Baby and the Biker: The Ghost Riders MC

by Savannah Rylan

  “No. She quit some time ago.”

  “Do you know where she works now?”

  She shrugged her shoulders, clearly uncomfortable. “She just left without saying anything. I have no idea where she is or what she’s doing now.”

  “I see. Well, then I’ll be going.”

  “Sure.” She observed me carefully. “It’s good to have you back, Brooks. See you.”

  “Yeah. See you.”

  I exited the store, and something heavy settled in my chest. Fear mixed with loneliness attacked me. She wasn’t here, and Missy didn’t know where she was. Where the hell was she?

  Chapter Thirteen

  Brooks

  My next stop was the diner she had worked at. I rushed into the crowded place, searching around the room for any glimpse of her blonde hair and curvy body.

  “Hello. May I help you?” a short brunette waitress asked me, stopping next to me. I didn’t recognize her, which could mean she wasn’t working here three years ago.

  “Actually, yes. I’m looking for Langley. Is she working now?”

  Hew eyebrows scrunched up. “Langley? No. She isn’t working here anymore.”

  My pulse accelerated, panic twirling in me. “No?”

  “No. She quit a long time ago.”

  “Did she say where she is working now?”

  She shook her head. “Not really, but who are you?”

  I rubbed my forehead, wondering where else she could be. “No one important,” I muttered and strode out of the diner, intent on searching everywhere for her.

  Did she keep her old colleagues in the dark about her new workplace because she was avoiding me? Was she even living in this town?

  The next stop was her apartment. However, it wasn’t Langley who opened the door.

  “What do you need?” an older redhead asked, looking at me with caution.

  “I’m sorry for bothering you, but doesn’t Langley live here?”

  “Langley? There is no Langley here. You must have gotten the wrong address…” She placed her finger over her lips. “Wait. Now I remember. You’re probably asking about the girl who rented this place before me.”

  “Yes. She lived here three years ago. When did she move out?”

  “I don’t know. I came here several months ago, but I think the place was long unoccupied before that.”

  “Do you know where she lives now?”

  She gave me the look that said I had asked a stupid question. “My landlord only mentioned her name, but I don’t know the girl, let alone where she lives now. And now I think it would be best if you left.”

  I barely managed to thank her before the door was closed in my face. I staggered backward, at a loss. Where could she be?

  The next places were a few shops in the neighborhood she frequently visited, however I couldn’t find any answers there. She didn’t have parents or relatives, so I couldn’t call them and ask them about her.

  I remembered a few friends from our high school that were in contact with us and I called them, but no one seemed to know where she had ended up.

  My last bet were other diners in the town, assuming she worked in one of them. I drove to each one of them, but my search came up short. It was already night time, and frustration was getting the best of me.

  I parked near the drive in we had gone to so many times and rested my head against the headrest, completely discouraged. She had erased every trace of her, as if she had never existed.

  I fisted my hands, overwhelmed with need for her. As if my mind wanted to play games with me, it unfolded the memory of one of the times we visited this drive in together…

  Currently, the main actor and actress were in the middle of a love quarrel, and while Langley was biting her nails in excitement, I was bored to death. How much longer until the end of it?

  I yawned, trying not to let my eyes close shut. I couldn’t help it. A moment later, my eyes closed on their own.

  She poked my shoulder. “Hey! It’s not fair! You can’t fall asleep now!”

  I sent her a half-smile, glancing at her before I returned my gaze to the screen. I had no idea what had been going on for the past twenty or more minutes, and I suspected the movie wasn’t anywhere near the end. That was what a cheesy movie could do to you.

  “I won’t, sweetheart.”

  “You will! You fell asleep the last time.”

  “That is because you managed to convince me to watch that sappy shit the last time too.”

  She crossed her arms across her chest. “It’s not sappy shit! Why are you dissing love stories? What is wrong with them?”

  “They are too boring and stupid.”

  “Oh, so if a movie is not about action and tough guys, you won’t be interested in it, right?”

  I grinned at her, amused by her pouting. “You know me too well.”

  “Hmph! Action and tough guys are stupid! But I don’t complain when you take me to watch them.”

  “I’m not complaining now either.”

  “But you’re falling asleep! That’s even worse.”

  The bubbles of laughter rose in me, and I faced her. “I like when you’re pouting like that.”

  “Oh shut up.”

  I caressed her cheek, and she turned her head to look at me. “You’re so cute, Langley. Even when you’re mad.”

  She looked away, frowning, but I cupped her chin and made her look at me. “Here. I’ll tell you something sappy, which you love hearing.” She pouted her lips once more, and a pang of desire coursed through me. I wanted to bite that lip and suck it into my mouth. Then I would make love to her the whole night…

  “No matter what we do or where we are, I don’t care as long as I am with you. I’ll watch a thousand boring movies more if that means I’ll get to spend time next to you.”

  Her eyes softened, and her face lit. She always melted at such words.

  “Do you really mean that?”

  “Yes.” I ran my fingers over her cheek and mouth, mesmerized by her beauty. She was one of a kind. “I mean it one hundred percent.”

  The sounds from the screen gained my attention, and I turned to find the couple on the screen kissing. I smiled. “Look, you’re going to miss the kiss.”

  She placed her hand on my cheek, and I looked back at her. The way she looked at me stole my breath away. “I don’t care. You know why? Because I care only about this kiss.”

  And then her lips were on mine, and the inexplicable happiness pervaded me.

  The first tears slid down my cheeks, the memory at the drive in replaced with the one of us together at the grocery store.

  “You’re working too much, babe,” I told her, massaging her tense shoulders.

  She was working a night shift, and the store was completely empty, which was no wonder since it was way past the midnight. I had come earlier to help her pass the time, even though I was ready to drop myself.

  “The pot calling the kettle black. You’ve been working the whole day, Brooks. Why don’t you go home and sleep? You’re going to work early in the morning.”

  I continued massaging her, worried about the knots I felt underneath my fingers. She always worried more about me than herself, not taking care of her health too well.

  “I wanted to spend some time with you. You know that lately we don’t have much time for each other, so if I have to spend a sleepless night to be with you, it’s all worth it.”

  She stood up from the chair and turned around. She placed her hands on my shoulders, taking a step closer to me.

  “Do you know how much I love you? You’re always so sweet.”

  I tapped her nose, wrapping my other arm around her waist, and pulled her closer to me. “And you’re even sweeter, Langley. You’re the sweetest girl.”

  I planted a kiss on her lips, but then she snaked her arms around my neck and started kissing me, conveying just how much she loved me.

  And just like that, all my fatigue disappeared.

  I wiped off my tears, br
eathing with difficulty, but my tears were stubborn and kept falling. It hurt so much. Another memory came to my mind, this time in the break room at the diner she had used to waitress at…

  “Oh Brooks,” Langley squealed, looking at the huge bouquet of red roses I had bought for her.

  Today was our fourth anniversary, but she couldn’t come to our date, because she had to work. So I had decided to come here instead and give her the flowers.

  “They are beautiful!” She took them and smelled them, her face angelic. She appreciated small gifts and gestures, treating them as if they were everything to her. This was one of the things I loved about her. She was simple and satisfied with so little.

  “I know how much you like roses, so I wanted to surprise you.”

  “Like them? I love them! Just like I love you!” Holding the bouquet in one hand, she grabbed my shirt with another and pulled me toward her to kiss me.

  I threaded my fingers into her hair, responding to her kiss with roughness that told how much I wanted her. She was sexy in her waitress uniform, which exposed her perfectly defined legs, and I wished we had enough time for a quickie.

  “You’re always spoiling me, Brooks,” she said, gazing softly at the roses. Her amorous gaze was so sweet. “I prepared a present for you too.”

  “And what’s that?”

  She smirked. I could guess what her gift could be. “You’ll see that tonight. Maybe I’ll surprise you by jumping into your bed… And you know how the rest goes.” She winked at me and left another numbing kiss on my lips.

  I opened my eyes, almost suffocating with pain. The happy memories were now to painful to deal with, each word of affection causing desolation that was too destructive. I had lost such an angel. She had given me her unconditional love, but I betrayed her when I left her without even considering her feelings. I destroyed her trust.

  All those moments that had meant everything at one point meant nothing now because I couldn’t have her. After everything, nothing mattered because we were far away from each other. Everything was ruined. I ruined everything.

  I hit my fist against the steering wheel, welcoming the physical pain. If only the emotional pain was as fleeting and easy to deal with as the physical one…

  No. I couldn’t give up her. All those memories, all those moments… They meant something. They meant everything. I had screwed up, but I had to fix this. I would beg for her forgiveness and ask her to start anew. I would dedicate my whole life to making her happy. I wouldn’t leave her ever again.

  It didn’t matter if she was far away or not, because I would stop at nothing to find her. And then... And then I would show her exactly how much I loved her.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Langley

  It was close to midnight when I sat down at the kitchen table, a blank paper and a pencil placed in front of me. After putting it off for days, I was writing a letter to Brooks’s mom at last, and I felt super emotional.

  According to one of Mary’s last letters, Brooks had been supposed to come back home a few days ago, which made me think more about him than usually. I wondered what he was doing now, where he was, and if he was looking for me. I had made sure not to reveal my whereabouts to Mary, but a part of me hoped Brooks would look for me and appear on my doorstep.

  That foolish part of me created fantasies in which he and I were back together, happy and madly in love, and I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry about it.

  This only increased my misery since this was a clear sign I hadn’t gotten over him. I still wanted him, and now that he was back for good, I wished I could get a glimpse of him. Just a glimpse of him, if nothing else, to see if he was okay. To see how much he had changed, if at all.

  My hand trembled when I started writing, trying not to reveal my emotions to Mary, but it was difficult. I wanted to pour my heart out, which was throbbing with suppressed emotions. Only after I read that Brooks was coming home, I realized how much I needed him next to me, as if these last three years meant nothing. As if he hadn’t betrayed me.

  I had been working my hardest to live without Brooks, but now that he was here…

  A tear slid down my cheek and dropped on the paper. I stared at the written paragraphs, my vision becoming blurrier, and my chest ached. Mary had wrote that Brooks kept asking about me and begged me to give him a chance, but I had refused to even see him.

  Now I had no idea what to do. Yesterday I was passing next to a couple with a kid in the park, and I immediately thought of Brooks. I imagined him smiling next to me, holding me like I would disappear any moment, and I almost broke out in tears right there. I returned home and curled into a ball on the floor, crying my heart out for Brooks and what we could have had.

  I glanced around the dimly lit kitchen, finding the silence difficult to bear with. What should I do? Should I talk to him again? Should I listen to Mary and give him a chance?

  “But how could I give him a chance when he didn’t care about me enough even then? How could I trust him? He hurt me a lot.”

  No, I couldn’t give him a chance. I endured three years without him, so if I yielded now…

  But you love him, a voice deep within me whispered to me. And he still doesn’t know what you’ve been hiding all this time.

  My gut twisted with guilt, and once more, I asked myself if that had been the right decision. What if I had told him about it? Would he have stayed? No, I hadn’t wanted him to stay because of that. I hadn’t wanted to chain him and limit his freedom.

  But how would he react if I told him now?

  I closed my eyes and imagined his broad smile a moment before he drew me into his embrace and left a dozen of kisses all over my face. He would be ecstatic hearing the truth, and we would be back together…

  I had no idea if I was overly optimistic or not.

  “Do I actually want to go back to him?”

  I had been working hard to forget him for so long that now that I actually started considering this possibility, I didn’t know how to feel. I didn’t want to rush into anything.

  I glanced at the stickers on the fridge and clenched the pencil in my hand. So far, I had kept it a secret, but maybe it shouldn’t be a secret anymore. After all, he deserved to know about it.

  “Yes, I should include a picture too.”

  The last few paragraphs were the most difficult to write because I broke my promise to myself and asked Mary about Brooks. I wanted to know how he was, even though I knew better than that.

  Having finished with the letter, I went to the living room, where I kept photo albums, and opened the cabinet. I took one of the recent photos and smiled at it, my chest inflating with happiness, just like each time I saw it.

  With trembling hands, I put the photo along with the letter into the envelope, planning to take it to the mailbox tomorrow. I checked the time and saw it was past one, so I dragged myself up to my room.

  And just when I lay down in my bed and closed my eyes, I realized I was ready to talk to Brooks again.

  I had been running away from it for so long, but maybe that was the reason why the past hurt so much. If we talked and resolved the issue, maybe I would be able to move on.

  Or maybe I would fall for him all over again.

  And that, frankly, frightened me a lot.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Brooks

  A week had passed since I returned home, and I was nowhere closer to discovering Langley’s address. I continued visiting the diner and the grocery store in hopes of finding out something new, but I was none the wiser.

  The only thing that lifted my spirits these days was my mom’s happiness. She was full of energy and cheerful, but I had noticed that something was bothering her. So when I asked her about it this morning, she told me she would want nothing more than to see Langley and me back together.

  “It’s such a shame that the two of you had to separate because of me.”

  “It’s not because of you. Don’t say it like that.”

&nbs
p; “I know, but still. You had to find money, and that is why you went to the marines. How can I repay you?”

  “That is nonsense, mom. You don’t have to repay me anything. You’re my mother, and I would do anything for you, so I don’t want to hear you say something silly like that again.”

  “Still, I wish I could make things right. I wish I could help you and Langley reconcile.”

  I sighed, getting more desperate. Each day with no news about Langley created a bigger dent in my confidence that everything was going to be alright one day.

  “For now, I would be content to see her and know she’s okay.”

  This conversation stuck in my mind the whole day, until I grew so anxious that I couldn’t stay at my place anymore. I needed to go out and vent these negative emotions somehow.

  And that was how I ended at the diner she had worked at, currently at my second glass of beer. The evening dragged on as I sat in the booth in the corner of the room and observed other people without actually paying attention to them, thinking about Langley and what she could be doing right now.

  I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t notice a figure hovering over my table until that person cleared their throat.

  I raised my head and met the eyes of the woman that was familiar to me, but I didn’t know where I had met her.

  “Yes?”

  “You don’t recognize me, Brooks?” She placed her hand across her chest, feigning offense. “And here I thought we were friends!”

  I looked closely at her, and then it came to me. She was Langley’s good friend from high school!

  “Nelly.” I stood up and smiled at her. “I haven’t seen you in a long time.” We shook hands. “How are you?”

  “I’m good. You know me—always busy!”

  Actually, I didn’t know this or anything about her, to be correct. She was more Langley’s friend than mine, and the last time I saw her was a few years before I joined the marines. If I remembered correctly, she had married and went out of the town to live with her husband.

  “I’m waiting for my friend to come, so would you mind if I sit here until he arrives?”