PART 1
DOG
Summer 1969—Feannag Village
It’s hot. Summer is upon us, and we’re sweating under our helmets. We were on leave and we’re enjoying some much-needed down time. It was always good to spend time with my brothers, Shep, Gunny, and Thor. Jones and Roman were away visiting some of Jones’s family. We’d parted ways about an hour ago with them going one way and the rest of us going home with Shep.
We’d grown up together and always been tight. Gunny, Thor, and I didn’t have any other family members we were close to, so we always ended up back home at Crow Manor in Feannag Village. Crow Manor had been won by Shep’s late grandfather in a card game. And he, along with our grandfathers, had fixed it up and lived there with their families.
Things had changed over the years as family members passed on or left us, but the six of us were constant. With only Jones travelling to see his mum, who’d moved when she’d remarried after his father passed away.
When Shep had out of the blue six months ago met and married Kate, I’d wondered if things would change but instead she treated us as if we were her family and mothered us. Not that any of us minded. We loved spending time with her.
I won’t lie. I was a little envious of Shep and Kate. There’s nothing I’d love more than to have a woman waiting at home for me. Maybe one day I’d be lucky enough to find one that didn't mind if I was away from home for most of the year.
We were fast approaching the village, and Shep slowed down. Gunny, Thor and I followed suit. With our families owning most of the businesses in the village, we were always careful how we behaved. One of the businesses we owned was the café, and I knew that’s where we were headed. I was starving, so I figured that the rest would be too.
I was right.
Shep slowed, backing his bike into a space in front of the café. The rest of us parked up next to him. It was a relief to take my helmet off.
“Who’s the new bird?” Gunny asks Shep, tilting his chin towards the glass-fronted café.
Getting off my bike, I stretched my back as I turned to see who Gunny’s talking about. There she was. The one I didn’t even know I wanted or needed until I saw her.
Her dark, glossy hair was pulled up into a swinging ponytail. She had a curvaceous figure, with mile-long legs. She was wearing the café uniform of a fitted short dress and an apron.
“Her name’s Maggie, she’s …”
“Mine,” I state harshly, turning to glare at my brothers. “She’s mine.”
Gunny holds up his hands in a peace gesture. Shep shakes his head, and Thor grins.
“She might not want to be yours, brother,” he chuckles.
“Don’t care. She’s going to be.”
Shep chuckles as he dismounts. “Don’t fuck up with her Dog, she’s an amazing manager and Kate likes her.”
“I won’t,” I assure him, walking towards the door. I open it and step inside.
Maggie places the plates on the table she’d been attending and whirls towards us as the bell on the door dings. I watch as if in slow motion as she stumbles as her foot gets caught in the leg of a chair. Rushing forward, I grasp her in my arms before she can hit the floor, tugging her close to my chest.
Wide, startled eyes meet mine, pink lips parted in a gasp. I don’t think—I just act, pressing my lips to hers. For the first time in forever, I feel a semblance of peace.
Then a loud crack. Pain blooms across my cheek, snapping me back, and suddenly I’m staring at an angry woman. And my God, she’s magnificent—flashing eyes, flushed cheeks. My cheek is still smarting from her slap, but it doesn’t stop a grin from spreading across my face.
“Hello, gorgeous.”
Behind me I can hear my brothers laughing, and I know I’m going to get so much shit for this.
“Smooth brother, real smooth. Maybe introduce yourself to the lady before you maul her,” Shep chuckles as he nudges me away from Maggie with his shoulder.
“Maggie, I’d apologise for him but I’m not sure that it would do any good.”
Maggie glares at me one more time before turning her attention to Shep. “What can I do for you Shep?”
“We’ll take a table and four of today’s specials please.”
