Bucked (The Invincibles 6)

I’d nestle Stella under a pile of blankets, hold her close to me, and we’d look up at the stars as horses carried the sleigh up the ski slopes.

The cabin had once belonged to Uley Sheer, a miner, moonshiner, and mountain man who’d been born here and never left. Over the years, he’d added on to his original six-by-eight-foot cabin, and after he died, he left it to the town who’d turned it into a cozy restaurant.

“Buck?”

I rested my gaze on the woman who made me want to rediscover the place I grew up. “Yeah?”

“You’re lost in thought.”

I thought about telling Stella what I was thinking about, but I’d made her uncomfortable when I said I was going to take her to a remote cabin on the ranch. If I told her I was thinking about spending four seasons showing her around my hometown, she’d probably ask Rock to let her out at the next corner.

“I forget how much I love about this place.”

“I hope you’ll share those things with me.”

I studied her. Was it fair of me to wonder if she really meant it?

“Ben’s family owns this place,” I said to Stella when we walked by the Goat, a bar on Elk Avenue. “He used to show up here and play sometimes. I don’t know if he does that anymore.”

“Buck?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you see this?” Stella pointed to a flyer hanging on the bulletin board by the entrance. “This is tonight.”

I stepped closer, stunned to see my brother Holt was scheduled to play. “Wow,” I mumbled.

“Can we come?”

“Sure,” I blurted without thinking through the ramifications of my response. Could we? I mean, it wouldn’t be difficult to set up security as long as I was able to do it in advance. It meant I might have to call in a favor from the Rice family, but considering it was my brother’s show, I doubted they’d mind too much. I had suggested we have dinner with Ben and Liv if they were available. If we did, I could ask then.

When I heard the door opening, I pulled Stella to the side, out of the way. I was stunned when I saw it was the man I was just thinking about calling.

“Hey, Buck, how the hell are ya? Sorry we didn’t get a chance to talk the other night.”

“Hey, Ben, this is Stella,” I said, putting my arm around her shoulders. “We were just discussing asking you and Liv if you were free for dinner.”

“We are. In fact, we were planning on being here for Holt’s show afterwards.”

“Uh, do you have a minute?” I pointed behind him, toward the bar.

“Sure. Come on in. Ladies first.”

“Hang on,” said Ink, surprising all of us. “Excuse me, ma’am, but I’ll go in before you.”

“Holy shit,” muttered Ben when Ink walked past him. “He’s twice as big as anyone on my crew. Whose detail is he on?” Ben pointed first to me and then to Stella.

“Me,” she said, half raising her hand. Ink motioned for her to come in a few seconds later.

“Have you figured out what I wanted to talk to you about?” I asked, laughing.

“My guess is we’re gonna have a sellout crowd early tonight.”

“Where can we set everyone up?” asked Rock, who had come in behind me.

Ben motioned toward the back of the space. “That’s where I usually hang out.” He then pointed to several other spots. “My guys will be there, there, and there. But seeing as you’ll be here too, maybe I’ll give a couple of them the night off.” Ben motioned with his thumb at Ink. “He counts for at least three, doesn’t he?”

“What are you doing here?” asked Holt, coming from the back, carrying his guitar.