by Cathryn Cade
Then he drove into Spokane and headed into the neighborhood where Ellen Denton resided.
She answered the door promptly enough. But she did not invite him in. Instead, she stood in her front entryway and raised her brows at him. "Yes?"
He gave her a pleasant nod. "Ms. Denton. I'm hoping you might have time to talk for a bit."
The woman glanced at the fancy gold watch on her wrist and shook her head. "I'm on my way out, I'm afraid. So perhaps you can make it brief."
Cooler sighed inwardly. Okay... the bitch was not gonna go easy on him, that was clear.
Whatever. For Rae and Connor's sake, he persevered. "Look, I know you don't like me much. And I know you have some reasons for that. But RaeAnn and I... we're together again. And I'm gonna see to it that we stay together this time, for good."
Rae's mother narrowed her eyes at him and color washed under her careful makeup. "I'll believe that when I see it. How long was it the first time before you left her in your—your taillights? A few months?"
He bit back the urge to correct her. They both knew Rae had left him, not the other way around.
"That was almost sixteen years ago, Ms. Denton. Conner's grown, and so have Rae and I. I'm not the same man I was then. I know exactly what I have now, and Rae and Con are the most important things in the world to me. This time, I mean to show them that."
She curled her lip, a look so like her daughter's it threw him for a second. "Really. More important than that motorcycle gang of yours? All blood brothers or something, aren't you?"
"The Flyers?" He gave her stare for stare now. "We're a club, not a gang. And yes, ma'am, we are brothers. The best kind, the kind that would lay down their lives to protect my wife and my boy. I know you don't get this, but Rae and Con are Flyer family. They have been since he was born. They know that no matter what, they've got people who'll drop everything and come to help them. Now, it seems I can't change your mind about them, or me, so I'll just tell you this—they're all good people. And if you ever change your mind, they'll welcome you as family, too."
He shrugged. "If not, that's fine. But Rae and I will be exchanging vows soon—she'll let you know when. My brothers and their families will be there. Hope you will, too."
He gave her a nod, then turned and walked away.
At home, when he told her where he’d been, RaeAnn looked at him with storm clouds gathering in her gaze. "So, let me get this straight. You went to see my mother, to try and make peace with her, and she was a bitch to you?"
Mac sighed ruefully. "Baby, I promised I would never lie to you, so I won't. She... doesn't like me much, and I get that. Back in the day I didn't give her much reason to. But yeah, I tried to make peace with her. Whether she accepts it or not, is on her. Doesn't seem likely at this point." He grinned crookedly at her. "But don't worry, I'm not gonna lose any sleep over that. I want to marry you, not her."
He pulled her into his arms and looked down at her, his gaze heating with that soft lazy light she loved so much. "And mama, as long as you want me around, I don't much care about anybody else."
She cupped the side of his face, tracing her thumb over his lips, her palm enjoying the hard curve of his jaw covered with the light burr of his whiskers.
"Oh Mac, you are a sweet talker, and I love it. But I will not allow her to treat you like anything less than who you are—a good man, the man I love and the father of my son."
He shook his head and grinned at her. "Then I guess all I got to say is, I'm glad I'm not Ellen. But, baby, don't stir up hard feelings on my account. Life is too short for that."
She wrinkled her nose at him. "Guess you haven't heard. I am a tough, kick-ass, biker old lady now, and I don't put up with crap from anyone."
Then she laughed because he did, tipping back his head and letting out a full throated guffaw of laughter that shook them both.
And she loved every second of it, as well as the extended make-out session that followed.
Even when Connor walked in and let out a loud groan of faux shock. "God, can you two put a sock on the door or something? I'm gonna go blind if you keep subjecting me to your PPDFs."
"What's a PPDF?" Mac asked, raising a brow.
"Parental public displays of foreplay, and shit like that," Connor said, giving them both the stink-eye. "And you two are the worst."
Mac roared with laughter. "Nah, we're an engaged couple. Means we can get away with public foreplay—the other shit, no."
It was Rae's turn to groan. "Can we change the subject, please? And Con, never use the word foreplay in front of me again, okay?"
Now both Mac and Connor laughed. "Geez, mom. Thought I was supposed to be able to talk to you guys about anything."
Sh shook her head. “You are, but… not that. Talk to your father—he’s an expert at that shit."
“Oh, God!” Connor yelled, sticking his fingers in his ears. “My ears—they’re burning! I do not wanna know that!”
Mac laughed so hard he had to wipe his eyes, and Rae gave him a smug smile.
If her guys could be gross, so could she.
"Peace offering," Mac said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "How 'bout we go have supper at the Hangar, so you don't have to cook?"
"Yeah, they serve really good shit there," Connor approved and then ducked away around the island when Rae went for him, her hands outstretched. "Dad, save me," he cried, laughing.
Mac locked the back door and turned off the kitchen light. "On your own, kid. You got her riled up."
Connor dashed for the front door. "I'll just be in the back seat of the Chevy, being a very good boy while I wait for my parents to feed me."
Mac grinned as RaeAnn rolled her eyes. She picked up her purse and jacket and joined him at the front door. "Kids these days," she said.
He gave her a swift kiss and guided her out the door. "He's a chip off the old block, which is bad news for you. My ma about tore her hair out when me and my brother were his age."
"I believe it."
They went off to supper at The Hangar, and surrounded by Flyer family, they had a delicious supper.
Mac drank the microbrews that Pete Vanko brewed on-site, and RaeAnn sipped a Washington state red with her pizza.
Connor drank soda and devoured his usual immense amount of food, then went off to chat with a classmate who had arrived with his family.
And this classmate had a sister, one whom Rae noticed was very pretty. Connor and the girl carefully did not look at each other. Uh-oh, that was a mutual crush if Rae had ever seen one.
She tapped Mac on the arm. "Honey, we should go introduce ourselves to Connor's friends' parents."
He interrupted the story he was telling Streak about a woman who had threatened to sue the SFD for leaving tire tracks on her lawn when they drove into her place to save her husband, who was having a full-on heart attack. Most of the street and the driveway were full of junked vehicles, leaving only one way to get to the house.
"Why do we gotta meet them?” Mac asked RaeAnn. “Con already has a dozen friends at school. We've never even met this kid."
"We're going to be meeting his sister one of these days," Rae assured him.
Rissa followed Rae's gaze and nodded wisely. "Yes, you will. Look at the way they're pretending to ignore each other, so cute."
"You think so now," Rae told her. "Wait till Javier's that age."
Rissa winced and rubbed her belly. "And this one. Good point."
Mac sighed. "Got no idea what you two are on about, but all right, mama. Let's go meet these people. Streak, Rissa, we'll be back."
Streak shook his head, grinning. "We gotta get home, and let the babysitter go home to bed. School night. And Rissa needs her sleep, too."
Rissa sighed regretfully. "I do. Pregnancy at 34 is the pits. All I want to do is sleep—and eat."
"I was that way at 22," Rae told her sympathetically. "Just the name of the game, I guess."
"Rae, if we're gonna do this, shake a leg," Mac said. "My
beer's gonna get warm, and that would be a travesty, 'cause Pete's latest batch is primo."
She picked up the mug and handed it to him. "Then bring it with you, Mac. And I'll shake your leg if you're not careful."
He gave her a wicked look. "Long as you promise to do it all night long."
Rolling her eyes, she walked away, but she did it laughing. With a last grin back at the other couple, he followed her through the tables.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
Rae went to see her mother the next day.
It was Sunday, so Rae and Connor had the day off, but Mac was on for a 24-hour shift, so they would not see him until Monday midday.
Connor was at the clubhouse, hanging out with Drew, a young prospect who had introduced Con to playing video games on the clubhouse gaming system.
Rae knocked on her mother's front door, then used her key to let herself in. "Mother?" she called from the foyer.
"I'm upstairs," Ellen called back. "One moment."
Rae set her purse down, took off her jacket, and walked into her mother's immaculate sitting room. She admired a new throw on one of the sofas. It was cobalt blue and looked and felt like alpaca wool. Nice.
Her mother came down the stairs in a few moments, elegantly attired as always in charcoal leggings, a charcoal tunic, and green-and-gray scarf.
"Hello, dear," Ellen said. "Would you like some coffee? I haven't had my second cup yet."
"Sure, thanks." Rae followed her mother into the kitchen, also immaculate except for one coffee mug on the kitchen island.
Ellen got a second cup from the cupboard, filled both of them, and handed one to RaeAnn. "Let's sit here in the breakfast nook. The Japanese maple is so pretty, don't you think?"
RaeAnn agreed it was, looking out the slider at the tree that graced the back yard just off the patio. It was shaded in russets, from dark to light.
"So, what brings you out this morning?" Ellen asked, sipping her coffee.
Rae looked at her mother and sighed. "I think you know, mother."
Ellen made a face of polite puzzlement. "Do I?"
"Yes. Mac told me he came to see you... and he told me how you reacted." Rae took a sip of coffee, weak the way Ellen preferred it, and set her mug down.
She faced her mother, and to her surprise, her heart remained calm, and no anxiety built inside her. Huh, how about that.
"Mother," she said as pleasantly as she could. "Mac and I are together. And we're going to stay together this time."
Ellen made a face, as if her coffee was bitter. "That's what he said. You'll forgive me if I struggle to believe it."
"Why?" Rae asked. "We love each other, Mom. I… I've always loved him. And he's a different man than he was when Connor was born. We've both matured."
Ellen snorted delicately. "You may have, I'm not sure he has. He does still belong to that... motorcycle gang of his. And I don't care if he calls it a club—they're still just a lot of overgrown boys, posturing in their leather vests and such."
Gah. RaeAnn considered banging her head on the counter top. She settled for shaking it. "Fine, believe what you want. But listen to this, Mom, and listen well. You've got to stop criticising Mac. If you don't... you're going to lose Connor."
Ellen gasped, a hand to her throat. "Are you threatening me with the loss of time with my grandson?"
Rae shook her head, pity warring with exasperation. "No, Mother. I am warning you. Connor worships his father. Now that Mac is back in the picture for me, if you don't treat him with respect, it will backfire on you, because Connor will not put up with that, and neither will I. You decide how you feel about Mac—that's no one's business but your own. But how you behave—that's all of our business, Mac's and Connor's and mine. I love you, and so does Connor, so I hope that you'll make the right decision."
Her mother was staring at her as if she'd grown a second head. "Well... well, I don't..." Ellen’s lips quivered, and she blinked rapidly. "I never thought you would speak to me this way, RaeAnn. After all I've done for you."
"Yes, I know. You've been tremendously supportive and helpful. And I truly do appreciate that, Mom. And I know you love me, and Connor. But we're not just the two of us anymore. We're three, including Mac. And I have to tell you, I have never been so happy. And neither has Connor. Please, be happy for us—with us."
She stopped then, but the way her mother's shoulders sagged, she knew the rest of the message had gotten through—'Behave yourself, or be left out in the cold.'
They sat in silence for a long moment. Then Ellen straightened and primmed her mouth. "Well. I suppose at least you're getting married this time... so that's something."
Rae reached over and covered her mother's slim, cool hand with her own. "Yes. That's right. This time, we're doing it right. What do you think of a November wedding? Just something simple."
Her mother's eyes narrowed, but in the way that said she was thinking, planning and considering ideas. Finally, she nodded. "You mean next November? That could be very nice. I trust you'll allow me to help with the flowers and other decor."
Rae squeezed her hand. "I'd be grateful. You're so good with that kind of thing."
Ellen nodded in simple acceptance of this truth.
Rae squared her shoulders and went on. “But I meant this November.”
Ellen’s eyes widened in horror. “But we couldn’t possibly get a venue. The club is booked nearly a year in advance for events.”
“Mother, there is a venue we can get—the Flyers’ clubhouse.”
Ellen closed her eyes, as if in intense pain, and put a hand to her temple. “You—you want to be married at a motorcycle bar?”
“It’s a clubhouse, but yes. It will be fine.” And Mac’s brothers would be comfortable there, not ill at ease, the way most of them would be at her mother’s country club.
"I should have known." Ellen sighed deeply. "Fine. You'll have to take me there soon so I can look it over and take measurements, that sort of thing. There will be a reception, I hope?"
"Of course, but our friends are taking care of all of that. All you and Aunt Linda and I have to worry about is the wedding itself. Flowers, a minister, table decor. That kind of thing."
Her mother massaged her temples. "Do I at least get to help choose your dress?"
"Mother! Of course. I rely on your good taste."
"All right. At least I can do that."
Rae smiled warmly at her mother. "Yes. And by the way, has Con told you he has a girlfriend?"
Ellen stared, diverted as RaeAnn had hoped by this news. "No, really? One of your, erm, club family or whatever?"
"No, she goes to his high school. Her parents have a farm west of town. She's a very nice girl. Shy... reminds me of me at that age."
"Hmm. Well, invite them to the wedding, so I can meet her."
"Sure, if he wants us to."
They parted with a hug, and Rae drove back home smiling.
She’d finally learned how to handle her mother... who'd have thunk?
She wasn’t sure if being with Mac was making her more secure, or if she was just coming into her own. Maybe some of both.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
The Flyers had discussed what to do about the Boyz and how to make sure this time they got that Spokane was not a healthy place for them.
Rocker, Rav, and Della had been experimenting with surveillance on the gang’s known hangouts. Not that any of their surveillance had any identification pointing them to Rocker’s Rock Solid Security, where both Rav and Della worked—the pieces were cheap, generic, and bore no fingerprints.
It turned out to be the best move they could have made… in an unexpected way.
October 10th
In the wee hours of a cold, windy October night, Mac and his team had just returned from a call that turned out to be a lonely senior citizen who thought he smelled smoke in his little house, but once the firetruck and paramedics arrived, had just wanted to visit. That was all right, the crew spent several moments
with him and then headed back to the station.
However, Mac had no sooner settled on his cot in the bunkroom for a quick nap, than the paramedics got a call about another knifing downtown.
Jewel, his partner for the shift, trotted into the breakroom. “Carson, get up. We’re on.”
“Wha…?” Mac came awake with a jolt. “Okay, I’m up.”
He scrubbed the sleep from his eyes as he grabbed his jacket and baseball cap, then followed her out to the parking bays.
They loaded up and headed out, sirens wailing.
The SFD Paramedic truck stopped beside two cop cars, lights flashing, blocking the entrance to a downtown alley.
A cop waited at the alley entrance. “Hey, guys. Glad you’re here. This way.” He motioned for Mac to follow.
"What do we have?" Mac yelled as he jogged down the alley toward a body lying on the ground and illuminated by the powerful flashlights held by two cops while another cop knelt with the victim.
“Knifing. Apparent gang fight—two males seen fleeing the scene in a vehicle by witnesses. One guy down, young mixed-race male, knife wounds to the abdomen and chest.”
“Okay, thanks.”
The victim lay on his side, hands cuffed behind him. And he was pissed, ranting and cursing at the cop, a young woman, who was putting pressure on a wound on his abdomen.
“Get away from me, puta, you’re hurting me. I wanna real medic—you trying to kill me. I’ll mess you up, gringa bitch.”
He kicked at her and then groaned as the motion pulled on whatever his wounds were.
The young cop gave way to Mac with a speaking look.
“Go head and stand back,” Mac told her. “My partner’s on the way, I’ll deal with this.”
He set up his light and bent over the injured guy. Then he froze. Mac knew this sneering face, shaved head with dirty red bandanna, the gang tattoos covering his neck, even the yellow trucker hat lying a few inches away on the dirty pavement of the alley.
“Asshole,” the ganger hissed, his face pale and contorted with pain. “Hurry up. You s’posed to fix me, right? Do it. Gimme some good stuff for the pain.”
