Page 7 of Brother In Arms

“Felony conviction, owners were pretty hardcore Christians and didn’t take kindly to one of their hands picking up an assault charge. They pretty much made it so I would never find work in the area again.”

“I see, and what happened there, with the assault charge?”

“I’d rather leave it in my past if that’s okay with you. It was a long time ago.”

“More than ten years?”

“Yes.”

“How much time did you serve?”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“You want the job, or not?”

He looked out across the driveway to the main barn where Renaldo was leading Starry Eyed Dreamer back into the barn. She was one of the fastest mares and had been, unfortunately, injured into retirement. Her next career was just beginning here though, as a broodmare. We were lucky to have her, and had managed to breed her successfully with Three Legged Singin’ Night Train around ten months ago and she had around a month or so to go before she dropped her foal.

“I served a little over three years, was supposed to be eight, got out with time off for good behavior.”

“How long ago was that?”

“You already asked me that boss lady.”

“You don’t have the job, yet.”

“Bailey…” my gaze flicked to my mother who gave me a withering look to go along with the warning tone in her voice. I ignored it for now, angry at the ambush, and that she would just make decisions after I’d bought her out of her share. I was trying to prove something here. That I could do this, that I could do anything and everything she and daddy said I never could, but it was going to be kind of hard to pull that off if she was going to meddle like this. Adding to my aggravation was him… Why, out of all of the people in the damnable motorcycle club my mother proclaimed was so rotten to the core, did it have to be him that had the required experience?

“Why should I hire you?” I asked bluntly, having a hard time reigning in my anger. I had a hard time with a lot of the things going on and the feelings that came with them. Maybe you’re just tired of being the perfect angel when no one notices or cares. I thought to myself, which is pretty much what had led me to letting biker boy over here bang me in the back of that shithole bar in the first place.

“Because, the way I hear it, you ain’t got any other options. That, and I could probably do the work of three of your last hands.”

“Right, I can let you know by tomorrow,” I said, fully intending to fight this one out with my mother but knowing I was likely going to lose. I really did need the help around here, and my mother never did anything without a reason. She probably had a fully stacked deck of cards to play against me. She could be as manipulative as they came.

“Why not now?” he asked.

“She has to get it approved, don’t you, Bales?” Dray said, and it was my turn to give him a withering look. Not that it was his fault that apparently my mother had gotten awfully chatty about my business.

“Caleb will approve this,” my mother said and I looked her direction.

“He owe you some kind of favor or something?” I blurted, and it was the closest I’d ever come to really lashing out at either one of my parents. Well if it worked for Philip… the bitter thought came unbidden.

“Yes.”

I knew that tone of voice… that was the tone of voice that said you didn’t ask any more questions, you just did what you were told, or else. I looked across the table at Dray who was grinning at me and I frowned. I didn’t much appreciate being told what to do as a grown adult. Not by the good ‘ol boys club, not by my mother, and certainly not by some outlaw motorcycle club.

I didn’t want this guy working here, not after having fucked him. That was just asking for a disaster of epic proportions. I would have called him the next day and said no dice, but I could tell; it looked like my mother was going to be adamant. Damnit. I did need experienced help around here, and he had experience… plus he was definitely not hard to look at.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” I told him after a tense silence and he gave a nod. I really needed to think about this, clearly, without his darkly smiling eyes looking at me, without my cousin’s gaze burning a hole through me and definitely after I’d had a chance to find out just what my mother was thinking.

“I do believe we’ve been dismissed, VP,” Rush said and Dray gave a nasty smile. I sighed and tried not to let it show that this was so not how I imagined seeing my cousin for the first time since his mother’s funeral was going to go.

“I believe you’re right, Rush.” Dray’s expression softened marginally as he looked over my face. I’d never been good at controlling my expression… my mouth, yes, but my face had always been in need of deliverance. I guess that hadn’t changed. I was still working on the mouth part, and from the expression on my mother’s face, I’d done a bang up job just now. I was just so epically sick of being controlled and handled… Leave it to me to wait until the latter half of my twenties to rebel.

The two bikers exchanged a look and got up, going for their bikes. My mother and I watched them gear up and go in tense silence, but anything we needed to say could wait until they were gone. It wasn’t polite to throw down with your family in front of company of any sort and I was, at least, willing to keep from being anymore uncivil than I’d been.

I shook my head as their contrails of driveway dust settled back to the ground in their wake and turned on my mother.

“Just what the hell was that?” I demanded.

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