Winter's Touch (The Last Riders Book 8) (2 page)

T
he store was filled
with every color of the rainbow. Walls were filled with pictures of smiling babies showing their toothless grins. It even smelled like babies, which probably came from the women holding their children as they browsed the aisles.

Winter reached out to touch a pretty pink sleeper. Her heart ached in longing, imagining a beautiful baby girl with Viper’s eyes.

“Cade may be upset if you buy that for the baby, but Fat Louise would probably let him wear it just to piss Cade off.” Beth glanced at her as she looked through a rack on the other side.

Winter shrugged. “I just thought it was pretty.”

“Buy it. Someone is always having a baby shower.” Beth looked down, grabbing her boys’ hands to pull them out of the clothes racks they were hiding underneath.

Winter picked the pretty garment up, holding it in the crook of her arm. “I might do that.” Moving to the rack of boy clothes, she thumbed through them. One caught her eye and, laughing, she looked at Beth. “
Mommy’s Boy
. It’s so cute.” The sleeper was too precious. Winter added it to the growing pile of clothes. She then found a couple more sleepers for Fat Louise.

She was going to the cashier counter where Beth was paying, when she saw a blanket. It was whisper-thin, and each stitch seemed to be a different shade of pink.

“It was made by a woman in town.” A sales clerk came up beside her, lifting the fragile blanket to spread it on the table.

“It’s beautiful.” Winter touched it, letting the material slip through her fingers.

“Are you shopping for yourself or a friend?” From the clerk’s friendly overture, she couldn’t be aware of the thrust of pain that struck Winter’s heart.

“For a friend. She’s having a boy.”

“Oh.” She smiled, folding the blanket up.

“I’ll take it.” Winter took the blanket from the surprised clerk then moved to the cashier before she could change her mind.

“Wow, you won’t have to shop for the next three baby showers,” Beth said, when she saw all the items Winter had laid on the counter.

“You never know who is going to get pregnant next.” Winter handed the cashier her credit card.

The women left the store, Beth holding Noah’s hand and Winter holding Chance’s as they walked down the sidewalk. They had parked their cars in the church parking lot so they could stop in to ask Willa if she wanted to join them before going shopping. However, she had been too busy filling an order for a birthday cake, so they had left without her.

“Can we play before we go home?” Noah asked.

“I don’t see why not. You were good in the store. I might even take you to get ice cream when you’re done.”

The little boys ran to the backyard of the church when Beth opened the side gate.

Winter leaned her arms on the fence, watching the boys play as Beth closed the gate from the other side, giving her boys an indulgent smile.

“I love kids. It doesn’t take a lot to make them happy.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Winter agreed.

“I’ll see you back at the house,” Beth told her, when Chance yelled for her to come swing him. Beth then set her bag down on a picnic table before going to her son, who was impatiently waiting.

Winter watched them as Beth took turns pushing her twin sons’ swings. She yearned to be beside her, pushing her own child. It was another visual she was being denied without her own baby.

The side door of the church opened, and a familiar face came out.

“Megan?”

“Hi, Mrs. James. How you doing today?”

“Fine.” Winter’s face went stern. “I missed you in school last week.”

Megan was one of her students at the alternative school. She had ended up there after being thrown out of the regular high school for delinquency and fighting.

“I was going to call Monday. I’m quitting school.” She waved her hand in Winter’s face. “I got married last week!”

Winter stared at the diamond ring and wedding band on her finger. “That doesn’t mean you have to quit school,” she protested. “It’s only a month to graduation—”

“I’ll get a GED. I’ll be fine. It’s not like I plan to go to college, anyway.”

“It’s not as simple as it sounds. You’ll have to study and take the test. I thought we talked about you going to cooking school after graduation?”

“I’ll get it; you’ll see. Besides, I don’t have to go to cooking school. I can learn to cook anywhere. I was just applying for a job with Willa. I have it all planned out. I’ll work for her for a few months and learn everything I need to know. Then I’ll open my own business after the baby is born.”

“You’re pregnant?” Winter stared at the young woman, stunned at how simple she imagined owning a business would be.

“Yes, I’m so happy! Curt promised me, as soon as we buy me another car, we’ll look for the perfect place to open my business.”

“What happened to your car? It was brand new. Your parents bought that for you for Christmas as an early graduation present.”

“Curt doesn’t start his new job until next week, so we sold my car to pay for my ring and the honeymoon. We’re leaving Tuesday to go to St. Croix! I’ve always wanted to go there.”

Winter leaned against the fence, wanting to scream at the woman who had turned eighteen three months ago. Her eyes narrowed on Megan. Something just occurred to her.

“You married Curt Dawkins?”

Megan nodded, beaming. “We’ve only been seeing each other for a couple months. It was a whirlwind courtship.”

“I see that.”

Winter was infuriated. Curt was at least ten years older than the young woman. Not to mention, he had been the high school football coach when Megan had been a cheerleader at Treepoint High. He had lost his job last year when Rachel told Viper, who was on the school board, that Curt had raped a friend of hers in high school. They hadn’t been able to fire him since no charges had been brought against him, but Viper had looked into his billing records and seen he had pocketed cash from the money raised for new football uniforms.

“Curt’s here.” Megan nodded toward where Curt Dawkins was driving into the parking lot.

He rolled down the passenger window. “Let’s go.”

Winter glared at the man as Megan clambered inside the big truck.

“It’s good to see you again, Mrs. James. Since I told you I won’t be back in school, I guess I don’t have to come in Monday. I can sleep in!” She chuckled as she shut the truck door.

Curt backed up without giving her a glance.

“Son of a fucking bitch!” Winter gripped her bag, wanting to throw it at the departing truck. “The bastard should be in jail instead of going on a fucking honeymoon.” It took everything she had to get inside her car and drive home.

Luckily, the clubhouse was quiet when she got there.

She went to her room, throwing her bag on the bed.

“I take it you didn’t have a good time?” Viper stared at her from the bathroom doorway.

“I did until I saw Megan Smith and she told me not only will she not be coming back to school, but she married Curt Dawkins and is pregnant.”

Viper ran a towel through his damp hair. “Her parents can’t be happy.”

Winter sank down on their bed. “She even sold her car so they could buy her an engagement ring and go on a honeymoon. Curt told her that he’s buying her another car when he starts work. Curt’s family has money; he could have bought her a ring if he wanted to.”

“He wants to keep her under his thumb, dependent on him to take her everywhere she goes so he can watch every movement she makes.”

Winter nodded, blowing out an aggravated breath. “She applied for a job with Willa to take over Genny’s job. Curt promised to set her up in her own business in six months.”

“Really?” Viper frowned, tossing his towel into the hamper before coming to sit next to her on the bed.

“Yes. She plans to learn all of Willa’s recipes to start her own business. She seems to think Curt’s new job is going to give him enough money to do it. Who in Treepoint would hire that asshole?”

“Shade did.”

“What?” Winter’s mouth dropped open. She started to jump off the bed to go find Shade. “He can just un-hire him.”

Viper grabbed her thigh, pressing her back down on the bed. “Jo went to the sheriff’s office to see if there was any way to press charges on Curt for raping her in high school. Diamond came in, and the three talked. It would be an uphill battle to convict Curt. Neither Jo nor her parents notified the police when it happened. And because it happened years ago, he would probably get away with it if it was brought to court.” Viper shrugged. “Shade came up with the idea to hire Curt. There are men who work at the factory who’ll keep an ear out. If he brags to one of our men, it will help Jo’s case.”

Winter still couldn’t relax. She didn’t trust Curt Dawkins as far she could throw him. “How much is he paying him? He’s promising Megan a lot. Shade didn’t make him a manager, did he?”

“That’s the interesting part. No, he’s an hourly worker. We pay well, but not enough to set up a new business and buy a new car in six months.”

“Maybe his family is planning on giving him the money when he starts a new job?”

“Either that or he’s planning to take something that doesn’t belong to him. We know Curt doesn’t have a problem taking what’s not his. Shade and Jewell will keep an eye on him; don’t worry.”

“All right. Will you tell Shade to listen for whether Curt starts bragging about sleeping with Megan before she was eighteen?”

“Yes, but consent is sixteen in Kentucky.”

“Curt was a school employee when he was the football coach, and Megan was fifteen when she was a cheerleader.”

“If Willa hires her, then Megan might become comfortable enough to let a few of Curt’s indiscretions slip out.”

“I married a very devious man.”

“That’s how I caught you.” Viper kissed her then pulled back when she punched his shoulder.

“Jerk.”

“I try.” He smiled, pulling out the bag he had been sitting on. “I see you had a successful shopping trip.” He pulled out the handful of sleepers and the pink blanket. “I thought you were buying for Fat Louise and Cade’s baby. Who are the pink things for? Who’s pregnant now?” His amused smile slipped when Winter couldn’t hide her expression. “Pretty girl, don’t tell me you bought this for us.”

Winter couldn’t meet his censoring gaze. “Viper…”

“Why do you torment yourself like this?” He scooted closer to her, placing his hand on the back of her neck to lift her eyes to meet his.

“Viper, we can have a baby if you would just listen to reason.”

“Not if one of those reasons involves a chance of me losing you.” She could see fear in his direct gaze.

“The attack was four years ago. My body has healed. I’m in better shape now than even before the beating. My doctor said he believed we could have a successful pregnancy. There are high-risk obstetricians who specialize in difficult births. Just one, Viper. Just one child. That’s all I’m asking.” Winter broke down in tears, pleading with her husband.

He pulled her close, burying his face in her neck. “Pretty girl, please don’t cry. We can’t take the chance. It’s not only you the doctor said would be in danger, but the baby, too. I couldn’t bear losing either of you. I told you I would look into us finding a surrogate. If not in Kentucky, then we could move to Ohio. Fuck, I’d move anywhere to make you happy.”

Winter broke away from him, getting to her feet to stare down at him. “You’d move anywhere for me, but you won’t take a chance on a baby?” She hugged her belly. “I want my own child, Viper. When we tried to adopt, and were turned down, I was upset, but I could live with their judgmental attitudes, because I knew how hard it was for me to keep my job. The only school the school board would let me work in, is the one no one else wanted. I want a child. Even if we do find a surrogate, there would be risks involved. We haven’t even started to look into it yet, because we both know we’ll be putting the fate of our child in someone else’s hands.

Viper tried to pull her down on his lap, but she took a step backward.

“I’d climb a mountain for you. I would starve. I would do anything for you, Viper. Please… please can’t we—”

“Winter…”

“I live in The Last Riders’ clubhouse, even though there is another lot to build us a home behind where Lucky and Willa are building. I never asked for my own home, because I know what the club means to you.” She shook her head. “You’re so afraid of losing someone after you lost Gavin that you won’t even let us try.” She turned her back to him. She could see the refusal on his face.

She brushed her tears away. “I need to take a shower.”

“We need to finish this discussion first.” He got up, pulling on a clean pair of jeans.

“Why? You’re not going to change your mind, and I’m tired of listening to your excuses.”

Viper moved to where she was forced to see him. He opened his mouth to say something, but then his cell phone rang before he could.

“Answer your phone. We’ll talk later.” She brushed past him, going into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her.

Winter took off her clothes, throwing them in the hamper before turning on the shower. She began washing herself, letting the water carry her tears away.

She had always wanted children, always. The darkest day of her life had been when the doctor had come into her hospital room and told her the damage done to her body by the deranged deputy. That had been four years ago, and since then, she had healed and been to several doctors, hoping they could have a successful pregnancy.

Viper wouldn’t be swayed, though. When he made up his mind about something, there was no changing it. The Last Riders depended on that confidence; Winter just wished she could change his mind this one time.

Every day that passed, she felt her hope slip further away. When they had first married, she’d had a picture of their child in her mind. Day by day, the picture became dimmer. She was afraid she would one day wake up and it would be gone; her dream would have died.