“What about Ty?” Connie asked. Connie and Ty were very close and she had already expressed her concern that Zane might not want to have anything to do with his son.
“I’m not sure yet. I need to give it some thought.” Her hand hovered over her purse again. “He has a right to know about his son, and I need to know the truth of what happened that night. But I don’t want Ty to get hurt if Zane’s not interested in being part of his life. Zane didn’t come looking for me. If he hadn’t been chasing Axle, he would have been content to spend his life not knowing or caring where I was.”
“Well, you probably don’t have to worry about it.” Connie ran her fingers through her hair. She’d added blue and red streaks after Ty’s favorite superhero character as a welcome home-from-camp surprise. “Sounds like you slapped some sense into him and now that he’s got Axle, he has no reason to come back.” She paused and frowned. “What’s Vipe gonna think about man getting shot by your ex at your shop? What if he thinks you’re involved?”
“I’m not. And I’m definitely not interested in getting it on with a man who would shoot someone in cold blood.”
“’Cause Vipe’s such a saint, is that right?”
“You’re very irritating.” Evie huffed. “Did I ever tell you that? And I haven’t seen any evidence that Viper is a bloodthirsty killer. He’s a biker is all.”
Connie laughed. “I call ’em as I see ’em, and right now I see you still got feelings for Zane ’cause it’s only eleven o’clock and you’re on your second coffee of the day, which means you can’t sleep. Not only that, you’re already having second thoughts about the first guy who’s caught your interest since I’ve known you. Not that I’m in Vipe’s corner, but so far he’s treated you good and you were all excited when Axle showed up to set up the next date.”
“Maybe he’s too old for me.” Evie lowered her voice when she spotted one of Ty’s friend’s moms headed in their direction.
“Didn’t seem to bother you until you laid eyes on the same version—intense outlaw biker, leather cut, kick-ass bike—but twenty years younger.” Connie mused. “I sense a little age discrimination going on. Lookit those fifty-plus movie stars getting hitched to women twenty or thirty years younger. You don’t hear those women whining that their man is too old.”
“That’s true. But when I think of Viper in bed as compared to … oh, I don’t know … maybe Zane, there really is no contest.” She glanced at Connie, blushed. “Of course I’ve never slept with Viper and only once with Zane, and that was in a forest on some scratchy leaves and cold grass with rocks digging into my ass, so it’s not really a fair comparison—more of a thought comparison—but, my God, you should see the pipes on Zane now, and that chest…”
“I’m not wearing pink to your wedding,” Connie said. “I have a closet full of pink frothy bridesmaid dresses. I want something slick and chic. Maybe black leather if you’re getting hitched to a biker.”
The school bus door opened and the crowd surged forward taking Connie and Evie with them. “Nice to see you’re already getting me married off,” Evie braced herself against the stampede. “If the day ever comes, I won’t want a wedding. So no need to worry that I’ll deck you out in flamingo pink.” She waved when Ty appeared at the top of the stairs.
“You are SO a wedding girl,” Connie said. “Some people are meant to shack up and live in sin. Like me. People like you, however, who hide a fundamentally conservative nature behind a streak of wild, are meant to wear tulle, dance to “At Last” by Etta James, and have a happily ever after.”
“You’ve got it backward.” Evie gave in to the tide and let the crowd push her forward. “It’s the wild in me that’s gone into hiding. When Zane and I were in high school, we’d do all sorts of crazy things—climb trees, walk fences, drag race … stuff like that. One Saturday night we got up on the church roof, watched the stars, smoked a joint, and talked until dawn. Then we rang the church bell and just got away before my dad and his deputy showed up. Jagger used to have fits when we told him what we did, although I think secretly he was jealous. He was just too responsible to join us.” She hesitated, bit her lip. “I always felt the most like me when I was with Zane, like I could do anything and he would be there to catch me. I still miss that feeling.”
She made it to the front of the crowd just as Ty came down the steps. “And, by the way,” she said over her shoulder. “If I was going to have a wedding, my first song would be Radiohead’s, ‘True Love Waits.’”
Connie laughed. “I’m definitely wearing leather.”