Keeping Meg (Devil's Knights #6)

by Winter Travers

  I plopped down on the big couch that was in front of the dressing room and fanned my dress out around me. The beautiful and intricate stitching of each and every flower was amazing, and the dark rich shade of purple was perfection.

  I opened the bag of chips, mindful of my dress, and popped a chip into my mouth. Here I was sitting on a couch in a bridal shop, wearing a fabulous wedding dress, waiting for my best girls to come out and show me their picks for dresses. I don’t think this day could get any better.

  ________

  Chapter 9

  Lo

  I pulled up to my mom’s house and didn’t see her car in the driveway and sighed. I should have called before I came out here, but I figured she would be home. Hopefully, she was home. Otherwise, I had just driven out here for nothing. I pulled my leather jackets tight around me and headed up the sidewalk.

  Gravel had packed up everything off the porch, getting ready for winter and mom had already put a fake tree up where her favorite chair generally sat. I tried the handle, opening the door, “Ma! You home?” All the lights were on, but there wasn’t an answer.

  I walked in and shut the door behind, wondering why the door was unlocked and all the lights were on. “Ma, you here?”

  “Logan,” I heard whimpered.

  “Mom? Where the hell are you?” I called. I listened again, trying to figure out where she was but didn’t hear anything.

  I sprinted into the kitchen and saw my mom propped up against the cupboards, shards of glass surrounding her. “Mom,” I kneeled down beside her, and she lifted her head to look at me. She looked tired and worn out, and her eyes were glassy. I grabbed her hand, needing to touch her, making sure she was still with me. Her hands were ice cold but her fingers wrapped around mine, holding on tight. “What happened?”

  “I’m… just weak,” she gasped.

  Weak? What the hell did she mean weak? She was one of the strongest women I knew, inside and out. “We need to call an ambulance, ma. You shouldn’t be weak. Something isn’t right.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket, and she knocked it out of my hand. It skidded across the floor and hit the fridge. “Ma, you need to go to the hospital.”

  “No, I don’t, Lo. I'm all right.”

  “You’re not fine if I come over and find you laying on the kitchen floor.”

  “I wasn’t laying down,” she mouthed off. Even possibly dying and my mother was still being a pain in my ass.

  “What the hell happened?” I looked over my shoulder and saw Gravel standing at the entrance of the kitchen, two plastic grocery bags dangling from his fingertips. “I thought I told you to sit your ass on that couch and not move, woman.”

  Mom waved her hand at Gravel and rested her head on the cabinet behind her. “I needed a drink. You left me with nothing to drink.”

  “I was only gone for twenty minutes; I didn’t think I needed to leave you with a survival kit.”

  “Well, now you know,” she laughed. She fucking laughed.

  “What the hell is going on?” I roared. “I come over and find my mother on the floor, and all you two are going on about is the fact he didn’t leave you with a drink.”

  “Calm down, Lo. Everything will be fine. I’m just weak after my treatments, and apparently getting a drink is too taxing on me.”

  They were talking like I knew what was going on when in fact I didn’t have a fucking clue. Gravel walked into the kitchen, setting the bags down on the table and grabbed the broom from beside the fridge. “Get off the floor, Lo, and grab the dustpan. We need to get this cleaned up before Ethel gets hurt.”

  “She’s already hurt,” I bellowed.

  “She’s not hurt, Lo.”

  “Don’t you dare call me Lo. Only two people call me that, and you are not one of them.”

  “Alright, son.” My blood boiled. Usually, I didn’t mind if he called me Lo or son, but right now I was pissed the fuck off by the fact he knew what the hell was wrong with my mom, and I didn’t have a fucking clue.

  “Tell me what the fuck is going on!”

  “Logan Birch, knock it off and help Gravel clean up. I’ll explain everything when I’m not sitting in a pile of broken glass.” She scowled at me, somehow pissed off. I grabbed the dustpan and kneeled down, collecting the shards as Gravel swept them up.

  “Help your mother to the couch. I’ll get some drinks.”

  I pressed the dustpan into his chest, and he wrapped his hand around it. “Here,” I growled. Gravel just shook his head and backed away.

  After kneeling down, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hoisted her up. She leaned heavily against me, seeming as though her legs couldn’t even hold her up. “Put me in my chair.” I gingerly set her down, making sure not to move faster than she could and stood back, looking down at her. She looked so fragile and tired, nothing like the mother I had known the past thirty some years.

  “Sit down, Logan. There is no point in you standing over me, scowling.” She shooed me away with her hand, and I sat down on the couch directly across from her.

  “Tell me what is going on, mom.”

  Gravel walked in with three glasses in his hand, offering one to me and setting one next to mom. “I made the tea. Hopefully, it’s not shit,” he gruffed, sitting in the chair next to mom. After Gravel had bought mom the first chair during Meg’s whole breaking the expensive ass bed, he went back and bought another chair so they could both have one.

  I set my glass down on the table, not giving a shit about it. “Tell. Me. What. Is. Going. On.”

  “I’d change your tune real quick, boy. I know that is not how you talk to your mother.”

  “Gravel, stop. It’s fine. You were the same way when I told you.” She reached over and patted him on the leg.

  “That’s because the God damn doctor took fucking forever to tell us. I was ready to stab the fucker with a needle.” Mom chuckled under her breath, and I just stared at her.

  Her color was coming back, and she didn’t look so beaten down. “Mom, please.”

  “Alright, just remember, I am not going to die.” Gravel grunted next to her and rolled his eyes. “I meant I won’t die from this, Gravel.” He nodded his head, smirking at her but let her continue. “Five weeks ago, I went to the doctor’s office. I have my yearly mammogram, and they found a lump.” My world tipped on its side at her words, but she just kept on. “After they performed a biopsy of it, they discovered it was cancerous. I have stage II breast cancer.”

  Holy Fuck.

  ________

  Chapter 10

  Meg

  “OK, so we’re all decided on the floor length, ¾ sleeve, plum dress, yes?” Gwen asked, twirling around in front of the mirror.

  “Hell yes!” We all shouted. After three grueling hours of watching these four try on dresses, I was beyond ready to go home, slip in the shower and then slip into bed with Lo. I loved hanging out with my girls, but I missed Lo.

  “All right, ladies. Let’s pack it up and get the hell out of here. I will die happy if I never have to step foot in a bridal salon again.”

  Gwen slipped back into the dressing room while the rest of the girls gathered up their purses and coats, all talking at once about the amazing bridesmaid dress. We had managed to find a dress the same shade of purple that was on my wedding dress. We were going to look amazing the day of the wedding.

  “I’ll meet you guys outside.” I grabbed my purse and headed out, pulling my phone out of my pocket. The last time I had heard from Lo was over three hours ago, and I missed hearing his voice.

  After swiping his name, I put the phone to my ear, but it went directly to voicemail. What the hell? “Hey, it’s me,” I rattled off, “We’re just leaving the dress shop. We should be home within the hour. I’m not sure what you wanted to do for dinner, but I thought maybe we could just hang out in our room. I miss my Lo time. See you soon, I love you.” I shoved the phone back in my pocket just as the girls started pourin
g out the front door.

  “I’m gonna head out.” Jackie pulled her keys out of her purse and beeped open the locks of her SUV. “Marcus called, wanting me to bring home fried chicken and whipped cream.”

  “Oh, sweet Jesus, stop right there. I don’t want to hear anything about your kinky sex life.” I put my hands over my ears and shook my head.

  Jackie hugged all the girls bye and flipped me off as she got in her car. “Ah, sisterly love,” Cyn said, tossing her arm over my shoulders.

  “She loves to torture me. Even though we’re both grown adults, she still tries to annoy the shit out of me.”

  “We should stop and eat. Oh, Mexican!”

  “Sorry, no can do. I plan on slipping into the Lo Daze and not surfacing until morning.” I steered Cyn over to the car, eager to get home.

  “Well, I want Mexican. Maybe I could get Rigid to help me cook.”

  “Oh, I can help you!” Marley called.

  “Abort, abort,” I whispered.

  “You know what, on second thought, why don’t we grab the guys and make them take us out,” Gwen chimed in. I had a feeling that everyone knew about Marley’s lack of cooking skills.

  “Perfect idea,” Cyn slid into the passenger seat while Marley and Gwen wedged themselves in the back again. “You sure you don’t want to come with us? You could always have your Lo time after.”

  “I’m sure. I tried calling him earlier, and he didn’t answer. He’s probably in the garage working on paperwork or something.”

  The girls chatted the whole way home, gushing over the dresses we had found today, but all I could focus on was the sinking feeling in my stomach that something wasn’t right.

  ________

  Lo

  “Yo, Cyn just called. We’re all going out for Mexican. You and Meg want to come with?”

  I stared at the closed door, Rigid on the other side and took a swig from the bottle of 12 year Jameson that was dangling from my fingertips. After spending more than an hour at Gravel’s and mom’s, I was more than ready to go home. I didn’t know what to feel or think.

  She kept telling me over and over that she wasn’t going to die from this, but I didn’t hear it. The word cancer just kept rolling through my head, beating me down, making me feel like I had already lost her.

  “King, you in there, man?” Rigid tried the handle, but I had locked the door, not wanting to be disturbed.

  “I’m staying in tonight,” I called. I didn’t want to be out, having a good time while my mom was probably at home, throwing up and losing her hair because of the chemo she was going through.

  “Suit yourself, brother.” I heard his retreating footsteps and took another drink. I grabbed the stereo remote, cranking up Five Finger Death Punch.

  Life sucked at the moment, and the only thing that was going to make it better was Meg and this bottle of Jameson. Meg wasn’t here, so it was time to drown in Jameson.

  ________

  Chapter 11

  Meg

  “Hey, are you sure you don’t want to come with us?”

  This was the fifth time Cyn had asked me to go with them, and I was getting a tad bit annoyed. “I’m sure. We’ll hang out tomorrow, OK?”

  She nodded her head, giving me a quick hug and headed out the door, following behind Marley and Troy. I tossed my purse behind the bar and grabbed a wine cooler from the mini fridge and popped it open. Rigid had told me that Lo had gotten back from his mom’s over an hour ago and headed straight to his room. Lo wasn’t one to hang out in his room alone when all the other brothers were around. Something was going on, and I was worried.

  The common room was quiet, everyone either going out for Mexican or out in the garage to work on cars. I headed down the long hallway, slowly making my way to our room, wary of what I was going to find.

  The closer I got, the louder the music thumped, pounding against the walls. I turned the handle, but it didn’t budge. I dug my keys out of my pocket, opening the door and slowly pushed it open. The room was pitch black, and the music was loud.

  I felt around on the wall, searching for the light and flipped it on. The room illuminated, and my eyes landed on Lo, who was sitting in the recliner in the corner, a bottle of liquor to his lips. “Lo! Turn it down!” I yelled. He stared at me, making no moves to turn down the stereo. One look at him, and I knew he was well beyond buzzed and headed to shit faced. After walking over to the stereo and turning it down, I turned around and looked at him, my hands on my hips. “Looks like you started the party without me, hunny.” A loopy grin spread across his lips, and he took another swig from the bottle.

  “It’s far from a party. Come here,” he slurred. Even piss drunk and slurring his words this man still called to me. I went to him without hesitating and climbed up on his lap, straddling him.

  I rested my hands on his shoulders. “What’s going on?”

  “She’s dying.”

  “What? What do you mean she’s dying?”

  “Mean exactly what I mean to mean.” This might be a bit harder than I thought it was going to be.

  “Who is dying, Lo?”

  “It’s cancer, babe. It’s cancer, and I can’t do anything,” he mumbled, burying his face in my hair. “I can’t fix it.”

  I wrapped my arms around him, still not quite understanding what he was talking about, but I could tell it was tearing him up. “Are you talking about your mom, hunny?” I felt him nod his head yes, and my heart dropped.

  Ethel had cancer. I pulled back and cupped his face with my hands. “How bad is it? Is she getting treatment?”

  “Yeah. I went… I went…” He licked his lips and looked away from me.

  “Do you wanna talk about it, hunny? Or maybe later?”

  “I don’t know what to do, Meg. I try to fix everything, be the man I know that I am, but this I can’t do anything about. I can’t fight it for her. I can’t make her better.” Tears were streaming down his cheeks, each tear ripping my heart open wider.

  I reached over and grabbed the bottle from his hand and took a swig. “Holy fuck, what the fuck is that?” I asked, sputtering. I don’t know how the hell Lo was drinking this shit straight up. I swear to Christ I just drank gasoline.

  Lo grabbed the bottle from me and put it to his lips, taking three huge swallows. “Jameson,” he slurred.

  He set the bottle on the floor next to the chair and popped up the footrest, catapulting me into his chest. “Sweet Jesus, warn a girl, would ya?” I laughed, wrapping my arms around him, settling into him. I rested my head on his chest and listened to his heart beating. “Your mom is strong, handsome.”

  He wrapped his arms tight around me and held on like he was afraid I would slip away. “I needed you before when you called, but I didn’t know what to say.”

  “That’s all you would have needed to say, handsome. You’re there for me all the time, now it’s time for me to be there.”

  “If I lose her, I don’t… I just…”

  I leaned back, looking him in the eye and put a finger over his lips. “Don’t even go there, handsome. Your mom is still here, and if I know her, I bet she has no plans of going anywhere for a long time.”

  He kissed the pad of my finger, and I laid back down, my head to his chest. “I love you with everything I am, Meg.”

  “I love you, too, Logan, and I promise, no matter what happens, I’ll be here.”

  ________

  Lo

  “I love when you hold me, handsome, but my stomach is about to start rioting.” Meg tilted her head back, a smile on her lips. She had been in the chair with me for over an hour, just letting me hold her.

  “I suppose I should feed you.” I pushed the footrest down, and the chair tilted forward as Meg wrapped her arms around my neck. “You say everyone went out to eat?”

  She nodded her head yes and climbed out of my lap and stood up. “Cyn and the baby were craving Mexican.”

  I sat back i
n the chair and looked Meg up and down. She was so fucking beautiful, sometimes I wondered what the hell I did to deserve her. “Did you have a good day, babe?” Here I was acting like a fucking asshole, totally ignoring Meg.

  “Yeah. It was good. I found my dress and so did the girls. There was a near death experience thanks to Barb, but we all managed to walk out of the shop alive.”

  “I should probably be concerned that you went dress shopping and almost had a near death experience, but I’m not.”

  She shrugged her shoulders, “I guess you’re just finally getting used to me,” she laughed.

  I doubted I would ever get used to Meg’s crazy ways, but I wasn’t so shocked anymore. After the whole getting Marley drunk and shoving her in the bathroom with a pot of coffee, I just learned to roll with the punches. “How’d you almost die, this time, babe?” I stood up and grabbed my cut that I had tossed on the bed earlier. I stumbled a bit, realizing the half bottle of Jameson still might have a bit of a hold on me.

  “I love watching you when you’re drunk,” Meg laughed. “Your own drunkenness surprises you. I saw that you totally thought you were fine, and then you almost fell on your ass. Priceless,” she giggled.

  I managed to wrestle myself into my cut without falling over and sat down on the bed. Although, I’m sure it was more of a sit/fall. “Happy to entertain you,” I chuckled.

  She held her hand out to me, and I grabbed it as she pulled me up. “Barb tried to hide my curvy curves, sucking me into a death contraption that one of my legs couldn’t fit into. Cyn and Barb both had to pull and tug to get me in. By the time they did, I was at about thirty percent oxygen level and falling. I’m pretty sure my lips turned purple.” She wrapped her arm around my waist, and we headed down the hall to the kitchen.

  “I hope you didn’t get a dress that is going to hide all those curves I love, babe.” I slid my hand down her back and cupped her ass.