“Why?”

 “Willa wants a home for her children in case they ever need it. The two investment profits go to various charities that she decides on each year.”

 “You can tell Willa to come back down now.” Lucky nodded toward the cell phone in Dustin’s hand when it dinged.

 “How did—”

 “It doesn’t usually take my wife two hours to get changed,” he said wryly.

 “Willa is very sensitive,” Dustin confided.

 Unless Lucky was mistaken, the youngest Porter brother had a crush on Willa.

 Lucky burst out laughing. “My wife is a tightwad. Did you know she won’t buy anything unless it’s on sale? I settled for an ugly green tile in her bathroom shower because it was twenty percent cheaper per tile. I thought she was broke. I didn’t even think to check her finances out before we married.”

 “It could be emasculating for a man to have a wife as rich as Willa is.”

 “I think my masculinity will survive.”

 Lucky caught his wife’s apprehensive look as she came into the room. As she drew nearer, he put his arm around her waist.

 “We’re changing the tile color.”

 When she started to argue, Lucky forestalled her. “I think we can afford those two children you want, but I was hoping to sweet-talk you into four.”

 Happiness filled her face. “Really?”

 “Yep. On one condition. You have to talk Dustin into becoming my accountant.”

Chapter 25

 “I can’t believe it!” Willa closed her computer, so excited she wanted to tell Lucky the good news. She had entered a contest to win a state-of-the-art smart home computer system and won.

 Knowing Lucky was in his office, working, she decided to peek in and tell him. She practically skipped to his office, wanting to gloat that she wasn’t going to have to pay a penny for the system he wanted. She was so excited she forgot to knock. Opening the door, she saw him sitting in the chair by his window and Willa stopped, looking at the tired lines of his sleeping face.

 She wanted to wake him and tell him to come to bed. If she did, though, he would do what he did every night—make love to her then disappear until morning. As a result, Willa quietly left his office without waking him.

 Going to her bedroom, she sat down on the side of her bed. She stared at the clock on the nightstand, seeing it was only seven in the evening.

 Picking up her cell phone, she made a call she should have made two weeks ago.

 “Hello? Willa?”

 “Hi, Lily. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

 “No, I’m just feeding John. What can I do for you?”

 “I was wondering, if it’s not too much trouble, could I borrow that cookbook of your mother’s? I’m bored, and nighttime is my favorite time to cook.”

 Lily paused. “I could bring it to you.”

 “No! Like I said, I’m bored, and I could use the fresh air.”

 Again she was met with silence, although she thought she heard voices in the background.

 “That’s fine, Willa. I’ll see you when you get here.”

 “Thanks, Lily. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

 Willa put on her tennis shoes then ran a brush through her hair and tugged it up into a ponytail. Grabbing her purse and keys, she left Lucky a quick note, placing it on the mirror of the dresser so he would see it when he entered the bedroom. He usually didn’t come upstairs until nine, and she expected to be back long before that, but she didn’t want him to worry if he finished his work early.

 It was getting dark when she pulled into The Last Riders’ parking lot. It was filled with motorcycles and several club members were standing around, shooting her curious glances as she got out of her van.

 She went up the side walkway that led to Lily’s house. As she passed the clubhouse, Willa heard loud music and saw the kitchen filled with people. Before she could get to Lily’s house, Lily came out the front door with the cookbook in her hand. Willa was disappointed. She had hoped to find Shade alone with Lily in their house.

 “Here you go, Willa.” Lily handed her the cookbook.

 Willa took it. “I didn’t mean to bring you out,” Willa apologized.

 She was about to ask if she could speak to Shade when Lily shook her head.

 “I needed to escape for a moment. Beth and Diamond are playing cards. Shade had already left to get some beer for the clubhouse, or he could have dropped it off to you.”

 “That’s okay. It’s such a pretty night that I wanted to get out.” Willa turned to go back down the path. “Thanks, Lily.”

 She left Lily, walking back toward the parking lot. Willa wanted to confide in Lily and ask her advice. However, Lucky wouldn’t be happy if he found out she had discussed him with her friend. It was a good thing Shade wasn’t home. There was only one person she needed to talk to, and that was her husband.

 The parking lot was even fuller as she made her way to her van with her head down, only looking up when she reached her vehicle

 “Evening, Willa.”

 Shade was sitting on his bike. She could have sworn there was a black one parked there when she pulled up, not the cherry red he was sitting on. Rider was standing next to him with two twelve-packs of beer under his arms.

 “Shade, Rider.” She gave them a nod.

 Rider gave her a wink.

 “They’re waiting for the beer,” Shade reminded him with a frown.

 “Oh, yeah. Later, Willa.”

 “Good night, Rider.”

 Shade remained sitting on the motorcycle with his blue eyes on her. She was about to get into her van when she looked at the bike he was sitting on again.

 “That looks like Lucky’s bike.”

 “It used to be. It’s a club bike now until someone claims it.”

 Willa froze. “A club bike?”

 “It’s a rule—when you leave the Last Rider’s, you give up the bike you joined with.”

 “That’s not fair.”

 “I hate to tell you this, Willa, but biker clubs aren’t known to be fair.”

 Willa swallowed hard. She should get back in her van and drive into town, but she didn’t.

 Her hand holding her keys dropped to her side. “Do you know what’s bothering Lucky?”

 Shade stared back at her, his expression impassive. It was the only one she saw him wear unless Lily was there. Several times, she had been brave enough to look into his eyes and seen … nothing—no emotion, no soul—and she was terrified that, unless she found a way to reach Lucky one day, she would wake and see the same thing in his eyes.

 “Yeah.”

 Willa licked her dry lips. “He’s dying inside, isn’t he?”

 “He died a long time ago and doesn’t want to admit it. That’s his problem.”

 “What’s wrong with him?” she whispered.

 “How bad do you want to know?”