Sitting up in bed, she ran her hands through her hair. She didn’t know what was wrong with her lately. She hopped off the bed, going to the mini-fridge and taking out a beer before climbing back on the bed.
It was late before she turned off her TV to go to sleep. Her body was restless, but she wasn’t in the mood to fuck. As a picture of the man she really wanted flashed through her mind, Evie flung her arm over her eyes, trying to shut out his image. It wouldn’t do any good, though; it never did.
* * *
The next day, Evie was the first one at the factory. She had already started filling an order when the other workers began coming in. Jewell and Raci came in the door together, coming to a stop when they saw her already at work.
“What got you out of bed so early?” Jewell asked as she took the workstation next to hers.
“Went to bed early. Besides, I saw the orders were beginning to back up with Lily working fulltime at the church store and Georgia in jail.” Shade had given Georgia’s brother a job to replace Georgia, but he’d had to start at the entry-level position, not floor supervisor like his sister. They had also hired another worker to fill Lily’s spot, but he was still training; it took time to learn where everything was in the factory.
They could actually hire more workers, but they wanted to be careful with the ones they hired, preferring to give fewer workers better pay and keeping the company stable. Orders could dry up, and they didn’t want to lay off workers who were already well acquainted with layoffs.
“Can I get you something, Evie?”
She glanced up from taping her package closed. “No. Thanks, Charlie.” He was overly anxious to please. Charlie had been hired when Lily had asked Shade. With two kids and a sweet wife, their situation had tugged at Lily’s heart. It had been hard to find another job in construction when he had hurt his back and was unable to do the strenuous work.
“Jewell?”
“I got it covered.” He turned away, pulling his own order.
“He’s a nice guy.”
“Yeah, I can see how Lily wanted to help. Have you met his wife and kids? Breaks your heart. They’ve had it so hard. Viper and Razer loaded up the truck and took them groceries. When they came back, they told Shade to take his pay up. It must have been bad.”
Evie swallowed hard. Until she had come to Treepoint, she hadn’t really understood the extreme poverty of the area. At first, she couldn’t understand why they didn’t move away to a better area with more opportunities. Many of the younger population did, but many stayed. After living there for a while, she realized the rich heritage of the town; the mountains and close family bonds were what held them in place.
Shade came in, going to his office, and the work increased to a busy vibe. Up until summer, the factory had been run in a rotating month by each of The Last Riders, taking turns. After his last rotation, Shade had stayed longer, his skill at running the factory apparent by the increase of orders.
As the day flew by, Evie hadn’t felt so good in a long time, reinforcing her belief that she had been partying too hard the last year. It was time to calm down and take a breather, at least from the alcohol and weed she had been junking up her body with.
“Finished?” Jewell broke the silence.
“Yes.” Evie tossed her last order into the mail cart before going out the steel door.
The bright sunlight in the parking lot had her and Jewell hesitating. When her eyes were able to focus, a big smile lit her face at what she was seeing.
“Hot damn.” Jewell took the words right out of her mouth.
Running forward, she threw herself into the arms of the man unpacking his belongings from the trunk of his car.
“Lucky, welcome home.” When a grin lit his face, Evie thought it was the first authentic one she had seen in years. He had taken on being an undercover agent by posing as Pastor Dean at the local church. After Christmas, it had finally come to a head, and he was able to close an investigation that had been ongoing for years.
“Why didn’t you tell us you were moving in today?” Evie asked.
“Because I didn’t know. The new pastor arrived in town last night. Do you remember Merrick Patterson? He was looking for a new church. His wife is expecting and the extreme cold weather up north was getting to her, so he jumped at the chance to move.”
“Merrick?” Evie remembered him from the military. He and Lucky both had been chaplains.
“That’s fantastic.” Evie went to church every Sunday. She had been dreading the possibilities of who would be taking over the church; a sanctimonious preacher would have made it difficult to attend. “Let me help you with your bags.”
“Razer and Viper just took one load for me, and there's not much more. I threw all my suits away. I don’t want to see another suit for the rest of my life.”
Evie quit smiling. Lucky was one of the best pastors she had ever known. He had a natural ability to draw people out. He, on the other hand, felt he had lost the calling.
After Evie heard the factory door open and close, Shade came to stand beside them. “I see you’re not wasting any time.”
“No. I wanted to make Merrick comfortable. I’ll hand over the church to him Sunday, and then I’ll be free of all my commitments to the church.”
“We need to talk,” Shade said just as Lily pulled into the parking lot.
“Fuck,” Lucky said. Lily was a member of Lucky’s church and was one of his most faithful followers. It was going to be hard for her to see the other side of Lucky that she was unfamiliar with.
“Be cool,” Shade warned Lucky.
“Pastor Dean, hi. I was wondering where you were today,” Lily said as she came up to the group.
“I’m outta here,” Jewell said under her breath.
“Coward,” Evie teased.
“I’m a lover, not a fighter. Arguments tense me up.” Jewell left, but Evie wasn’t about to budge from the spot. She was dying to know how the men were going to work this out.
“Hi, Lily. I was going to come back and introduce you to the new pastor because you were at lunch with King when I came by the church store earlier.”
“You went to lunch with King?” Shade asked sharply.
“At the diner,” Lily answered.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wasn’t aware I had to tell you my every move since the danger is over.”
“We’ll talk about this later.”
“No, we won’t. It was lunch, just across the street.”
“Lily, we still don’t know who Digger hired to hurt you. Until we make sure he’s stopped, you’re not completely out of danger.”
“Oh.” She paused. “Next time, I’ll tell you when I leave the church.”
Round One went to Shade, but at least Lily hadn’t caved in to his demand without question.
Lily turned back to Lucky expectantly. “Are you staying for dinner?”
“Actually, dinner and breakfast. I’m moving in.”
“That’s great. I was worried you would move away, and I wouldn’t see you anymore.”
“I think you’re going to be seeing a lot more of Lucky than you ever expected to see.” Evie couldn’t help herself. Shade and Lucky’s hard stare didn’t faze her, either. She was looking forward to seeing how they were going to handle Lily.
“Let’s go home, Lily,” Shade said, taking Lily’s arm and moving her toward the pathway to their new home he had built behind the clubhouse.
“Spoil sport.” Evie called after them.
“You're feeling brave today.” Lucky slid a box out of the truck, handing it to her then took another for himself.
“Not necessarily. Lily was here. You can get away with all kinds of shit when she’s around.”
“I see you’re taking advantage of the situation.”
“Fuck, yes. Of course, he pays us back later, but it’s worth it.”
“I’ll take your word for it. He might give you an extra shift or dock your pay; however,
he’ll just beat the shit out of me when she leaves.”
“Don’t be a pussy.”
“I’ll try.”
They carried the boxes up the steps to the clubhouse as Viper and Razer were both coming down.
“We put you in Knox’s old room. That cool?”
“That’s perfect. He had the biggest bed,” Lucky said, going up the steps.
Razer took the box from Evie, following him up the steps.
“I take it he’s going to make up for lost time?” Viper said.
“I bet he hasn’t even had a blowjob in the last five years. What do you think?” Evie asked flippantly.
Viper laughed. “I better warn the women.”
“Too late.” Jewell’s seductive voice could be heard coming from the upstairs.