Spider shook his head.
“Central Wyoming.I left as soon as I could gather enough money to get out and I haven’t gone back.Don’t plan to either.”
“I take it your parents are gone?”
He shrugged.“Mom is.She passed away while I was in high school.Don’t know about my dad.Don’t care either.”
Jordon’s heart ached at the thought of not seeing her father for years and not caring if he was alive or dead.She got the idea from his tone and the way he dismissed it, that he’d likely had a difficult childhood.She couldn’t judge him for wanting to put something like that behind him.She was just glad she’d had as good of parents as she’d had.Still, it would be better to steer conversation away from that part of his life.
“How long have you been in Montana?”she asked as she dealt the next hand.
“About ten years,” he said, picking up his cards and sorting through them.“I was looking to get out of town and a guy I’d worked with invited me up.He said he had a job for me.He gave me a place to stay until I could get on my feet.I came up, found the Angels, and never left.”
“Angels?”she asked, waiting for him to play.
“The Fallen Angels.My club.They’re my family, and Fletch, who was here the first day you came, the one you heard me call brother?He’s an Angel.”
They played a couple of turns in silence, then Jordon tilted her head and watched him, wanting to see his reaction.
“Are they still coming to see you or are you here alone all day every day?”
Spider shook his head.“Fletch hasn’t been here yet because they just moved me but he and Dax—he’s a prospect—are here in town.They see me every day.Fletch makes sure either he or Dax brings me something to eat at least twice a day.Something good, not the hospital food that I would eat if I got hungry enough.”
“Staying in town?Where do you live if not near here?”
“Not too far away, but with the mountains and snow still falling occasionally, it’s easier to stay here in town rather than go home to Craven’s Creek.”He shrugged and laid a card on the discard pile.“It means they don’t have to stay here all day if they’re going to bring me a couple of meals a day.But it’s also not too far if we need something from home.”
“Like that?”she motioned to the side of the bed where she’d put his backpack when he’d finished digging through it.
“Exactly.A couple of days after I woke up, when I wasn’t sleeping more than I was awake, I made a list of things I wanted from home.Raven, he’s our president, made sure it was gathered up and brought to me.”He gave a mirthless laugh.“He and his woman take care of us, or as much as you can with thirty or so grown men.But they try.”
Daddy’s phone rang.She turned to see him pull it from his pocket and check the screen.
“I need to take this.I’ll be right back.”Daddy answered the call and stepped out into the hallway.
“How come you keep coming with him?Is he asking you to come?Does he think that you’ll be able to get me to talk more than he will, or do you do this with all the people he visits?”Spider asked as he drew another card and fitted it into his hand.
Jordon shook her head.
“You’re the first one he’s asked me to come see, ever.And he only asked me to come the first time.After that, when I’m not busy, he’s told me he’s coming and asked if I want to come.”
Spider scowled and tossed a card onto the discard pile.
“But why?”
“I asked the same thing.He said he had a gut feeling.And we all learned a long time ago not to question it when Daddy gets those feelings.”She lifted one shoulder and let it fall, then took her turn.
“Does he get them often?”
“Not so much but when he does, if we ignore it, we always end up regretting it.”
“Like?”
“Well, the biggest one was that bull.”She looked up and met his gaze.“He says he knew as soon as he drew Wild Demon’s name that night that he shouldn’t ride.But he was young and dumb and felt he had something to prove.His words.You know how that ended up.”
They both fell silent for a few minutes as they continued to play.
“Sweetheart,” Daddy said as he stepped back into the room, drawing her attention.He had both hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched.She knew he didn’t like what he was about to say.“That was your mother.I need to head home.Nothing urgent, but she’s having a migraine and I need to be there.You can stay if you want.I can send one of your brothers in to get you when you’re ready to come home.”
