Page 3 of Hounds Ascend
“How old are you?” I ask.
“Twenty-two.”
“That’s it?”
He chuckles. “Yeah. That’s it. Why?”
“I was just wondering. You don’t have a family or anything?”
“I do. I have parents and siblings, but we aren’t from here and they live a thousand miles away. So, it’s just me.”
“Oh. So that’s why you spend all your time at the clubhouse.”
“Yeah. I don’t have anything else to do, so why not prove my loyalty to the club with all this free time I got?”
“Good point. Okay.”
Creek’s isn’t far up the road and we’re in the parking lot before I know it. Mindy’s car is parked out front along with a few bikes and other cars and trucks. There isn’t anything special going on tonight, but we seem to have a good crowd.
I hop down out of the truck and head inside without waiting for Linc. I hear the jukebox playing before I even open the door. The music is loud, a cloud of smoke fills the bar, and people are everywhere. I scan the crowd and find Mindy in the corner of the bar with an empty seat next to her. Perfect.
“Hey love!” Mindy squeals and hugs me. A hug that says, ‘I miss you’ and it makes me feel good. It’s good to be missed.
“Hey babe!” I sit down next to my best friend.
I hear the door open behind us and instinctively look to see who it is. Linc. He looks over at us, nods and walks to the other side of the bar. I turn my focus back to Mindy and see the look in her eyes as she watches Linc.
“I ordered you a drink. Double Crown and Sprite.”
“You’re the best. Okay, so tell me all about everything that I’ve been missing out on!” I demand.
“Well, the bar is doing great. He’s definitely making a profit off the place, which is good because I wasn’t sure we could turn this place around from what it had been turned into before.”
“Kevin ran it into the ground pretty good.”
“Oh, yeah. Completely. But now that Cass is running it, things are starting to pick up and take off. You know, there have been a lot of bikers coming in, and they are the most respectful and down to earth people I’ve ever been around. It almost makes me wonder how they got stuck with such a bad reputation.”
I think of the night at the clubhouse when the Moccasins returned me and what Cass had done to them right in front of my face. The only emotion he showed was sympathy for me. He never even flinched when he pulled the trigger or when their lifeless bodies crumbled to the ground.That’swhere they got their reputation.
“Almost, huh?” I ask.
“Yep. Almost. I know that there’s probably a lot that thepublic doesn’t see. Some of it good, some of it bad. But I’m just gonna choose to be blind to it and pretend they’re the nicest people I’ve ever met, because they are when they’re in here.”
“I’ve only been around the guys at the clubhouse. I kind of haven’t been able to go out by myself.”
Mindy laughs. “I noticed. Speaking of…” she trails off as her head turns in Linc’s direction. He is sitting on the other end of the L-shaped bar.
“I don’t know a whole lot about him. I know he isn’t from here and doesn’t have anyone family-wise. But as far as a girlfriend, well, you’ll have to find that out for yourself.”
I know what my words will do. Sure enough, Mindy quirks a brow at me for a split second before getting up and walking across the bar to Linc. Linc pulls out the barstool next to him for Mindy to sit. They’re smiling and talking and from what I can see across the room, it looks like they’re hitting it off.
I light a cigarette and sip my drink. For the first time since I got here, I look at the girl behind the bar. Lucy, Shorty’s wife, is working and she’s handling the crowd well for being a new bartender. I watch as she scans the bar tentatively, ensuring all the customers are taken care of. That’s a quality that’s hard to find in bartenders, which makes me glad to have her as a part of our staff.
Lucy approaches the side of the bar where I’m sitting.
“Your face looks so much better!” she beams. I’ve been watching my bruises fade a little every day. They’re still here but damn do they look a hell of a lot better than they did. Soon, theevidence of that terrible night will no longer be written across my cheek.
“Thanks love!”
