Page 17 of Cowboy

Deke frowned.

Cowboy sighed, took a pull from his drink, and started over. “You heard what I told Miles last night. I want to propose that it be mandatory to make at least one brothers only event each month. Either one is acceptable, or both if they want, but they need to make at least one. Family events will be harder. I want some kind of contribution from each brother, but I understand that not all the families have anything to do with the club, so I won’t make attendance mandatory. But they will be heavily encouraged.”

Deke was quiet a moment. “We’re putting on three events a month and only one will be mandatory?”

“Three to four. I’ve got Miles looking to doing family trips too. We could potentially have events every weekend all summer long.”

“That could be good and bad. I think overall it will be good, giving the brothers somewhere to go, something to do and less chance to decide they’re bored and stir shit they shouldn’t be involved in.”

“That was kind of my thought. I do have something I need you to do if you don’t mind.”

“What?”

“Reach out to that club we had trouble with last winter. The Demented Souls. Reach out to Ghost or Malice and let them know we’re going to be in their neck of the woods this weekend.”

“We’re going to Wyoming?”

Cowboy nodded as he took another drink of his beer. “This weekend’s run is down to the Devil’s Tower. We’ll have the prospects bring a truck and the grill, make a day of it. Just let the Souls know we’ll be in their area, but it’s a day trip and we’re not stirring trouble. We’re just giving them a head’s up, so they don’t think we’re moving in on them.”

“I can do that. Any other messages for me to deliver while I’m playing messenger?”

“Not that I can think of, but I’ll let you know. You learn anything else after I left last night?”

“Nothing of any consequence. There was some belly aching, but nothing serious. I think you’ve hit on something with this plan. Events every weekend will build a bond between the Kings again.” Deke shook his head. “I know Tank won the last election. Hell, I even voted for him, same as you. But the farther we get from his rule, the more I can see it was a mistake. It wasn’t the best interests of the Kings he had in mind, though he talked a good game. If we could do things over, we could avoid the crap he got us into.”

“And if wishes were horses, everyone would ride,” Cowboy said. “No point in bemoaning our mistakes, and a lot of us made that one. What matters now is how we learn from it and what we do moving forward. And right now, the priority is calling that meeting. You can reach out to the Souls whenever you’re ready, as long as they know by Friday that we’re coming down Saturday.”

“Got it. What time tomorrow for the meeting?”

Cowboy thought about it for a moment. Too early would mean taking time from kids and families, but too late would mean stealing sleep from his brothers. He didn’t want to do either if he could help it.

“Nine. This shouldn’t take more than an hour, then they can get on with whatever they need to do.”

“Ten-four.”

12

By the time Ava walked out of the bank Tuesday evening, she’d made up her mind. She had no intention of walking away from Cowboy. Even if he did keep calling himself a ‘dirty biker.’ She hated that phrase.

Had he meant that he had a dirty job? She couldn’t imagine that designing and building custom bikes was any cleaner than being a mechanic. Not that she cared. He worked, who cared what the job was? Had he meant something else? She didn’t know but she wasn’t going to ask because she hated that phrase and the next time he used it she would tell him so.

Now she had to gather the nerve to call Cowboy and tell him what she’d decided. But not just yet. Now she was going to dinner with Belinda. Aaron had been called out of town this morning and when Belinda had called asking Ava out, she’d jumped at the chance to get to know her sister-in-law better.

No small part of it was that she was looking forward to a girls’ night. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had girlfriends to go hang out with.

In her car, she started the engine, and turned on the AC, then pulled out her phone to check for any messages from Belinda before heading home to change. There was nothing from Belinda, but there was one from Cowboy.

Cowboy: What are your plans for tonight?

Ava didn’t see any reason not to tell him.

Ava: Dinner with my sister-in-law. Aaron had to go out of town.

She finished typing her message and hit send, then set her phone aside and put the car in gear. She needed to get home and change if she was going to meet Belinda on time.

After she’d gotten ready for dinner, she checked her messages again. This time there was one from Belinda, but she skipped it to read the one from Cowboy first

Cowboy: Have fun.

---