Shade(289)

Gavin placed his arm around Viper’s shoulders. “We were the last ones standing. We were outnumbered three to one, and we still kicked their asses.”

“That’s what we should call our club,” Shade said, shifting to try to make himself more comfortable. They hadn’t taken his cuffs off.

“What?” Gavin asked.

“The Last Riders.”



“Remember when King had the same reaction to you?” Lily reminded him, bringing Shade back to the present.

“I don’t give a fuck. Brick makes me look like a saint,” Shade snarled.

“I wouldn’t go that far.” She laughed.

Shade gritted his teeth, staring at the man who had stolen his granddaughter while he had been recovering in the hospital.

“Where’s Lucky? I may not be able to kick Brick’s ass, but I can his grandfather.”

“The men would laugh at two old men fighting in the backyard.” Lily shook her head at him.

“They won’t laugh long,” Shade threatened.

“Shade, look at her. She loves him.”

His lips tightened. Violet’s eyes gazed at him with tears in her eyes at knowing he was upset with the two of them together. She had been living in Tennessee until about a month ago and only came to Treepoint when she had found out he was being operated on.

Brick stared back, looking at him much the same way Shade had looked at King. Lily was right; it was too late. Brick wasn’t going to let anyone take Violet away from him.

“I’ll accept it on one condition.”

“What?” Lily asked.

“You have to give me another fifty years,” Shade bargained. Lily pressed her face into his shoulder.

“We only celebrated our fiftieth a few months ago, and you think we’ll make in another?” Lily’s face softened. “Haven’t you had enough of me yet?”

“No,” Shade scowled. “Brick put a ring on her yet?”

“No, he already talked to John, but he wanted to talk to you before he proposed.”

“Good, then I can tell him hell no to his face.”

“Shh … they’ll hear you, Shade. And you know you don’t mean it, anyway.”

Oh, yes, he fucking did, but he wanted Violet happy, and that bastard would make sure that none of life’s ugliness would touch his granddaughter. For that reason only, he nodded at the man staring back at him so resolutely.

“Dad, we’re going in. Mom, are you ready for me to carry you back inside?” Clint interrupted the staring contest.

“In a little while.” Lily pressed harder against Shade’s side.

“I have my cell phone. I’ll call when she’s ready,” Shade told his youngest son.

He nodded, giving his father a smile that reminded him of himself when he was young and full of shit. Shade watched him bend down and kiss his mother’s pale cheek.

“I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too.”

After their son walked into the house, it gradually quieted, and the crickets began to chirp again.

“I’m sorry,” Lily whispered.

“What for?” Shade turned to look at her.

“I’m not going to be able to give you another fifty years.”

Shade stared down into her tired face. They were both aware they weren’t going to make it to their fifty-first, though neither one wanted to speak the thought out loud.

He knew the only reason she had held on as long as she had was because of him. He still remembered the day the previous year when her doctor had told him Lily was dying. The doctor had sat behind his desk, crying, while Shade had held his own tears back. He had called him to come into town without Lily in order to tell him what he hadn’t been able to tell her: she had only a few months to live. Neither of them had to tell her; she had known without being told.#p#分页标题#e#

When she had found out Shade’s own doctor had wanted to operate on his heart, and he had refused, she had cried. How did he expect her to fight when he wouldn’t fight for his own life? He hadn’t argued with her, not wanting her upset, so he had the surgery, recovering as he watched Lily slip farther away.

“You still going to marry Bliss?” Lily teased.

“No, her husband will beat me with his cane.” Shade swallowed the lump in his throat.

Lily laughed, the joyful sound still able to twist his stomach in knots.

“Shade … Thank you for a wonderful life. I love you. You’ve given me everything out of life I could ever want. Then, when I didn’t think there could possibly be more, you showed me there was. You gave me the faith to believe I was strong enough to handle anything, hope that somehow in this crazy universe we’ll never be apart, and you gave me your love.