His voice broke.
“I've been looking for him for years.”
Ruth began crying.
Bear carefully placed the photograph on the table.
Then he pushed his chair backward.
The metal legs scraped against the floor.
He stood.
At six feet three, he towered over the little woman.
She instinctively took half a step backward.
But Bear lowered himself until his face was level with hers.
“Mrs. Miller.”
His voice was barely above a whisper.
“Your husband once told me that if I survived the war, I ought to spend my life making sure somebody else didn't have to face the world alone.”
A tear slipped through his gray beard.
He held out his hand.
“I reckon I've been waiting fifty-four years to repay him.”
Ruth stared.
Then she placed her trembling hand in his.
Bear held it gently.
“Whatever happens this afternoon,” he said, “you are not going to face it by yourself.”
Tucker rose.
Then Dean.
Then Luke.
The four large bikers stood around the tiny elderly woman.
For a moment, she looked up at them in disbelief.
Bear wiped his face with one enormous hand.
Then he managed a faint smile.
“You wanted four sons for an afternoon?”
Ruth nodded through tears.
He glanced toward the others.
“How about we start there?”
And for the first time since receiving the notice, Ruth Miller smiled.
The diner was called Maggie's Roadside Kitchen.
It sat beside Highway 61, twelve miles north of Cedar Hollow, with red vinyl booths, a black-and-white tiled floor, and a faded sign that promised homemade pie and coffee strong enough to keep truck drivers awake until Nashville.
Bear had been eating there for twenty-three years.
The waitress behind the counter was Maggie's daughter, a woman in her fifties who knew nearly every regular customer's name.
She had watched the entire exchange.
When Bear stood, she came around the counter.
“Ruth, honey, why didn't you tell somebody?”
Ruth looked embarrassed.
“I didn't want to bother anyone.”
The waitress shook her head.
“You're not a bother.”
Then she looked toward Bear.
“What are you going to do?”
Bear glanced at the threatening letter.
“First, we're going to make sure this lady gets home safely.”
He looked toward Tucker.