Irish's Destiny

by Erin Osborne

  “Okay, I’ll make the call and let you know when she gets here.”

  Sami gets up and goes back inside while I pull my phone out to call Skylar. She’s the one watching Cassidy today and I’m sure that if she can’t bring my daughter here, she’ll find someone to do it for her. Skylar is good at getting people to do what she wants to these days.

  “Everything okay Irish?” She asks, answering the phone.

  “Yeah. I was just wonderin’ if someone could bring Cassidy here? I’ve talked to Sami about watchin’ her while I’m here.”

  “Well, I’m in the middle of things right now, but I’m sure I could get Bailey to bring her over.”

  “Can you find out and let me know please? We’re stayin’ for dinner tonight.”

  “Really?” she asks, her interest peaked knowing that I’m staying here for a meal.

  “Don’t get your hopes up. She invited Goose and I for dinner and we accepted. It’s nothin’ more than that. I’m sure they just want someone to talk to other than one another.”

  “You keep tellin’ yourself that honey. I’ll send you a text as soon as I talk to Bailey.”

  Skylar hangs up before I can say anything else to her. I can just imagine the thoughts running through her head right now. And she’s only going to bring Bailey into her crazy world thinking things other than what’s actually going on right now. Let the talking begin I guess.

  Within a few minutes, Skylar messages me and lets me know that Bailey will be here in about ten minutes with my daughter. I knock on the door before walking in to let Sami know. Instead, I find Whitney sitting at the table in the kitchen, a notebook in front of her, her head in her hands and she’s crying. What the hell happened that made her cry? Did she get contacted by that fucking dickwad?

  “Whit, what’s goin’ on?” I ask, coming up behind her.

  “Oh, um, nothing really. Just thinking of all the ways that I’ve failed my daughter. I’m still failing her since I can’t even give her a special day for her sweet sixteen.”

  I’m floored. She’s crying and heartbroken because she thinks she can’t do something for her daughter. Not because she’s overwhelmed or her husband has contacted her. The little that I’ve talked to Sami, I’m sure something small will be just fine by her. She doesn’t seem to be the type of kid that is worried about material things and what her mom can and can’t get her.

  “When’s her birthday?” I ask, as I sit down next to her and see the list that she’s made.

  “Next week. I was thinking we could spend the day shopping and things, but I need to save money at the same time since I haven’t found a job yet. She’s going to be so disappointed. About the only thing I’m going to be able to do is make her a cake. I can’t even buy her one.”

  “Do you trust me?” I ask suddenly.

  “I guess so.”

  “Can I talk to a few people and see what we can come up with for her?”

  “Why would you do this?” she asks me, lifting tear stained cheeks to look me in the eyes.

  “I don’t really know why in all honesty. I just know that I want to help in any way I can.”

  “It’s not just me that feels it, is it?” she asks suddenly, and there’s no way I can deny it.

  “No, you’re not the only one. I just don’t know what to do about it.”

  “Well, thank you for offering to help, but I’m going to have to say no. I’ll figure something out before her birthday.”

  “Whit…”

  “No, you guys are already doing more than enough. You’ve made it so we can breathe without looking over our shoulders every two seconds. I got this.”

  I can tell from the tone of Whitney’s voice that she’s not going to budge on this. Unfortunately, I’m not going to budge either. I’ll talk to Bailey when she gets here and see what she can come up with. The girls will be able to pull a small party off that they won’t make her pay a dime for. I’m sure it’s going to piss her off and I’ll deal with that when the time comes. Sami and her deserve to be given something after the torture and hell that they’ve endured. Besides, the girls will be able to talk her into letting them take care of things without causing too much of a fuss on Whitney’s end.

  “Well, I was goin’ to let you know my brother’s wife is goin’ to be bringin’ my daughter here soon. I thought Sami and her could meet and spend some time together since we’re havin’ dinner here tonight.”

  “Okay. That sounds good.”

  Heading back outside, I take up my seat on the rocking chair and wait for my daughter to get here. Bailey will have something to say I’m sure about me having dinner here. Skylar and her, along with the rest of the girls, are going to blow this all out of proportion. I’m already confused about what this mother-daughter team are making me feel. I don’t need them to add to it. They will with their questions and everything else. About the only good thing I can see coming out of this is that the girls will start hanging around Whitney more and make her feel like she has people around if she chooses to stay here.

  I’m not sitting out here very long when I see a car slowing down and pulling in the driveway. From the color of the vehicle, I’m pretty sure that it’s Bailey, but I’m on high alert regardless. As soon as they pull up, I can see that it is Bailey and that Grim is with her. Great! This is just what I need. Oh well, I guess I can bounce what’s going on off of him and see what he says.

  “Hey Irish!” Bailey calls out, heading to the back door to get my daughter.

  I nod my head and stand up to meet them. Cassidy is babbling away, and a smile breaks out over my face. She’s been talking her little language for a while and we’ve all been trying to get her to say words instead of babble nonsense. It’s slow going, but we’ll get there.

  “So, staying for dinner huh?” Bailey asks, handing Cassidy over to me.

  “Yeah. She invited us, so they had someone else to talk to. We accepted. It’s not a big deal so don’t get your panties in a twist.”

  Grim busts out laughing, and I look at him. He knows that I want to talk to him and nods his head slightly so that Bailey won’t know if she’s looking at him. I hand my daughter back over and tell her to knock before entering the house. And that I have to talk to her about something before they leave. She nods and heads up the porch to go see the girls inside.

  “What’s up?” Grim asks as soon as the door closes.

  “I don’t know what’s goin’ on. I feel a pull towards her and I don’t know what to do about it. I mean, Caydence has only been gone for about seven months. I should just be focusin’ on Cassidy and the club. Right?”

  “I don’t know what to tell you. I mean love finds you when it wants to find you. There’s no right and wrong answer here Irish. After what they’ve been through, I would just say to take your time and go day by day. If things progress, they do. If you remain nothin’ but friends, then that’s not bad either.”

  “But what if we remain friends and I can’t handle seein’ her date other men when she’s ready? What am I supposed to do then?”

  “Then, you’ll know that you truly want somethin’ more than a friendship with her. The next moves are up to both of you if she feels it too.”

  “She does. She’s the one that asked me if I felt it too.”

  “So, take time and do the little things you know she needs help with. Invite her to do things when you’re not here watchin’ over her. Find out what makes her and Sami happy and go from there. Take a page from Cage and Joker when they first met Skylar. And you know it’s killin’ me say to do anythin’ that Cage and Joker did.”

  I laugh at that because they were the biggest man-whores around before they met their wife. But once they knew they wanted her, that was it. They took themselves off the market for club girls and didn’t do anything that would intentionally hurt Skylar. I just have to figure out what my next move needs to be with Whitney. Do I pursue anything or no? I guess we’ll take it a day at a time and figure it out as we go.

&
nbsp; After talking to Bailey, she said she’d talk to the girls about doing something special for Sami’s birthday. They’d probably bring in Darcy to give Whitney and Sami a spa day. Something they probably haven’t ever had. I think they’ll love that. And then, they’ll take them shopping and I’ve already handed over some cash to get Sami some new clothes so that she can start getting ready for the upcoming school year. I don’t want her to spend the money I pay her for watching Cassidy on that.

  I’m watching the girls play with Cassidy through the window. My girl is having a blast with them. She’s laughing and playing with Sami while Whitney finishes up getting dinner ready. Whenever she can, Whit plays with Cassidy and I can see the pure joy radiating from her. I guess she wasn’t lying when I was told that it’s been forever since they’ve been around other kids and that they loved them. I can see it first-hand.

  I see Whitney taking the food out of the oven and I figure it’s time to get ready to go inside for dinner. Walking to the side of the house so I can still see out front, I motion for Goose to get ready. Today it’s just the two of us because the other prospect had something going on with his family. Before I can make another move, I hear bikes coming down the road. What the fuck?

  Heading back out front, I see that Cage, Tank, and the other prospect are here. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I guess I’m about to find out. The new prospect wasn’t supposed to be here yet, he’s supposed to be coming for the night shift. Typically, I don’t pay attention to who the next shift is until they get here.

  “What’s up?” I ask, as they come closer to me.

  “We’re here for the night shift. Were told you were goin’ in for dinner so we came a little early. You guys take your time and don’t worry about what’s goin’ on out here. We got this,” Cage tells me.

  “Why is that? I can pay attention to what’s goin’ on out here while we’re havin’ dinner.”

  “Not sayin’ you can’t. Just want you guys to have a good time and be able to focus on them. These two need company other than one another. They obviously trust you two, so go enjoy bein’ with them,” Tank adds.

  “By the way, baby girl is already plannin’ on what cake to make Sami for her birthday.”

  I nod my head to let them know I heard them and make my way inside. Goose is following me and we head to the bathroom to wash up. I hear the happy squeals of my daughter playing with Sami and I think I made the right choice. The girls can still help her out and they’ll have her when she goes back to school.

  “Dinner ready?” I ask, heading into the kitchen and kissing Cassidy on her head.

  “Yeah. I’ve already got a plate cooling down for Cassidy. I hope that’s okay?” Whitney asks, her cheeks flushing with the thought that she did something wrong. I’m gonna kill that motherfucker!

  “Absolutely! She’s gotta eat too. Is there anythin’ I can do to help?”

  “No. Just take a seat and I’ll be right there. Most of the food is already on the table, I just need to get the chicken. Hope you guys both like baked chicken.”

  It’s not a question, but the tone of Whitney’s voice lets me know that she’s now second-guessing her decision to make it. Goose speaks up before I can to let her know that he loves chicken of any kind. Sami shoots him a smile to thank him for putting her mom at ease. I’m sure it’s different cooking for men that you have no clue about. Especially when it seems she could do no right before

  “Chicken is good,” I tell her finally. “Let me bring it to the table though. You’ve been in here all afternoon.”

  I walk up behind her and get a whiff of something fruity. Placing one hand on the counter by her side, I go to put my other hand down when Whitney scoots out of the way. I know I don’t scare her, but she’s scared of something. Is the attraction she feels? Because I know it’s scaring the shit out of me.

  Grabbing the platter of chicken, I follow Whitney to the table and set it down in the only open space available. Looking at the table for the first time, I see that she went all out. She even found a highchair somewhere that Cassidy is sitting in between Whitney and Sami. So, I take my place beside Whitney and watch her playing a bit with my daughter. Before I can say anything, she’s standing up and heading back into the kitchen. Walking back in a second later, I see she grabbed the plate that she already made for Cassidy. There’s a little bit of everything on there, but not too much.

  Sami grabs the plate from her and I watch as she feeds Cassidy while simultaneously eating herself. For someone that’s never really been around kids, she sure seems like she knows what she’s doing. Even Whitney is watching her. I don’t know where she learned to do this, but it’s awesome watching Cassidy and her bonding.

  “What is everyone looking at?” Sami suddenly questions.

  “Just watching you eat while you feed Cassidy,” Whitney says.

  "Why? I know how amazing your food is and I don’t want to eat it cold. If I can feed her and eat at the same time, that’s what I’m going to do.”

  Sami goes back to eating and feeding Cassidy. The rest of us dig into our food and she wasn’t lying. This food is amazing. Whitney can sure give Skylar a run for her money any day. Damn!

  “This is amazin’!” Goose says shoving another bite of food in his mouth.

  “Thank you!”

  I nod my head to let her know that I agree with Goose. There’s no way I’m not going to be enjoying more of Whitney’s cooking. As soon as that thought enters my head, the thought that it’s not all I’d like to enjoy from her follows it. I have no clue where that thought came from, but I think I’m going to have a hard time getting rid of it now that it’s there.

  Once we’re done eating, and talking, Whitney gets up to start clearing the table with Sami’s help. I put my hand on her arm to let her know that Goose and I will clear the table while they sit and relax. It’s the least we can do after she made this amazing meal.

  Goose and I get the table cleared, food put away, and the dishwasher loaded and started. As we’re heading back out to the table, Whitney passes me and heads back in the kitchen. As she starts wiping down the counters, I see her turn the coffee pot on. If she wants us to spend more time here, I’m all for it. While I take my seat back at the table, I see Sami and Goose head into the living room with Cassidy. I watch them take seats on the couch, placing the baby between them and turn on the tv. I don’t see anything happening with us sitting right here, but I’m still going to keep my eye on them. I always will.

  “So, have you always been in the club?” Whitney asks me.

  “Yeah. My dad was in it and I knew growin’ up that I was gonna be in it too. There’s nothin’ like the freedom of ridin’ my bike and the brotherhood of the club. I always have someone around to help me no matter what I’m doin’.”

  I can see my words affecting Whitney and I wish I could take them back. There’s a sadness and pain in her eyes that I would do anything to take away. I need to take it away, so I try to think of something to talk about while we’re waiting for the coffee to get done.

  “What about you? You don’t have anyone to help you?”

  “No. I started to tell you about my husband. My parents are the ones that sold me. They had everyone believing that I was already pregnant when I went with Carl. Told them he was willing to take me in and pretend the baby was his because he could never have children of his own.”

  “Obviously that’s not true. But why didn’t you ever have any besides Sami?”

  “I went on birth control. I couldn’t ever imagine bringing another baby into his world. There’s no way I’ll ever regret having Sami, the only thing I regret is who her father is and that I couldn’t get away sooner.”

  “What about friends? Other family?”

  “I don’t know of any other family members. My parents would never let me get to know anyone. I’m sure there are family members out there, but I wouldn’t know them if they ran me over. As far as friends go, I lost them all when I was forced to go wit
h Carl. I didn’t have many before that, but I had a few. My parents never approved of anything I did, or anyone that I hung out with.”

  “So, you’ve basically been on your own since you were fourteen years old. You blow me away Whit.”

  “Why is that? I’m just a single mom trying to start our lives over and make sure that my daughter knows she’s loved.”

  “Look at everythin’ you been through. Repeatedly! And yet, you still wake up every day and make sure that Sami is number one.”

  “That’s what any parent would do. I mean, my child will always come first. Cassidy will always also come first whenever she is in this house. Sami may be the one watching her, but I’ll still make sure she comes first.”

  “And obviously Sami takes after you in that regard.”

  We sit here and talk for a little bit. Whitney gets coffee, hot chocolate, and dessert for everyone. Sami asks if she can feed Cassidy some of the chocolate dessert. I tell her I don’t care, as long as it’s not a lot and go back to talking to Whitney. She’s so easy to talk to and I can’t believe that as much time has gone by as it has.

  “Well, it’s gettin’ late. I should probably be gettin’ Cassidy back to the clubhouse so I can get her to bed.” I tell her, starting to clean up the mess from dessert.

  “Yeah. I didn’t realize how late it was.”

  “You got Tank, Cage, and a prospect outside for the night. They’ll make sure no one comes around.” I tell her, making sure the dishes and everything are at least in the kitchen.

  Gathering up everything for Cassidy, I make my way over to pick her up. She’s fast asleep between Sami and Goose and I don’t want to wake her up. But I know that she’ll sleep through everything and anything. So, I really don’t have to worry about disturbing her. I’ll just have to see if I can borrow Whitney’s car to get her back to the clubhouse.