Page 23 of Cowboy

“That would be great.”

He put away the helmets in the funny box looking things on either side of the rear wheels, and they went inside.

15

Awarm feeling of satisfaction settled into Cowboy’s chest. He loved that she liked to ride and hoped she would be open to club events. That would let him spend even more time around her. As long as he made sure his brothers knew she was off limits. She was his and there was no way he was sharing.

As they made their way to the table, he glanced over at Ava and wondered if maybe he wasn’t getting ahead of himself. He really liked her and wanted to spend a lot more time with her, as long as that was what she wanted too.

He thought he’d told her everything that might change her mind, but after her reaction when he’d picked her up, maybe he’d been wrong. He would need to figure out if there was more she might need to know. Not that he could tell her much about the Kings, and nothing about their business, but he was used to that part.

“What are your plans for this weekend?” he asked once they were seated, and the host had left them.

“I was looking at things to do in the area. You know I haven’t been here long. I want to get to know the area. Learn as much as I can about the history and the people here. I think I’m going to hit the museum on Saturday.” She paused as the waitress came, brought them water, and took their drink orders. “I wanted to go see the Enchanted Highway, but it seems like a bit of a trip. I’m thinking about waiting until Aaron or Belinda can go with me.”

“I’ve got a ride with the Kings on Saturday, but I’d love to take you down to see the Enchanted Highway on Sunday. We can take the truck or the bike, whichever you’re more comfortable with. It will be a pretty long ride.”

“I like the idea of taking the motorcycle, but I’m not sure I’m ready to spend all day on it yet. Maybe we should take the truck this time and find a couple of shorter trips so I can work my way up to those longer ones.”

“I think I can arrange that.” His mind started spinning about what he could do to make a nice trip and cool views into a spectacular trip and a memorable experience for her. “What time would you like to leave?” He didn’t know if she planned to attend church anywhere and didn’t want to pull her away from something that was likely important to her.

“I’m good with whenever you think is best. I don’t know if mornings or afternoon gives better views, but I’m excited either way.”

Cowboy tried to remember the way light hit the different sculptures and what might be the best time to see them and how long it would take to get there.

“If you don’t have any objections, I’d like to start at about ten.”

“Ten is good. What do you want me to bring?”

“You and a jacket in case it gets too windy. I’ll take care of everything else.” He decided a picnic would be a great plan, and a couple of other stops would make the trip more pleasant.

“I can’t wait. What I saw online looks like this will be a great trip.”

They turned their attention to the menu, and when the waitress returned with their drinks, ordered.

“Can I ask where you’re going Saturday or is that off limits?” she said once the waitress disappeared with their orders.

Cowboy watched her for a moment, trying to decide how much to tell her, and if it would scare her off. After a moment he decided to be as honest as possible. If it scared her off, then he was better off knowing now rather than later.

“Sometimes our events will be secret. Things we can’t talk about, other times it won’t matter, and we can tell anyone we want. This week is one of the latter. We’re taking a ride down to Devil’s Tower. You ever seen it?”

“No, what is it?”

“The neck of an ancient volcano, I think. It’s pretty cool to see and famous from some old alien abduction movie. I’d love to take you down to see it some time.”

“But not Saturday.”

“Not Saturday. That’s a brothers only ride. Which reminds me. Next weekend is Memorial Day. We’re going to have a barbeque. Any way I can convince you to come with me?”

She watched him back for a moment and Cowboy wished he had an idea of what was running through her head.

“Is it an all-weekend thing or just one day?”

“Just one day, I’m sure, but I’m not sure which one. Probably Sunday. Some of our brothers, and some of their families will have to work on Monday, even though that’s the holiday.”

“I’d like to go, but I need to know which day and what time, so I can rearrange my dinner with Aaron if I need to.”

“Do you see him every weekend?”

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