by Jayne Blue
“What? I see what I see, and she’s and artist.” She put a hand on her hip and gave him a defiant look.
“Sorry Jules. Mom reads people immediately. It’s part of her business here at Light the Path.”
“Don’t be so cynical young man,” Violet said.
“Nice to meet you, Violet. And thank you for saying I’m an artist. I’m trying to be.”
“Aha! See? My first impression is never wrong. Except for his father. I messed that up big time.” She leaned back towards me and out of Ryder’s grasp and put a hand up to her mouth as if she was sharing a secret with me.
“He was this blonde Dutch behemoth I met in Saugatuck on a wine-soaked weekend. I mistook a dark blue aura for a blue aura with him. Blue is calm and sensitive. Dark blue’s a disaster. Shows real fear of self-expression. Well, he was so handsome my readings were off. Otherwise, I am accurate as a Swiss Watch.”
“Ugh. Mother. Can you dial it down one crazy notch?” Ryder was looking a little embarrassed, but I loved this woman already.
“Ignoring you,” she waved Ryder off and went on, “You’re a bright pink Jules, that’s artistic, sensitive, passionate and pure. All excellent qualities.”
“Thank you,” I said because it sounded like a high compliment.
“So, you’re here to show me some of that art.” And I looked over at Ryder. He had put his hands up in surrender.
“What?” I reflexively put my hand in my bag. I had all the money to my name and the jewelry that I’d made stashed in that bag.
“Actually, Mom has hit the nail on the head. I thought you might try to sell some of your work.”
“I never, uh, I don’t really know where to start with that.” I was feeling nervous, and my face was getting hot. Being an art student is one thing but actually selling something for cash was something else. It was business. And I didn’t know a damn thing about selling my jewelry.
“Here’s as good a place as any. I get a lot of people in all summer. It’s my busy season,” Violet said, and I looked around. She did have jewelry along with her new age fair and the tourist trinkets. Maybe my stuff could fit in here.
“Okay, well, I don’t have my pottery but can I show you my jewelry?” I was usually not this shy but putting my pieces out for anyone to judge scared the shit out of me. I could hear my Dad’s mean voice saying my projects were a waste of time and that it was ridiculous. He’d done such a good job of undermining my degree that I was feeling very vulnerable. What if they were terrible?
“Stop listening to the negative voice Jules and let’s take a look.” How did she know what I was listening to? Ryder may be annoyed with his mother, but I was quickly convinced that she was, in fact, reading me like a Swiss Watch!
I opened my bag and pulled out the case of jewelry that had been my senior project. I had half a dozen rings, bracelets, and amulet style necklaces. They were hammered metal and semi-precious gems. And they were my heart on a ring.
Violet guided me to her display counter and had me place each piece on a black velvet cloth.
“Gorgeous!” she said as I put out the bracelets. I felt my apprehension disappear as she picked up my ring and turned it around.
“I tried to show the colors of the river near my school with these.” There were blue stones mounted on hammered silver bands.
“They’re so unique. Substantial,” Violet said, and Ryder looked at me and nodded his head. It looked like some sort of I told you so gesture. Who were these people?
“Thank you. You really like them?” I was trying to hold back the urge to hug Violet. I was so grateful for her enthusiastic reaction.
“Of course. And you four-pointed that art school didn’t you?” Again she’d read me.
“Yes.”
“Alright Mother, talk turkey, enough of your tricks. She’s going to get scared that you’re boiling a stew with the eye of newt in the back.”
“Turkey? Fine. Here’s my offer Jules, I’ll give you one-thousand dollars for, what do we have here, one dozen pieces.”
“Uh, you want all of it?”
“Yep, you’re selling each piece to me for slightly under one-hundred bucks. I’m going to triple that. And I foresee it happening before tomorrow night.”
“What?”
“Yep. They’re going in the display out front. You’ll see.”
“It’s a deal.” Part of me was scared to part with my precious project, but then that was the point. If I wanted to support myself without Daddy, it meant producing and selling. Not holding on to each piece like it was my baby. Even though when I created the jewelry that’s exactly the connection I felt.
“So, what do we call this jewelry of yours?” Violet asked me.
“I don’t know what you mean?”
“Well, Mom maybe a psychic, aura-reading, Fruit Loop, but she’s also got an MBA in marketing,” Ryder explained.
“You people are really hard to peg?” I said, and it was the truth. I had stumbled into a biker hero and a psychic business woman in my flight away from Daddy and David Wexler.
“We get that a lot,” Ryder said, and he put an arm around his mother. Their easy banter and clear affection opened something in my heart for Ryder that went beyond the hot moments we’d shared just a few hours ago. The way he was with her was more dangerous than that smile. He loved and respected Violet. This woman who raised him. And in my entire life, I’d never seen a biker do anything like it.
Ryder had helped me turn my passion into a little profit. And he’d also shown me a family in a way that had me speechless.
“So, what do you think, name-wise?” Violet asked again.
“How about Julery? Add r and y to my name?”
“That’s perfect!” Violet grabbed me into a tight hug. Just as sure as I’d made a huge turn in my life when I left my Daddy and the Devil’s Hawks it felt like another step was happening right now. I hoped like hell the pieces would sell. If they didn’t, I hadn’t the first idea on how to support myself. On how to live without the ties I’d cut to my Dad.
Ryder and his mother talked a bit more. I tried to process all that had happened and the two made arrangements on how to connect the next day on his way out of town.
The next day. I couldn’t think about it. I had to keep making one step at a time, or I’d be crushed under the weight of the grown-up decisions I kept making at every turn. Ryder helped me onto his bike, and we rode back to the campsite. It was sunset. Our bellies were full from dinner, and my mind was racing with the hope that Violet bought my jewelry and thought she could sell it.
There was a chill in the evening air. Somehow retreating into my mind and the events of the last two days had pulled me away from Ryder, from the pure pleasure it was to be near him. But he didn’t push me. He busied himself making a fire.
It was watching him work that brought me out of my head. He was beautiful. He’d exchanged the jeans and leather he’d worn in town for his camp uniform of sexy tight t-shirt and board shorts. He really was a hybrid biker beach bum.
As he worked on the fire, did something or other in the tent, and generally let me be I realized I didn’t want him to anymore. It was suddenly very lonely on the picnic bench.
“Ryder.” He emerged on his knees from the little pup tent.
“Yeah, babe.”
“Thank you.”
“For what this time?” And he raised an eyebrow at me. It was true, though. My poorly planned escape would have died in the first ten minutes if he’d not been there.
“Well, this time, it’s for introducing me to Violet.”
“Not sure if you should be thanking me or I should be apologizing.”
“What?”
“You saw. I was raised in crazy aura.” Ryder waved his hands in the air to indicate what he really thought of the auras.
“Well, she bought my stuff. Is that because she’s crazy?” I was a little hurt at that thought.
“She may be a nut, but she’s a hardcore business woman. Ru
nning a profitable new age shop in small town Michigan for the last 25 years and making enough dough to survive takes brains. She’s debt free, she’s independent, and she paid for my mechanic training when I was done with high school. So while she’s nuts, she also wouldn’t buy your stuff if she didn’t think she’d make money on it.”
“How did you know she’d like it? She could have shot me down. Crushed my fragile dreams?”
Ryder closed the distance between him and me on the picnic table bench. He looked very serious.
“Because you’re talented and your stuff is gorgeous. Just like you are.”
It seemed like days since we’d kissed. And I thought back. It was hours when he’d kissed me in the ally. May as well have been days if felt so long ago.
I leaned forward and put my lips on his. I reached around and slid my nails lightly across his back. This time, it was his turn to moan as I dragged them across the muscles. He put his hands on my hips and lifted me to his lap. The contact of our lips was never broken. His arms surrounded me.
I wanted to really explain how I felt about what he’d done for me. About how I shouldn’t trust him. But did. Completely.
But when we kissed, I couldn’t think about anything else. I couldn’t form words. I could only reach for more of him. His fingers on my skin turned me into a creature driven by need and sensation.
Ryder pulled my t-shirt over my head and unsnapped the button on my shorts. He popped me up on my feet for a second and pulled them over my hips and down to my ankles. And then he paused. He had his hands on my hips, and I watched his eyes scan from the white panties up to the bra that covered me.
“Jesus you're gorgeous as fuck,” he said, and I smiled. I loved his eyes on me almost as much as his hands and lips on me.
He lifted his fingers up and slid down both of my bra straps at the same time. The cups barely covered me. He leaned forward and put his lips on the juncture between them. I couldn’t help but sigh at the sensation of his lips as he slid them to my nipple, moving the fabric out of the way as he went.
He paused again and stood up in front of me.
“Get in the tent,” he said. It wasn’t a request. As sweet as Ryder was to me in the last two days he was as serious as hell. And right now he was in charge of me. He meant to do whatever he wanted to me. And I couldn’t wait.
I did exactly as he ordered me to and lay down on the sleeping bag that was open wide for the two of us. Ryder climbed in on top of me. His hard edges fitting perfectly with my soft curves.
“I love the way you feel,” he said. And in my heart, I loved way more than just the touch of him.
We spent the night exploring each other. Discovering each other. And ignoring everything else even sleep.
When the sun came up, I would have hard decisions to make.
As he had the day before Ryder woke before I did. He had a campfire, coffee, and food for me. He was totally self-sufficient out here. I suspected he was even more so in his auto body shop and with his club.
He handed me a tin mug. He had packed camp gear for one and to a fault, he offered things to me first. I noticed everything about him.
“Today’s the day,” he said, and I knew what he meant.
“Packing up?” I stated the obvious.
“Yep. I have responsibilities with my club to get back to.”
“Is there a bus stop nearby? Maybe that’s my next best move?” I said, and the idea of getting on a bus and traveling away from him made me sick.
“I’m going into town to say bye to Mom. But how about this? You come with me on my bike to Grand City? Catch a bus there?” Ryder’s eyes were hopeful. I was sure that doubt and fear filled mine.
This, whatever this was, had to end. I knew it, and he knew it. Even though every single cell in my body screamed to stay with him. Devil’s Hawks were looking for me. I needed to disappear. And I needed to put distance between me and everyone my Dad perceived as helping me. The thought of Ross and what he must have endured came crashing back.
I wasn’t going to make a scene, and I was going to put my big girl panties on and get out of Michigan.
“While that’s really sweet of you. And I want to spend more time with you. More than I should. We just met. But I have to go. I need to get far away.”
We locked eyes. He knew I was right. He’d hidden me. Protected me. And even loved me the last few days. That couldn’t last. I had to go. Ryder knew it too. He turned away and got busy around our small camp.
“Okay. Let’s pack up.”
Ryder didn’t ask what my next step was, he just efficiently broke down his camp and too quickly our little home was on a roll on the back of his bike. So was I. Leaving Ryder had to be like pulling off a band-aid. I needed to do it fast. It was only going to get more painful if I road with him to Grand City.
My road with him had to come to an end.
I went down to the camp shower. I repacked my bag. And I got a gruesome reminder from Daddy.
A message. One that meant I needed to start lying to a man who’d loved me more in two days than any other had my entire life.
Chapter Eight
Ryder
I wanted to pull her into my arms and tell her she wasn’t leaving my side. Which made zero sense. She was running when I met her, and she needed to keep running for a while. I didn’t know much about Devil’s Hawks but what I’d seen so far was as bad as it got.
I’d helped throw them off her scent. I’d given her a head start. But that wasn’t going to last. If I could have her on my bike a little longer, get a few more miles between her and her The Hawks maybe I could help her break free for good. That was my hope.
But she wasn’t listening to me anymore. She didn’t want to visit mom’s shop or talk about her plans. She barely talked at all.
And I knew she was right about one thing. Getting out of Michigan. Jules Moldonado had to keep going. As much as it hurt to let her.
She fit perfectly behind me as we rode back into St. Joseph. I drove slower than I normally would. All too soon we were at the bus stop.
I watched her go in and buy a ticket. I didn’t ask where. Though the Devil’s Hawks goons would have cut off more than my finger to get me to give up her location. Still, it was probably best I didn’t know.
The bus depot at St. Joseph could take her anywhere. I hated the thought of it.
I wrapped my arms around her and tucked her in for a hug. She had the beginnings of tears. What had happened between us in such a short time? I kissed her.
“You have my number?”
“Up here.” She tapped her temple.
“Safe travels Princess,” I said and stepped back. She stuck out her lower lip and pouted.
“I’m not a princess.” I smiled. What an amazing fucking woman. I felt scared for her but also confident. She was tough, smart, and took care of business.
“This isn’t the end for you and me Jules. I’m going to find you again when it’s safe.”
“Okay. Thank you, Ryder.”
I kissed her again. This sucked worse than anything I could imagine, and it had upended my life out of the blue.
But getting away from here was the best plan if she really wanted to be free of her Daddy’s club. Their reach was almost as long as Great Wolves and their tentacles slithered into much darker places.
I left her at the bus depot. I hoped it wasn’t forever, but it felt like forever. I wasn’t a man who prayed. But I was a man raised by a woman who believed in auras and lights. I put a request out to the universe for Jules Maldonado.
“Keep her safe,” I said out loud as I rode away.
I felt a tear in my chest.
Oh, this is what it feels like to have a broken heart? It actually physically hurts?
It was a new sensation and one that would settle in and become familiar.
Chapter Nine
Ryder
Six Months Later
“You have a winner.” Sawyer, my club president, had called me
in before the officers’ meeting.
“Yeah, money coming in and there’s a waiting list,” I replied.
I’d spent the last six months burying myself in work for the Great Wolves Auto Body Shop. When thoughts of Jules came into my head I’d fix something, I’d make a call, I’d organize something. I did everything I could to forget how she felt and how I felt without her.
My mom told me Julery was selling at her shop, and new designs were coming in. It made me happy to hear it. But I didn’t ask for details. Jules had gotten on that bus and gotten far away.
It was the best way to break free of a club, clean, permanent, and with a lot of geography between you and the bad blood. I hoped she was in California somewhere or Oregon. I could see her there. With her SCAD t-shirt and mussed up hair. When I went too far into those thoughts, I headed into the body shop.
She could have called. She didn’t. I texted. She never responded. What we had was incredible. For me anyway. For her? I had no idea.
I channeled my obsession with Jules into the shop.
And now my mechanic idea was turning into a big money maker for the club. Everyone was happy. And I was proud of it. And about to get richer.
“I’ve got some good news. We’re going to have you do for the auto body shop what I did with the Great Wolves MMA Gyms. Except there’s a little catch.”
“Really?” Sawyer had started Great Wolves Gyms in several cities with Great Wolves MC Charters. That’s how he’d come to our club. When they brought him in to set up an MMA gym business for us.
“You’re going to have to be on the road like I am, that’s one catch. It can be a bitch. Old ladies aren’t big fans of it. That’s the way we make sure the other charters know what the fuck to do.”
It was a great deal for me and the charters I could help. Each MC would get the profits of its own business but the founder, me in this case, got a percentage of all.
“Southwood is your first stop.”
“Outside of Detroit?”
“Yeah, I’ve got a struggling club. That’s the catch. They lost the Great Wolves name a while ago when we tried to pull em out of drug trade, and they wouldn’t budge. Well, they finally saw the light after a bunch of their guys wound up getting hit for drug trafficking. The ones that were left, well, they either defected to other clubs or they hung on and tried to follow our Great Wolves plan. So they’re back in the fold but just barely.”
