Harley let her thoughts and worries drift behind her as she raced the wind. She loved the time she spent on her bike. It was just her, the road and being surrounded by nature. Unlike a car, where you watched it roll past through a frame, on a bike...you moved through it. Became a part of it. In Harley's mind, therapy was expensive, wind through your hair and the exhilaration of freedom that came from it...cheap, but priceless.
Everything just looked better from inside a motorcycle helmet. Or it did, until she spotted a large, black SUV swerving precariously behind her. Shifting down, Harley slowed a bit to allow it to pass. Keeping her eyes on the fast approaching car in her mirrors, she waited for it to speed by, but to her horror...it kept hurtling straight towards her. Doing the only thing she could think of, she jerked to the left as the SUV lurched to the right, missing her by inches, but not before it forced her to the soft shoulder of the road.
The front tire of her bike spun on the loose gravel, making her weave unsteadily and throwing her off balance. She tried to regain control, but between the momentum caused by passing SUV and the gravel...she was going down and there was nothing she could do to stop it. The world seemed to shift into slow-motion as she felt herself fall and the last thought she had was how much this was going to hurt as the bike laid over.
The sounds of ripping metal filled her ears. The low melodious growl of her pipes, replaced with breaking glass, crunching plastic, shredded chrome and the friction of gravel as it tore up the bike and bit into her skin. Landing hip first, Harley and her bike skidded across the asphalt and loose rocks before ending up wedged under a guardrail.
For a moment, she just laid there, panting and shivering from the adrenaline rush of the accident. Then agony hit as her brain started function on all cylinders. Pain slashed through her left hip, thigh and shoulder. She had felt pain before, but there was something which frightened her more than the throbbing...and that was the image of the doctor leaning over her hospital bed with a grave look on his old, tired face.
Of all the things she remembered from her fall in Vegas that memory was the most clear and haunting, sticking with her over the years as she recovered. Bit by bit, she had rebuilt her life along with her body, but that one afternoon when the doctor had warned her one more hit to her back and she would never walk again...always remained with her.
Biting her lip to keep the panic at bay, Harley concentrated on her feet. Closing her eyes, she wiggled her toes and breathed a long drawn out breath of relief when she felt them move inside her boots. Pain didn't mean diddly squat. Cuts, bruises and the road rash from hell she had was nothing in the grand scheme of things. All of it was a welcomed sign she was still alive and would heal.
Rolling over, she groaned as she sat up. Course, a little less pain would be nice, she thought, wincing as she pulled off her helmet and inspected the damage. Seeing the deeply etched grooves and dents it had taken instead of her head, she couldn't imagine why people refused to wear them. Tossing it to the side, she looked at the damage she'd sustained.
Her jacket was ripped and bits of dirt and gravel clung to the bloody raw patches of skin showing underneath. It was the same on her leg and hip, but it could have been worse. The leathers had done their job and took the brunt of the fall. Her skin could have been as easily shredded as the leathers, but instead, thanks to them...she only had minor scrapes and scratches.
Easing herself to her feet, she limped over to her poor bike which still purred and vibrated though it was jammed tight under the rail. Reaching down, she killed the engine before the heat of the pipes started a fire. From what she could see the forks were bent as were the handle bars. The clutch handle laid glinting in the sun a few feet behind her along with pieces of her windshield and blinkers.
Gritting her teeth through the pain, she tried to pull the bike out from under its galvanized steel prison, but it wouldn't budge. It was going to take way more muscle than she had to extract it out of there. Sighing, she shakily sat on the rail and cursed whoever that idiot in the SUV was. Scrubbing her hand over her face, she reached into her back pocket and pulled out her cell phone.
"Dammit," Harley moaned as she saw the broken screen. Hoping it was only cracked, she pushed the button, but...nothing. The screen remained black, reflecting her scowl. It was as shot as her bike. Shoving it in her pocket, she flinched as she stood back up. There was no other choice but to hoof it back to the ranch and hope like hell she could flag down a ride. As she took off limping down the road, pain shot up through her hip. Woo-boy, she prayed one would show up before she had to hike the full fifteen or so miles.
Travis grabbed the lead rope of yet another colt as he helped the Gypsy Rose boys unload the last of the three trailers filled with some of the best stock he had seen...well shit...anywhere. This one was a fantastic blue roan, flawlessly conformed with rippling muscles, perfect balance and a gate so smooth, he almost wept.
Turning the yearling loose, he leaned against the fence and watched as the colt bucked and snorted across the green meadow, joining up with his buddies who were already romping around enjoying their freedom from the trailer. It's no wonder people came from all over the country to breed to or buy one of these horses. He wouldn't mind upgrading his own breeding program with some stock of this caliber.
"Hey, Princess."
Cussing under his breath, Travis looked down at the shirt from hell. First opportunity he got, he was burning the son of a bitch. Pushing himself off the fence, he turned to see Bo walking up to him holding out an ice cold beer. Glancing up in the sky, he decided it had to be noon somewhere and despite the fact he hadn't eaten breakfast yet, he took the offering.
"Thanks." He tipped his head towards the guy and twisted off the cap and took a long pull. He was half tempted to hold the cold bottle up to his throbbing jaw in an attempt to ease some of the pain. But, since he didn't want to look like a pussy, he hoped the alcohol would at least lessen it some.
"Thanks for the help." Bo leaned his sizable body against the planked fencing and looked out over the meadow. "What do you do for a living, Montgomery?" he asked, not bothering to turn to face him as he took a drink of his own beer.
"I'm a rancher," he answered, hooking a leg up on the fence. "I own the Dusty Rose, just on the other side of this place." Travis indicated the general direction with his bottle. "We run a cow-calf operation."
Bo slowly nodded his head. "I've heard of it. You still running black baldies?"
Travis had a feeling the guy already knew the answer, but played along. "Black baldies are the result of our breeding program, we run Angus bulls and red and white Herefords."
Bo gave him an amused smile. "Touché." He sat up and faced Travis. "Business good?"
"We raise some of the top prime and choice organic beef in Montana, what do you think?" Travis challenged with a smug smirk.
"Organic?"
"Steroid free. Antibiotics free. Only fed the most certified organic grain. Each calf is born and raised on some of the purest certified organic pastures." Travis ticked each rule to being a USDA certified organic beef producer on his fingers. "And they have over 200,000 acres of some of the most beautiful Montana scenery for them to roam around in. So, you can add cage free to that list as well." He chuckled, taking a swig of his beer.
"Fuck. Do you read them a damn bedtime story at night?"
"If it would bring me more money per pound? You bet your sweet ass I would."
Bo threw his head back and laughed. "Smart move jumping on all this tree hugger know where your food comes from bullshit."
"Times are a changing. You either keep up or you're left behind."
"Something tells me your talking more than just beef cattle," Bo said, narrowing his eyes at Travis.
He shrugged his shoulders. "Take it any way you want." Travis didn't come out and say it, but it was a fact. Either they Gypsy Rose boys got on board with his relationship with Harley, or he would see to it they got left behind. Because he was sure as hell not giving her up. Not for anyone.
Bo was silent for a moment. His hazel eyes appraising before a smile broke across his face and he slapped Travis hard on the back.
"I think we are going to get along just fine, Princess." He rubbed the hair on his beard, narrowing his eyes. "Course, my threat still stands. Hurt one hair on her head and you will regret it."
Travis's stomach rolled. Either from the damn beer or at the memory of what exactly Bo had planned for him and his dick. "I think we can safely say we all have one thing in common," he leveled a serious look at the man next to him, "we all want what's best for Harley and we all love her."
"Love?" Bo's dark brows shot up to his do-rag. "You two have known each other for how long?"
Travis picked at the label on his beer bottle. "When you run into something as perfect as she is, you just know. Whether it takes months or only a few seconds, it doesn't matter. Love doesn't follow a time frame." He tilted his bottle back and took a sip. "I should know, I have been looking for her most of my life."
Bo snorted softly and turned back towards the meadow. "I guess I knew this day would happen eventually," he muttered. "I was just hoping like hell it wouldn't happen here."
Travis wasn't sure if he was still talking to him or only voicing his thoughts, but that last bit certainly caught his attention.
"You didn't want her to move here," he said, feeling he had hit the nail on the head of what was really the man's problems. He didn't want Harley in Wolf Springs, the question was...why?
"No, I didn't," he growled.
"Then why did you let her?" Travis was fairly certain he had just asked one of those none of your business type questions and he should probably feel bad about that...but he asked it anyway and he wasn't the least bit embarrassed about it. Besides, it wasn't like these boys held back when it came to the personal inquires.
"Have you ever tried to get her to change her mind when it's set on something?" he laughed dryly, taking a drink of his beer.
He had to admit, the man had a point. When it came to Harley, you were more likely to get a earful of sass from that smart mouth of hers than compliance. Travis liked that about her, almost as much as he liked that spanking ass of hers. Nope, on second thought, it was no contest...her ass won by a landslide.
"Hey, Princess! This your truck?" Tanner barked from across the yard, pointing at Travis's red dually. The four big behemoths rambling along behind him.
"Yes," he hollered back, pushing himself off the fence and heading for his truck.
"This dogfood you have back here, is it for Harley?" Tanner asked when he approached. "I need to feed the dogs before they start chewing on one of us and she's out."
King came over and sat at Travis's feet, looking up at him and leaning his head in for a pet. Giving him a scratch behind the ear, he smiled down at the dog who was thumping his tail like a sledgehammer into the ground. It was a hell of a lot more preferable now that they were buddies, although Jack was still worth keeping an eye on. He didn't need another set of busted balls, thank you very much.
"Why is your truck loaded with Harley's dogfood?" Bo asked grabbing one of the 40 pound bags.
"She had a run in with Rafferty at the feed store..." Travis grunted when the bag Bo had been holding dropped down on top of his foot.
"Rafferty," Bo growled the name, a look of pure hatred coating his face.
Not that Travis blamed him, most people had the same look Bo was sporting when they talked about asshole. But, unlike Bo, they had at least had the displeasure of meeting the man first.
"You know him?"
"Know who?" Cade asked, strolling up munching on a Pop Tart.
"Yeah, I know him," he grumbled. "Where is Harley?" Bo demanded, looking directly at Travis.
Taking a step back, Travis looked at him in surprise. How the hell did he know Rafferty? Normally, he didn't take everything someone said at face value, but the way Bo was acting, something was going on and worry started to work its way up his spine. "How the hell should I know?"
"You live here, do you have a guess?" Bo asked through clenched teeth.
"Bo, chill out man," Cade said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's Harley, she'll be back when she's damn good and ready."
"She's been gone long enough," Bo snapped, yanking his shoulder out of his grasp. "Where would she have gone, Montgomery?"
Travis took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair before putting it back on. Both Bo and Cade were looking at him expectantly and he felt as if he was being put on the spot. Did he agree to tell them where she might be...or did he keep his lips zipped and win some brownie points towards the woman who was currently pissed off at him. Lifting another bag out of the truck, he got a good gander at Bo's mug. There was apprehension there. Whatever was going on, it was more than him laying down the law.
Sighing, he relented. "There's only two places I can think of. She's either at the Dawg Days Café hanging out with Rebecca or with Desi at the Longhorn."
Bo turned on his heel and started barking orders. "Niko! Get these rigs moved, cleaned out and parked out back. Tanner, finish feeding the damn dogs. Diego!"
The Latino came bounding out of the house. "Si?"
"You're coming with me. Find the keys to Harley's pickup and let's roll."
Cade straightened up. "Where are you going?"
"I'm bringing Harley back. Now."
"I'm going with you," Cade mumbled, tossing the rest of his Pop Tart to one of the dogs.
"There's not enough room in the pickup," Bo told him with a shake of his head.
"He can ride with me," Travis volunteered." If they were going after Harley, then he damn sure wasn't getting left behind. Whatever was going on, he firmly intended to be a part of it.
Bo paused, glaring at him before nodding his head briefly. "You know this fucking stupid ass town. Lead the way."
Author's Note:
Hello everyone!
I have decided to put my books o a new rotating schedule. So, from now on or until further notice, When Roses Collide will be updated every other Tuesday. This gives me time to spend on creating quality chapters you deserve and actually gives me a chance to...you know...go outside once in awhile. LOL
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this latest installment and if you like it, you will consider giving it a vote. I also love hearing from you and comments are always appreciated. If you don't see any updates here...check out my other stories Bending Steele, FANGED and Steal You Away.
Sincerely,
K