It was a good thing he had forced himself to stay away from her. From their reactions, it couldn’t have been worse if they had discovered she had murdered someone.

Cash ignored the sinking feeling in his gut that he had hurt the very woman he had tried to protect, choosing to believe it would all blow over in a week or two.

Chapter 10

“Can you hand me the wrench?” Rider asked.

Cash took the device out of the toolbox, handing it to Rider and watching as he tuned up his older than dirt truck. He had shit to do, but he was forcing himself to stay at the clubhouse to avoid inadvertently running into Rachel. He wanted to give her time before she had to face him again. He refused to admit he wasn’t anxious to face her after his asinine behavior. He had stayed in all weekend and would give it a couple more days before gradually returning to his routine.

With any other woman, he would have been able to go by her house and privately apologize, yet that wasn’t going to happen when she lived with her brothers. They would shoot him if he stepped a foot on their property.

As a car pulled into the lot, Cash looked up to see Lily was back from working at the church store. Cash straightened; neither Lily nor Beth had talked to him all weekend.

Lily got out of her car with a worried frown on her face then shut her car door and walked toward the steps in a rush. When she saw Rider and him, she tightened her lips, ignoring them.

He was going to have to bite the bullet and face her to get the answers he wanted.

“Lily, can I talk to you a minute?”

“I’m in a hurry. I need to talk to Shade.”

“He’s in the factory,” Cash informed her.

At first, he thought she wanted to avoid talking to him, but his discerning gaze could tell she was upset.

After she nodded toward him, going inside the factory, he and Rider shared a glance. Then, without a word, they followed Lily inside. The workers had all left for the day and Shade was in his office, finishing up the day’s paperwork. Lily had left his office door open; therefore, Cash quietly shut the factory door so she wouldn’t notice their entry. Shade saw them, but Lily’s back was to the doorway. Cash unashamedly listened, his jaw tightening when he heard her words.

“You have to find her, Shade!”

“Lily, calm down and start over. What happened?”

Lily took a deep breath, her body shaking. “Pastor Patterson came to the store this morning and told me Rachel had called to tell him she wouldn’t be volunteering anymore. I was concerned because I knew Rachel would have a hard time facing everyone, but I thought she would just take a couple of weeks off! I didn’t realize until Tate came into the store, looking for Rachel, that no one has seen her since Friday night.”

“You said Pastor Patterson told you he had talked to her?” Shade asked.

Lily nodded.

“Then we know she’s okay if someone has heard from her.” His reasoning calmed his wife.

“Okay.”

“What did Tate tell you?”

“He said she was gone the next morning when they woke up. She left them a note, but he didn’t tell me what it said. He’s worried sick, though. He was going to see Knox when he left the store.”

“I’ll call and talk to Knox to see if he’s found anything out.”

“Thank you. I’m so worried about her, Shade. I saw her face, and she was so humiliated. She didn’t deserve Cash and her brothers treating her that way. She helps everyone. She gives her skills and usually doesn’t even charge people.

“Mary Owen’s little girl had something wrong with her stomach and couldn’t even hold food down. Rachel gave her a supplement, and she’s gained five pounds. Mrs. Willis had the shingles, and when Rachel made a cream for her, she was able to go back to work. Rachel helped me, too, Shade. I don’t know what would have happened if she hadn’t pulled me out of that nightmare.”

Shade got up from behind his desk, taking her into his arms. “Don’t worry Lily, I’ll find her, but be prepared she may not want to come back to Treepoint.”

“You made me come back,” Lily argued.

“There’s a difference between you and Rachel. You belong to me.”

“I didn’t then.”

“You did. You just didn’t know it.” Shade smiled down at his wife. “Now, go feed my baby, and I’ll call Knox.”

“All right.” Lily turned, coming to a stop when she saw Cash and Rider. Throwing them an angry glare, she moved between them, leaving the factory.

Shade picked up his phone as soon as she was out the door while both Rider and Cash entered the office.

“Knox, Lily told me Rachel’s disappeared. What do you know?” It took several minutes before he disconnected the phone.

“Knox said Rachel left a note that said she was going away and not to look for her. She told them she was sorry for shaming them.”

“I’ll kill them.” Cash turned to find the doorway blocked by Rider.

“Sit down, Cash.” Shade’s harsh voice had him turning back.

“Don’t tell me what the fuck to do. Do you know how badly they must have treated her for her to run off?”

“And that surprises you? You knew Friday night when she left with them what she was facing. I didn’t see you running to her defense then.”

Cash picked up a chair and threw it against the wall.

“Sit down!”

Cash forced himself to take a seat.

“How do you want to handle this?” Shade, as always, was a calm bastard.

“I’m going to find her, of course,” Cash stated angrily.

“I’m not the enemy, brother.”

Cash stood to his feet. “I know,” he said running a hand through his hair. “I’m a fucking idiot.”

“Piece of advice. Take it or leave it, but I’m going to give it anyway. Figure out why you want to find her before you go looking.”

He nodded then left Shade’s office, going to the clubhouse and heading upstairs to his bedroom. Taking off his clothes, he took a shower, dressed in fresh clothes then grabbed his bike keys. Once he was back outside and on his bike, he began his search.

It was two in the morning before he returned to his room, no farther along than he had been before he left.

* * *

Cash searched for a week before he had to admit to himself he wasn’t going to find her. She hadn’t made any contact with any of her friends or the few clients he knew of in Kentucky. Furthermore, he’d found out from Knox she hadn’t been in touch with her family or clients from out of state.

On the way back to the clubhouse from Lexington, he had a faint hope she would go to Lily’s old boyfriend, Charles, for a place to work, but it was another dead end.

He was about to pass Rosie’s when he saw a familiar truck parked outside. Quickly turning into the lot, he parked his bike.

The inside was busy as Cash went to the bar, ordering himself a beer. He searched through the room, looking for a particular face. Finding him at the back of the bar at a table to himself, Cash walked across the floor and took a seat.

Tate glanced up from his drink. “Get the fuck away from me.”

“We can talk in here or outside, but we are going to talk.”