Page 12 of Two Weddings and a Shoot Out (Bluff Creek Brotherhood MC #9)
Chapter Twelve
W ell, she wasn’t getting away for the whole weekend, but she was getting away for the day. Regina did need some items from Wichita, and Hope had planned to go by herself. But the lumberyard had hit a snag, and their delivery was going to be late for next week. Instead, Bootstrap was driving the truck and trailer to Wichita to pick it up. Regina had said that Hope could just ride with him for a day trip.
She’d met him at the clubhouse for a meal, and he seemed nice. The women seemed to swoon for his baby girl this and baby girl that. She wasn’t sold on it. She walked into the clubhouse to meet him and to get Regina’s list.
“Hope, I made you some coffee and a breakfast sandwich just in case you didn’t eat first thing this morning,” Regina said, handing her the items.
“Thank you. I was trying to be quiet and not wake up the kids so Slice and Faith could sleep a little longer. I gave Michael his bottle, then rocked him back to sleep. Hopefully, Benji, Micah, and Isaiah will sleep off their sugar coma sometime past nine a.m.,” Hope said.
“Baby girl, you ready to go?” Bootstrap’s deep voice was probably sexy to some, but unfortunately, Hope was gone for Locks.
“It’s Hope. Not baby girl. Not honey. Not sweetie. Not darlin’,” Hope said. She didn’t want to sound snotty, but she didn’t know the man, and he was calling her, in her fifties, baby girl. Seriously?
Bootstrap chuckled. “You are a breath of fresh air. Ms. Hope, are you ready for us to get on the road?”
She nodded and followed him out to the truck after Regina handed her the list.
“Call if you have any questions, but I think my list is self-explanatory,” Regina called from the front of the clubhouse and waved at them.
She got situated in the vehicle with her coffee in the drink holder and waited for Bootstrap to get in the truck. He slid in, then paused.
“Sorry. I’m a little bit of a control freak, and I didn’t check the hitch. I know one of the prospects hooked it up, but it will bother me all the way to Wichita if I don’t.”
She smiled at his tone. “I completely understand. I’ll wait.”
He got out and went behind the truck. She glanced over the list, and like Regina had said, it was pretty self-explanatory. They could get most of it at one of the big box stores.
He got back in and pulled out, heading toward Wichita. Usually, Hope had no problem talking with people, but she’d kind of shut down the talk with her cutting him off about baby girl. She didn’t feel bad about saying she didn’t want to be called that, but she could have been nicer.
“Regina tells me that you have custody of your grandson. I bet that keeps you busy,” Bootstrap said.
“It does. I’m fortunate that I’m able to just work part-time and can work my schedule around him,” she said.
“And your son is in jail?” Bootstrap asked.
“Yes. It’s the best place for him.”
Bootstrap nodded, and Hope let her thoughts drift while they drove. What did she want out of life?
Sure, she didn’t want to deal with Locks being around and not having him, but that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to have a man, preferably Locks, treat her with dignity and love. She wanted him to want to be with her as much as she wanted to be with him.
She’d had it all with her husband, and after having a love like that, was she willing to settle for less? She got really irritated with the heroines in novels when they went for the asinine man when they were lonely. Sure, let him scratch that itch, but if it was for life, then they deserved more.
“Deep thoughts,” Bootstrap asked.
Well, screw it. He asked, and they were stuck in a truck for at least another hour. He’d driven a ways while she was drifting in her own thoughts.
“Yes, just deciding what I want for this next part of my life,” she said.
“I can understand that. Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said.
“How about I tell you a little about me?” he asked.
“Oh, I love a good story time. So, Bootstrap? How’d you get that name?” she asked.
“In the military, I was known for being able to do the impossible. Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps is an impossibility. It stuck and stayed with me when I joined Bluff Creek and then was sent to start the Cider Creek Chapter. The club is everything to me. It’s a family, a brotherhood that always has my back. I’ve never been married, never been serious about a woman, and the club has always been there,” he said.
“Have you ever been in love? I guess I ask because I couldn’t have imagined my life without the love of my husband. You look close to my age,” Hope said.
“I consider you lucky to have had that type of love with your husband. I love my brothers. I love their women as family, and I love their kids. But I’ve never felt for a woman that all-encompassing love that, from what others have shared, I understand makes you want to do whatever it takes to keep them in your life. I’ve had women, even a couple steady for a while, but it was more to stave off loneliness, not because I needed them like I needed the air I breathe,” he said.
“I consider myself lucky, too. My husband gave me some wonderful years before he passed. I wasn’t sure I’d find love again, but this drive has made me think through what I want,” Hope said.
“Well, we’re almost at the store, so I’ll just throw this out there from someone who is outside the situation. Don’t settle for less. It sounds like you’ve had the fairytale. Companionship is good, but if you want love again, then don’t sell yourself short. You deserve the best,” Bootstrap said, pulling the truck into the parking lot and then turning to Hope.
“Shall we shop?” he asked.
She nodded and waited as he walked around the truck and opened the door for her.
Hope hadn’t thought she’d have fun, but Bootstrap went out of his way to make her day good. They picked up all the things from the big box store and then ate lunch at a little diner that Hope quite enjoyed.
As they’d headed to the lumberyard to grab the order, Bootstrap asked if it was okay if they stopped at one more place.
She’d agreed because it meant they were away from Bluff Creek and Locks a little longer. When he pulled up in front of a bookstore, she waited to see what he said.
“There are a couple of paperbacks that I wanted, and then War and Scoop texted. They asked if we’d be willing to grab some books for their women along with some building block typewriter Sarah was wanting for her office.”
“I’m always up for book shopping. How long do we have?” she asked.
“I’d say we need to be checked out and in the truck within an hour to get to the lumberyard before they close and have time to load.”
“Got it. Do you have specific books for Remi and Sarah, or did they just give an idea of the type?” she asked.
“I have a list,” he said and showed it to her.
“Most of those books are where I’ll be looking. Why don’t I grab the books, and you get the toys and other items? Then we’ll both have time to shop for ourselves, too.”
Bootstrap nodded, and then they walked in. She paused for a second and texted Faith to see if she wanted anything special. It didn’t take any time for Faith to text a list of some books for the boys and herself.
She grabbed a bag to shop with, but she’d probably need more than one with this list. She grabbed a couple because she was guessing that War and Scoop would want receipts to reimburse Bootstrap.
Shopping, unfortunately, gave her entirely too long to think about how much fun it would be to be shopping and hanging out with Locks. The way his mouth would tilt up at the side when he was pleased. Sure, the man would smile big, especially when his grandkids made him laugh, but she loved the times he found something amusing and just showed it a little. And she missed his arms around her at night. He'd been so cold in the morning, but having his arms around her and her head on his shoulder at night had made her feel so close to him.
Regina had texted her each day and told her to keep the faith. Hope guessed she’d hoped that if she found a man after that, it would be easy. She and Giles had met, dated, fallen in love, and been married within six months. And he had never made her so mad that she wanted to brain him upside the head with whatever heavy object was close at hand.
Her phone went off with the timer she’d set. She needed to find Bootstrap so they could check out. She had four bags of items: one for Faith’s list, one for her own, and one each for War and Scoop. She found Bootstrap in the building block section and couldn’t help but laugh.
He not only had four bags full at his feet, but he had a cart that a worker was bringing over.
“Did you have fun shopping?” she asked.
He chuckled and shook his head. “So I probably made a mistake, but I texted some of the pictures of the items to the guys, and suddenly there were multiple messages of buy this or that for one of the kids. We’re going to have to play Tetris with the packages to make sure we fit it all in the cab of the truck. If we weren’t forecast for possible rain on the way back, I wouldn’t worry. Let’s get checked out and loaded. After we grab the lumber, we can go through a drive-thru. I just got a weather alert and would prefer to be in Bluff Creek before the storm hits,” Bootstrap said.
She kept from giggling, but she could just imagine all the workers talking about the older adults who’d bought out the building block section.