Redemption Road

FOURTEEN

REV

ONE MONTH LATER

I had thought initially that having A

While I was at work, she sometimes went over to Mama Beth’s and helped her cook di

Physically, she seemed to heal almost overnight. You could attribute it to her age and her resiliency to overcome what she had been through. Breakneck would come by often to check on her. As he had directed, she spent a lot of time off her feet and resting.

It was her emotional state that worried me. She still refused to let her parents know her location. She did call them once she got to my house, and once again she used a disposable phone. Although I didn’t totally agree with it, I didn’t press her about it. It did slightly alarm me when she started researching the veterinary program at the University of Georgia. She seemed hell-bent on never returning to Virginia, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

She grew more and more dependent on me. After I had spent several nights on the lumpy couch, she finally talked me into sleeping in my bed with her. It wasn’t uncharted territory, since we had spent the night in the same bed before. But at the same time, there was an illicit feeling about it. I felt like a teenager sneaking off to do something I shouldn’t, which was not something I had felt for a very long time. While I didn’t want to think about A

There was also the fact that waking up with a beautiful woman wrapped around me did nothing to stop my morning wood. If A

Of course, any inappropriate thoughts easily fled when she woke up, screaming and thrashing, from nightmares at least two to three times a week. Since I was no stranger to those types of wake-up calls, I would merely reach through the sheets to bring her body closer to mine. “It’s okay, A

While I was helping A

But at the same time, I was begi

The true bright spot in her life, and if I let myself admit it, in mine as well, was Poe. Who knew a little deer could bring so much love and enjoyment to our lives? Through A

“But how . . .”

“With her tongue,” she replied.

“Disgusting,” I muttered.

Poe had moved from a small crate in my bedroom to a larger crate on the back porch. He was soon going to be big enough to use an old dog run we had on the property. A

Friday night found me finishing up a feeding with Poe. I had insisted that A

After I showered and shaved, I came out of the bedroom to find A

“Uh, yeah, actually I am. I have to go up to the roadhouse. One of our prospects is getting patched in.”

Her face took on a bewildered expression. “Patched in? What does that mean?”

I laughed. “It means he’s a full member of the club now. He doesn’t have to run around doing errands. He’s proven he’s worthy of us.”

“That all comes in the form of a patch?”

“Before, he had to wear a prospect’s patch, which is like a sign saying you’re everyone’s bitch. Now he gets the real deal.”

“Sounds interesting.”

“I don’t know about that. Of course, Crazy Ace, the guy we’re patching in, could make anything interesting.”

“Oh really?”

“If you want, I can walk you over to Mama Beth’s on the way,” I suggested as I grabbed my keys.

“Do women ever go to these things?”

I turned around to stare at her in surprise. In the entire month since she had been with me, she had never once set foot inside the roadhouse. One by one, the Raiders had come down to meet her. She seemed to do well with a few of us at a time. “Um, yeah, they do.”

“Then can I come? I mean, I hate to invite myself, but I’d like to get out for a while. And I’ve never seen the roadhouse.”

I fiddled with the keys in my hand. “Are you sure you’re up to it?” While I knew my brothers would be on their best behavior around A