Lindsay and Ashley sat on the couch in Johanna and Chief's living room. Johanna sat cross-legged on the floor facing them. She tried to show interest in the conversation, but her mind kept drifting back to Chief.

He'd stayed home all day yesterday to take care of business while he sent crews out looking for Skid. Then, he'd left early with the club this morning on business. She wished she had someone to bounce her thoughts off on over Skidd and the destruction he'd caused at the club and his attack on her, but she'd never leaned on her girlfriends when it came to anything that had to do with Brikken.

They were protective of her, and despite them attending club parties and Ashley briefly going out with Olin, they'd made their opinion clear about her living with Chief.

"God, we're like old ladies, sitting around on a Monday evening drinking coffee." Lindsay kicked off her shoes and put her feet under her. "Most women at twenty-four years old have a date."

"On a Monday?" Ashley wrinkled her nose. "I doubt it. Besides, you're two years older than me, and I've never gone out on a date on a Monday. Work ruins everything."

"Johanna's twenty-three, smack in the middle of us, and has been shacked up for four years." Lindsay raised her brows. "We're slacking in the romance department, sis. She'll be popping out babies soon and forcing us to babysit if we don't get our asses in gear and find us a man."

"I don't think so." Johanna cupped the coffee mug in her hands.

Ashley pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and covered her legs. "I thought you always wanted to have two kids. A boy and a girl. Did you change your mind?"

She'd been in junior high when she came up with the idea that having two children would make the perfect family. Back then, she believed the natural order of the universe meant you got married, had sex, and babies came right away. As a young girl, she planned everything around Chief and thought he'd like having a daughter since he already had sons.

"I haven't really thought about having kids lately." She sipped from the cup. "Chief has three grown sons. I doubt if he wants to start all over with babies. He's going to be fifty years old in a couple of months."

"What if he did?" Lindsay waved her hand in the air. "What would you want first, a boy or girl?"

"Girl," she said with no hesitation, still believing Chief would be a wonderful father to a daughter. "You?"

"Boy first, then a girl. I always wanted an older brother to protect me." Lindsay stretched out her leg and nudged Ashley with her foot. "Little sisters are overrated."

Ashley snorted. Johanna smiled. For as long as she'd known them, the sisters were best friends. They shared their friendship with her. She'd always wished for a sister. Chief's sons didn't count toward siblings because she'd come into their life later. But, growing up with her mom, getting shoved on other people and not knowing where she was going to wake up, it would've been easier if she would've had a sister to help her not feel so alone.

She would've had someone to explain her mother's absences to her and why her mom had left and never returned. Finishing her coffee, she set the mug beside her on the floor.

"Do you guys think I should've looked harder for my mom?" she asked before she could stop herself.

Nene's comment the other night bothered her, but with Chief leaving and the tension around Skidd, she had forgotten to ask him what Nene meant when she mentioned Chief knew where her mother was located.

"Whoa...your real mom? Where did that come from?" Lindsay asked.

She shrugged. "All this talk about babies. I guess I was thinking of my mom and besides searching the internet for her name and coming up with nothing new, I never looked for her."

"She never looked for you." Ashley stood from the couch and picked up everyone's mug. "Some people weren't meant to be mothers."

"Or, meant to be married. Like our parents." Lindsay stretched her arms above her head. "We live in a dysfunctional world, so no I don't think you should've looked harder for your mom. You've got a new family and life. I hate to admit I was probably wrong about you and Chief together but over the last four years, I can see how much you love him. You're happy now that he's home, and if you're happy, I'm happy. That's all that matters. Everyone should have people who have their back and stick with you because they love you."

She nodded. "True."

Ashley returned from putting the cups in the kitchen. "Change of subject. Who is Olin dating?"

"He's not." Johanna laughed and held up her hands. "I'm not lying. He hangs out with the women at the Brikken parties, that's all."

"Gross." Ashley plopped down on the couch.

Johanna sighed. "Don't waste your energy on him. He's too young and too wild, and you need someone ready to settle down."

"He's got the bad boy attitude. While great for sex, you're right. He's an asshole." Ashley sighed. "I think I'll ask out my boss."

"No." Lindsay sat up straighter. "That's a good way to get fired. If you don't have a job, we can't afford the apartment, and we'd end up moving back with mom."

Ashley worked for Todd Baldwin, one of the lawyers in town and according to Tacoma Press, the city's most eligible bachelor.

"Yeah, don't date anyone you work for." Johanna stretched her legs out in front of her and braced her hands behind her. "Trina, who used to work at the coffee house, put the moves on Mr. Brock and totally misread his signals."

"What could she screw up? That he stared because her boobs are gigantic and he required her to wear a bikini top?" Ashley laughed until she snorted. "Shit, she probably thought I was flirting with her because I could never look away when I stopped in there. Those suckers have a life of their own."

Lindsay threw the couch pillow at her sister. Johanna laughed because she'd had the same problem working with Trina and not gawking.

"Her tip jar was always full, so she has that going for her," she said.

A motorcycle roar came from outside. She pushed to her feet and walked over to the window, not expecting Chief home until early tomorrow morning. Unable to see the driveway, only a single headlight in the darkness, she stepped over and flipped on the outside light she'd forgotten to turn on.

"Uh oh, looks like our night is cut short. Chief's home," said Lindsay.

The way the motorcycle stopped and parked and the rider stayed on the bike told her it wasn't Chief coming home early. "It's not Chief."

"Maybe it's Olin," said Ashley joining her at the window.

"I don't know. It's too dark to see, and the headlight is shining right at the window." Johanna turned around. "Let me check my phone to see if anyone texted they were coming over...if I can find where I set it."

"You left it in the kitchen." Lindsay joined her sister at the window.

She hurried into the other room, grabbed her cell, and looked for any texts or missed calls as she walked back into the living room. "Nope, nothing on my phone. I don't know who is out there."

"Let's go find out." Ashley grabbed her sweatshirt. "It's always cold outside your house."

"It's because she lives in the trees and the sun has gone down." Lindsay gathered her hair behind her. "I have a coat in my car, just in case we sat out in the backyard tonight."

Because of the unsettled dealings with Skidd, she'd promised Chief she'd stay inside. "If, whoever it is needs me, they can walk to the door. Everyone knows Chief is away."

"What is Chief doing?" asked Ashley.

She shrugged. "Club business or rally or some secret man-thing where they check out each other's motorcycles."

"Fun," drawled Lindsay. "Here I was picturing them having a party and wild sex going on."

"No, that's on Saturdays at the clubhouse." Johanna grinned. "Boom."

They all laughed when two more headlights appeared, and the first rider turned around and tore out of the driveway. Used to having Brikken members stop at the house when Chief was in prison, she motioned the others to sit back down. "Anyone hungry?"

"I'm dieting," said Ashley.

Lindsay sat back on the couch. "I'm not hungry yet."

She sat down in the chair when a knock had her standing again. Apparently, the bikers decided what they needed from her. She walked across the room and opened the door.

Olin motioned her outside. She looked over her shoulder at the girls. "I'll be right back."

She stepped out onto the porch in her socks and shut the door. "What's up?"

"What was Skidd doing here?" Olin took out a cigarette and lit the end.

Her heart raced, and she crossed her arms under her breasts at the onslaught of chills. "Was that him parked in the driveway?"

Olin nodded, blowing a stream of smoke into the air. "He rode off when we arrived — that's Greggy with me. We called into D-Con, who is a road away, and he's got a crew with him that are tracking Skidd down."

"He only arrived a couple of minutes before you two pulled into the driveway." She bit her lip. "Your dad is going to freak."

"He's already pissed." Olin looked out into the yard, peering into the darkness. "I called Chief, too. He wants us to stay here until he gets home, so it looks like you've got more company for the night."

She put her hand on Olin's chest. "Wait. Ashley's inside."

"At least I'll have entertainment while I'm here." The corner of his mouth tipped, and he waved Greggy over. "Do you have anything handy to eat? I didn't have a chance to grab some food before riding out."

She opened the door and held out her arm. "Refrigerator is full. Help yourself."

"Ashley can fix me something." Olin grinned and walked past her.

She stood in the doorway, waiting for Greggy, and let him inside the house, then locked the door. Following the guys, she rolled her eyes at Lindsay because Ashley had already disappeared into the kitchen with Olin.

It took Greggy five minutes before he manhandled Lindsay—a new conquest for her friend, which amused her. Johanna browned ground hamburger on the stove and wondered if she ever flirted with another man besides Chief.

Men, her age, teased and jostled. Women laughed and touched. They all seemed transparent and sexual. As if they went into every hookup with an understanding that if they ended up having sex, the shared time would only last one night. The companionship they sought only covered the surface and never delved deeper than having a good time.

All the flirting her and Chief had done was out in the open between them, and took years. She turned the overhead exhaust fan on. Her blunt intent toward him meant she wanted more than a make-out session, and she knew what she wanted, and it wasn't a one-night stand. Chief had two sides when he'd dealt with her.

Ignore or owned.

She smiled as she stirred the meat. Everything had changed when Chief decided to stop ignoring her.

He demanded everything from her. From what caused her to get up every morning to what she thought of when she was alone. He was there during her childhood and knew what monumental occasions formed her adult needs.

Parents raised their children to leave them. Chief raised her to keep and fulfill every emotional and physical need that she discovered she wanted.

"I'm done with chopping the lettuce. Do you have a tomato?" asked Lindsay.

She stepped over and opened the fridge, finding a tomato in the vegetable drawer. "Does everyone like onion on their tacos?"

They all answered no at the same time.

"God, you guys are pathetic." She laughed, knowing if Chief were here, she'd skip the onions, too. She sighed, destined to be the fifth wheel tonight, and concentrated on seasoning the meat.

Olin's phone rang. Johanna turned off the burner and let the mixture set and found the tortillas in the cupboard.

"Johanna...phone," said Olin.

She wiped her hands off on the towel and took the cell. "Hello?"

"You stay inside with Olin and Greggy," ordered Chief.

She walked into the other room. "I love you, too."

"I'm fucking serious."

"I know, and I plan on staying in." She plopped down on the couch. "Are you on the way home?"

"Not yet."

"I'm making tacos for everyone. I'll save you some." When she received no reply, she said, "I don't like talking to you on the phone."

She'd had four years of waiting for calls from prison, not saying what she wanted to say, and feeling despondent when the call disconnected. She wanted him in front of her, his beard in her hands, and his rough voice warming her ears.

A gush of air came over the cell, and she warmed, knowing he was either amused or frustrated because he understood her statement. The last four years were hell for both of them trying to communicate on their weekly phone calls.

"I gotta go."

She swallowed. "Be careful and ride safely. Come home to me."

"Always, bug."

She disconnected the call and went into the kitchen, giving Olin his phone back. Easier to deal with his absence with others around, she fixed enough food to feed them all plus saved some for Chief for when he returned to her.