Ginny gave an admonishing gaze when Moses lightly hit Fynn on the back of his head. “Yes,” Ginny told him. “Everyone can cash theirs, also, except for Isaac and Jacob. Theirs, I’m going to put a stop payment on.”
“Sis, don’t be so sensitive. You look fantastic. Doesn’t she, Jacob?” Teasing her mercilessly, Isaac hooked an arm through hers, drawing her closer to him.
Distrustfully, Ginny waited for it. She had been the brunt of his jokes too many times when they were growing up not to be wary.
“So, how’s the music career going?” Isaac asked affably, as if he was really interested.
Ginny wasn’t buying it for a second.
“Good.”
“Do you like living in Nashville?” Moses tried warding off the ragging that Isaac couldn’t resist giving her.
“No, I miss Treepoint too badly to enjoy living anywhere else,” she answered truthfully.
Isaac’s face grew solemn. Tugging her closer to his side, he brushed his cheek against the top of her head. “Then it’s about time you brought your fanny home to see us.”
Ginny couldn’t hide her battered pride. “I was about to leave.” Her voiced cracked. “I wasn’t going to come back anymore.”
“We heard. You shouted it loud enough.” Isaac dropped the teasing, which was so much of his personality, showing the forthrightness that was never far away. He never had a problem telling someone his opinion when asked, not pulling any punches to make them feel better. Growing up with him, she had quickly learned the meaning of the old adage truth hurts. “Dad would have been proud. Wouldn’t be surprised if they heard you in town.”
“You heard, and you still didn’t come outside?” Hurt cut through the joy she was feeling at being reunited with her family.
Isaac lifted her chin with a callused hand. “It hurt us just as much.”
Fynn poked Jody aside to get her attention. “Yep. Silas said you had to want to come inside, but he said there was no harm giving you an incentive.” Reaching in his jean pocket, he took out a shiny object, waving it front of her.
Ginny started laughing. “Those are my car keys.”
Fynn grinned. “Isaac was lookout while Silas had me sneak out to get them when you were looking at your shelter.”
Ginny cleared her throat. “You did?”
“Yep.” It was Fynn who answered, but it was Silas who Ginny looked at. Her brothers wouldn’t make a move without Silas’s say so.
Silas stared back at her with somber features. “You’re too stubborn not to have meant it. I know you felt as if we deserted you—me in particular—but I wanted to do what was best for you. I had a choice to make after Dad died to keep you in a bubble or let you fly and find a place you were meant to land. You were meant for more than this mountain. All of us could see it. The only one who didn’t was you.
“Every weekend when Leah came home, you begged her to bring those magazines her momma bought. Or when I used to listen to you sing upstairs in your room, yet I never heard a peep out of you when Leah or the others sang during Dad’s sermons or playing around. Didn’t you think I noticed after you finished your school lessons you would go stand on the front porch just to watch the cars go down the mountain? We had to let you go to see how high you could fly, or we would have shielded you from the very dreams you were capable of achieving for yourself. Was I wrong?”
The pain of letting her go showed plainly in his eyes, but she could also see the uncertainty that he hadn’t done the right thing.
She had been reunited with Trudy, made a lifelong bond with Willa, was singing with one of the most popular bands in the States, performing songs she wrote, but the most important dream she found wouldn’t have come true on this mountain.
“No,” she admitted hoarsely. “I landed exactly where I was supposed to be.”
Chapter Six
“They’re going to freak the fuck out when they see me instead of Rider or Shade.” Reaper watched as the black limo came to a stop a few feet from Kaden Cross’ private plane.
“Isn’t that what you wanted?”
He turned his attention from watching the lead singer of Mouth2Mouth take his wife’s hand as they exited the rented limo to give Cash a hostile glance, unable to deny the truth that he deliberately used his appearance to inspire fear and caution in others. It wasn’t as much for the shock value, merely giving a clear warning that not only was he not going to be fucked with, but if they did, the repercussions would be as extreme as his appearance suggested. Their fate would be a foregone conclusion—death. If the way he looked didn’t clue anyone into that deduction, he had several tats that spelled it out for them.
“Shade and Rider both prefer to blend in the background.” Cash’s gaze didn’t veer away from his.
“Rider blend in the background? Since when?” Rider was incapable of fading into a background if there was more than one person around. “I’m surprised he didn’t become a member of the band just to have the fans shouting for him.”
“You could have at least not worn The Last Riders’ jacket.” To give Cash credit, Reaper could tell he was trying to hold his temper at bay while still venting his frustration.
“Why shouldn’t I wear it? They’re the reason I’m forced to be here.” Reaper curtly went back to watching the various members climb out of the limo.
“A word of advice, which I’m sure Shade and Viper both gave you, if you piss Kaden off, he’ll kick your ass off the plane and not give a fuck that it’s not on the ground.”
Ax, D-Mon, and Sin piled out, none accompanied by a female companion.
Reaper might not have wanted to be saddled with watching Ginny, but it didn’t mean he went into it half-assed. He had spent the night finding out everything he could about the band.
Cash shifting irritably on the truck seat had Reaper refocusing on him. Reaper’s lack of concern at the warning was prodding Cash’s temper. The brother might be married and a father, but he had remained just as loyal to The Last Riders, continuing to sit there while Reaper antagonized him by tuning out most of what he was being advised. When Cash flexed his fingers, as if wishing he had his brass knuckles, Reaper knew he reached the end of Cash’s patience. As much as he would welcome the opportunity for a fight to take his mind off the upcoming flight, he really didn’t want to enter the plane sporting another bruise on his face or nursing a broken rib, which was Cash’s favorite target when he let his fists do the talking for him.
“Why did the whole band fly in for the wedding?” Reaper could imagine the price tag of flying a private plane. It seemed curious to him why Kaden would foot the bill just to play at a small-town wedding. While there had been at least a hundred people there, it wasn’t the numbers they were used to performing for. T.A.’s new husband, Dalton, must have made it worthwhile for the group to make the trip.
“Kaden’s wife is friends with Penni, and Sawyer has also grown close to Grace, Dalton’s daughter, since she started working with Penni. Shade said that they met Dalton several times, and they offered to sing at his wedding.”
Cash’s explanation fit what little he knew about the friendships. When Dalton and his son had visited the club before he and T.A. had started dating, Reaper had kept to his room or rode his bike. The only interaction he had with any of them had been with Calder when he joined them.