Into the Storm (Signal Bend #3)(65)
The library was opening again, too. It was Lilli’s new project. With the B&B firmly in Shannon’s hand, Lilli had been going nuts just being home with Gia, and driving Isaac nuts along with her. The town wanted to reopen the library and staff it with volunteers, and Lilli was first in line. The line had been fairly short, truthfully, but she had a few teenagers and older folks, and they were planning an opening in the next week or so. Lilli with a project was a force of nature. She got shit done.
They were also going to have a real local market for the first time in years—just a little thing, mainly catering to the weekend picnic crowd, but a place where you could get some real shopping done without having to drive the nearly thirty miles down the highway to the nearest supermarket. Bobby Dirkins, who ran the 7 Eleven, hadn’t been entirely thrilled, but he was the only gas station in town, so he’d be fine.
The Main Street Marketplace, a few blocks of antique shops and boutiques, had become a legitimate commercial district, with decent traffic every weekend since the thaw. There was even a small souvenir shop going into one of the remaining empty storefronts. Run by the city council, it would sell Signal Bend-related merchandise. Things were quiet during the week, and they probably always would be, but everybody in town was glad for that. They were still wary of strangers.
Even that was changing, though, as a couple of families were moving into Signal Bend, buying and refurbishing properties long gone to seed. They weren’t farmers, these new residents. They were commuters, wanting a quiet life for their families while one of the parents drove all the way into the city for work. The townspeople hadn’t figured out what to think about that. One of the families—the Borecki-Sanders (the hyphen alone had caused a stir)—had a working mom and a stay-at-home dad. Tongues were wagging about that, and Jon Sanders, said dad, got strange looks when he walked around town with a baby strapped to his chest.
The twenty-first century had found Signal Bend.
The B&B was starting to do brisk business again, booked well on the weekends and on the quiet side midweek. It meant Shannon had very little time for Show on weekends. Like this one. He’d wanted her to join him on the run, but there was a wedding at the B&B, and Shannon had to stay and run it. Show thought she needed to hire more actual staff. She deserved real time off. Lilli agreed with Show, but Shannon was reluctant to do it—especially where wedding planning was concerned. She’d talked Show’s ear numb on several occasions about other people’s weddings. He’d found her clinical detachment about the topic curious. She loved doing them, but he didn’t think she ever thought she might be a bride herself.
Her interest was in the planning, not the event.
Not that he was thinking of proposing. Not yet. But they were serious. Show thought it was something about his accident that had kicked them into gear, and discounting the occasional fight—because he didn’t f*cking back down these days—they were doing well together. She still had a big blank space in her past, but he’d come to trust that whatever she clung to so tightly back there didn’t matter to them. They had a good thing going. So good it made Show a little nervous, if he thought about it too long. He had a lot to lose, again. He didn’t think he’d survive more loss.
He had Rose and Iris back, though. The plans he’d made with Holly to come down for monthly visits were thwarted by his accident, but he’d gone down to see them in March, when he was strong enough for the drive, and he was ready now for monthly trips. And wonder of wonders, Holly had driven them up to see him while he was cooped up in the clubhouse, a couple of weeks after the accident.
He’d told her no, that he didn’t want the girls to see the way he looked, but, true to form, she’d ignored him and done things her own way. She’d said they were too scared to wait. They’d been frightened, seeing him all scarred up, but they’d been glad to see him nonetheless. And Shannon, bless her, had made herself scarce that day, just knowing that it wasn’t the time to announce her presence in his life.
He pulled up at the end of the row of bikes, next to Lilli’s SUV. She’d come on the run—following the Horde, carrying Gia and towing the club’s entry in the bike show, a customized beauty Havoc and Bart had designed and built over the cold, snowy winter, which had won the custom Softail class, and which they’d subsequently sold for a solid profit. Watching Isaac wandering around a biker rally pushing their jogging stroller, Gia sitting pretty in a tiny leather biker jacket and a floppy flowered hat, had been amusing as f*ck, but it had also made Show feel lonely. He’d called Shannon five times on a two-day run, feeling like a lovesick teenager. He’d had a damn good time, free again on the road. He’d seen old friends and had drunk hard, but he would have liked it even more with Shannon at his side.
She was standing now out front, everybody knowing not to crowd her out, that she was Show’s. She looked fine, dressed in jeans and tall black boots, wearing a flowing black top with lots of cleavage, her hair richly red and loose, left to its natural waves, as he liked it. He parked his bike, and she walked over as he was dismounting and removing his helmet.
“Hi. Good ride?”
He was sore as f*ck. His shoulder was screaming and his back and hips ached. But he wasn’t about to admit that shit. He grinned and pulled her close. “Great ride. Would’ve been even better with you. Missed you.” Grabbing her sexy chin, he tipped her face up and kissed her. “How was the wedding?”