“No paying for sex, Dick.” Lucas stabbed the words at me like a knife between the ribs.
“Oh, please.” As if I would ever have to resort to that. Dad held up a hand to end our bickering.
“This town has some of the finest people in the world. You’ll never find a better woman from anywhere else. The last stipulation is that my future grandchild's mother has to be from Caldwell Hope. Just like your mother was...” Dad looked us over one final time, then walked back into the house leaving Lucas and I on the bench overlooking the valley.
“There really was no way we were changing his mind on this,” I said more to myself than to Lucas.
I had to father a child.
“Fucking crazy...” Lucas said in the same distant manner. He was still processing the information as well.
Years of problem solving clicked on like a light bulb. My brain started breaking down the challenges, organizing them, developing little plans to overcome each obstacle. Success was just a numbers game; trial and error. Exposure to the people and the area was my first hurdle. I’d been gone for so long. How was I going to meet a lot of eligible women in the shortest amount of time possible?
How could I get the most bangs for my buck?
Then it dawned on me.
Lucas looked over at me, apparently seeing that there was a big idea written on my face. “What are you going to do?”
What was I going to do?
I looked him dead in the eyes and said, “I'm going to win.”
Chapter 5
Lucas
“Are you the Lucky Luke?” A young blonde sidled up to me at the bar.
I fucking hated that stage name.
And after what happened with Molly a week ago I certainly wasn't feeling all that lucky.
I had just started my night drinking in this hole-in-the-wall dive bar attached to a crappy motel on the outskirts of town. Only regulars, truckers and those lost physically or mentally ever came here. I didn't think it even had a proper name.
I thought for sure I'd be able to drink in peace here.
“Nope.” I gulped down the last of the beer I’d been nursing for the past half hour and slid a hundred under my glass for the bartender. Her comment made this one more drinking spot where I couldn’t relax and be, so I got up and left the building. I wasn't even buzzed yet and I was already running out of shady bars to drink at.
How else was I going to dull the thoughts that circled through my mind like vultures picking at a fresh kill. Soon I'd be stuck inside my hotel room drinking.
How pathetic was that?
I walked over to my bike, sat on the seat and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of the breast pocket of my half-buttoned, black, linen shirt. Every time I sparked up I reminded myself how terrible the habit it was. I wanted to quit, but never really had any reason to.
Considering what some of my other band mates were hooked on, I'd say I got off easy.
Knock a girl up or lose my inheritance. That was fucking insane!
I couldn’t shake the conversation we had earlier. It had been on my mind almost as much as thoughts of how bad I fucked up with Molly.
I loved my Dad, but he must be losing his mind. I can't just slam a baby into some girl and be done with it. For all his faults, I didn’t think Richard couldn't either.
But what the fuck did I know?
Yeah, I slept around a lot when I was young, stupid and wrapped up in the rock and roll lifestyle, but I always used protection. Always. It wasn't just to keep my cock clean, but also so I wouldn't get a girl pregnant.
I actually loved kids; I just wasn’t ready to be a father yet.
I knew myself better than to think I could raise one alone. They were a big deal! That's one of the things that made a guy into a man. The other was finding and protecting the woman you loved.
And just like that I started thinking of Molly for the hundredth time today. I had a lot to atone for in our past; regardless of how much of it started out as my fault. The fact of the matter was that I wasn't there when she needed me, and that eats me alive every damn day.
After all this time I come back home only to fuck up with her again! Money, fame, the satisfaction of beating Richard out of his inheritance... I'd give it all for one more chance to do right by Molly.
I sucked in one last lungful of smoke, crushed the cigarette—still burning ember and all—in my fist, then started my bike. “Let’s see what the next town has for bars.”
I'd barely left the parking lot when I heard shouting. Fame had trained me to never turn around for shouts, it was just an opening for photographers to catch you in the worst light imaginable.
My band mates never let me live down the tabloid cover photo that caught me looking up, mid bite of shawarma with a headline that said something like, “Lucky Luke an Alien? Finally the Proof!”
It was pretty funny. They framed it and kept it in the studio while we recorded our last album together. God, that was years ago now...
No wonder, I thought, pulling out on to the main road. The shouts were coming from the parking lot of an MC clubhouse. If nothing else, bikers knew how to make noise.
I tried not to look; it was none of my business. Having a bike of my own was where our commonalities ended. But then I saw something that couldn't be ignored. The sun had only recently gone down, but exterior lights had already kicked on allowing me to see the couple arguing in the parking lot.
I saw him—this tall, bearded, monster in a sleeveless leather vest—slap a woman to the ground and instinct took over.
In that moment he could've been fifty feet tall and I still would've rushed him. I didn't care. You don't hit women.
Period.
The road was empty enough for me to stop where I was, put the kickstand down and run toward them. I was no hero; I never went looking for trouble like this, but some things I just couldn't ignore. Mix that with an impulsive nature to begin with and well... I made the news a lot.
Getting close, I jumped at the biker right as he turned to face me. One heavy right-cross was all it took. He fell straight and slow like a large maple tree that had just been chopped down.
The knuckles in my right hand ached. Fuck, that sonofabitch had a hard head.
“Are you alright, Miss?” I dropped to a knee and wrapped my good arm around the brunette to help her up.
“I think so,” she said, picking up her glasses and letting me guide her to her feet.
Something on her wrist twinkled in the shitty parking lot light. A small, faded metal, heart pendant hung from her bracelet. My own heart skipped a beat and my breathing stopped being automatic.
“Molly?” I said in disbelief.
I gave her that for her seventeenth birthday. They were part of a matching set, and had the word forever inscribed on the back. I swallowed hard to avoid choking on my own tongue. She was still wearing it...
Did that mean she still cared about me?
“Luke?!” She said in hushed shout, then glanced around the parking lot. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing. The hell are you doing at a biker clubhouse? Are you out of your mind? And who the fuck is this prick?”
“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.” Molly panicked. “Do you have any idea what you just did?!”
“Not nearly enough.” A renewed rage washed over me when I looked down at the unconscious behemoth. Slapping a woman was bad enough, but hitting MY woman… made me want to stomp his head in with my boots until my legs got tired.