Banger's Ride: Insurgents Motorcycle Club (Insurgents MC Romance Book 5) (22 page)

While Holly ranted, Belle wondered if she woke up this morning with a sign on her back that said, “Punching Bag.” Tiredness weaved through every fiber in her body, and her legs felt like Jell-O. Grabbing a chair, she dragged it close to her and collapsed in it. She wanted to jump off the never-ending merry-go-round her life had been on for two years.

Interrupting Holly’s tirade, Belle said, “Holly, come pick up your brother. I have to go.” She disconnected the call.

Ruthie came over and rubbed Belle’s neck. “You’re too tense. I called someone in. Go home and relax. You look beat.”

“I can’t believe what happened. Banger is so mad at me.”

“I’ve known Banger a long time, and he’s a softie with the women in his life.”

“I’m not a woman in his life. I think we were getting to that point, but then this shit with Scorpion came up, and now he’s dumped me.” Her voice broke.

“Don’t worry too much ‘bout that. It wounded his pride, seeing you with Scorpion. A man’s pride is everything. He’ll come around, you just wait and see.” She pulled out another banana cream pie from the refrigerator. “I could kick myself in the ass for telling him you were out back. Shit, I didn’t know Scorpion was back there with you. Sorry, Belle.”

Belle shook her head. “I’m glad you told him. Scorpion was forcing himself on me, and I couldn’t push him away. I didn’t think it’d end like this though. I’ll take you up on your offer to leave early. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”

As she gathered her things, Holly blustered in. “Where’s Scorpion?” Belle pointed to the back door. “Come on, and bring some warm rags.” Holly dashed out.

Belle trudged out back, a few wet rags in her hand. She saw Scorpion leaning against her car, smoking a joint. He glanced up when the screen door banged behind her. “Your fuckin’ boyfriend is a dead man. Tell him that, you fuckin’ cunt.”

Belle didn’t come any closer. “Do you want the rags, Holly?”

She came over then stopped when her brother snarled, “I’m fine. I’m fuckin’ outta here.” He slammed his fist on the hood of Belle’s car, then glared at her. “You and me ain’t finished yet. Remember that.” He stared at her with the eye that wasn’t swollen shut, sending shudders of dread through her, and then he was gone. Belle blew out a breath.

“I’m sorry for the things I said to you on the phone,” Holly said. “I was so upset and worried when you said my brother got in a fight, I said some nasty things to you. Let me buy you a drink. I think we both need to unwind a bit before going back home.”

Belle agreed, and the two women headed to Billy’s Tavern, a few storefronts away from the diner. Sitting at a table in the dimly lit neighborhood bar, Belle sipped her white wine—it tasted like vinegar. She recounted the events to Holly, leaving out the part where Banger suspected her and that he’d dumped her. Even as she thought of it, she winced from the pain of loneliness the idea of him being out of her life brought.

“How’s Emily been doing?”

“Great. She’s adjusted nicely to living with me and Darren, and we’re both making sure she goes to school.”

Belle smiled. “I’m glad. Tell her I said hi.” She then proceeded to tell Holly about Harold’s ex-mistress coming to see her.

“Was she pretty?” Holly asked before she took a sip of her beer.

“Yeah, she was. And young. She came looking for the money.”

“Did she have a good figure?”

“Uh… yeah. Why?”

“Just wondering. You should’ve scratched the bitch’s eyes out. What a slut.”

“As long as I don’t see her anymore, she could be a pin-up girl, and I couldn’t care less.”

“So, she didn’t get any money from Harold?” A gleeful spark flashed in her eye.

“I wouldn’t say that. When Harold confessed his affair to me, he told me that he had lavished her with trips, jewelry, clothes, and expensive dinners. Anyway, all that’s in the past. I don’t care anymore.”
I only care about Banger, and how I can make it right between us again.
“Oh, and it seems like Jessica is spreading lies about me. You know, she always hated me for marrying her father.”

For the next hour, the two friends chatted about their lives, their sorrows, and their joys. Belle didn’t dare tell Holly that one of the biggest joys of her life since Harold died was meeting Banger. A rawness chafed her, and the pain was acute. She couldn’t imagine not hearing Banger’s voice anymore or seeing his twinkling eyes. He had invaded her life, and she couldn’t let him go with the bitterness he had against her burning inside him. She had to make him understand. She missed him, and it hadn’t even been two hours.

When Belle arrived home, sadness and emptiness shrouded her. She texted Emily, as she did every night.

Belle:
Nite, honey. I love u.
♥

As always, there was no answer.

She drew in a sharp breath and texted Banger.

Belle:
I’m thinking of u. Wish u were here. Text me.

She stared at the phone for a long time, her insides tense in anticipation of the familiar
ping,
but its silence taunted her. She glided under the sheets, hugging the pillow next to her—it still smelled of Banger’s aftershave. Pulling the comforter over her head, she buried her face in the pillow while her sobs consumed her.

One month later

O
n her break,
Belle sat on the low concrete wall, welcoming the warm spring breeze as it caressed her. She tilted her head toward the sky, feeling the heat of the sunlight. The scent of evergreens and spruces was in the air with their new growth, and the air vibrated with birdsong, bees, and the beginning of life. As she knew too well, the budding life around her could be short-lived with a blanket of snow. For that reason, she basked in the moments of early spring.

Her phone pinged and she looked down, a smile spreading over her face. It was from Emily, telling her that she had a great day at school. She had slowly begun communicating with her mother, and Belle said silent prayers every day in thanks. She would see her daughter on Saturday at the chili cook-off in Clermont Park. Every March, Pinewood Springs High School put on the fundraising event. If the weather was bad, it was held in the school’s gym. In good weather, it was held at Clermont Park, and Belle had her fingers crossed that the lovely days they had been experiencing would continue until Saturday.

She was excited about the cook-off because the first prize was one thousand dollars, and the second and third cash prizes were still pretty decent. She could really use the money. For the past few weeks, she’d been cooking and tasting, using Ethan as her chili-tasting guinea pig. She laughed, recalling how, for the past several days, he would run to his room whenever he’d hear her start pulling the chili pot from underneath the stove.

The last time she’d heard from Banger was that horrible day when he’d beaten the shit out of Scorpion. He still came to the diner, but instead of calling Ruthie to find out when her shift was like he used to, he’d call to find out when she
wouldn’t
be at work. The ache in her heart was not as strong as it was at first, but the lump in her throat still flared up whenever the diner’s front door opened and she peered through the service window, hoping to see his twinkling blue eyes.

Each time she heard a motorcycle, her heart leapt, wondering if she’d see him with his blond hair blowing in the wind, his strong legs hugging the bike. But she never did. He’d done a good job of extracting himself from her life.

Belle had stopped calling and texting him a few weeks back. She still couldn’t believe that what they may have had was short-circuited by an association she’d had with a rival club. The one she really felt sorry for was Ethan. In the beginning, he’d kept asking about Banger, but now he barely asked at all. Children could be very resilient at times.

She hadn’t seen nor heard from Scorpion since that terrible day, and she wasn’t complaining about that. All in all, her life had been moving forward, but she still missed Banger like crazy, even though she didn’t admit it to anyone but herself.

She glanced at the time on her phone, then pushed up and walked into the kitchen to begin cooking the evening special—chili.

*     *     *

On Saturday, the
weather was perfect, and all the vendors set up their booths early in the morning. The contestants for the cook-off also had their own chili booths, and Belle recruited Holly and Ruthie to help her dish out chili to the hungry festival-goers.

A few hours into the fundraiser, Belle spotted several men in leather jackets with the Insurgents’ name and logo. Her heart skipped a few beats as she scanned the crowd, looking for a tall man with ocean-blue eyes and long, blond hair. She wondered if he were going to be there, or boycott it because he’d figured she would be.

Cara walked up to the booth with a woman who had flaming red hair and the cutest baby in tow. “Hey, Belle. Smells good,” Cara said, pointing to the chili simmering in a pot. “I saw Emily with a couple of her friends. How are you two doing?”

“Better. At least we’re talking now. That’s a start.”

Cara moved to the side, allowing the redheaded woman to come into full view. “Belle, this is Addie.”

Addie smiled and held out her hand. “It’s nice meeting you. I gotta try your chili—it smells awesome.”

“Coming right up. Your daughter’s beautiful. How old is she?”

“Thank you. Hope will be nine months in two weeks. I can’t believe how fast she’s growing.” She bent over the stroller and ran her fingers through her daughter’s bright red hair. “I better get two more cups for my husband and son.”

Belle filled up three large cups, securing lids on them before she handed them to Addie. “Let me help you with those,” Cara said as she took the containers.

“Hawk with you?” Belle asked as Cara turned to leave.

“Yeah.” She leaned in close. “Banger’s here too.”

A surge of adrenaline shot through her, as her mouth went dry and her pulse sped up. “Oh.” From Cara’s devilish grin, Belle knew she wasn’t fooling her with her feigned cool demeanor. “Did you want to take some chili to Hawk?”

“I’ll be back in a bit. I’m going to help Addie get situated. See you.”

Belle stirred the chili absentmindedly as she watched Cara and Addie disappear into the crowd.
Banger’s here! I hope he comes over to see me.

All morning, she served chili while scanning the crowd for the handsome biker. He was nowhere to be seen. She resigned herself to the fact that he was dissing her, and she’d be damned if she was going to spend all day moping about it. She had a cook-off to win, and she spotted the five judges heading to her booth.

Belle watched the judges’ faces as they sampled her chili, and swore she’d seen sheer delight gleaming in three pairs of eyes. They thanked her, made notes on their sheet of paper secured on a clipboard, and moved away. When they parted, she spotted Banger talking with some men about ten feet from her booth. She bent over and put on her sunglasses so she could spy on him without fear of being caught.

He pretended to be engrossed in the conversation with his other club members, but she saw him peeking at her from the corner of his eye. Loving it, she decided to ignore him, which was easy to do since her booth was so damn busy. Several men she knew from the diner came over and chatted and flirted with her, and she noticed Banger shooting daggers at them. How he thought he had a right to be mad about men flirting with her when they weren’t together was beyond her. She wondered if all bikers were as difficult as Banger.

After half an hour of playing “pretend I’m not looking at you,” Banger strolled over to the booth, greeting Ruthie with a big smile and acting as though Belle didn’t exist. “Hi, Ruthie. How you holding up?”

He chitchatted with her boss, and Belle, hopping mad, pretended to be engrossed in a conversation with one of the truckers who always came to the diner. He was sweet on her and asked her out at least four times a week, even though she’d always decline. He loved to talk, and normally she’d find an excuse to dodge a lengthy conversation with him, but at the moment, he was a godsend. When the guy placed his hand on hers, Belle thought she heard a growl. She ignored it. Finally running out of breath, the trucker said his good-byes and sauntered away.

Belle overheard Ruthie say to Banger, “You gotta try some of the chili. Here.” She handed him a cup and a plastic spoon.

Out of the corner of her eye, Belle saw him take a big spoonful of the mixture. His eyes lit up. “Fuck, this is good.” He glanced at Belle, and she turned to him and smiled. He ran his eyes over her, then smiled back. The thrill of his gaze tingled over her skin. He tipped his head to her and moved away, planting himself against a tree directly across from her booth, watching her every move.

An hour later, Ethan came up with a couple of his friends. “I saw Emily, Mom. She said to say hi to you, and she was gonna come by soon.”

Warmth spread through Belle when she heard the words. She couldn’t wait to see her daughter, having missed her so much the past few months. A loud voice came over a crackling speaker. The votes had been tallied, and the judges had made their decision. “The third runner-up of the Pinewood Springs fundraising chili cook-off is Pearl Gunthe.” Cheers and claps echoed among the festival patrons. “The second runner-up is Susie Evans. And the winner of the chili cook-off is Belle Dermot. Let’s give these ladies a loud round of applause. And for all of you who didn’t win this year, keep cooking and we’ll see you next year. Could the winners please come to the judges’ tent to collect their prize money? Thank you.”