AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Summer in Hade Harbor had a special kind of magic. In the woods, by the cabin, it was magnified. The boys were lighting the firepit and had been fishing. Lily, Eve, Isabelle, and I were in the kitchen, having a beer and gossiping while slowly cutting up veggies for them to grill. Selena had taken a year off, and luckily her scholarship had accommodated it. Her family had gone to California to see her aunt. She loved it out there. I missed her but I got it. She’d needed a fresh start, but we still talked on the phone every day.
“I don’t understand…your editor thinks that’s a go?” I asked Isabelle.
She was still on a mission to get a story that would set the Harbor Herald on fire.
“Why not? A motorcycle club in this small town is huge news. How come they’re not in the paper all the time? They have to be up to no good.” She took a long swig of beer.
“I wouldn’t let Marcus hear you say that. You know his brother is Cole Bailey. There is no motorcycle club without Cole.”
“Yeah, a guy with a rap sheet a mile long. Their dad was in it up to his neck, too, and now he’s in jail. There’s a story there, I just know it.”
“But Marcus is our friend. You want to upset his family?”
“It won’t be about his family directly, just the club. I need something to bust through the basement floor. I haven’t even reached the glass ceiling yet, and my career is going nowhere.” Isabelle sounded despondent. “Anyhow, Marcus is too busy lately to even notice. I wonder how it feels to have his intensity focused on you…I nearly feel sorry for her.”
“I don’t. I guess she deserves it, in Marcus’ eyes. You cross his family, you cross him.”
Isabelle shivered and slugged her beer.
“Still, if I were you, I’d be more worried about Cole than Marcus.”
Isabelle shrugged. “No risk, no reward.”
I sighed, realizing there was no talking her out of her foolhardy plan to write an exposé on the MC. She was determined. Well, it was her funeral, I just had to hope it wouldn’t be literally. My memories of Cole from that terrible day at The Cove had made him someone I’d never want to cross.
Duncan and Trent had been officially declared missing after an investigation found evidence of them in Ireland. It was thought they used their stolen money to flee the country. I was pretty sure they’d never left the area – especially Trent, considering I’d seen him get stabbed with an axe – but I couldn’t prove that.
I’d never seen Bran O’Connor again, something I was grateful for every day. I owed him, though. I still didn’t know what would have happened if the lights hadn’t been cut right when they had.
Yes, you do. Asher would have come for you anyway.
Yes, he would have. He always would. I knew that. I trusted it. It wasn’t in question.
Outside, the guys had a grill set over the firepit and were cooking meat. The smell of it filled the air, and my stomach rumbled. The stars were out in full force tonight. I handed Asher a fresh drink and burrowed into his side as he opened his arm to pull me close.
“Winter, help me settle this…You wouldn’t mind if Eve and I had a turn in the one damn bedroom in this heap of sticks, would you?” Beckett called to me across the fire.
I shrugged. “Sounds fine to me.”
“Not happening,” Asher said flatly.
Beckett gave a growl of annoyance. Cayden and Lily just laughed. They were camping and had already set up their stuff in the clearing they often used in front of the cabin. Lily preferred that since she liked to get up early and go out foraging for interesting plants.
“Fine, you leave me no choice. I’m going to buy the land right in front of this old shed and build a proper cabin with five double bedrooms and an indoor fucking toilet.”
“Oh, and a hot tub!” Eve chimed in.
Beckett snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “Yes, Cinderella, great idea.”
Once the food was served up, I sat beside Asher on a log to eat.
“You want to get up early to catch the sunrise tomorrow, right?” Asher asked.
I nodded enthusiastically. I had all my photography equipment here just for that reason.
“What do you say to letting Beckett and Eve take the room tonight? You and I can head out to the viewpoint, camping on the way, so we can be there extra early tomorrow.”
“Really? Okay,” I agreed easily enough. Sure, sleeping on the ground was never a fun prospect, but I didn’t care when I was with Asher. He made everything fun.
