Page 3 of Striker

I had already rounded up all the animals before the storm started to let its first drops of rain fall from the sky. I made my way inside the big farmhouse looking for my Mama. Searching the house, I found her sitting in her big overstuffed chair watching the storm rolling in over the mountains, knitting needles and yarn in her hand. She turned when she saw me coming in,“Oh hey there, baby girl! Big storm coming in. Haven’t seen one like this in years. Certainly fits the mood around here this week.” I could see tears forming in her eyes as I walked over to hug her.

This week has been one from Hell. Daddy had passed away which was why I came home early. Poor Mama had been there when the heart attack happened. She was a strong woman and swore she could handle the ranch all on her own, but I certainly wasn’t going to let that happen.

“Speaking of big storms, where are my brothers? I got in last night and still haven’t seen them. They should be here helpin' you, Mama. This ranch is too big for just one person to handle.” I narrowed my eyes at her, knowing she would cover for my brothers. They were her baby boys and could do no wrong in her eyes. “And don’t lie to me, Mama. They aren’t little boys anymore. Time to grow up and be the men of the house now that Daddy’s gone.”

My brothers, Sawyer and Silas, were trouble. They were good at heart, but needed some gentle reminders from their little sister from time to time. They should have been here helping wrangle the animals in before the big storm since it was a big job and some of the animals could spook easy. You needed backup dealing with livestock, never knowing what could happen out on the ranch.

Mama stood and put her hands on her hips. “Oh Lilah Rose, don’t you bad mouth those boys. They help out plenty! You should see what they’ve done for this town. Big things baby girl, big things.” Her eyes were as big as saucers and you could see how she lit up from talking about them. Her precious baby boys were everything to her.

“Big trouble you mean. Are they still playing bad-ass motorcycle boys? goddamn it , Mama! They should be here helping out the family! Not slinging drugs, sleeping around, and getting into trouble!” My voice was getting louder. I rarely yelled at my Mama, but I had enough with my brothers. I thought with Daddy passing they would have helped her out more. I was aggravated and letting emotions get the best of me. I knew I needed to step back and rethink what I was saying, but I just couldn’t help myself. Before I could get another word in my Mama stood up, an angry look in her eyes.

“Lilah Rose Crawford! Don’t you dare use that language with me!” Mama narrowed her eyes at me, her one finger pointing directly at my face. “Your brothers have done enough around here. You’ve been gone four long years young lady and not once did you visit to see how the ranch was. You have no clue what’s been going on around here expect the little things your Daddy told you about. He hid so much from you Lilah so you didn’t worry and could focus on your schooling and career. If you’re going to be home now you need to learn some respect for your brothers. So you can either run back to the city or sit down, shut the hell up, and help this family out.”

Mama had never spoken to me like that. I quickly turned before she could see the tears in my eyes. I thought I made her proud by getting my degree, working hard to become an RN, and got the position as Head Nurse at the ER in the city. I guess I would never compare to my brothers though. I wish my Daddy was still here, he was always proud of me no matter what I did.

Running out the door, I ignored Mama calling my name. There was no way I could deal with her right now without getting her even more upset. I got into Daddy’s old truck and looked around, running my hand over the dash; it always brought me peace when I was upset. He used to let me take it out when I was having a bad day. Wiping my tears away, I started the truck and buckled up. I knew exactly where my brothers were and planned to have a very loud, long talk with them.

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IPULLED UP TO THEgates of the Devil’s Highwaymen clubhouse and stared up in awe. They had put even more security around it than before. It looked like a small military compound, complete with barbed wire fence, cameras, and a guard post. Four men with leather vests were standing at the post. I could see a small, white, rectangular patch on the front of their vest, right over their heart with the word ‘Prospect’ in black thread. One of them was turned around and I could see a curved, white patch on the bottom of his vest with the word ‘Montana’ stitched on it in black.

They all came strutting up to the windows of the old truck, “Can we help you ma’am?” The tallest of the bunch looked familiar.

“Billy O’Donnell? Is that really you?” He looked up and down at me, then broke out in a big smile.

“Hey Lilah! Lookin' good babe! Been a long time since I’ve seen you around here. What can we help you with?”

I knew I was going to have to sweet talk my way in so I looked up and made the best puppy-dog-eyes I could at him, “I really need to talk to my brothers, Billy. I know you don’t let just anybody into the clubhouse, but I just really need them.” I made my eyes water a little, a little fake crying never hurt.

“Awe man Lilah don’t cry. We’ll get ya in and settled babe. Don't you worry. You’re the clubs family, always welcome here.” He turned to the other three Prospects, “Open up the gate! This here’s Goose and Maverick’s little sister. Always welcome here, and has a hands-off policy boys.” He narrowed his eyes at the other boys. Turning to me, his demeanor changed and his big smile was back. “All set babe. Good to see you around here again. If you ever want to grab a drink, you know where to find me.” He winked and stepped out of the way. I smiled and waved as I drove my truck through the gates.

That boy Billy was always trying to sweet talk me ever since we were kids. He use to follow me around everywhere I went, trying to impress me or make me laugh. The whole town knew he had a crush on me, but I always had eyes for Levi.

I parked the truck and walked my way to the big steel door. Slowly opening it, I expected to find a dingy run-down bar. Bracing myself, I stepped inside and was pleasantly surprised. Instead of what I expected, I found a meticulously clean, sleek bar area. It had rich mahogany wood floors, brick walls, and a sleek copper-topped bar. Black and white photos of motorcycles and club members lined the walls and I was seriously impressed. Even the tables had a copper table top; everything had a very industrial feel to it. I could see an outdoor seating area through a wall of old windows. Old whiskey barrels with copper tabletops on top of them sat against another wall of windows; two barstools were at each barrel. Two large garage-style doors were open to the outside like large windows, a dark wooden bartop sat in the middle of each one with more barstools on the other side of them. Across from the inside bar sat four pool tables and a large TV in the middle of the brick wall. That whole section opened up with high ceilings. Directly across from me I could see wood double doors with the Devil’s Highwaymen emblem burned onto them. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was seriously in love with this space.

As I turned toward the hallway, two loud, large men stepped toward me. “Holy shit, Lilah! What the fuck are you doing here?” I recognized that voice anywhere. I looked up to see my big brothers coming down the hallway to the side of the double doors. I narrowed my eyes at them and started to stomp toward them.

“What the fuck am I doing here? How about what the fuck are you doing here; leaving Mama alone while a storm is rolling in? You boys need to grow the fuck up and come home! Mama needs men to help her! Not boys playing cowboy and Indian with their buddies!”

They looked around sheepishly, “Look Lilah it’s not like that. We were working on finishing up here to head home. We have responsibilities here.” Sawyer stepped toward me, Silas not far behind him.

“No!” I screamed. I didn’t even care that half the clubhouse was looking at me like I just grew three heads. “You assholes have responsibilities at home! Damn it, Sawyer! Damn it, Silas! Grow the fuck up!”

Silas stepped up to me, his green eyes darkened with the same look our Daddy used to get when one of us got in trouble. “Lilah, you need to stop this right now. We can talk about this in my office, but you gotta use our road names. Sawyer is known as Goose, and I’m Maverick. You can’t disrespect us around here. Come on, I’ll grab some of Pop’s favorite whiskey and we can talk.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I balled my hands up into fists and then slowly released them. Reaching up, I opened my hand and slapped both my brothers across the face. “Sit down at the bar or I will tell Mama how disrespectful you both are being to your baby sister. Daddy is probably rollin' over in his grave with the way you’re treating me!” They both looked shocked. I had never slapped them in the face before. We may have wrestled and punched each other growing up, but I never went this far or this serious.

Silas and Sawyer quickly made their way to the bar stools. “Look, baby sis, we’ll sit here and talk but no more yelling.” Silas turned and grabbed some whiskey and poured us all a glass.

“No more yelling? Your baby sister has been home since last night and you haven’t even come to see me because you were too busy doing whatever the fuck you do around here! goddamn it!”

Before I could go on, a big, dark handsome man stood at the front door and yelled “What the fuck is going on around here? Everybody except Goose and Maverick get the fuck outta here!” I turned to look at him and instantly regretted my decision to come here.

It was him; Levi. My first love, first kiss, first everything. The man who broke my heart into tiny pieces and then stomped all over it. He looked deep into my eyes as he spoke, “And you, Little Lark, aren’t going anywhere until you explain what the fuck you’re doing here.”

My heart stopped. I was about to make a run for it when he reached out and grabbed my arm, “Don’t even think about running, Lilah. You don’t get to sweet talk your way into my fucking club and start shit. Let’s go.” He dragged me toward the hallway, Silas and Sawyer following quickly behind. “You two, we’ll talk later. I’ll handle this one.” He shot daggers at me with those deep blue eyes.

“Pres, come on. We’ll see her out. You know she didn’t mean any harm. We had it under control. It’s our fault so don’t take it out on her. We’ll explain everything as soon as we get her back home.” Poor Silas was trying to save me. My hero big brother after all.

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