Page 7 of Two Weddings and a Shoot Out

Oh my gosh, it was everything she could do to not laugh at her boys trying to one-up each other. She had no doubt that Roam would try to take the fluffy cover that War, Remi, and Lucas, their entirely too pampered floofy dog, cuddled under to watch TV together. Remi had sent her a picture a couple weeks ago that had Regina laughing for a good fifteen minutes. The big bad biker President cuddling his floofy dog.

“I love you both. Thank you for doing that for your dad,” Regina said and shooed the boys out of the clinic.

Regina held out her hand to Baron, and he took it, getting down off the exam table.

“Thank you, Stella,” Baron said.

“I’d say anytime, but you and I both know I’d rather stick to colds, ear infections, and vaccinations instead of bullet wounds,” Stella said, pulling off her gloves and tossing them in the wastebasket.

Baron slid his sucker in his mouth and then grinned at her.

“Can I take my wife to lunch before we head home?” Baron asked.

Regina slid her arm around his waist. The smell of man, leather, and wind brought that comforting scent that she’d loved for years.

“Yes, you can.”

Chapter Five

Compassgotreadytohead into the council meeting War had called after their dust-up this morning. He’d had lunch with the guys who had ended up joining the women for lunch at the diner.

Maureen had patted the seat beside hers and had touched his arm multiple times. He wasn’t sure if something had changed or if he was just noticing her touch more.

After lunch, she’d asked about him taking her for a motorcycle ride sometime this week to show her where he’d lived. He wanted to share that part of his life with her. She’d shared a lot about her husband while they’d been at the ranch, even the times they’d disagreed.

Maureen wasn’t one to be walked all over. She talked about how one time her husband had come home all beat up from being thrown from a horse. Instead of taking care of him, she’d made him sleep in the bunkhouse or barn, whichever hepreferred, because he’d promised he was done trying to help break the wild horses.

He wished she wanted to be his permanently, but she’d said marriage wasn’t for her. Despite his beliefs changing some over time, he still wouldn’t make love to a woman that he wasn’t married to. Call him old-fashioned or prudish, but it was how he’d grown up, and he wasn’t ashamed of it.

His upbringing had given him an insight he’d used in the Army and later in the MC. He dropped his phone in the basket outside the room and found a seat. The officers were the only ones with set seats, and Compass had given that up when he went nomad.

Even though his heart had ached when he left the brotherhood, on the road, he could breathe again. With no destination in mind, he’d left Bluff Creek and ridden down to catch Highway Forty, which he followed through Oklahoma and Texas. He’d stopped in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and grabbed a place for the night. He’d ended up staying a week because of the weather. He’d always been one to ride in anything, but he just couldn’t make himself leave because the weather was as dreary as he felt—rainy and with dark, cloudy skies. He’d gotten drunk, and when he finally surfaced, the weather had cleared.

He'd taken four days to ride from Albuquerque to Oceanside, California, with pit stops along the way. He took the trip that Lucille had wanted them to take but had become too sick to do. He’d fished from the pier in Oceanside and taken one of those whale-watching tours she’d wanted to do. And every night, he cried for the woman he’d lost.

He shook himself out of the memories as the room filled. War and Roam carried in two laundry baskets with blankets and what Compass guessed were the pigs.

“Here you are, Dad,” Roam said, putting his basket on the table in front of Baron. Baron peered over the basket.

“He’s not tiny,” Baron said.

“These guys were surrendered when a puppy mill was raided. The breeder was trying to say they are mini. They will be if you consider one hundred pounds mini. The only reason he let us take them was because he knew Mom would take care of them and have an area for them to be taken care of. They even have names if you want to keep them,” War said.

“This one is Baby,” Roam said, leaning over and scratching the piglet on its back.

“Baby? What kind of name is that for a pig?” Baron asked.

“Baby Back Ribs is his full name,” Roam said, then laughed, high-fiving War.

“I’m positive your mom dropped you two on your heads when you were young. That’s the only reason I’d think you’d have such a crappy sense of humor because you didn’t learn that from me,” Baron grunted, lifting the piglet out and holding him.

The other basket was close to Compass, so he decided to get the little one out. Baron’s looked pretty cute. Compass lifted him out, and it squealed just like Compass had expected.

“What’s this one’s name?” Compass asked.

“Pork Chop,” War said.

Compass laughed along with everyone else. It was a good thing the compound had so many acres; Baron might need to expand room for the animals, especially if he kept doing things that he needed to apologize to Regina for.

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