Page 5 of Cowboy

Now she was even more confused.

“Riding? Like horses?” What else could he mean? But why would a bunch of people riding horses dub one of them Cowboy?

“Not exactly, I ride motorcycles. Well, one mainly, but I have been known to ride others.”

“Oh.” Ava tried to remember everything she’d ever heard about motorcycle riders and motorcycle clubs. Nothing good came to mind. What she remembered hearing didn’t line up with what she knew of Cowboy’s character, perhaps what she’d heard was wrong? Over the last year she’d learned a lot of what she’d thought she knew or had been told was wrong.

She’d learned that people who were supposed to be trustworthy, weren’t, and now it seemed the people she’d been taught to stay away from, to fear, might be the most trustworthy of all.

“Not what you expected?”

“Honestly? No, but probably not for the reason you think.” She shook her head, trying to decide how much she wanted to share. After a moment she took a deep breath and began, “I’m learning that a lot of things I thought I knew aren’t what I’d been taught. This is just another.”

He cocked one brow and watched her for a moment. “Just like that?”

“Just like that. It might be harder if this was the first, or even the second revelation, but it’s just one in what’s become a long stream of lies I believed to be fact.” She couldn’t help a wry smile as she remembered some of the things she’d been told and believed, but now knew to be false.

“It sounds like you’ve been through a lot.”

“You could say that.” She didn’t want to go into it, so she changed the subject. “You been in Dickenson long?”

“Close to ten years. You?”

“About three months.”

“So, you’re a newbie. Can I ask what brought you to our neck of the woods?”

“Like I said, I’ve had a lot of changes recently. I wanted to be closer to family. My brother and his wife live here, so I came here to be closer to him.”

“Nice. Mind if I ask if you’ve found a job yet?”

“I have, or I’d probably still be living with Aaron. That’s my brother.” She picked up her glass and took a sip, using it as an excuse to gather her thoughts. “I work at the bank on Villard.”

“A manager?”

Ava shook her head. “I wish. Actually, no I don’t. I don’t have enough experience for something like that. I’ve only been working again for the last few months, there’s no way I could manage something like managing a bank, or pretty much anywhere else, except maybe a church. I’ve done that enough I could manage, but who’s going to hire me for that?”

Cowboy tilted his head and watched her.

“Manage a church? Are you some kind of pastor?”

Ava couldn’t help but laugh. “No, but my ex-husband is. I was nothing but a dutiful wife. And even that wasn’t enough.” She shook her head and met his gaze. “Enough of that. I’m not here to tell you about my mistakes. Tell me more about you. You said you’re part of a motorcycle club, am I calling it the right thing?” At his nod she continued, “Do you do anything else?”

“I do. I design and build custom bikes.”

“Oh, I didn’t know there was a big bike market in North Dakota.” She hadn’t noticed any bike paths. Maybe she was looking on the wrong streets?

“Bigger than you think. On top of that, we’re only about three hours from Sturgis, so we get a lot of traffic around the Rally.”

Ava’s face heated as she realized he hadn’t been talking about bicycles, but motorcycles again. It wasn’t until he’d said Sturgis that it had even occurred to her. She wanted to hide her face in her hands, but forced herself to keep her hands in her lap, at least for now.

A slow smile crept across his face. “You were thinking bicycles, weren’t you?”

She nodded, unable to meet his gaze.

“A lot of people do. It amuses me to see how long it takes them to catch on. You were way faster than a lot of people to pick it up. What part made it click?”

“Sturgis. I may be sheltered, but even I’ve heard of the rally in Sturgis.”

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