Chapter Fifteen
The next two days were miserable for Merrie. During the night, she stared up at the dark ceiling, replaying over in her head the night they’d all been together. What had she done wrong? What could she say to fix this? Her nerves stretched thinner and thinner each hour. Leo tried to keep her mind off Braden but it was like walking on a tightrope.
During the day, she continued working with Leo at the office. Whenever he was called away on emergencies, she stayed behind and took calls, made appointments and cleaned and stocked the exam rooms. She managed to stay busy and on the occasion Braden crept into her thoughts, she’d log on to the Internet.
On a hunch, she typed the Demon Devils in the browser. It surprised her when she found a website for them. At the top, it proclaimed their club name and their logo entwined double Ds. She clicked on the chapter link and realized that the Destiny branch was only one part of the whole Demon Devil world. There was also a photo section and she brought that up, scrolling through until she saw the gray-bearded man from that night.
Her heart began to pound fearfully and she broke out into a cold sweat. Merrie grabbed a pen and paper and wrote down his name—Gray Dog. She right clicked on the picture and sent it to the printer. It may only be black and white but at least she’d have something tangible. She scrolled through all the pictures, unable to find Axe.
Merrie dug Detective Christianson’s card out of her back pocket. She’d been carrying it around all the time, just in case. She dialed the cell number from the landline but all she got was his voicemail so she left a message for him to call her. Just finding Gray Dog’s picture brought it home that what had happened was real and she couldn’t sweep it under the rug. She couldn’t forget about it. Now that she was mostly recovered and had had time and distance from the event, the memories weren’t so painful to think about.
She clicked back to the home page and studied the website for a moment before going back to the browser and bringing up the FAQs. The questions started out standard, ones she would’ve asked. What does MC stand for? What do the colors stand for? Is this a gang?
The fourth question was about the logo and its significance upon the leather vest, also known as a cut. The colors and the two Ds were the club’s insignia, a way to identify them to other clubs or bikers in the area. Every cut was the same because the placement of the name, the logo and charter chapter were all important. The one percent stitched into the leather designated that they were outlaw, made famous by a 1948 statement by the American Motorcycle Association that ninety-nine percent of motorcyclists are good people enjoying a clean sport and only one percent are antisocial barbarians. Something nagged at the back of her mind, but it was so elusive she couldn’t focus on it.
Feeling drained, she clicked off the Internet and shut the computer down and folded the printed picture up to slip it in her back pocket, along with the detective’s card. When she looked at the clock, it startled Merrie to see it was close to six p.m. Leo still hadn’t returned, so she closed up, putting the phones on service call and setting the alarm. The office was half a mile from the farmhouse so she took off walking, enjoying the crisp evening air.
When she reached home, Braden’s truck sat in the driveway and lights shone in the kitchen. She walked softly up the steps and over the porch to open the door. She heard Braden on the phone and stopped when he said her name.
“Why can’t you pick Merrie up?” Braden demanded, his tone harsh and slightly confrontational. “Damn it, Leo, you’re driving me up a wall. I can’t be around her—you know that. I don’t know. There’s a room above the barn I can use. I’ll move in there for the time being, give you both a chance to work things out. No. I said no, Leo.” He paused for a moment, as if listening to the person on the other end, then continued, “Yeah, yeah.”
He hung up so she decided it was safe to walk in. Her heart hurt and all she wanted to do was cry. How could the one beautiful night they’d had turn into something so bitter?
The screen door slammed behind her and she put her keys onto the foyer table where she kept them. Braden stepped from the kitchen.
“I was going to come and get you,” he said.
She shrugged. “I’m here now.” She headed to the stairs. “I’m going to shower.”
She hurried upstairs away from him, away from the tension that hung thick in the air. Once inside the bathroom and she had the shower to mask sound, she sat on the toilet and cried.
She couldn’t stay. That much was clear. She was just a girl—no one important—and she refused to be that girl, the girl who broke up Braden’s and Leo’s brotherhood. No matter what she felt for them, no matter how much it hurt, she would have to leave. She couldn’t—wouldn’t—ruin their relationship.
As steam from the shower she wasn’t using filled the room, she tried to think about what she was going to do. First and foremost, she needed money. She’d never thought to ask Leo for her wages since she considered working as a way to thank both of them for their help. But she figured he wouldn’t mind either giving or lending her some cash. She also needed to get her driver’s license replaced but decided to wait until she went to Cheyenne.
A wave of sadness swept over her. Already she was missing this house, this ranch—missing Braden and Leo. In the couple of weeks she’d been there, she’d grown to love the land, the view of the mountains and the simple way of life. She had enjoyed cooking in the big kitchen, feeding her men. She thought she’d finally found a home and now she had to leave it.
She should be used to saying goodbye. She’d done it too many times in her life.
Merrie wiped her cheeks. She’d survive. She’d spent her whole life surviving, so she knew moving on wouldn’t kill her. Perhaps one day she’d harden her heart and realize that happily ever after wasn’t in her cards. Girls like her weren’t meant to have the perfect home and the perfect life.
She took a quick shower, mindful of the cast on her wrist then turned the water off. She wrapped a towel around herself, grabbed her clothes and headed into her room. Halfway there, she found Braden’s door open. She couldn’t help but peek. His pillow and blanket were gone, and his closet door stood open. She knew without checking further that Braden had already left for that room above the barn.
She continued to her room and closed the door with a soft click. Then she put on her nightshirt and a pair of clean panties before towel-drying her hair, all the while figuring out how to ask Leo for some cash so she could leave. The sooner the better, so Braden could have his life back.