“How is she doing?” Big Dick asked.
“Fine. Why?”
“Harlow has … trouble. I don’t know why or what it is. She was never good at making friends growing up. She’s found life difficult at times.”
“I think she’s wonderful,” Ava said. “And she’s always got a job here.”
Harlow returned, pulling on a jacket. “I’m here. You will call me the moment you get home. Promise me.”
“I promise.”
Ava gave her a tight hug. “Go and warm yourself up.”
“I don’t like leaving you.”
“I’m a loser grownup. I can handle it.”
Harlow still hesitated, and Ava waved her and her concern off. Once the door was shut, she locked it, flicking the sign to Closed. There weren’t many people around. The thought of going back home to loneliness didn’t appeal, but being here wasn’t going to change that.
She packed away all the cookies and cakes, trying to preserve them for as long as she could. She cleaned every single surface. Being thorough.
With nothing else to do, she had no choice but to start making her way home.
The cold was already starting to seep into the shop.
After grabbing her bag and jacket, she pulled it on. The moment she stepped outside, the cold flooded her, making her gasp. She was a lot happier to have settled for boots rather than some inappropriate heel.
She locked up the shop and quickly walked to her car. After letting herself in, she turned over the ignition, trying to get as much warmth as she could. The window wipers were next, moving off the fallen snow.
It was no good. The cold was just too much. She had to get home.
Slowly, she put it into gear and took her time as she navigated out of her parking space and drove in the direction of home.
Within a matter of minutes, it was snowing harder than before. She struggled to see.
Ava wasn’t too far from home, when all of a sudden, she must have hit a block of ice. She wasn’t going too fast, but the car spun. She let out a little scream, and she tried to press the brake. Panic filled her, making her actions jerky as the car seemed to pull hard, and then flipped, landing in a ditch.
The seatbelt held her in place, but with the snow falling, her fear gathered.
She’d somehow managed to end on her side in a ditch. The odds weren’t in her favor.
She covered her face as tears fell. Panic rose even higher.
“I can do this.”
She needed to call someone. Glancing around her car, she noticed the engine had also died and the cold was intense.
She swiped at her cheeks. There was no way she was going to get out of this alive.
Her baby chose that moment to start to move, and another kind of fear rushed over her. There was no way she could lose this baby. The very thought of it filled her with dread.
“I need a cell phone.” She looked around the car and saw her bag must have fallen during the accident because it was in the furthest corner away from her. “Oh, come on. This isn’t fair.”
With a sudden pain in her abdomen, Ava put a hand to her stomach. “No. No. No.” She wasn’t going to lose this child. That fear alone stopped her from releasing the seatbelt.
Any movement could affect the baby.
The cold made her shudder. Her breath coming out as a puff of smoke the moment it left her mouth.
“We’re going to be okay.”
Smokey would come and hang out at her house. When she didn’t invite him in, he’d get suspicious, and then, he’d come and find them. Until then, she had to find a way to stay warm and hope the snow stopped so it didn’t cover the entire car.
Helplessness filled her. This wasn’t good. Her cell phone was too far away for her to reach.
Ava moved her hand toward the seatbelt, determined to do something rather than wait. Just as she was about to press the catch to release it, pain floored her.
She screamed and cried.
“No. No. No. No. No.” The last one she screamed long and hard. “You’re not going to die, and you’re not coming out.”
She pressed her hands to her stomach and began to deeply breathe, trying to find whatever she could to relax her and the baby. “I’ve got you, baby. I’ve got you.”
Stupid snowstorm.
And when it had happened that morning, she’d found it to be the most beautiful.
****
Smokey was working through the pile of bills when he got the call. Big Dick’s number lit up his screen.
“What’s up?” Smokey asked.
“Give me the damn phone,” a woman said.
“Get off it, or I swear, Harlow, I’ll give you a fucking wedgie.”
Smokey frowned. Checking the number, he saw it was Big Dick. “I don’t have time for games.”
He wanted to get the paperwork done so he could go and keep an eye on Ava. She allowed him inside her house, and for the most part, he stayed on the sofa. Before she woke up, though, he allowed himself a good half an hour of watching her sleep.
There was nothing stalkery about it. If they were together, he’d get to see her sleeping. At least, that was what he told himself.
“Damn it, Harlow.”
“Ouch. He pinched me. Mom!”
Smokey rubbed at his temple as he heard the squabbling of siblings. What made it worse, both of them were adults and behaving that way. If they were still children, he’d see a good enough reason for it.
“Big Dick, get to the point.”
“It’s Ava,” he said.
Smokey tensed up. “What about her?”
“She drove home in the snow,” Harlow said.
“Give me that.” There was a smacking sound and a groan. “Holy fuck, Harlow, you punched my nose.”
“Look, I know you have feelings for her, but I’ve got a bad feeling. Ava told me she’d call me the moment she got home. I haven’t heard from her. That was three hours ago. I think something bad has happened. Her cell phone just keeps ringing, and it’s bad out there.”
Smokey was already on his feet. “I’ll go and check her out.”
He hung up the phone before anyone else could speak. The thought of something bad happening to his woman scared him.
Rushing out of his office, he passed Hunter, Kinky, Brick, and Raven.
“Ava’s missing. Harlow thinks she’s gotten caught in the snow.” He didn’t need to say anything more as he left the clubhouse.
Smokey hesitated at the vehicles. He looked at the bike.
Kinky was already in the truck. Smokey ran to the passenger seat as Hunter, Brick, and Raven joined him.
The snow was a pain in the ass, but the truck was designed for this. Smokey stared out of the windows, not liking the snowfall. In a few hours, Ava could have been injured or died of the cold. Anything could have happened.
His knee bounced, and he wanted to run on ahead to make sure she was fine. He couldn’t help but hope that she’d fallen asleep somewhere.
Kinky arrived at her house and Smokey knew she wasn’t there.
“Her car’s not there,” he said.
Without waiting for instruction, Kinky had already put the truck into gear and was heading in the general direction.
“Keep it slow. She could be anywhere.”
Smokey typed in her number.
It rang.
And rang.