Epilogue
Riley
It was good to have Silas back after his three-week stint in London. I wanted to go with him, but I couldn’t leave the kids alone. I would eventually make time for holidays, or hire someone to help me, but I was still building up the company. It was going so well, and I believed it was important for me to be a part of it all in the beginning. I would only hire someone to help once I was completely confident in it myself. But it was going well, and for the first time in my life, I actually enjoyed my job. I also spent my spare time working on my own book, filled with my own short stories and illustrations. I had found a publisher for the first one and while that was getting edited, I was working on the second. Things just seemed to be finally falling into place for me.
I looked at Silas now, sitting across from me at the restaurant, and grinned. Just as I did, I caught sight of myself in the mirror above him and groaned. My hair seemed to have a life of its own whenever I came back from a bike ride. I tried to smooth it down while Silas looked on in amusement.
“I like your hair like that.”
“Yeah, but not in a restaurant,” I said.
“Even in a restaurant.”
“Oh well,” I said as I eventually gave up. “I’m not even going to bother with it anymore. Now that I have my own bike, I’m going to have to come to terms with the idea that this is just what I’m going to look like for most of the time. I still can’t believe you got me a bike. A bike! I have a motorcycle! I can’t believe it. I can’t wait to learn.”
“I’m glad you like it,” he said. He seemed nervous tonight. Something about him was different. He kept wiping his hands on his jeans like they were sweating too much even though the air in the restaurant was cool.
“Everything okay? You seem a bit distant tonight.”
He smiled. “I’m good. Sorry, I’m just thinking about you on the motorcycle. It’s quite a sexy look,” he said.
I giggled. “You might not think so when I fall off.”
“You won’t.”
“Uh-oh,” I said. “I see someone looking your way. I swear, after a year of this I’m still not used to the fact that people recognize you all the time. You’re just normal Silas to me.”
“Just normal Silas? Really? Is that all I am to you?”
I laughed. “I like normal Silas. So come on, Country, what’s my nickname going to be?”
“It’s not me who decides,” he said.
“Okay, but give me one, anyway.”
“Sexy.”
I groaned. “No, come on, be serious.”
“I am.”
“A nickname that everyone will call me.”
“Sexy.”
I blushed. “Silas!”
“Okay, okay,” he said and laughed. “Hmm, no, I’m still sticking to Sexy.”
I shook my head. “You’re impossible.”
“And you’re Sexy.”
The waiter came by as he said the words and I could feel the heat rising even more to my face. I used the menu to fan myself and tried not to look the waiter in the eye as I placed my order. When he walked away, I looked at Silas and shook my head. “You drive me crazy; you know that?”
“A good sort of crazy?”
“The best sort of crazy.”
For the past three weeks, I’d eaten at home alone. I’d missed my evening talks with Silas. We were both extremely busy now, him with his music and me with my new business venture, but we always tried to eat dinner together at night. And in the mornings, we always enjoyed a cup of coffee outside. I had finally hired someone to help with the garden, and the place had been transformed. It was almost good enough for a tea party, and I knew that my grandmother would be proud. I still had no idea why she had left me the house or what she really thought about me. I had gone through every closet, and every drawer, and found nothing to point me in the right direction. But still, despite the mystery that surrounded her gift to me, I knew that she would’ve been happy with what I had done with the place. Every single day I made some time to look around and say a silent thank you to her for everything that she had done for me. I never wanted to forget how lucky I was.
After dinner, Silas seemed to be getting more and more nervous. What was going on with him? I asked him again, but he said he was just getting tired. The long flights and the three weeks away had finally caught up to him. He’d also had a strong cup of coffee and now seemed a little hyped up. I couldn’t help but laugh at him.
“Why don’t you let me drive home?” I said as we stepped out.
“What time is it, by the way?” he asked, completely ignoring what I said.
“Nine.”
“Nine,” he said and nodded. “Perfect. Come on, let’s go home.”
I had no idea why the time was of any sort of significance, but I figured he just wanted to get home and get a good night’s sleep. But when we got home, I knew that something was going on. As we drove into the driveway, I noticed rose petals and candles now lined the side. He stopped the bike and helped me off. I looked around and gasped. It was like we had just been transported into a fairy tale. I turned to ask him what was going on but he took my hand and began to walk. As we turned the corner, I saw more candles and a blanket right where we always had our coffee in the mornings. It looked different at night, and I watched as he bent down and picked up a bunch of flowers. He handed them to me and smiled.
“Silas . . . this is beautiful,” I said.
“Sit with me,” he said, and the two of us sat down on the blanket together. He took my hand and looked at me.
“Riley, I love you. I fell in love with you the first time I saw you, and since then I have only grown to love you more and more. I always thought that the most important thing in my life was my singing. I thought it was the only thing that I ever wanted in my life. But it’s not. You are the only thing I want. Everything else is just an added bonus to me. The most important thing in my life is you. You’re everything I have ever wanted, and I never want to be without you again. Riley, I have a song for you. It’s a song I’ve been working on for the past month, and it’s about to be released. But before it is, I want to sing it to you.”
“A song for me?”
He nodded. I hadn’t had time to notice my surroundings, but I suddenly saw his guitar case sitting in the shadowed corners of the blanket. He opened it up and pulled it out. Then, as we sat there on the blanket, with the candles flickering around us, he began to sing. The song was all about me, all about our life together. The things he loved about me, the way I made him feel. Then, right at the end, he looked up and sang the final words to the song.
“Life without you is no life at all. When I look at you, I feel free. I look at you and breathe in love. Please, marry me.”
He stopped then, and took my hand. “Riley, I love you so much. This year with you has been the best year of my life. Please, will you marry me?”
I burst into tears. “Yes. Yes! Of course, I will marry you,” I said and leaned in to kiss him.
He pulled a ring from out of his jeans, which I realized he must’ve been carrying all night, and placed it on my finger.
“This is amazing,” I said. “How did you do all this? I mean, you only got back today.”
“That’s why I wanted to get you out of the house for so long. While we were out riding and going for dinner, Paisley and Ruben were here setting this all up.”
“Really? She knew! But I saw her this morning, and she didn’t say a thing.”
“Good. I knew I could trust her. I wasn’t sure about Ruben, though. I told him he couldn’t come and see you today.”
I laughed. “No wonder! I had invited them both over for breakfast. I wondered why he didn’t come. Good call though, he would’ve totally given it away.” Ruben wore his heart on his sleeve and showed his emotions easier than anyone I had ever met before. A great guy, but he would never have been able to pull it off. “A new motorcycle, a new helmet, dinner, a bike ride, and an engagement ring. I hereby call this the best day ever.”
“Oh, I think I finally have a nickname for you,” he said.
“You do?”
“How does Wife sound?”
I laughed. “I like the sound of that.”
The song became a hit, and Silas titled it, “Country and Wife.” It became his favorite song to perform, even though it didn’t make much sense to anyone else but them.
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DIRTY BIKER
By Alycia Taylor
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Alycia Taylor
Chapter One
Ian
I could never understand why people worked in a job they didn’t like. Sure, they needed money. But when did their passions leave them? When did they stop working toward a career they actually enjoyed? I’d been told that I like my job too much, if there was such a thing. But how could I not? I got to play around with motorcycles all day. They’d been a part of my life since I was just a little kid, and my love for them had only gotten stronger as I’d gotten older. There was just something about knowing how it all worked that made riding them even better. I could clearly remember the first bike I worked on. My father had let me help in in the shop, and he’d told me that I had an aptitude for it that he’d never seen before. And I knew he wasn’t just saying that to me because I was his son. He was a no-bull sort of man, and when he said something, you always knew that he meant it. From that very first day, I knew that it was what I wanted to do with my life. And I’d been doing it from such a young age that it now came naturally to me.
I had my head under one of the bikes that had been dropped off yesterday morning when my father walked in.
I didn’t see him at first. If I had, I would’ve seen him survey the shop and shake his head in despair. Instead, I heard him cough and I turned my head to see who it was. I probably should’ve known that it was going to be him. He had a very distinct cough, and he was always popping into the shop to see how things were going. But I’d been concentrating too hard on the bike to really notice what was around me.
“Oh, hey, Dad,” I said and crawled out from under the bike. I stood up to shake his hand.
I got along well with my father, but he’d always demanded respect from his sons. My other brothers often didn’t show it to him, but I probably had just the right amount of fear to give it. He shook my hand firmly and frowned.
“Ian, what’s going on here?” he asked.
“What do you mean, Dad? I’m working.”
“Did you get that bike yesterday?”
It still amazed me how he knew every bike intimately, even if he’d only seen them for a few minutes. He could pick out a bike from a lineup without fail. If people thought that I was passionate about motorcycles, then they had clearly never met my father.
“Yes, it came through yesterday morning. It’s Trevor Lynn’s bike. Remember him? He used to live a few blocks down from us all those years back. The guy with the funny mouth. I hadn’t seen him in such a long time. I’ll tell you, I never pegged him as the motorcycle sort of dude, but clearly, I was wrong.”
My father nodded impatiently. “Yes, I know who Trevor is. I think he started riding because of me. But you should be done with this bike by now. A whole lot of new ones came in this morning.”
I followed his gaze toward the row of bikes in the corner and sighed. “Yeah, I know, Dad. It’s just that we’re so busy right now. I thought that you’d be happy about that. There was a time when we were worried about keeping the shop open, but now we have more customers than ever. I don’t know how it happened, but they love us.”
“Yes, that’s good. Of course it is. I’m very happy about that. But the reason people come to this shop is not just because we are good at what we do: it’s because of the quick turnaround time. Things have changed these days. People have become impatient. Sure, they want the job to be done well, but they now also want the job to be done quickly. It’s just the way that the world is going. Now, you know I can’t work like I used to, and you’re running the show now. But you need to make some smart decisions, too. You’re not just working on the bikes now, but you’re also running a business.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked. I wasn’t sure I liked where this conversation was going. Especially since I had been working hard all day without any breaks. I could have used a cup of coffee and a sandwich, but I’d been putting off lunch so I could get the work done. Did my father not see how hard I worked?
“All I’m saying is that you might need to start thinking about hiring some more mechanics. I know we’ve had this conversation before, but maybe it’s time you really sat down and gave it some serious thought.”
I shook my head. “No way, Dad. I don’t want some random person coming into this shop to work. This is our family business.”
“A ‘family business’ that only you and I care about,” my dad said. “Which is fine, but it does mean that we should think about getting some more hands on deck.”
I sighed. He wasn’t wrong. I had four brothers, and while they all loved bikes, none of them had an interest in running the shop. I’d even once asked my cousins if any of them wanted to be a part of the business, but they’d all said no. And I had six male cousins who would’ve been a great help to us. I had no idea why it was only me that had wanted to continue in my father’s footsteps. But perhaps that was for the better, though; I’m not sure if I’d even want to work with them, anyway.
“Don’t forget Chris,” I reminded him. Chris was my best friend, and the only person I really trusted in the shop with me. I hadn’t hesitated to say yes when he’d first asked if he could help out in the shop. Anyway, sometimes he felt more like a brother to me than my actual brothers did.
“I know you have Chris. But two guys doing all this work is simply not going to be enough. Look at all the bikes you have. How on earth are the two of you going to be able to get those done in enough time to make the customers happy? How do you think they will feel when they come in here and see that you haven’t even started on them yet?”
“We can handle it, Dad. Come on, we’ve just hit a busy patch, but it’s not always like this.”
“But it should be like this. Busy is good. And if you and Chris can’t work faster, then you’re going to have to get some people in to help you.”
“Then we’ll work faster.” My father might be a very determined man, but I was just as willful. He’d allowed me to run the shop, and I wanted to show him that I could do a good job. I had great faith in myself and Chris as a team. We’d always worked well together, and I had no idea why anything should change.
“Fine. Suit yourself. You really are a stubborn one, aren’t you? There are times when you just have to swallow your pride and admit that you need help.”
“But I don’t need help,” I insisted. I stood up straight and looked him in the eye. I was serious, and I wanted him to know that I wasn’t going to back down.
“Hmm,” my father said with uncertainty. I knew he wasn’t going to let this go, but he seemed reluctant to keep going with it now. As usual, he’d let me think he’d forgotten about it and then come back to me in a few weeks and bring it up again. “Anyway, I have to go now. I have a few things that I need to get from the shop. But give some thought to what I said, Ian. I think you should at least give some consideration to what I’m saying. Don’t just shrug it off because of your stubbornness. Think about it. Don’t be stupid, okay? This is our company—our livelihood—and we need to be smart about it.”
I felt annoyed at my father’s words. I was being smart about the company. In fact, I was always putting the company first. I just wasn’t sure if my father realized that. I was still scowling after my father when Chris walked in.
“Whoa. What’s wrong with you, Gunner? You look mad about something.”
I couldn’t help but smile at the nickname. Most people, except my father, called me Gunner. At least I knew that I had Chris on my side. I’d asked my father to call me it once, but he’d refused.
“Ah, it’s my father. He thinks we need more people to help run the shop. He says we are too short-staffed for the amount of work that we have. Obviously, he just caught me at a bad time. I’m usually a lot quicker with the bike, but this one in particular just happened to need a lot of work. Anyway, I’ve heard this story before, and I’m sure I’ll hear it again. But I’m not going to give in. I’m going to prove that I don’t need anyone else here.”
Chris shrugged. “Hey, I don’t think it’s such a bad idea. And I’m all for listening to Pop. That guy knows what he’s doing. I mean, he had this place running smoothly for many years before we got here. He knows things that we don’t know.”
I looked at Chris. “Really? You don’t think it’s a bad idea? Are you crazy?”
“Why not, man? The two of us could definitely use a helping hand. I think it could be pretty cool. Imagine how much more we could get done. We really are a lot busier lately than we used to be, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get quiet any time soon. We could get the new person to do all the jobs that we don’t like doing. And we could probably spend more time doing the bikes that we like rather than rushing. I hate rushing.”
Chris most definitely hated rushing. He was one of the most laid-back guys I’d ever met. My father had once told me that Chris was a good influence on me. He was the calm in my storm. But there were times, like this, when he frustrated me. Although I couldn’t quite get too mad at him. This wasn’t his family business. This was just a job to him. He loved his job, but he’d never feel the same way that I did about it.
“No way. I don’t want other people working in this shop. This is a family business. I don’t want some weirdo here. I already told my father that it’s important to keep this family only.”
“I’m not family.”
“You are to me. I’ve known you long enough, my dad loves you, and I get along better with you than I do with my own brothers. No, this shop is better just being the two of us. We know what we’re doing. And it’s not always this busy. We’ll get through it. You happy to work an extra hour or two tonight?”
Chris shrugged. “Sure, only if you buy me a beer afterward.”
“Now that I can definitely do. You see, we’ve got this. Nobody else would be as dedicated as we are. We don’t need anyone else.”
“Well, I don’t really care, to be honest. I love it here, and your father pays well. And I get to fiddle around with bikes all day. Nothing wrong with that.”
I smiled at him. It always felt good to have someone on my side. “You see? At least you get it. Now, when are you going to join the bike club? I’m glad you’re working here and all, but you’d love the bike club, man. I promise you. It’s so different to this; it’s like the other side of bikes.”
It wasn’t the first time that I’d asked Chris to join the club. Even my brothers were a part of it. But Chris didn’t seem interested. He liked working in the shop but didn’t feel like adding to his responsibilities. I kept telling him that there wasn’t a huge amount that he really had to do, but he was happy to carry on with his life as it was. And he was a very hard person to influence. When Chris set his mind on something, he stuck to it no matter what.
He shook his head, just as I thought he would. “Nah, I’d rather not. Honestly, I’m happy just working here. The club is not for me. Maybe one day.”
I grunted. “Sure, sure. Maybe one day. That’s what you always say. Man, the guys at the club are so much older than me. Most of them, anyhow. It would be cool to have someone my own age around for a change. Anyway, think about it.”
“I will,” he said, and I knew he wouldn’t.
“Now, I better get back to this bike. I’m almost done. If my father walks in again and sees that I’m still working on it, he’s going to have a fit. I swear, that man doesn’t trust me at times.”
“Well, he lets you run the shop. So, I think he trusts you more than you think he does.” Chris, as usual, was sticking up for my father.
I shook my head. “I don’t know so much, Chris.”