Page 9 of Deacon

It was a motorcycle, not that that surprised her, but she had never seen one quite like this. The rear fender had fins like a 1960s era Cadillac.

“What the fuck?” Cowboy yelled as he jumped, then removed one earbud, doing something to it to stop whatever he’d been listening to. “When did you get here?”

“Just a few minutes ago. Is this one of your custom bikes?”

“Yes. What do you need?”

“Nothing. I just thought I’d come by and thank you for sending someone to take care of that branch last night. I was finally able to sleep. I also thought maybe I could treat you to dinner?”

“I don’t know. I need to finish up here. I’m supposed to have dinner with Ava.”

“Anything special planned with Ava?”

“No, just an evening together.”

“Then bring her along. I like Ava and I’d love to get to know her better.”

“Let me check with her, but I don’t think she’ll have a problem with it.” He picked up his phone and typed out a quick text. When he looked up, he watched her with narrowed eyes. “What’s really going on?”

“Nothing.” She frowned. “I just want to spend time with my brother and his girl. Why would anything be wrong?”

“First you got us to help you move. That was normal enough. Then you’re so freaked out by a branch on a window that you call me for help, odd, but okay. Now you want to take me out for dinner. Three days and three ploys to see me, or at least to not be alone.”

She rolled her eyes and sighed. “You come up with the craziest theories.” The last thing she was ready to admit was that he was right.

After dealing with Randy, she dreaded spending much time alone. Though she’d left him nearly a thousand miles away, she still couldn’t help jumping at every sound and wondering if he’d followed her to Dickenson to cause more trouble.

“I spent a long time gone and I want to catch up. Why does there have to be more to it than that?”

“I don’t know, it doesn’t feel right.” The phone in his hand buzzed and he checked the screen. “Ava’s in. Where do you want to go? I’ll go pick her up and meet you there.”

She gave him the name of the place then left, ignoring the interested looks from the few men still in the shop as she did. Another evening she didn’t have to jump at every sound. Now she needed to figure out how to sleep tonight.

She knew she could always call Mom and talk, but she hated unloading on Mom, especially when she was on her first long trip in years. The last thing Lisa wanted to do was to worry her, or worse, get her to come home early.

7

Deacon clenched his teeth and bent his head back to the bike he was working on, trying to ignore the looks the other men were giving Lisa as she disappeared into the office. He wondered what was up and what she was telling Cowboy but wouldn’t ask. If Cowboy thought he should know, he’d let Deacon know.

Less than ten minutes later she walked back out the same way she’d come, through the shop bay rather than through the office, as if she hadn’t noticed all the men watching her. Once she’d gotten into her car and left, Deacon tried to ignore the comments some of the men made. Speculating on why a woman would be visiting Cowboy in his office and wondering if Ava knew about her. There were a couple of off-color comments, but Deacon couldn’t tell who’d made them or he would have shut them up. Now wouldn’t that have started tongues wagging?

A couple minutes after Lisa pulled out, Cowboy appeared in the doorway to the office.

“Deke, can I talk to you a sec?”

“Sure.” Deacon set his wrench aside and picked up a rag as he stood. He wiped his hands as he made his way to the office. If what his friend had to say was for everyone to hear, he would have just said it there in the shop. “What you need?”

“You were over there last night, and I know I mentioned it before, but have you noticed anything off with Lisa?”

Fuck. What had she said to him? “What do you mean?” he asked with a frown. “Did she say something?” He couldn’t help the sick feeling in his stomach. Had she told Cowboy he’d spent the night?

“She hasn’t said anything, it’s just a feeling I get.” Cowboy frowned. “You saw her come in, right?”

Deacon nodded.

“She came to invite me, or us because I had planned to see Ava tonight, out to dinner. That’s three nights in a row she’s reached out or called for help. It’s odd. I get the feeling she doesn’t want to be alone. Did you notice anything off when you were there last night?”

“Not really. She was tired. Said she hadn’t slept much the night before. I cut the branch she was after, she offered me a beer. We watched a little TV and she fell asleep on the couch.” That was all he was going to tell Cowboy.

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