by Jolie Day
“Um, yes ma’am,” Regina replied, ignoring the tingles that ran up and down her spine at Max’s touch. “Sorry about my father.”
“Call me Grace, sweetheart,” she said. “And you don’t have to apologize for nothing. You’re not your father and, besides, Ray decides what Ray wants.” She laughed and Regina smiled politely. Grace pulled back, running her hands up and down Regina’s arms. “Well, you look lovely, anyway, darling. Nice and sturdy.” She turned to Max. “You need a sturdy woman in your life.”
“Agreed,” Max laughed. “And she keeps me in line. Don’t you, sweetheart?”
“Right,” Regina said, with a wide, forced grin.
Grace smiled at them. “Well, that’s good,” she said. “I can’t wait to hear about how y’all met. Now come in; dinner should be ready soon, but Mary and Ray are playing with the baby in the living room. Why don’t you go and say hi.”
Regina felt Max’s hand clench around her shoulder, but his face was a mask of fake happiness as he followed Grace into the next room, pulling Regina with him.
Sitting on a loveseat in the living room, a bearded man held a little boy above him, giggling and reaching out to tug at the curly white hair that grew from his chin. Regina recognized the woman sitting next to him, laughing and making funny faces at her son. It was Mary, who came in every couple of weeks for two vodka tonics and left too much money to cover it on the bar, disappearing out the door before Regina could bring her change.
Mary was the one that looked up when they entered, before Grace even had a chance to announce their arrival. Her eyes went soft as they landed on Max. “Hey,” she greeted. “Long time, no see.”
Max chuckled and scratched the back of his neck, his biceps flexing slightly. Regina caught Mary’s eye landing there, watching the way the muscles bunched underneath his tight-fitting dress shirt. “Yeah,” he said. “it’s…it’s been a while.” He cleared his throat and turned to look down at Regina, who gave him a small smile. “This is Regina.” He turned back to Mary, pulling Regina closer to his body. “My, uh, girlfriend.”
Mary’s eyes widened at that and she stood, walking over toward them with a curious smile. “Yeah, I know her,” she said. “Hey, Regina, how’s it going? How’s business?”
“Business is good,” Regina replied. “How have you been? Haven’t seen you in a couple of weeks.”
“Oh, yeah, well Sam is just about to take his first steps. I can’t miss that, you know?” Regina nodded in understanding. “So, you two are dating? I had no idea.”
“Well, we haven’t been together that long,” Max cut in, his smile tightening. “It’s only been a couple of months and we’ve been apart for most of it.”
“A long-distance relationship?” Mary laughed, looking at Max. “You?”
“It’s more likely than you think,” Max replied, defensively. “We met online.”
“Seriously?” Mary’s eyes widened. “Wasn’t it you that always told me to be careful about the maniacs on the internet?”
“That was when you were, like, twelve. I’m not twelve,” he pointed out.
Mary’s eyes raked over him and she hummed appreciatively. “No, you’re not, huh?”
Regina felt herself move closer to Max’s side, slinging her arm around his waist as she gave Mary a tight smile. “No,” she said. “He’s really not.” She leaned her head on Max’s shoulder and felt it shake a little with laughter as he squeezed her shoulder.
“She’s pretty affectionate,” he informed them.
“Looks like it,” the large man with the white beard said, standing up. He gave Regina a wide grin. “Nice to meet ya, sweetheart,” he said. “My name’s Ray. You’re Danny’s little girl, eh? Good man, him. Shame what happened.” The baby in his arms continued to tug at his beard and he chuckled, lifting him back up. “This is Sammy,” he introduced. “Mary’s little boy. I don’t know if you’ve met.” He held the boy out and Regina took a good look at him.
Sam’s skin was dark, but his eyes were blue, like his grandfather’s. He had the same dimples as his mother and a button nose. His hair was black and curly, popping out in every direction. He gave Regina a big grin and reached out for her. She smiled back and raised a hand, allowing him to grab and squeeze her fingers.
“Nice to meet you, finally, Sam,” she laughed. “You too, Ray. I’ve heard all about you from Mary.”
“You have, eh?” He looked down at his daughter. “You been bragging about your ol’ man, Mar?” She blushed and elbowed him in the side.
“Shut up,” she muttered and he laughed, pulling her in to kiss her forehead. Regina watched them with a soft smile and suddenly wished that her father was still alive to be that affectionate with her.
“You alright?” Max whispered in her ear.
She nodded, offering him a strained smile. “I’m fine,” she mouthed.
Max looked like he wanted to object, giving her a knowing frown, but before he could even open his mouth, Grace was popping her head out of the kitchen.
“Dinner is ready!”
Chapter Four
Max
When he was younger, Max had spent many nights at the Sawyer dinner table, across from Mary, fielding questions about school and what he was doing in his spare time. When he was 14, he joined his first motorcycle gang. Obviously, he was far too young to even own a motorcycle at that age, but it was a gang his father had been involved in for years and Max had been proud to join.
He couldn’t tell his father that, nor could he have told Ray. Neither of them would have approved.
Neither, Max thought as he thanked Grace for the food she was doling out onto his plate, would they have approved of what he was planning to do now, while in town. So when they asked him what brought him back, he nearly choked on his wine, coughing into his napkin as Regina whacked him on the back.
“I’m alright,” Max assured her, clearing his throat as he looked up at Grace, who eyed him with concern. “I’m fine, really,” he said, wiping his lips with his napkin. “Just inhaled too quickly.” He took a deep breath. “Um, I came back to…uh, see Regina!” He spoke a little too loudly and the woman next to him jumped. He cleared his throat again. “You know, we met online but we never formally met until the other day, when I checked in at the pub.”
“He surprised me,” Regina added, easily. “I had no idea he was coming.”
“That’s right,” Max laughed, scratching the back of his neck nervously. “It was really a spur of the moment decision, but I wasn’t doing much else, so…” He shrugged. “Here I am.”
“So you come home for a girl and not to see us?” Grace huffed. “I see how it is.”
“Aww, Grace, don’t be like that,” Max said, reaching out to grasp her hand. “You know I love you and if I could, I would steal you away from Ray and make you mine.”
“Well, why can’t you?” Grace asked, teasingly.
“Well, I’m pretty sure Ray would knock my teeth in if I tried,” Max replied, jokingly. “Besides, I could never do that to him.” Regina cleared her throat. “Or to my own lady.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she rolled her eyes.
“Oh, you two are just so cute together. Aren’t they, Mary?” Grace looked at her daughter, who was eyeing them, suspiciously. “Mary?” Grace asked, gaining her daughter’s attention. Mary blinked over at her.
“Hmm?” she said. “Oh. Yeah. Adorable.”
Grace lifted her brow at the young woman, but Mary ignored her, turning to spoon some mashed potatoes into her son’s mouth as he giggled. Grace and Ray shared a look across the table and Max tried to ignore it as he looked down at his plate, pushing his chicken around.
“Something wrong with your meal, Max?” Grace asked. Max glanced up, first at Ray, who shook his head subtly, then at Grace, who was eyeing him, curiously.
“Of course not,” he assured her. “I just don’t have much of an appetite today.”
“You feeling okay, Max?” Ray asked. “You feeling sick?�
�
“No, Ray,” Max replied. “I’m fine. Just not hungry. It’s possible, you know.”
“No he does not,” Grace huffed. “I don’t think my husband’s ever not been hungry.” She tutted and Ray shrugged, spearing a piece of chicken from his plate and dragging it through the mashed potatoes on the other side of his plate. He shoved the forkful into his mouth, his cheeks puffing out as he smiled in delight. Max laughed; Ray Sawyer had always had a healthy appetite.
Well, maybe “healthy” wasn’t exactly the right word.
“So,” Max said, turning to Mary, “what have you been up to, Mar?”
“Nothing much,” she replied, laughing as Sam smeared a handful of mashed potatoes over his face. She reached over to wipe it off. “Taking care of this little monster, for the most part.”
“You working? I remember you saying something about wanting to be a teacher.”
“Got my degree,” Mary confirmed, then sighed. “And then I got pregnant. I’m gonna have to wait until Sam’s old enough for daycare before I apply for anything locally. It’s okay, though. Ma and Pop got me, right?”
“Whatever you need, honey,” Ray affirmed with a deep nod. He reached out and placed his hand on Mary’s shoulder. She smiled up at him, then turned back to look at Max.
“How about you, Maxy,” she replied, with a grin. “Besides, romancing Regina, what have you been up to?”
Max shrugged and looked back down at his plate. “Just traveling, for the most part,” he said. “You know, drifting from one place to the next, looking for work and whatnot. Just me and my bike.” He cleared his throat, nervously. “Really not much to tell.”
“Well, you must have been doing something worth telling!” Grace exclaimed. “It’s been years, Maxwell.”
Max shrugged, wracking his brain for something to tell them that wouldn’t result in yelling or possibly getting himself—and Regina—kicked out. He hadn’t been up to many Sawyer-approved things these last few years and he didn’t know if he could face their disappointment head-on. Finally, he sighed.
“I got a few new tattoos,” he offered, rolling up his sleeves and showing them all the rose on his forearm. “For my mother,” he explained. Grace nodded, with a knowing look.
“How is Rose?” she asked. “Is she doing okay? Taking her meds and everything?”
“Last I checked,” Max replied, with a nod. “I haven’t really seen her in a while. Carol’s taking care of her, though. She’s got it covered, I’m sure.”
“You haven’t even gone back to visit?” Grace asked. She turned to her husband. “Did you know about this?” Ray opened his mouth, eyeing Max warily.
“He didn’t,” Max said, before Ray could speak. “I…I didn’t tell him. But, uh, I didn’t think it would be a good idea, you know? With the brain damage, she might think that I’m my father or something. I’d hate to have to tell her that I’m not. That her husband is dead.” He looked down at his plate. “I can’t do that to her.”
“I’m sure she misses you, though,” Grace sighed. “She’s probably wondering where her son went.”
“Last time we talked, she didn’t even know she had a son,” he informed her. “She thought she was sixteen and that Carol was her older sister.” He shook his head. “She doesn’t miss me.”
“Max…” Mary said, reaching across the table. He pulled his chair back before she could touch him, refusing to even look at her.
“I’ll be right back,” he said. “I have to use the bathroom. Excuse me.”
He stood and walked out of the room.
*****
Regina
Everything was quiet for a long, awkward moment. Everybody was looking at their plates or one another, but nobody dared to look towards Regina, who was more confused than ever.
“I’m sorry,” she said, after a while. “I’m…a little lost. What happened, exactly?”
“Max didn’t tell you?” Ray asked.
Regina shook her head. “We only just recently met in person,” she said, lying easily through her teeth. “And he’s not much of a ‘sharer’, anyway.”
Ray chuckled at that. “No, he’s not, is he?” he said, putting down his fork. “Well, I reckon you’d find out soon anyway. He shouldn’t be too upset with me for filling you in.” He took a deep breath and gave her a somber look. “A few years ago, Max’s parents, Harrison and Rose, were involved in an accident.”
“That’s what they say, anyway,” Mary murmured, looking down at her plate. Ray glared at her.
“It was an accident,” he said, his voice firm. “Nobody could have seen that coming.”
“I know several people who could’ve,” Mary said, her voice still low as she pushed her vegetables around.
“Oh quit it,” Ray growled. “They didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“Who didn’t?” Regina asked, looking between them.
They both turned to look at her and Regina stared back, lifting her brows in question. Ray sighed. “An old motorcycle gang Harrison and I used to belong to,” he said. “The Hell’s Seven Motorcycle Club. They thought they were such hot shit back in the day and, well, so did we. We joined up right out of high school and left town on a pair of used motorcycles. Left our families and friends and everything behind. For years, we followed those assholes, thinking we were so great and edgy.” He scoffed. “We were idiots and it took us long enough to realize it.” He chuckled and grinned. “We had to buy our way out, of course. It wasn’t cheap, but eventually we were released; allowed to come back home.” He smiled at Grace. “I got to marry my high school sweetheart, who thankfully decided to wait for me to get my head out of my ass. And Harrison met Rose and married her within a year. We raised our kids together, safe and sound.” His face darkened. “Until…”
“Until what?” Regina asked, suddenly so engrossed in the story.
“Well, it might come to you as shock that your man hasn’t always made the smartest choices in his youth.” Regina chuckled at that. “The big dummy joined the Hell’s Sevens when he was a teenager, barely growing hair under his armpits.” Ray shook his head. “He was joined up for nearly a whole year before Harrison found out. He beat that boy within an inch of his life and tried to force him to quit.”
“Tried?”
“Yeah, well, like I said, it’s expensive as hell. It takes a couple grand to get out and Max had to be willing to leave. He wasn’t and Harrison didn’t have the money to spare getting his kid out. So, he made it difficult for Max to contact the bikers. Kept him home, under lock and key, whenever he could. Max, thick-headed little punk that he was, found ways to sneak out and would disappear for weeks at a time, following the Hell’s Sevens anywhere. He’d come home with pockets full of cash and refuse to tell his father where he got it. He had a couple new tattoos every time, too. Always a stupid design; usually had a skull. Gave his father headaches like you wouldn’t believe.” Ray laughed, shaking his head. “His mother always coddled him when he came home, but Rose had always seen him as her little boy.”
“What finally made him quit?” Regina asked.
Ray shrugged. “He never said why. He just came home one day and told his father that he wanted out. He wasn’t even old enough to drink, but he looked like he’d seen too many ghosts to count. Harrison was proud of him for finally making that decision and they set about getting together the money to help him out. It took ten thousand to get each of us out of the Hell’s Seven MC the first time,” Ray informed her, “so that’s how much Harrison collected from his retirement and loans and Max’s untouched college fund. Even Carol put in about a thousand to help out her little brother. But when they brought it to the head of the gang, Caesar, he laughed in their faces and told him that the price for freedom had gone up.”
“How much was it?” Regina asked.
“Twenty thousand dollars,” Grace offered. “’Second Generation Fee,’ he said.” She scoffed. “Horrible man.”
“Since Harrison didn’t have the m
oney, he decided to go a different route,” Ray said. “He reported them to the police. Got them arrested on several charges of burglary and grand larceny. Even got them on a couple of stolen bikes. Caesar, alone, was looking at a good twenty-five years.”
“What happened then?” Regina asked, leaning closer to her storyteller.
“Caesar was only given about seven years for a first offense.” Ray scoffed. “But with his lawyers, he got out in six, for good behavior. First thing he did was start wreaking revenge on all those that had ‘wronged’ him. That meant every one of his boys that had abandoned him or agreed to a plea deal to testify against him. And that meant the person who had turned him in.”
Regina’s eyes widened at that. “You mean…?”
Ray nodded, solemnly. “That’s the rumor, anyway,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t think Caesar is quite capable of that. I mean, the man has never killed anybody before.”
“That we know of,” Mary retorted. Ray rolled his eyes.
“I think it was just an unlucky coincidence,” Ray said. “Mary, obviously, has other ideas.”
“He killed Max’s father, Dad!” Mary exclaimed. “And severely damaged Rose’s brain. She can’t even recognize her own son!”
“It was an accident, Mary,” Ray sighed. “Caesar wasn’t anywhere near them when it happened.”
“That doesn’t mean he couldn’t have gotten somebody to—”
“Just drop it, Mary!” Grace snapped. “This is not polite dinnertime conversation. I’d really like the subject to change right now.”
“Of course, sweetheart,” Ray said, giving his daughter a warning look.
“Sorry,” Mary murmured, looking down at her plate. Sam cooed.
Nobody started a new conversation and Regina took that as her chance. She placed her napkin on the table and pushed her chair away. “I’m going to go see what’s keeping Max,” she said. “Excuse me.”
*****
Max
The cold water felt good on his face.
