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“So, they put this on?” Cruz said as he pointed to the short sissy bar at the back of the bike with the Maltese cross in the middle of it.
“Yeah, the guy in the shop had a thing about these.” Brian put his hand on the cross. “I also got the custom paint on the tank as part of the deal…and other bits of chrome here and there.” Brian was pointing out the changes that had been made from factory original.
“Where’s the shop?” Cruz asked him.
Brian almost said New Orleans.Fuck, I need to watch myself.“Jackson.”
“Jackson? I don’t know of any shop in Jackson that would do this sort of work,” Cruz said.
“2010, Cruz. It’s not there any longer,” Brian said.Fuck, that was close.
“OK…yeah…sure.”
Eden was standing beside the bike as they were talking, and she put her hand on the sissy bar and rubbed her thumb over the Maltese cross. “I’d probably catch my leg on that,” she muttered.
Cruz gave her a look like she’d said something strange. She raised her eyebrows wondering what was wrong, but he didn’t say anything.
He was staring at the sissy bar now…lost in thought.
What’s going through his mind?Finally, he looked at her and she said, “What?”
“Nothing. Just looking.” He looked back at Brian and said, “Nice detailing, man.”
Brian was looking at the bar now too, wondering why Cruz was so interested in it. “Thanks.” He’d pulled his jacket out of his saddlebag just before they’d walked up to him, and he threw it down on the seat…and across the top of the cross, covering it.
After they’d finished talking to him, and Cruz and Eden had walked away from the bike, she asked him, “Did I say something wrong back there?”
“No, not at all. It's just when you mentioned catching your leg on that cross, it reminded me of something.”
“OK.”
“Yeah…you know when there are things on your mind that just sit there forever.” She was nodding her head as they walked to Cruz’s tent. He was looking down at the ground. “You can’t shake them because you know they mean something, but you don’t know what it is?” He stopped walking and she had to turn back to him.
“Yeah, I know exactly what you’re talking about,” she said as she looked at him. He was frowning and looking off into the distance.
“There’s something about that cross. It’s like a piece of a puzzle you didn’t know you were missing, until you find it…and then when you do find it, you don’t know where it’s supposed to go.”
“What are you saying?” Eden said.
“I had an accident, Eden. A really bad one. Someone died.”
“Oh.”
He started walking again and she followed. He obviously didn’t want to talk about it, so she didn’t ask. If he wanted her to know, he’d tell her in his time.
It wasn’t like she didn’t have any secrets.
Eden wondered when she would ever find the right time to tell him what she was hiding. Too soon and she might not ever have the chance of seeing where their relationship could go. Too late, and he might never trust her, and maybe…maybe…even walk away with the same look of disgust she’d seen on her husband’s face. She couldn’t bear to think of either scenario.
Sometimes when life deals you two dud cards, you have to choose the one you think you can live with.
* * *
They’d hada great time at dinner. Eden was getting to know all the guys and their old ladies. Brian had been very quiet, just listening to the conversations.
“There’s something about him,” Cruz told Eden as they were walking back to their tent.
“Like what?” she said.
