Ridge Creek Reunited (Ridge Creek Duology)

by C L Green

  My eyes move back to Jake’s and I see his face is no longer impatient. It’s concerned. Throwing him a grin, he stares blankly at me for a moment or two and starts the bike. With a roar, the sound of his bike starting echoes through the garage, out the garage door and into the trees outside.

  Not hesitating a second longer, I step closer, swing my leg and plant my ass firmly on the seat behind him. Sliding my arms around his waist, I instantly plaster myself to his back and inhale deeply through my nose.

  Leather and Jake, soap and spice.

  Heaven.

  Twisting my head I look towards the door to the house again and see Ellen still smiling. Her delight that Jake is taking me on a ride overriding her concerns that her hands are now full of a panicky Pierre who is not as excited about the roar of Harley pipes as the rest of us. He’s desperately struggling to escape her arms and flee to the nearest hidey-hole.

  I see Ellen nod, clutch Pierre closer and back through the door to get him away from the noise. Jake gives her a quick chin lift and starts to roll the bike backwards out of the garage and onto the gravel. Hitting the remote for the garage, I watch as the door comes down and Ellen and Pierre disappear. Jake then turns the handlebars on his bike, revs the engine, kicks it into gear and we are off.

  Growling our way slowly down the driveway an instant sense of euphoria hits me as I become aware of the vibration of the bike beneath me. Mix that feeling up with another good snuff of Jake’s scent and I find myself fighting a strong urge to moan. Fighting the urge as I know I must, I decide to do the next best thing. I wrap my arms even tighter around Jakes hard midriff, press my cheek up against his back, set my eyes on the road ahead and do what needs to be done. I relax and I enjoy.

  Exiting Jake’s driveway and turning right onto the road, Jake hits the throttle and lets the bike roar. The sound of Harley pipes echo through the trees around us as I snuggle even closer to his back and sigh.

  This is the life.

  It takes me less than two heart beats to embrace and enjoy the freedom that is felt on the back of a bike. It’s the feeling of the wind on your face, the powerful vibrations of a Harley beneath you and the strong body of a good man pressed hard up against you. I revel in the intoxicating sense of well-being and exhilaration as we roar along.

  And then something settles deep within me.

  Something that realizes I was born to do this and there is no other place I’d rather be than on the back of this bike. To share in the pure joy that is to ride. To be free and know that destination doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because the bike is the destination and this instant sense of exhilaration is addictive.

  So addictive in fact that I find myself enjoying the ride so much that it feels like just a few short minutes before Jake slows the bike because we’ve reached the edge of town. One can literally lose time on the back of a bike.

  Rumbling around the last street corner before we arrive at the shop, I feel Jake stiffen in my arms. His body is suddenly on alert, every muscle tight and hard. Wondering what’s upset him, I lift my head from where my cheek has been firmly planted against his shoulder blade for the entire ride to look over his shoulder.

  And then I stiffen too.

  Standing in front of the shop is a small crowd of people and some of them do not look happy. Realizing that I recognize all the faces in the small crowd, I whisper a quiet, “Oh dear,” to myself as we approach.

  Jake’s chest rumbles against my front as he growls angrily at the crowd ahead. Slowing the bike down to near walking speed, he rolls towards the shop his head slightly turned to the left watching the crowd as we approach. The bike rumbles and crackles beneath us and I watch as every face in the crowd redirects their focus to watch us as we roll towards them.

  I recognize Luke, Zane, Towball and Emma standing near the shop door. Luke, Zane and Towball look amused. Emma looks pissed. Her face softens for a brief second when she sees me on the back of Jake’s bike but then hardens instantly as she swings her attention back to her original focus point in the crowd.

  Victoria.

  Victoria also looks pissed. Not at Emma, but at me now that she too has spotted me sitting on the back of her husband’s bike. I instantly realize this is not good. Once again her red hair looks like it’s about to catch fire as her eyes lock on mine and I am blasted with a look of pure hatred.

  Marveling that I haven’t yet burst into flames, I continue to scan the faces in the group. Standing just off to Victoria’s left are four more familiar faces that I had not expected to see again so soon. Stephen Bradford, Ritchie, Gina and Anton. They appear to be in a small huddle of their own and I can see that Stephen is eyeing Victoria cautiously, but with interest. Anton, Gina and Ritchie are not however looking at Victoria with interest. Their attention is focused to her right. On an old potbellied man with crazy long white hair and a long white beard.

  Pops.

  Pops who is holding a fire extinguisher in one hand, its hose and nozzle in the other. He has the nozzle pointed straight at Victoria and he looks like he means business. Victoria however, does not seem to care that he looks like he means business with his fire extinguisher. This is because she is now fully focused on me.

  Uh oh.

  It’s at this point that I realize Jake is idling right past the entire crowd and past the shop without stopping. Turning my head as we roll on by I watch as Emma swings her attention back to me briefly as she waves us on. She appears to be agreeing with Jake’s decision to keep moving.

  I however, do not.

  Leaning forward slightly, I press my lips to the side of his head. Then, in a voice I hope is loud enough that he can hear me over the rumble of his bike I call, “Jake, stop the bike.”

  It’s loud enough. I know this because Jake stiffens even more and growls angrily, “No fuckin’ way.” He then gives the engine a rev and the bike speeds up again.

  Turning to look at the distance now building between the crowd and Jake’s bike, I call again. “Jake, please stop the bike.”

  Jake responds to my request by hitting the accelerator and making the bike roar louder as we take off down the street and away from the shop. Turning his head so that I can hear him more clearly, he announces, “Let Pops deal with her. He looks like he’s got it covered.”

  Turning my head back to press it against the side of his head again, I find myself yelling over the noise of the bike roaring beneath us. “But Jake, Stephen Bradford was there. He might have important news.”

  “He can call you,” Jake yells back, his body stiff and unforgiving as we continue to roar along.

  “I need boots and a jacket,” I yell again in what appears to be a vain effort to get him to stop or even slow the bike down. “I also need my laptop.”

  This appears to do the trick. I feel the bike stutter and then slow as Jake’s body softens just a little in front of me and he sighs. “Fuck,” he grumbles as he gears the bike down and rolls to a stop in the middle of the street. I turn my head back to look at the crowd that is now about two hundred meters away.

  All faces are watching us with interest.

  Shaking his head, Jake turns the handlebars on the bike and we start to do a slow u-turn back towards the shop. “Do not talk to her. Do not acknowledge her. In fact don’t even look at her. Just walk straight into the shop and head to your room to get your stuff,” Jake orders roughly. “I’ll get rid of her.”

  “Okay,” I agree instantly as the bike lurches forward and we rumble back towards the shop again. The sound of the pipes on Jake’s bike echo along the street as we go. The noise almost eerie as I watch the faces in the group ahead staring at us.

  Re-approaching the shop, I see Pops move closer to Victoria and he starts waving the nozzle of the fire extinguisher about twenty centimeters from her face. I can see his lips moving but I can’t hear his voice due to the noise of the bike beneath us. Victoria, appearing un-phased by whatever it is that Pops is saying to her as he waves the nozzle in her face, bat
s the nozzle away.

  I notice she does this with her left hand because her right one is still at her side, bandaged and taped up from her window shenanigans on Saturday night.

  Pops appearing even more agitated at her disregard of his nozzle pointing threat, takes a step back. It’s at this point that Jake finally brings his bike to a stop out the front of the shop, gives it one last rev and shuts the engine down. The last echoes of pipes have barely faded from the street around us as I vault from the bike.

  Realizing it is probably best that I do as Jake has asked and avoid any eye contact with Victoria, I lock my eyes firmly on Emma’s and point my body towards the front door to the shop. Vaguely aware of Jakes movement behind me, I sense rather than see his huge presence as he lifts from his bike to stand directly behind me. Placing a hand into the small of my back, he gives a small push to propel me towards the front door of the shop.

  I take just one step before I hear the roar of Victoria’s voice from somewhere to my right. “What the fuck is she doing on the back of your bike?”

  “Don’t make a scene here Victoria, or so fuckin’ help me I’ll…” Jake barely finishes his sentence when he’s drowned out by the loud and distinct sound of a fire extinguisher going off. White powdery dust suddenly fills the air as both Jake and I rock to stop. The fire extinguisher shuts off and absolute silence follows.

  Holy shit, Pops let it rip.

  Swinging my eyes in the direction I’ve been trying so hard to avoid, I see Victoria. She’s no longer focused on me. Her full attention is now focused on Pops who’s standing in front of her, still waving the nozzle of the fire extinguisher as if he plans to use it again. With a grunt, he leans forward towards her face and announces, “Get ye gone Devil woman. I warned you to move the fuck on. Now move the fuck on.”

  Victoria, a look of shock and horror on her face, stares blankly back at Pops. She’s haloed by a cloud of white dust and her chest and crutch are covered thickly in white powder.

  My mind briefly registers that the long sleeved cashmere sweater she’s wearing is now probably destroyed. It then registers that her shiny black pants are probably destroyed too. I’m about to consider the status of the shiny black high heels she’s wearing when I hear some kind of snort from near the front of the shop and then the sound of two hands slapping together.

  Turning back to find the source of the sound, I see Zane and Luke, huge grins on their faces as they high-five each other. Towball is smirking at Emma who is holding one hand to her mouth to cover her look of surprise.

  With the dust now settling like snow around us, I look across to see Stephen, Ritchie, Gina and Anton all standing quietly, confused looks on their faces. Gina is looking the most concerned and I can see her battling with herself about whether she should move closer and provide aid to Victoria or whether she should stay put.

  This decision is soon made for her when I hear Stephen bark two short orders. “Ritchie, recover the fire extinguisher. Gina help the young lady.”

  Within an instant, Ritchie and Gina start moving towards Pops and Victoria, their lack of hesitation remarkable. Clearly they follow orders and they follow them immediately.

  Stephen then swings to Anton and barks a third order. “See Arianna makes it safely inside.” Anton nods and with just as much speed, lurches forward and straight towards me.

  It’s at this point that I hear a loud growl from behind me and then a roar. This roar comes from Jake whose arm suddenly appears around my waist to pull me back towards him. Slamming hard up against his front, I grunt as the air is knocked from my lungs.

  The next thing I hear is the sound of the fire extinguisher going off – again. This time it’s not a short and sharp blast. This time Pops means business. An enormous cloud of white dust once again fills the air and I watch in fascination as Victoria is once again assaulted by the direct blast of the extinguisher.

  Which must have some pressure behind it because this time I notice it nearly knocks her over backwards.

  I also notice that Pops is aiming straight towards her left hand which is now brandishing a shiny, very sharp looking vegetable knife.

  In my direction.

  I gasp in shock as I hear Pops yell, “Drop the knife bitch.” He has to yell loudly to be audible over the aerosol sound of the extinguisher expelling its contents. Then all hell breaks loose.

  Ritchie appears suddenly among the dusty white cloud and grabs the fire extinguisher off Pops. Pops wrestles with him for a brief moment before the extinguisher is ripped firmly from his hands. Losing his control over the trigger, the fire extinguisher falls silent and so does Pops as he is pushed backwards with one mighty heave by Ritchie. Stumbling, Towball catches him from behind before gently righting the old man and giving him a pat on the back.

  At the same time as this is all happening, Gina now appears within the cloud and with one quick karate chop to Victoria’s wrist, knocks the knife flying. It hits the ground with a crack and slides off towards the gutter. Victoria shocked at the sudden attack squeals as the pain of the blow to her wrist registers and swings to face her attacker. Gina, taller than any woman I have met before, towers over Victoria for a brief second before she springs to action. With lightning movements and using just one hand, she grabs Victoria’s wrist and yanks it towards herself. This motion causes Victoria to spin in front of her so she ends with her arm bent awkwardly up behind her and her back is pressed against Gina’s front. Gina’s second hand then flies out and around, coming to rest firmly against Victoria’s chest essentially immobilizing her against her Gina’s midriff.

  It’s at this point that everyone falls still. Dead still as we stare shocked at Gina. Gina who is dressed in a very short red skirt, white blouse and killer heels. Gina whose dark brown hair is still sitting perfectly in place, neatly tied behind her head with a bone colored clip. Gina who just immobilized a crazy lady with a knife in about two seconds flat and looks like she did it without even missing a heartbeat.

  As the dust starts to settle around us for the second time, I feel Jake loosen his arms from around me. At the same time, Victoria lets out another squeal and wiggles in Gina’s arms. Gina gives her a short, sharp squeeze and she falls silent again.

  Pushing away from Jake’s chest, I wander over to the gutter and pick up the offending vegetable knife. Staring at it briefly for a moment, my mind screams at me that once again someone is on a mission to hurt me. This time however, it’s not with a gun. It’s a fucking vegetable knife.

  What. The. Fuck?

  It never ends.

  Ignoring the crazy messaging going on my head, I realize that my pulse rate is not even spiking. I haven’t felt one single speck of fear before, during or after the action scene that just played out before me. This has to be a first. Seemingly desensitization does work and I am becoming immune to danger. With no guns involved, it seems this situation was not even worthy of a blip on my fear radar.

  Maybe my fear radar is broken?

  Dragging my eyes from the knife now resting in my hand, I spin and set my eyes on Gina. “That was so fucking awesome!” I yell with excitement as I hand the knife to Jake and acknowledge her handy work.

  “That was way past awesome,” Emma’s voice chimes in from her position near the door to the shop. “We gotta learn some of that shit. Holy fuck, you’re like a female version of Jean Claude Van Damme. Except taller. Way taller. And better looking, way better looking.”

  Gina’s eyes slowly move away from me as she turns her head to take in Emma. Emma is grinning like a madwoman. Her gray eyes bright and crazy with excitement. Gina nods almost imperceptibly towards Emma before bringing her eyes back to me. I’m busy grinning at her again when Anton steps in close and places a hand on my elbow. “We need to get you inside.”

  “Agreed,” I hear Jake rumble from behind me.

  “Not yet,” I mumble as my eyes move to Victoria who is now looking nothing short of bedraggled. Coated in dry, white powder from head to toe I start to wond
er if her health is at risk from all the chemicals coating her body.

  Even bedraggled and covered in powder, she still manages to pin me with a savage glare. “Let me go,” she hisses.

  “Sure,” Gina announces as she removes her arm from Victoria’s chest and drops her hand from her back.

  Suddenly freed, Victoria wastes less than half a millisecond before she launches forwards, both arms out in front of her, straight towards me. “Jesus,” I hear Anton mutter from next to me as he steps forward to place himself between me and the crazy dust monster headed my way. “She’s relentless.”

  “That’s one fuckin’ word for her,” I hear Jake mutter as I duck my head sideways and past Anton to see what Victoria plans to do next. Peeking from my vantage point behind Anton, I see Victoria acknowledge the wall of Anton before her as she rocks to a halt. Frustrated at Anton’s defensive maneuver, she swings her glare to Jake and starts moving his way.

  “I said what the fuck is she doing on the back of your bike?” Victoria roars again as she stops about a foot away from Jake and stares up at his face. I see she’s not stupid enough to try to put a hand on him.

  “We’re going for a ride,” Jake answers her coolly. “Something you never wanted to do.”

  “Oh no you’re not,” Victoria hisses back. “I want her gone.”

  “That’s not your decision to make Victoria,” Jake replies slowly and lethally, his voice dripping with threat.

  “In the eyes of God, you are my husband and as such, you are supposed to honor and respect me. Part of that respect is to not wave your filthy fucking floozy under my nose. I want her gone.”

  “Victoria…” Jake growls low and lethal again at the exact same instant that I snap.

  Snap as in I lose it.

  My pulse rate finally spikes. Which this time has nothing to do with fear but has everything to do with anger.