Shade sighed, standing up to set the woman on his chair.

“Sorry, that’s all you’ll be getting tonight,” Shade said regretfully. He had been looking forward to fucking her. It was his own fault. He should have taken her to the back ten minutes ago and fucked her in the bathroom.

He waited until the bikers were almost on top of them before picking up Viper’s empty chair. Spotting the biggest one, Shade left him to Knox. The one in front was the leader, so that was the one he needed to take out.

Before the biker could open his mouth, Shade crashed the chair down on his head.

“Fuck! Next time, give us some warning,” Viper snarled as the bar broke into a brawl that left the bikers with bloody injuries and the furniture broken. They didn’t stop until the cops arrived, pulling them off the unconscious bikers.

“They started it!” Levi yelled as he was getting cuffed. “You’re explaining this to Evie, Shade.”

Shade grunted as two officers threw him to the ground, handcuffing him before lifting him to his feet and dragging him outside.

“If anybody gets a phone call, call Lucky and tell him to come bail us out.” Viper groaned when the cop slammed him against the patrol car.

They were all driven to the local police station and placed in a holding cell.

“Damn, the bikers didn’t touch me. The cops did more damage with that fucking taser,” Knox groaned.

Gavin started chuckling.

“What the fuck is so funny?” Viper glared at him, pissed.

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.

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.

“You once told me that nothing in here”—she tapped her forehead—“could hurt me.” She circled the air around them. “Then you told me that you had the rest, and you did. For all the years we spent together, you made sure me and our children were taken care of beyond my wildest expectations.” She tapped his heart with a gentle finger. “Don’t be worried about us ever being parted.” She looked up at the dark starry sky reverently. “I’ve got that.”

“Lily...”

“The mountains are beautiful tonight. I feel as if God can hear every word we’re saying,” she whispered, her hand tightening on his.

Shade wiped her tear away with his thumb.

“I do, too.”

Her violet eyes stared at him, the same ones she had passed on to their children and grandchildren. She was still staring at him when her eyes lost the special light they had always held.

“Where you go, I will go,” Shade said, holding his wife closer. “I love you, Lily. Always.”