Page 29 of Beast

“Don’t worry about me finding things strange.”Piper smiled wryly.“My mom was a Vegas stripper, remember?I’m not sure I’d recognize normal if I saw it.”

Fuck, this woman was perfect.

“You planning on going much further today, Beast?”one of the bikers hollered back at me.“Weather service says there’s a storm heading this way, and it’s moving fast.You might want to hunker down for the rest of the day.”

“Those guys are wrong more than they’re right.”I glanced outside.“Sun’s shining and there’s not a fucking cloud in the sky.”

The biker shrugged.“Your call.Just thought you should know.”

I caught Piper looking out the window.“You want to stay put?I’m sure Ruth and Henry would be happy to put us up.”

Piper shook her head.“No.You’re right.Those guys are not very reliable.We could stay put, and the storm will blow in tomorrow when we go to leave.Or it will circle around us completely.We can always pull off somewhere up the road if it gets bad, right?”

I nodded.“Absolutely.”

Ruth came bustling down the aisle balancing a couple of plates on her arm.“You always have to sit with your back in a corner, don’t you, Beast.”

It was a statement, not a question.Old habits died hard, especially ones intended to keep me from meeting my Maker.If I backed myself into a corner with an escape route handy, I was much more likely to make it out of a shithole alive.

“That smells heavenly!”Piper stared down at the plate Ruth set in front of her.

“Thanks, sweetie.It’s a hamburger steak with fries and gravy and the salad fixings are from my garden out back.Enjoy.”Ruth looked over at me and winked, letting me know she approved of Piper.Not that I needed her approval, but it was nice to have it.

We ate in companionable silence.Breakfast hadn’t been all that filling, and we were both hungry.Finishing up her salad, Piper let out a contented sigh.“That was amazing.Do you have friends all over the country just waiting to feed you or put a roof over your head on short notice?”

“Hell, yeah.”I grinned and downed the last mouthful of my hamburger steak.“Seriously though, I tend to plan my routes to touch base with the guys I served with as much as possible.This is a route I take a lot.There’s a motel a couple hours up the road, although we don’t need a place to stop today.Might drop in and say hi, depending on how our time goes.”

I pulled out my phone and checked for messages.Nothing.I took that as a good sign.I glanced at Piper.“I should touch base with the twins.They’ll be expecting me to call before they take off for Europe.”

“Go ahead.You want some privacy?”

“Nah.After that shopping trip, they’re big fans of yours.”

She grinned at me.“I think they’re fans of your credit card.”

“True.But you’re the one who talked me into letting them spend that much.”

“Well, you don’t want Europe thinking you’re stingy.”

“Why would I care what Europe thinks of me?”I thumbed the FaceTime app and waited for Jasmine to answer before adding Jewel to the call.

“Hey, Dad!”Jewel grinned at me on the screen.“We’re just trying to fit everything in the suitcases.Thanks so much for all the new stuff.And thank Piper for us.”

“Thank her yourself.”I angled the phone so Piper was included in the call.

“Thanks, Piper,” they chimed in unison.

“You’re in leather.”Jasmine tilted her head.“You and Dad biking it?I thought there was a bus.”

“The weather’s good so we’re taking advantage.”I nudged Piper’s leg under the table to warn her not to mention the threat.

“Lucky!I bet it feels great.”

“Better than being cooped up on a bus.”Piper glanced at me.

“You two look cute together.”Jewel wrinkled her nose.“Any chance there’s more shopping trips in our future?”

Jasmine rolled her eyes.“That’s her subtle way of asking if you two are into each other.”

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