by Jamie Begley
The absence of windows in the front gave the impression of an outbuilding, Reaper mused as he strolled past. On the other side of the building, a flash of movement had his coffee splashing out of his cup.
“I didn’t mean to startle you.” A shirtless Isaac wearing leather gloves that reached midway up his forearms inclined his head at the coffee stain on his shirt.
Reaper remained where he was as Isaac stood in front of a large barrel, both men keeping their required distance.
The distance between them kept him from looking into the barrel to see what Isaac was doing. Long metal tongs were holding something submerged under water. A flashback of being held forcibly under water had him involuntary stepping forward, disregarding the safe distance he wanted to keep. At the same time, Isaac lifted the tongs out of the water, exposing a metal stick. Reaper watched as Isaac laid it down on the table behind him.
Moving away from the table, Isaac used a gloved hand to wave at the table. “Have a look.”
Waiting until Isaac moved farther away, Reaper walked over, seeing several more spokes had been placed there.
“It’s going to be a metal fence when Matthew and I are done. Do you want to see what it’ll look like when we’re finished?”
“Yes.”
“You have your phone with you?”
At his nod, Isaac told him what website to go to.
Pulling up the website, he found, “Iron Bros. Contract all your iron needs. Fencing Designs, Iron Works, Gates.”
“Go to fences—it’s the last one on the page.”
Following Isaac’s directions, he found a wrought iron fence with intricate details surrounding a home. Scrolling up to look at the others, he took in the different designs, shapes, and lengths of fencing they sold.
“You made those?” Reaper went to another page that showed the iron work they offered, seeing a variety of security bars and security doors that could be purchased online. They also offered installation services. Flipping to another page, he started reading the reviews of outstanding service. From what the reviews said, Matthew and Isaac crafted the iron, and Jody and Jacob were responsible for the installation. All four brothers were given high marks for quality service.
“With Matthew’s help. You want to see how we make them?”
“Yes.”
“Wait here. I’ll open the window. You can look inside from there.” Isaac went inside the building.
Seeing the window being opened, he waited until Isaac stepped back before approaching it. The heat that hit his face felt like a furnace.
Reaper now understood why Isaac and Matthew were shirtless. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and he was just at the window.
Matthew was holding a long metal stick in a raging fire, a gloved hand twisting the molten metal spoke, his profile a mask of concentration until, with a satisfied grunt, he pulled it out to hand it over to Isaac.
Isaac immediately took it away from him, using tongs. Matthew gave Isaac a wide berth to carry it outside. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Isaac go back to the barrel of water to quench the iron.
Reaper stayed where he was, a distance away from the men, admiring how well they worked together.
Using the back of his glove, Matthew wiped away the rivulets of sweat running down his temple, then turned his head toward him. “Sleep good? Silas said he thought you were still sleeping when I saw him this morning.” Going to an insulated jug of water near the furnace, Matthew took a long drink before going back to the forge.
“I was.”
Matthew began expertly molding another piece of the fencing into the shape he wanted.
“Ginny didn’t mention you and Isaac were iron workers.” Neither had Shade or Rider.
“I wonder why.” Matthew held the iron steady in his gloved hand as he twisted the metal in the fire. The sheen of sweat on his upper body showed how intense the heat coming from the forge was. “Even if people in town saw us making what we sell, they’d swear they saw us stealing it. Easier just to keep our business dealings to ourselves.”
“You don’t care that I could talk?” he asked.
“We don’t keep it a secret. We just don’t go around town talking about what we do here. Cuts down on the made-up bad reviews they’d give us.”
“I could do the same.”
“Why would you? You don’t strike me as a man who would be interested or petty enough to worry about us making a living.” Matthew pulled the metal spoke out, looked at it, then stuck it back inside. “Besides, I think you have more on your plate than getting involved with what bullshit the town makes up to make themselves feel better.”
“What do you think is on my plate?” Reaper asked, his voice tight with anger as shame filled him, expecting the inevitable had happened and that he had been recognized from the movies that Slate had made of him. Had someone from Treepoint seen them and spread the gossip of what he had done?
Matthew answered him matter-of-factly. “I think worrying about becoming infected from the woman you tried to save and protecting Ginny from her stalker gives you a pretty full plate. You don’t agree?”
Isaac coming back into the building was a welcome interruption.
“I shouldn’t be the only one worried about being infected. All of you should be concerned.”
“We are.” Isaac snorted, taking the spoke that Matthew handed off to him before going back outside. “Which was why we hightailed into town to get Ginny.”
“You’re not concerned with Silas contracting the sickness?”
“If he does, he does. We’ll worry about it if it happens, just like if Ginny or you do,” Matthew stated practically, handing another spoke over to Isaac. “Won’t be the first time one of us has been sick and another has to take care of them.”
“This virus is killing a large number of people overseas.”
Matthew paused before sticking the spoke into the furnace. “You do know who you’re talking too, right?” The shadowy flames played across Matthew’s profile. “The Colemans have been fighting against the odds of surviving for generations. This isn’t anything new for us.”
Reaper had to respect how the Colemans lived. Isolated, they led their way of life on their own terms without help from anyone. They stood firm in their dignity, despite the harassment they had to deal with when they left their mountain.
He could understand why Ginny had worked so hard to earn enough money to build a home, and why she wanted her children raised here. It was an idyllic way of life that didn’t exist anymore, except for the precious few willing to brave the challenges.
Were they brave enough to take Ginny out?
Something kept nagging at him about her stalker. He couldn’t put his finger on it, and he was beginning to suspect that Shade and Rider had the same feeling, which was why they were so determined for him to take over. Fresh eyes could often see what others couldn’t.
Using the opportunity of Isaac being inside the building, Reaper told them that he was leaving. Continuing in the same direction, he strolled through a copse of trees, wanting to map out Ginny’s brothers’ homes and find any vantage points where Silas could be watched.
Coming out from the trees, if he hadn’t been looking where he was going, he would have fallen down a steep hill. Below, a home had been built in a bowl-like indention in the mountain, secluded by the trees and invisible to the naked eye.
He had no idea the mountain he had driven past numerous times had this scope of land farther up from The Last Riders’ clubhouse. How far did the Colemans’ land go?
Ironically, he hoped Ginny’s stalker tried to scope out the property. He would be scraping their remains off the bottom of the basin.
The thought had no more than entered his mind when the hair on his neck stood up. Spinning on the balls of his feet, he saw Ginny staring at him from under a tree behind him.
“I came out to warn you. I see I was too late.”
Chapter Thirty-One
The way he had spun to confro
nt the person behind his back hadn’t given Ginny time to mask her expression. Everything she felt for him had been captured in that moment before she could disguise her feelings.
The knowledge of it shouldn’t have weighed so heavily on him. She had been telling him how she felt with every word and touch from the beginning.
“I was trying not to startle you, which was why I stayed back when I saw where you were standing. Matthew and Isaac were worried you might fall and wanted me to warn you about the drop-off.”
Slowly coming to stand next to him with her hands in a thick blue jean jacket, Ginny looked down at the basin. “Moses lives there,” she informed him when he made no attempt to talk to her.
“How does he keep it from flooding when it rains?”
“Dad rented an excavator.” Ginny pointed to the side of the mountain from where they were standing. “He used the rocks to divert the water to a pond on the other side of the rocks. He moved the cow pins there, too. They roam during the day, and one of the boys pins them in at night.”
“How many cows?”
“When I was little, Freddy usually kept four. Two calves, then two grown ones.”
“Saves the need for foraging for racoon and squirrels.”
Amusement shined on Ginny’s face, uncovering a deep inner beauty that, like the land she was standing on, couldn’t be appreciated from a distance.
The instinct to leave town the day his bike hadn’t worked had been right. She was getting a foothold, and he was even more afraid he would never get her out … or if he no longer was capable of succeeding.
“Yes, it does,” she teased him mischievously. “That doesn’t mean you won’t find a few in the freezers.”
His hand started to rise in a reflex so old that it was almost as natural as breathing. He jerked his hand back, but not quick enough that Ginny missed the action.
She bit her lip so hard it went bloodless before she stopped and let the blood return, like what she was trying to do to his fucking heart.
“You were going to touch me, weren’t you?” There was no longer a sign of amusement on her face.
“It was just a reflex. It doesn’t mean anything.” Lying to himself as well as to her, Reaper found a spot on the ground to sit.
“It means something to me.”
“It shouldn’t.” Picking a stick off the ground, he broke in two, then threw it away.
“You’re determined not to give me an inch, aren’t you?”
“There’s nothing in me to give anymore.” Staring out, he saw Moses’ door open and three dogs came bounding out. Coming outside himself, Ginny’s brother threw a yellow ball for the dogs to catch.
“I don’t need much, wild man.” Ginny walked toward him.
He thought she was leaving when she turned in her brother’s direction, but then he felt her sit down behind him. Her legs on each side of his, she casually raised an arm letting it hover above his shoulders. Despite how close she was, no part of her body touched his.
Feeling her so close, he was going to get up when Ginny raised a finger to point at the dogs.
“The red one is Ruby, the black lab is Cooper, and the grey and black German Shepard is Suki.”
“Pretty dogs.”
Moses quit throwing the ball for the dogs, saying something Reaper couldn’t hear from the distance. Then all three dogs sat down on the grass. Again, Moses said something, and the red dog got to her feet. Motioning the dog to his side, Moses began walking, and the dog moved with him, matching his steps.
“What’s he doing?”
“Moses trains dogs for other people. The only one I believe is not his is the German Shepherd. Moses told me he washed out from K-9 school.”
“When did you talk to him?”
“Chill, wild man. I saw him working with them this morning. I called him from here to say hello. Satisfied?”
“Just checking.”
Ginny rested her chin on his shoulder. “Are you a dog or a cat person?”
“Neither.”
“You don’t like animals?”
“Never really had the chance to have one. My mom never let us. Then, when we grew older, Viper and I stayed so busy that we didn’t think it would be fair to the dog. Which are you? Dog or cat?”
Her sad expression reminded him of what he had read in her file, but it came too late to take the question back.
“Both. When I bought Willa’s house, I got a cat. I wanted a dog, but I wanted to wait until I had more time to train one.”
“You could get Moses to train one for you.”
“Maybe I will someday.”
Twisting his upper body, he turned toward her. “Why wait? Are you planning on taking off again?”
“No. I promised you I wouldn’t.”
“Then why wait?”
“Because I want to wait until you want a dog.”
Her simple response cut him to the quick.
Grabbing her chin, he pushed her back until he was laying on the ground over her. “Stop … Just stop.”
Limpid eyes stared up at him. “Do you really think you don’t have anything to give?”
“I don’t feel anything for anyone, and that includes you.”
“I don’t need much …” Taking his wrist, she moved his hand until his palm was covering her cheek. “A smile every now and then.” Ginny rubbed her cheek against his palm like a kitten begging to be stroked. “I don’t need kisses and rainbows, sweet man. I just need you. Any way you’ll let me in your life, and I’ll be content. I swear.”
“What would it take for you to understand I will never want you in my life the way you want to be?” Reaper leaned over her ruthlessly. “Kisses and rainbows? How fucking old are you?”
Driving nails into his own heart like he could see going into hers with every word he uttered, Reaper lived up to his name.
“The thought of sex with you makes me want to throw up! Do I need to be any plainer? It’s like your future for us that will never exist! Want to know what future I see for us? Me seeing you in my rearview when these nine days are over! Is that simple enough for you, do you get it now?” he snarled down at her.
“No, you’ve said enough. I get it.”
The total devastation on her face had him rising back up to give her room to move.
Shakily getting to her feet, Ginny brushed the back of her jeans off. “I’ll leave you alone … for the rest of your walk.” Her back ramrod straight, Ginny left with dignified steps.
The painful longing for her racking his body had his arms going to his knees to shelter from the chill created by her leaving. Linking his fingers together, Reaper started twisting them to focus the pain in his heart on another area.
A low whine had him lifting his head to see the German Shephard sitting on his haunches, staring at him.
“Go away,” he hissed. Unknotting his hands, Reaper lowered his head to his knees.
Another whine closer to him didn’t have him bothering to look.
“Go!” he shouted.
A wet muzzle sniffing his ear had him lifting his head.
“Go away,” he pleaded to the whining dog.
Ignoring his order, the dog moved, wiggling his muzzle between Reaper’s face and knees, creating a space for himself.
“I can see why you flunked out of K-9 school. You should be tearing me to shreds.” Reaper grunted when the dog plopped herself down on his lap, a tongue lolling to the side as she turned on her back, begging to be pet.
Reluctantly, he gave in to the begging when she kept rubbing her back on his legs. Running his hand over Suki’s thick fur, he smiled when the dog’s eyes rolled back in her head in pleasure until she closed her eyes, going to sleep.
Letting the dog sleep, Reaper looked down at Moses’ house to see him training the lab.
“I see what you’re doing. You’re hiding to get out of work.”
The dog raised one eye when he stopped rubbing her belly. His smile widening, he started petting her again.<
br />
The image of Ginny leaving still hurt like a motherfucker, but at least the dog’s presence revealed the stark truth about him.
He was only fit company for dogs.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Dinner’s ready.”
Closing the front door behind him, Reaper saw Silas placing a casserole dish on the table.
“I’ll wash up.” Going to the bathroom, Reaper washed his face and hands, dreading seeing Ginny sitting across the table from him. He had stayed out most of the day to give her the space and time she needed before she would have to see him again.
Loathing himself more than she possibly could, he went to the dining room table. Silas was the only one there.
“I hope you don’t mind that I started without you. I was starving. It’s been a long couple of days.”
“I don’t mind.”
Taking a seat midway down the bench, he saw Silas hadn’t set a place for Ginny.
“You want me to go tell Ginny the food is ready?” he offered.
“Ginny ate an hour ago; told me she needed an early night.”
Spooning a small serving of lasagna, Reaper took a piece of warm garlic toast from the bread basket, tearing it apart.
Lasagna was one of his favorite meals, yet he could muster enough appetite to eat more than a couple of bites.
“What did you think of the mountain? Matthew and Isaac said they spoke to you during your walk.”
“You and your brothers have a beautiful place here.”
Silas took a piece of the toast and another helping of lasagna. “The mountain is all of ours, including Ginny’s. Each of us has a part set aside. I was given this house, because I’m the oldest. The other parcels of land are the same size. Pa had a property map drawn out and let each of them pick which section they wanted.”
“Do you still have it? I wouldn’t mind seeing it. I had no idea your mountain extended so far.”
“The map is hanging in my bedroom. I’ll show you after dinner. Our property goes right up to the West Virginia line.”
The property went even farther than he had thought. Damn. That was a lot of land.
