Simple Ride (Hellions Ride Book 6) (14 page)

The knock at the door
makes me smile. No longer do I have fear or tension of who will
come over. No, nowadays, my boys and I have a normal
life.

“
Hey, RJ,” I greet Vida’s
son.

“
Can Wes and Colt come
play? Papa will be home soon, and I can only play till dinner
time.” The boy looks up at me just as my boys come running up the
hallway to see their friend.

“
Sure thing,” I reply,
moving swiftly out of the way to watch the boys dash into the front
yard.

It’s not long before I hear the sounds
of a Harley coming up the driveway. Moving to the door so I can
call the boys inside and send RJ home, I am surprised to see
Boomer’s truck behind my car along with Ruby’s bike. Vida is
walking over from her house, I assume to gather up her
son.

I step off my front steps and into the
yard just in time to watch Boomer unfold from his truck.

“
Wesson, Colt, come over
here and help an old man out.”

“
Boomer, you’re not old.
Memaw is old. You’re nowhere near that,” Wesson says as he jogs
over and quickly gives Boomer a hug. Colt follows not far behind,
and my heart swells with pride and love as I look at the bond my
boys have found with the man who has given us
everything.

Boomer looks up, meeting
my gaze. He simply nods to me.

That’s how it is with us.
I don’t need poetic accolades, nor do I need him to rush over and
sweep me off my feet. The way he gives my whole life, the very
pieces of my world, attention is what makes us work. Boomer is
everything I ever needed and more, and I didn’t even know it.
Simply us and it simply works.

“
Hey, Pami,” Vida greets,
meeting up with me as we both make our way across my yard and to
our men who are focused on getting something out of the back of
Boomer’s truck.

“
Score for Wes and Colt!”
RJ screams as I see Ruby and Boomer unloading two bicycles. “You
got the ones like Papa made for us! Ride like a
Hellion.”

“
Really? Are these for us,
Boomer?” Colt asks.

“
I call red,” Wesson makes
his claim as Boomer smiles down at my—no, our boys.

We had that talk, the
conversation I was sure would send him away. Telling Boomer I had
my tubes tied and that I had no desire to have it undone was a
tough conversation. However, it was necessary. I didn’t want to
build something with him and have there be any secrets between
us.

Nathan ‘Boomer’ Vaughn is
an amazing man, full of love and compassion. He would be the best
father to a child of his own. For me, though, I don’t want to do
that to my boys. I don’t want to take anything away from the time I
have with them. I feel like I owe them so many memories that I
can’t imagine bringing another baby into our family. If that was a
deal breaker for Boomer, we needed to address it before I brought
him into my boys’ lives. Once again, the man proved just what a
perfect man he is for us.

“
Pami,” he told me, “I
didn’t have a life before you. I had a mom who did it all on her
own. She gave me good, honey. I’m gonna give you and your boys
good. I’m a simple man, and I got all I need in you and your
family, baby.”

Just like that, we moved
on together, and now here he is with bikes for my boys. Not just
any bikes, either, custom designed, Hellions’ bicycles.

“
Gotta start ’em young,”
Ruby says, smiling at me.

I laugh as I watch Wesson taking in
the bike that has been outfitted with a fabricated gas tank,
saddlebags, and even rearview mirrors.

“
Safety,” Boomer says,
winking at me as he pulls a matching black bike down for Colt,
while Ruby helps the boys put on their helmets.

Wesson immediately hops on
the bike and takes off with only a mild wobble. That’s my oldest,
though; he has always faced things head-on and taken
off.

Colt looks at me as I wrap
my arm around Boomer’s waist. Then he looks at Boomer holding the
bike by the handlebars, but Colt doesn’t move.

Ruby makes his way to Vida
and wraps her in his arms, planting a firm kiss to her lips like he
does every time he gets close to her. RJ runs off to his house to
get his own bike as his sisters play in their front
yard.

Colt moves over to Boomer,
looking at me then to the man beside me.

Boomer squats down to get
eye-level with my son. “You all right, Colt?” he asks, and my son
leans over to whisper in his ear.

I can’t hear what he says,
only see the fear in his eyes.

Boomer nods his head and
stands. Taking my son’s bike with his right hand, he extends his
left for Colt. My boy releases the bike, and hand in hand, Boomer
guides them out to our quiet street.

I watch with tears filling my eyes as
Boomer shows my baby boy the brakes, the mirrors, the pedals, the
chain, and every piece to the bike.

I move closer to hear
Boomer say, “We can get you some training wheels if you want, or we
can try it out and see how you do. I’ll hold on to your seat from
the back.”

“
Don’t let go,” Colt
pleads.

“
Never,” Boomer reassures
him. “That’s how it is in the Hellions, Colt. We never let go, and
we always have your back.”

If that isn’t the truth of
the motorcycle club I have found my way into, I don’t know what
is.

I look to my little boy who smiles
proudly at the man who has captured my heart.

“
Then what are we waitin’
for? Let’s ride, Boomer.”

I think to myself,
let’s ride for life, Boomer. Simple as
that.

~Boomer~

Sometimes, things have to
go slowly. Pamela and I are a testament to this.

After being apart for so long, I
didn’t want to encroach on her reestablishing her place with her
boys. On the other hand, I didn’t want to be almost six hours from
the woman I have fallen in love with. Having no real roots in
Catawba other than the Hellions and Shooter, making the move to
Haywood’s Landing wasn’t hard.

I sold my cabin and land, turning a
decent profit. Making the move, I was able to buy a few acres not
far from the compound and build a place big enough for Pami, her
boys, and her mom to live. It may seem crazy that I left my life
behind to keep her from having to uproot her kids again, but my
life is where she is.

Now I only have one last
piece of my past I need to put to rest so I can move on with my
future.

As I pull into the
driveway, his gray Ford truck sits in the driveway just like it did
years ago. I look up to the blue sky above and hope he is watching.
I hope he can see that, even though I felt like it should have been
me, I have somehow made it through.

Climbing off my bike, I
head to the front door and ring the bell. It’s not long before
Melonie opens the door.

“
Boomer,” she greets in
surprise.

“
Melonie.” I lean in and
hug her.

She steps back, and I
enter the home of my friend’s widow and feel the weight lifted off
as I see the pictures lining the walls of her son.

“
Boomer, what brings you
here?”

“
Wanted to check on
you.”

She reaches out and squeezes my hand.
“We’re good, Boomer. You can let go.”

I squeeze her hand back. “Never,
Melonie.”

Tears fill her eyes. “We’re good. I
want you to know that.”

“
If you ever need
anything—”

“
I’ll call. You’ve gotta
let go, Boomer. Life goes on. Skid died doing what he loved to do.
He left this world with honor and integrity. Don’t let that be
wasted. You’ve gotta live life, Boomer.”

Seeing the sincerity in
her eyes and knowing she genuinely cares, I am proud to stand
before her as the man I am today.

I pull her into me and hug
her tightly.

“
Boomer, talk to me.
Something has changed.” She’s never been one to hold
back.

“
There have been a lot of
years I wished I could turn back the hands of time. I wanted to
give him back to you.”

She pulls away, and I see
the tears fall down her face. “I have him with me, Boomer. No one
can take him from me not the Army or the enemy. He’s in my heart;
he’s in my child; he’s forever in my world.”

“
I never felt like I had a
purpose. Always was a drifter. I did what I had to do, but I
existed. Then we lost Skid, and I couldn’t move on like it didn’t
happen. I rode wherever the road would take me for a lot of years,
Mel. It took a long time, but it brought me to a place, and I found
someone.”

Her eyes light up and a smile creeps
across her lips. “I’ve been worried about you.”

“
I would still trade
places with him; you know that, right? No matter what, if I could,
I would trade places with him so you wouldn’t have to bear the
pain.” It’s the truth. As happy as I am, I would give it all away
to give my brother back his life.

“
With pain comes healing,
Boomer. I value the time I had with him, the gifts of the memories
we made. You know, not everyone finds a love like I had. Not
everyone gets to marry their very best friend. Not everyone gets to
know a man who will stand up to the very end for the values he
believes in. My husband did that. My husband gave his last breath
serving someone other than himself. Boomer, you’ve gotta find that
love. You’ve gotta give some woman that kind of man.”

She is okay. I needed this. I needed
the closure.

I give her another hug and pull away.
“I have that.”

“
Then hold on tight and
make every moment count. Don’t take one second for granted. Keep it
simple. You love through the good times and the bad. You love
through the close times and beyond any distance. Boomer, no matter
what happens, you simply love each other through it.”

~~~

“
Boomer, I don’t think
we’re supposed to be here.”

I laugh. “Where is your rebellious
side, Pami?”

“
At home with my kids,” she
replies dryly. “Seriously, someone bought this place months ago. I
don’t think they would appreciate us being here.” She doesn’t know
I sold my cabin. She doesn’t know I bought the field with the old
farm house and had it remodeled.

I have been living in one
of the duplexes Roundman has on the compound while Pamela and I
have been getting to know each other better and introducing me into
her sons’ lives. Over time, I have had enough sleepovers that I
live in her doublewide with them more than at the compound, even
though we haven’t made living together official.

I want more than that, though. I want
it all, and I want it all officially.

Reaching over the cab of truck, I
squeeze her hand. “Trust me.” I then climb out and round the hood,
making my way to open her door.

“
I should’ve known you
were up to trouble today when we didn’t take the bike out, and we
don’t have the boys.”

“
I love the sound of
that.”

She reaches up and checks my forehead.
“No fever. Are you crazy today? The sound of what?”

“
We and boys in the same
sentence.”

She laughs, and my heart beats
faster.

“
Boomer, the boys love
you.” Tears fill her eyes. “You-you …” She inhales deeply. “Boomer,
you’re everything they’ve never had, everything we’ve never
had.”

Leaning in, I brush my lips over
hers.

As much as I want to get lost in the
moment with her, I can’t. No, I have so much more to take care of
first.

“
I love them,
Pami.”

She nods, knowing it’s the
damn truth. Then she takes my hand and hops out of the truck. I
turn her to face the two-story farm house with the large wraparound
porch.

“
One day,” she
sighs.

“
Remember when the sign
went up and you said how you saw the potential in this place being
restored?”

She nods her head.

“
You said you would keep
it white with black shutters; only, you would make the front
columns black instead of white.”

She takes in the house and the black
columns in front of her.

“
I believe it was a red
door you always wanted.”

She looks to the red front door and
nods her head.

I step away and go to the back of the
truck to reach under the tarp. Her eyes go wide as she looks at
what I removed.

“
Well, I had to buy it in
white, but Sass and Vida helped make it black for you, honey. I
remember you saying once how you liked the idea of a black picket
fence, too.”

She shakes her head as
tears fall down her face. “No.”

I nod. “Yeah,” I say,
moving the fence panel to the edge and laying it on the ground in
front of us.

“
Boomer, no.”

The shock on her face has me on
edge.