Page 17 of Biker Daddy

Chapter Four

Addi

The roads were all gravel and didn’t help her rolling tummy. They also didn’t have any freaking signs! Side road this and side road that! Arg! She gritted her teeth as she turned on yet another dirt backwoods road. She slowed and smacked both palms on her steering wheel.

Where the hell was the highway? She eyed the GPS screen on the dash with malice. She hadn’t lied, this car did have a GPS; she just didn’t pay for it, so the SD map card had been removed. Damn car rental places up-charging for everything! And now she was lost and cursing her stubbornness for not following Drew… Fitz or whatever he called himself nowadays, the bossy biker jerk.

She blew out, making her side bangs flip up for a second before flopping back in her face. Even calling him that felt wrong. He hadn’t been a jerk—not really. Okay, he’d definitely been one in the beginning, but that was a case of mistaken identity. She spotted a road further ahead and squinted. Even from a distance she could see several cars drive past. It had to be a main road. Finally!

Her heart pounded and her palms started to sweat, but she gunned it, not wanting to explain to Drew that she’d gotten lost when she finally arrived at the funeral home. Dust and gravel flew out from behind the car in her haste and her elation over finding her way to civilization, without the help of a badass biker, fell flat with the flashing police lights behind her.

“Damn, damn, damn!” Addi pulled back over. Could this day get any worse? At this rate, not only would she not get to the funeral home before it closed, but she’d likely starve to death before she made it back to the camp. She looked at her lap as she turned off the ignition and punched the hazards on. A tap on her window made her look up abruptly. She blinked, temporarily dazed before lowering her window.

“Uh, hi.”

“What’s your hurry?”

“Was I speeding?” she chirped. The officer’s flat, what-do-you-think smile made her shoulders slump. “I’m heading to the funeral home. I’ve been lost for the last forty minutes and was hoping to get there before it closes.”

“Keep up the crazy driving and you won’t have to worry about closing time.” His words made her shiver and her eyes well up.

The officer’s face fell instantly at the sight of her distress. Her uncle’s death was too fresh to hear stuff like that and she was beyond done with the horrid day.

She had never gotten a ticket in her life, and certainly wouldn’t cry to get out of one, but here she was with tears pooling, embarrassingly in front of the officer with puppy-dog brown eyes and a scar on his lip that made him look slightly rugged. Nothing like Drew though. His kind of rugged was not slight—in fact, if it didn’t jump right out and smack you then you were blind or dead. And there, I’ve come full circle.

Addi wiped under her eyes and sniffed. “Sorry. It’s been a long day.”

“No, I’m sorry. That was incredibly insensitive.”

She sniffed again and blinked away the excess water in her lids.

“It’s okay. I’m just overwhelmed.” She handed over her license and registration. “Can we just get this over with?”

“Uh, yeah.”

She let her head fall against the steering wheel and listened to him walk away wondering what Drew thought about her absence. Was he concerned or pissed off? She sat back and groaned.

When the officer returned, he was wearing a solemn expression.

“I’m so sorry about Ray, Addi. He was special to a lot of people. Me included. He’ll be missed.” He took off his hat and Addi did a double take as he handed her documents back.

“Thanks,” Addi said and looked closer at him. He rubbed a hand through his dark blond hair and shook his head.

“I suppose you might not remember me.” He fiddled with the brim of his hat. “I was one of the Tonalonka boys.”

She nodded. There were a lot of men that were once Tonalonka boys. That’s what Uncle Ray’s camp did; it turned troubled or lost boys into competent men. With all the skills they learned—canoeing, swimming, setting up camp, wilderness survival and working with others—they gained confidence and trust in their capabilities and other’s.

“I was there the summer you were. I was a leader then, but I’d been going to the camp for years.” He chuckled. “All of us leaders had a crush on you.”

Addi’s eyes widened. She was an antisocial, chubby sixteen-year-old who wore sundresses and pigtail braids. She had her nose in a book most of the time. As far as she remembered most of the boys teased her. She shifted in her seat, looking at his blond hair and brown eyes anew. She did remember him. She swallowed hard.

“I’m sorry. I don’t remember,” she lied.

“Carter? Carter Learner?” he prompted and she shook her head. He looked disappointed, but tried to hide it with a smile. “Come on. Follow me. I’ll get you to the funeral home. The Douglas Brothers?”

Addi nodded, relieved that she wouldn’t get lost again, but as soon as she turned the ignition, the car made a click-click-click sound and didn’t turn over. She groaned again, feeling frustration build to an almost breaking point.

Carter pulled his squad car up beside hers, lowering his passenger window.

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