

Lily just stood there with her mouth open.

“Move, Lily, before I drop the pizza.”

Unlocking the door, Lily took a step back, letting him enter. Shade came in, setting the pizza and beer on the coffee table.

“What are you doing here?” Lily asked, closing the door before walking barefoot back to the couch.

“I thought you might be hungry.” The smell coming from the boxes was delicious. Lily’s stomach grumbled. “Go grab us a couple of plates.”

She went into the kitchen, getting the plates and her bottled water.

She sat down on the couch as Shade opened the box, putting two slices on her plate. She immediately took a bite of the warm pizza, loving the taste of the melted cheese on her tongue.

Shade put two slices on his own plate and began devouring his. They ate quietly as Lily put a movie on for them to watch. She stiffened when she heard the beer can open, refusing to look his way. Her hand trembled; however, she tried to act as if it was no big deal.

Shade began to talk about the movie they were watching and the two others in the series.

Lily relaxed back into the cushions, but not before taking another slice of pizza. She was full to the brim when she sat her plate back on the table, engrossed in the movie.

Shade had grabbed himself another piece of pizza and she heard another beer open. She crowded herself closer to the side of the couch, not watching as he drank it.

When he finished, he cleaned the table and put the beer in the fridge before relaxing back on the couch. The movie ended and they argued about what to watch next. Lily was through half of the second movie when she dozed off, her head on the side of the couch.

Feeling herself lifted, she was laid next to Shade as he sprawled out on the couch. She smelled the faint odor of beer on his breath and was amazed that she was letting him this close to her. She was simply too sleepy and full to protest his dispassionate hold.

“Go back to sleep.”

Getting up early and her long day had combined to make her doze heavily with her head on his arm. Her taut body was relaxed. Her bottom was against his thighs and his upper body didn’t touch her. Plus, his closeness didn’t set off any of her inner alarms.

She felt safe. The words played softly through her mind. Had she ever felt safe?

When she woke the next morning, Shade was gone and she was lying on her bed, covered in blankets. Lily sat up, confused as to how he had moved her without waking her. She looked at the bedside clock then hurried to the bathroom to shower and dress.

Beth and Razer weren’t back yet, so she made herself a piece of toast and left a note saying she was going to the church.

Rachel was hard at work when she got there, already going through the boxes in the basement.

“Sorry I’m late,” Lily apologized.

“Don’t worry about it,” Rachel replied. Lily liked Rachel and owed her a debt she would never be able to repay. The night the town deputy had tried to kill her and Winter, Lily had run into the woods to escape. Rachel had found her and taken her into her home that she shared with her three brothers who were very protective of their sister.

“How’s Logan doing?” Lily asked about Rachel’s nephew.

“Growing like a weed. He’s going to be as tall as my brothers.”

Lily moved some boxes around, opening them to discover Christmas decorations. The two women divided the boxes into ones they would keep for the church and those that would be given away in the new store. Stacking the boxes that were for the church’s use into the back room, they continued going through the rest until lunchtime.

“Want to grab a bite to eat? I packed lunch for both of us,” Rachel offered.

“I can eat,” Lily said, laying the bags she was sorting to the side. They went outside to eat in the backyard at one of the picnic tables.

“You go back to school in a few weeks, don’t you?” Rachel asked, handing her a sandwich and bag of chips. They had grabbed sodas from the vending machine inside.

“Yes.” Lily opened her sandwich, taking a bite.

“You must be looking forward to it being your last semester.”

“Yes and no. Now that Penni’s graduated, I don’t have many friends. I actually have enough credits that I could take my last classes on the internet.”

“You don’t want to go back to school?” Rachel asked in surprise.

“Not really, but I don’t want to put Beth and Razer out by staying. I know it must be hard having me around all the time,” Lily admitted.

“I don’t believe that. I think she would enjoy having you close to home after you were injured so badly.”

“Maybe, I’ll talk to her about it after I make my mind up.”

“Are you going to the fair tonight?” Lily questioned the pretty redhead. They had gone to school together and knew each other well.

“No, we went last night. Logan rode everything twice. Tonight I have someone flying in from Canada.”

Lily whistled. Rachel was becoming renowned for her use of medicinal herbs and her healing touch. Lily didn’t know if she believed in it, yet she was happy the sick found some comfort.

“It must be wonderful to help so many people,” Lily said.

“It is. My grandmother would be proud I’m using her gift to help others.”

“Your grandmother?”

“She was a full-blooded Cherokee, and she taught me everything, from herbal medicine to how to lay my hands. She was an inspiration to me.”

Lily smiled sadly. “It must be wonderful to have that kind of heritage.”

“It is.” Rachel closed her lunch bag. “Do you ever wonder…? Never mind, I shouldn’t ask. It’s none of my business.”

“If I ever am curious about my past?” Lily asked, her hand going to her forehead. “I don’t have to wonder; I know. About my mother at least.” Lily’s hand began to shake.

“Lily, are you all right?” Lily heard the concern in Rachel’s voice.

“Yes. I was adopted when I was eight,” Lily said. “My adopted parents said my mother was killed and my father didn’t want me, so there’s no need to look, is there?”

“I didn’t mean to pry.”

“I know you didn’t.” Lily smiled tremulously, getting to her feet. Rachel reached out to steady her and Lily felt the warmth of her hand against her arm. She managed to get herself back under control with that comforting gesture.

When they went back to work, Lily was quiet at first but couldn’t remain so for long in Rachel’s cheerful presence. Rachel told her how one man had flown in from England so that she could perform her healing on his penis when he could no longer get an erection.

“I thought I would die, I was so embarrassed,” Rachel said, describing the incident. “My brothers refused to leave the room.”

Lily was laughing so hard she almost dropped a box she was carrying. “Did it work?”

“He’s had two children since then. Of course, I got a text from his wife who asked if I could turn it off again.”

Lily’s laughter bubbled over, enjoying spending the day with Rachel.

As they finished up for the day, Lily got a text from Beth, telling her to meet her at the fair when she was done. They had worked most of the day and only had a fourth of the store completed.

“See you next Saturday?” Rachel asked as they grabbed their purses.

“Absolutely.”

They left each other in the parking lot, each heading their own way.

Lily went home and showered, changing into a pale blue sundress then a matching sweater in case the night turned cool.

She drove to the outskirts of town to the fairgrounds, where there was already a huge crowd. She managed to find a parking spot at the end and began the trek toward the fair when Lily heard several motorcycles pull in.

She glanced back, expecting to see some of The Last Riders or even a Destructor, but she didn’t recognize the jackets of the riders pulling in. Lily wondered how Treepoint was going to deal with yet another motorcycle club.

Chapter 5

Lily got in line to purchase her entrance tickets, texting Beth that she was at the fairgrounds. After purchasing her ticket, she wandered through the various booths before Beth texted back that they were on their way to meet her. Lily smiled when she read Beth’s text that said Razer had decided to hit the hot dog stand when they’d arrived, thinking it was more likely Beth had joined him in getting one.

Lily stopped at one of the booths, looking over the delicate glass figurines. There was one of a delicate flower with a tiny crystal raindrop dangling from one of the petals. It was beautiful.

“How much?” Lily was in awe of the skill it must have taken to make the beautiful art.

“Twenty,” the vendor quoted. Lily reached into the pocket of her sundress for her money, pulling out a twenty, unable to resist the buy.

“Thank you,” Lily said, taking the piece, which had been wrapped in tissue paper. Afraid it would become damaged if she packed it around for the rest of the evening, Lily decided to take it back to her car.

Texting Beth that she would be right back, Lily walked back to the parking lot. It was just beginning to get dark, yet there was still plenty of light. She was halfway back to her car when she had the feeling she was being watched. Lily looked around casually. There were several people still coming and going to the fair, so she didn’t worry about her safety; however, she began to feel uncomfortable and didn’t understand why.

She was almost to her car when a truck door slammed shut. Lily swallowed hard when she recognized who had gotten out of the truck. He was already striding angrily toward her.

“You fucking bitch!” Gaige stopped in front of her, looking down at her angrily. He had a busted-up lip and a black eye that was half-closed.

“Gaige,” Lily greeted him, despite his hateful words.

“I hope you’re happy. I lost my job because of you. How am I supposed to feed my kids with no job?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to be fired,” Lily said, taking a step back at his aggressive stance.

“I was only joking around.”

“It didn’t feel very funny when you put your hand on my butt,” Lily snapped.

“Then you sent Train to beat the hell out of my face.”

“I didn’t,” Lily protested.

“At least I got out of there before Shade came after me. Now I have to leave town for a few days. He’s been all over town looking for me today. You need to call that psycho off.”

“I’ll talk to him,” Lily promised.

“You do that, because if he comes after me, when he’s finished I’m going to come after you,” he threatened.

Ripping the tissue with the delicate glass from her hand, he tore the fragile tissue away. “Well, isn’t that pretty.” Turning sideways, he threw the glass at her windshield, breaking both in a shatter of flying glass.

Lily gasped as tears came to her eyes at the wanton destruction of something so beautiful. She didn’t care about the windshield; she was more upset about losing the glass figurine. She hardly ever splurged and bought herself something like that.

He caught her arm in a tight grip when she would have stepped back.

“Now is that any way to treat a woman?” a hard voice came from behind her. From Gaige’s widening eyes, she could tell it wasn’t good. Turning her head, she saw the motorcycle riders that had pulled in after she had arrived coming to her aid.

“I don’t want any trouble with you,” Gaige said. This time it was him taking a step back at the three men coming toward him, releasing his tight hold of her arm.

“I hate it when pussies start crying before I can even get my hands on them,” the biggest one complained. He was huge, almost rivaling Knox in size. While Knox appeared fiercer, this man looked like he would beat the crap out of you while laughing about doing it.

The remaining two, on the other hand, didn’t look like they ever laughed. One was blond with a look of hardness and the other was just plain scary with his dark hair and scar down his cheek.

“Pretty little thing here don’t need to watch me beat the shit out of you, so why don’t we go over here and take care of some business.” The huge man slung a meaty arm around Gaige’s shoulder, turning him toward a group of trees. Gaige’s frightened expression tugged at Lily’s conscience.

“Wait, he just lost his temper.”

“That’s okay, sweet thing, I’m going to help him find it.” He was leading a struggling Gaige away.

Lily took a step forward when she felt an arm slide around her waist. “Let Max deal with him. He can’t look much worse than he does now,” an amused voice said in her ear.

Lily stiffened, beginning to get frightened.

“Lily!” Beth’s yell as she drew closer was cut off when Razer grabbed her arm, preventing her from coming any closer.

Lily turned her head as The Last Riders appeared in mass.

Viper, Cash, Razer, Shade, Train and Rider were covering the parking lot with the rest of their members following behind while the women members kept Beth from running to her sister.

“Want to take a bet on which one she belongs to?” the one with his arm around her waist spoke.

“Don’t have to. I know,” the dark-haired one said in amusement, moving in front of Lily and blocking her from view.

“Let me go.” Lily tried to wiggle from the grasp around her waist.

“Calm down. I’m going to let you go.”

Viper’s harsh voice could be heard over the thrumming of her heart. “Let her go.”