Page 14 of Hanging Horseshoes

“Woke up to your truck gone and just raced right on over?” Rodeo asks in a somber tone but still his lips twitch as he takes in my bare chest and half open fly. I quickly close my jeans before pointedly looking down at him.

“I woke to the sound of a little young lass stealing my truck and leaving me a note saying she was in danger. My guess, you were thinking like me, and the last thing on your mind when you found that note were clothes.” I say pointedly, looking down at his attire, or lack thereof. He winces when Mable lets out another sob and he looks around frantically.

“I need to call one of the old ladies to come and watch her while I’m in church.” He says, standing from the bed. I don't even think. I just walk over to him and hold my hands out for the sweet girl.

“Come on, Pumpkin. I think we can go find a warm glass of milk before we try to lie back down.” I mummer softly to her as she sniffles and reaches out for my arms. I smile as her cries become soft sniffles, and she lays her head on my shoulder. I look up at Rodeo, noticing he’s still standing in front of me.

“Wow, you’re really fuck- I mean freaking good with her.” He says, his blonde eyebrows raised to his hairline. I wink before replying.

“Not been around many kids in my life, but this perfect little angel seems to make it so easy.” I smile down at her.

“Are you sure you're okay to watch her? I can get one of the women to do it.” He offers once more. I shake my head before turning toward the door.

“No, I can handle this. She’s still sleepy.” I mention noting the yawn she lets loose against my chest, a bit of drool dripping to my shoulder, “A glass of milk and then bed should be just the ticket. I’ve got this. You go find our…” Fuck, I almost slipped up. I need to be more careful if Rodeo finds out my true feelings. No way he’ll let me help, or hell anywhere near his little family, “Find Ophelia. Make sure she's safe and whoever is after her is taken care of.”

“Trip.” He growls out just as I reach the door. Damn, maybe I wasn't as quick about hiding it as I thought I was. I turn to look at him.

“I’ll bringourgirl home. I promise.”

And with that, my heart cracks open and for the first time, I think I found the place I belong. I think I might have found my home, the pieces of my life that have always been missing in my life, and with it… my very own happily ever after.

That is, if we can find and protect our forever.

Chapter Twelve

Rodeo

Pushing through the door into the conference room where we hold Church, I scan my brother's faces as I cross to my seat. The concern and frustration I find there gives me at least some small level of comfort. I know I am the newest of the patched in members, but seeing them take this seriously, taking on my problems as their own, means more to me than they will ever know.

The second my butt hits the seat, Swift calls us all to order.

“I know we all want to be back in our beds with our women… or whatever fucked up body pillows the rest of you hump all night… but we’ve got a situation. Most of you have met Ophelia and Mable since they have been around and know our little Rodeo is a daddy now. Well, about half an hour ago now Rodeo woke up to find Ophelia gone. She left the baby with Rodeo, somehow got her ass over to Trip’s place, stole his truck, and took off.”

“What I want to fucking know is how they got out without the alarms fucking blaring? I growl out. The room looks at me in surprise. Yes, I’m usually the laid-back guy. The light-hearted little brother, but not right now. Right now, I’m the pissed off father who's wondering how the mother of his child got out of Fort fuckin’ Knox.

“I’m still working on that. The only alarm that seemed to go off was the one at the back gate. The one that divides our property from Trip’s,” Comp says frustratingly while running a hand through his hair.

“Uh… that could have been my fault.” Loki speaks up. Honestly, if I wasn't so fucking pissed, I might be entertained by his nervous expression. Loki is never nervous…never.

“What do you mean, brother?” Swift growls. Loki clears his throat before speaking up.

‘sometimes me and the Mrs. like to come to the clubhouse where we can be… louder. The kids are older now and know more about the birds and the bees….”

“Did Loki really just call fucking the ‘birds and the bees’?” Grease snorts while receiving a death glare from Loki.

“Listen here, fucker, I will cut your tongue out and…” Loki starts, but I slam my hand down on the table.

“Finish.” I growl. Loki raises a brow at me, but I stare him down. If this was Halle, he would slice throats all over the clubhouse, so he gets no leeway with me. He must see it in my eyes because he rubs his hands down his face and sighs again.

“We turn the alarms off, so we don't bother any of you as we come into the clubhouse and leave. We always use the backdoor, just the back door.” Grease snickers again at the term back door, which has Loki nearly spitting fire, but he continues. “We turn it off, fuck like fiends, and then turn it back on when we leave. With all the kids out of the clubhouse, we didn't see any harm.”

“All the kids but mine.” I growl at him. He rubs his hands over his head and then hangs it. He knows he fucked up.

Fuckin’ fuck. Those two are goddamn menaces, I swear to god. We have this shit in place for a reason. Don’t they understand that? But no, of course not, because they already have their forever, their family. God forbid it was one of their kids missing, or one of the other old ladies. Every single one of them would be on high alert before they even got off the property. But when it’s mine, they let her get not only off property, but god knows where before anyone even notices something is wrong.

I know I’m not being fair to my brothers, but right now, I can’t help the swirling thoughts and conflicting emotions rushing through me. I need to find her. I need to bring her home. Mable needs her, I need her, hell… Trip needs her. Why the fuck would she just leave us like that? Why wouldn't she come to us? Tell us what's going on so we can help?

A little voice in the back of my mind keeps reminding me I did the same to her. I left her alone and ran to get away from my family, but didn’t she know I could protect her?

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