Page 14

Chapter Fourteen

M aureen slid the rolls out of the oven and laid them on the counter to cool. Lunch was almost ready.

Compass had held her in his arms the last two nights since Nelson’s on Friday. This morning, she’d gotten up before he had and showered to make sure she was ready for today.

With the storm rolling through, they hadn’t gotten much sleep because tornado sirens had gone off at three in the morning. They’d gone down to the underground tunnel that connected the clubhouse to the snowplow barn. There wasn’t a basement per se, just the tunnel system for the clubhouse. If she wanted to be in a basement specifically, they could have gone to one of the houses, but it was all the same to Maureen. Any touchdown of a tornado in the county, whether it was close to any of the towns, had all of them under a tornado warning.

Once the storm had passed, the guys had checked to see if anyone was reporting damage and needed help. The tornado had touched down about fifteen miles outside of town. It had cut a swath through a wheat field and destroyed a barn. No one had been injured, so they’d gone to bed. She’d run her hands over Compass’ chest, sliding her fingers down his chest toward the waistband of his underwear.

With the lights out and the moonlight the only light shining in the window, he’d stopped her hands and brought them up to his mouth, kissed them, and put them on his chest. She’d decided not to push it and instead changed her breathing to mimic sleep. Once she’d been breathing deeply for a little bit, Compass had kissed her forehead. His words of I love you so much, woman, and wish you loved me enough too whispered against her forehead told her he was ready for the next steps she had planned. She’d been debating how fast she was going to push him, but considering that if it hadn’t been for her thoughtless words, they would have already been married, she imagined.

Regina walked in and nodded at her, handing her a small ring box. Because it was such short notice, she hadn’t been able to shop for a ring. When she’d been lamenting that to Regina, Dex had been close by. He said he melted metal for different things working with guns, and depending on how nice she wanted it, he could probably do something before Sunday.

“We just need to take the food in. Do you want to do it before or after lunch?” Regina asked.

“Oh my. Before. My stomach is so upset I don’t think I could eat. Does Baron know?” she asked.

“Yes, he said he’ll get you started.”

Maureen nodded. “I’m going to go run and freshen my lipstick while trying not to throw up.”

Regina hugged her. “You’ve got this.”

Maureen freshened up and got back to the main room just as everyone was sitting down. Compass was at the corner of one of the tables, and there was an empty place beside him.

“Listen up, I’m thrilled you are all here. We’ve been blessed, and War and the guys leading us into the next generation warms this old guy’s heart. Someone who is newer to Bluff Creek but has become special to us in a short amount of time has something she needs to say,” Baron said, sitting down and cocking his eyebrow at her. It was now or never.

She walked close to Compass, took a deep breath, and got down on one knee, staring at the man who’d brought so much joy into her life in such a short amount of time.

“Gideon ‘Compass’ Evans, a chance meeting at an author signing brought you into my life. I wasn’t looking for someone to spend the rest of my life with. I was just enjoying time with my daughter and hiding out from a threat.

“You and your friends immediately rode to our rescue, no questions asked and with no worry at all for yourselves. Each night you held me in your arms, I wondered how I’d gotten so lucky. Lucky to be blessed twice with love.

“Early on, you asked me a question, and because I was scared of being hurt, I flippantly answered that I couldn’t ever see myself married again. And I couldn’t because you hadn’t shown me the depth of your love and the strength of your character. Gideon ‘Compass’ Evans, I love you. Will you do me the honor of becoming my husband? The man who I look forward to spending all the rest of our years with?”

Maureen waited as she stared into Compass’ eyes. Those gorgeous gray eyes that she couldn’t imagine not going to sleep beside and waking up with.

Compass held out his hand to help her up.

“Yes. I will gladly spend the rest of my life married to you, the woman who holds my heart in her hand. I love you and didn’t think I’d get to have you forever. The only question I have is when?”

Compass tugged Maureen close, sealing his answer with a kiss. Her choosing to get married because she knew he considered it important told him how much Maureen loved him.

She pulled away a little. “We looked at the schedule and don’t see why our wedding can’t kick off the Poker Run Friday morning. A wedding at sunrise in the park, then when I get on the back of your bike, I’ll be your wife and hopefully your Ol’ Lady,” she said.

“You may have asked me to marry you, but I am asking you, Maureen Sullivan, will you do me the honor of becoming my Ol’ Lady? Will you ride behind me for the rest of our lives, putting up with my crotchety old ways?” he asked.

It felt right to tie his life with Maureen’s. She was completely different from Lucille, but he loved her just as much.

“Yes, I will,” Maureen said, leaning up to kiss his lips.

“Ugh, can we eat? I’m hungry and kissing is gross,” Grant whined.

“Kissing is gross. Mom and Dad do it all the time,” David grumbled. “And I saw Dad use his tongue. I thought we weren’t supposed to share germs.”

Compass chuckled along with everyone else. He could imagine those words would come back to haunt those boys when they were of dating age.

He held out Maureen’s chair so she could sit down, and he looked at the ring in the box.

“Where?” he asked.

“Dex made it,” she said.

“Do you want him to make one, or should we go shopping for one? I want you to be happy,” Compass asked.

“Well, I’m going to be a biker’s Ol’ Lady, so I think I want a ring similar to yours. And by the way, we’ve talked about Sturgis, and Regina has been telling me about her experiences there. I believe we might need to add that in as a yearly vacation,” Maureen said.

Compass hid the surprise on his face. He never would have figured Maureen as someone who might want to go to Sturgis, but he was thrilled she wanted to. Booker had mentioned in passing that people could camp out at the ranch on their way to Sturgis, or if some of the kids wanted to stay there, they could take turns.

Compass was looking forward to building a new life with Maureen and seeing what was in store for them. And he was ready to make her his after their wedding. Friday night couldn’t come soon enough for him. It was going to be hell to hold her in his arms, knowing she’d be his in just a few short days, but oh! How sweet it would be when he finally had her in his arms as his wife.

“I’d be happy to make something up for Maureen. I had a lot of fun crafting yours, Compass. I may have found a new hobby,” Dex said.

“I’d appreciate that, Dex.”

Compass glanced around at his family, his brotherhood, and was grateful for War letting him go nomad and even for his wreck. If he hadn’t gone incommunicado, War wouldn’t have sent Booker, and Compass might not have met Maureen. Compass marveled at all the little choices made that changed his life.

Locks was across the table from him, and he looked miserable. Compass had really thought Locks and Hope had something, but maybe not. She was pretty much ignoring him. Locks was watching her until she looked toward him, then he turned away.

Compass hoped it worked out for them because he was getting a second chance at love, and he hoped Locks got the same.

“Are you going to have flower girls?” Phoebe asked.

“Although I think you’d make a beautiful one, Phoebe, I’m planning on all of us wearing jeans, boots, and shirts since it will be right before the Poker Run,” Maureen said.

Phoebe nodded, but the little gleam in her eye told him that the conversation might not be over. Rascal and Baron had both mentioned that they were taking bets on whether Phoebe ended up taking over the world or running from the law. He was betting on the world because she was smart enough that if she did something illegal, she wouldn’t get caught.

He slid his arm around Maureen, leaning close to her ear. He nibbled on it. “I can’t wait for Friday night to make you mine,” he whispered. The tremble that ran through her body made the hard-on in his jeans worth winding himself up to. He’d been blessed with two women who got him. He’d lost one to cancer, and the second one he wasn’t letting get away.