Rue nodded. "Yep. She's a float nurse. Reba, this is Cleo. Cleo, Reba. I don't see her all that often. I knew I'd seen you somewhere."

The last statement had been directed towards Reba who'd held out her hand for me to shake.

Reba nodded. "Yep. I don't like being in one place too long. It's a good way to keep out of the drama that goes on with each floor."

"I know that's right," Rue agreed. "Sometimes when I'm working, I swear it feels like I'm in high school. Whispering about other people behind the other's back. Groups of popular kids, the jocks, and then the loners. We don't even sit at the same table when we have lunch together."

I'd never experienced that in high school.

When I was sixteen, I was in the work program and at work once lunch time hit.

I'd joined the Air Force immediately out of high school, shocking not only my sisters, but my mother as well.

I'd needed out, though.

I was being smothered by estrogen.

"Exactly. I'm sorry to hear about that young girl. The sitter. How's she doing?" Reba asked.

That sobered the two of them up quickly.

For me, though, that only just served to set fire to my blood even more.

I'd managed to mask it slightly while we were discussing what my part in this was, but now that I'd been reminded of it, yet again, it was right back to the forefront of my mind.

Which brought up another uncomfortable topic.

That Rue was now staying with me.

I'd only have to tell her.

Which sounded about as fun as baptizing a cat.

"Here you go," Silas said as he came back with an unopened beer.

He handed it over to Reba, who blushed. "Thank you, but I didn't need the whole can, just a cup."

He took the beer out of her hand, opened it, and then took a few chugs before handing it back to her. "There you go."

Reba rolled her eyes. "I'm making beer bread again. I may need someone to make sure it tastes all right."

I sensed that we were no longer needed here. "Well, all right, I'll see you later in the week, Silas. Good to meet you, Reba."

"Night," Silas said, "Be good," he continued and then resumed ignoring us.

"Silas and Reba sitting in a tree, k-i-s-," Rue sang before I stopped her with my palm over her mouth.

Her eyes were dancing with mirth as I let her mouth go and kept walking to the bike that was parked at the end of the drive.

"The man has super hearing. I guarantee he heard you," I said once we were to the bike.

She shook her head vehemently. "No, he didn't."

"Yes I did," Silas called from the porch, causing me to burst out laughing, and Rue's face to turn a cherry red.

"You wanna go for a little ride, and then head to my place?" I asked hopefully.

She turned her head to the side before straightening up and throwing one long leg over the side as she straddled the bike. "Yep.

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I mounted the bike in front of her and started the bike. "Let's ride."

"Take us on a back road," Rue ordered before the wind drowned the sound of her voice out.

We drove to Rue's apartment first, only staying long enough for her to pack a bag for a couple of nights.

Then we set off on the back roads of Louisiana.

I'd found through numerous rides through the Eastern half of Louisiana that I could get lost in the landscape very easily.

Louisiana was infamous for its bayous.

They were everywhere you went.

On each and every road you pa.s.sed, there'd be no less than two bridges that you had to cross to go over bayou after bayou.

That's why I wanted to live on the bayou.

It was peaceful.

I was always the one who took the road less traveled, and it was nice to find someone that wanted to do the same with me.

It was near midnight when I finally turned into my driveway.

Rue had been laying with her head on my back for the past forty five minutes, but she wasn't complaining.

In fact, she was on the opposite end of the spectrum, very nearly at contentment.

I pulled under the house and turned off the bike, sitting like that with Rue for a long minute before I patted her hand. "Let's go inside. I'm beat."

Just as those words left my mouth, a set of headlights that'd caught my attention as it turned onto the road, turned into my driveway.

"f.u.c.k," I sighed.

I'd known that this confrontation was going to happen, but I'd thought that they'd at least give me a couple of days.

Of course, my sisters were lost when their only brother was mad at them, and I should've known better.

"I'd really hoped that they'd leave it until tomorrow," I sighed and raised up off the bike.

Rue laughed as she, too, rose from her perch and stretched her arms up. "Honestly? I didn't. I thought they'd be here waiting for you to get home. Do you remember when Molly borrowed your truck without your permission, and then wrecked it? You stayed mad at her for all of an hour before you were comforting her and telling her it'd be all right."

I smiled sheepishly.

I remembered that instance well.

Mainly because I'd just bought a brand new truck and I'd left it at my sister's place while I was on a ride with the club.

I'd only left the keys there in case my sister's needed to move it, not so Molly could take it out because she ran low on gas.

I'd come home to a huge dent down the entire right side where Molly had hit a telephone pole.

Then she'd left it there hoping I wouldn't f.u.c.king notice the ma.s.sive dent because I 'never went on that side.'

Needless to say, I'd never left my vehicles or belongings under her care again.

Meredith's champagne colored Trail Blazer pulled up to the back of my bike and shut off.

Meredith was the first to exit, followed by Molly and Mikayla.

We all stood there in silence.

Me, because I wasn't sure I was ready to forgive them yet, and them because they didn't want to admit they were wrong in front of Rue.

"So..." Rue said. "Do y'all want me to go upstairs while y'all talk?"

The bullfrogs in the bayou behind us started croaking loud while we all watched each other in silence.

"Well, okay," she said as she started walking. "I'll just be up there."

Before she pa.s.sed, I stopped her with a hand on her wrist and pulled her into me.

Kissing her on the lips, I said, "Thanks baby."

Then I let her go.

"You're welcome," she said before walking quietly away.

She turned back about halfway there and walked back to grab my keys, and then headed back in the direction she came.

They waited until she was up the stairs before they spoke.

At once.

"We're really sorry."

"I'm sorry."

"We were horrible. I'm sorry."

I smiled sadly. "I know. Just...don't do it again, okay?"

They all nodded. "We don't want to lose you."

I hung my head and ran my hand against the back of my neck.

It was sore, and I was seriously over this day.

"We want to get to know her," Mikayla said. "We know she's the one."

I turned my head slightly to the side, wondering how they'd come to that conclusion when they were so against her earlier in the day.

"You love her. It's obvious to us now," Meredith said quietly.

I nodded. "I do."

"Then it's best that we start trying to get along now. We don't want to make anything harder for you when it comes to her," Molly sighed.

Molly didn't sound as truthful about what she said as the other two did, but I'd take what I could get.

Molly was still the baby, even if she was twenty years old now.

"Okay, well then it's time y'all get back home. Maybe you can start getting to know her next week," I ordered.

They looked upset that I was telling them to go home, but we'd gotten the hard part out of the way. They were going to try with Rue and, at this moment in time, that was all I really cared about.

"Be careful, and let me know when you get home," I ordered as I opened Meredith and Molly's doors.

They got in the cars and buckled up.

With a final kiss to each of their cheeks, they backed out of the driveway, waving as they went.

I watched until their headlights disappeared into the distance before heading up the stairs and into my place.

I found her in the bathtub.

I'd never been in it, but d.a.m.ned if the thing didn't look extremely inviting right then.

I toed off my boots, hung up my vest, emptied my pockets, unstrapped my gun and holster from my ankle, and then shucked off my remaining clothes all under the watchful eye of Rue.

She scrutinized each of my movements avidly, eyes glued to my hands as they went through the monotonous task of removing my belongings.

"Your eyes will pop out of your head if you keep watching me like that," I teased.

She grinned unrepentantly. "Oh, but what a way to go."

My c.o.c.k was half hard as I finally slipped into the low slung copper tub on the opposite side of her.

My legs settled on either side of her hips as I sank into the steaming water up to my armpits.