"Any news on how that went?" Trey felt a twinge of guilt at not staying on top of Drake's progress but with every other plate he had spinning on a stick he wasn't surprised.
"She seemed to fucking enjoy it and the kid must have some goddamn skills because she came into the clubhouse mussed up and tense, grabbed Dice and dragged him back to one of the rooms. Not ten fucking minutes later, they both came back looking like the cats who'd swallowed the fucking canary," Huff confided.
Their entire group almost snorted as one with knowing smirks all around.
"Good to know," Trey responded. "That it?"
At their silence, he gave a chin lift and started towards the exit. But made sure to throw a, "don't fucking say it, Dare. Not if you or January value your good looks," over his shoulder before plowing through the door.
*.*.*.*.*
It had been an easy morning with my folks. Mom seemed stronger and my dad must've worked through the upsetting news of last night. When I'd arrived, the nurse had mom sitting on the edge of the bed, a walker sitting front and center. And I agreed. It was time to get her up and moving. We'd made that mistake last time, the one of keeping her down and still. It had made getting her strength back that much harder and longer to achieve.
"Now, I don't want you to do sprints, Mrs. S and no shuffling off to Buffalo. Just five steps out, a turn if you can manage it and five steps back," Nurse Butler advised with a smile. She was one of our favorites in the rotation of nurses assigned.
"I'll be right by your side, Mary," my dad assured her, his voice full of loving support.
It took her awhile and she was drained and sweaty when she finally made it back to the bed but she'd done it, my dad cheering her on every step of the way. I loved how together they were now, the connection between them and was reminded of how their marriage had been back when I was a little girl. A united front that couldn't be played one against another even though I'd given it a go more than a time or two.
"How about a sponge bath?" Nurse Butler offered as a reward, tenderly brushing my mom's sweaty hair off her forehead.
"Can Lally do it?" mom asked, turning her face to me. I thought she'd forgotten I was in the room until she asked.
"Of course, Mrs. S. Do you want me to leave the walker here or take it with me?"
"Go on and leave it. You never know when I'll get the urge to do that shuffle thing," my mom quipped. Oh yeah, she was starting to feel better.
As I bathed my mom, I told her and dad about Trey's house. They both oohed and awed over the changes to the floor plan Trey had made to a house very similar to our own.
"Just up off Cooley, you said?" dad asked, his head tilted. "We looked at houses in that development, didn't we Mary?"
"I think so. There were only two housing tracts with four bedrooms going up at the time." I could tell my mom was getting sleepy as I finished up.
I dumped the water and wiped out the pan I'd used before going back to them. "Trey will probably be here soon and we're going to go shopping. I need your sizes so we'll have something to wear. Can't have my parents running the streets in their birthday suits."
True to form, my parents not only gave me their sizes but instructions as to the style and fabric of each piece of clothing they needed, often cutting each other off in the middle of what was being said. I made notes as best I could but found the floor show they were putting on had me laughing too hard to write. My amusement seemed to feed theirs and soon we were all quipping causing the other two to chuckle.
That's how Trey found us when he knocked and then came into the room.
"Is this a sick room or a comedy club?" His eyes were dancing and both dimples were showing as he looked us over.
My dad, smart-ass as ever, promptly shot back, "are they mutually exclusive? Always thought hospitals carried their own grim sense of humor. I mean, where else would some dumb shit wake a body up to give them a goddamn sleeping pill?" That had all four of us laughing loud and long.
When we were again quiet but still smiling, Trey took up the reins. "You tell them our plans for this afternoon? Good. I also want to give an update on Drake."
"I hope it's good news," I heard my mom breathe as she reached for dad's hand.
"It is, Mary. He's making really good progress and even asked Dallas to visit him. I thought we'd swing by there after the mall. She'll be able to give you a full report when we bring by dinner tonight."
"Thank you, son." My dad's voice held new respect which I wasn't sure was because of Trey handling the break in or for his help with my brother.
"And thank you for the beautiful glass rose and the card, Trey." I saw my mother point to what I'd missed earlier. It was an amazingly rendered replica of a rose in colored glass, whose stem curled at the bottom so it could stand up right. Place next to it was a card that said simply, 'Get well soon' and held only his name on the inside.
I shot my eyes to his to find them soft on me. So soft and gentle that I felt a lump form in my throat and a suspicious prickling behind my eyes.
"You're very much welcome, Mary. Every woman needs flowers when she's in the hospital."
"The chocolate bar didn't go amiss either," my dad added.
"Know you like something sweet after dinner, old man."
I quickly stood in order to stop the need to either blubber at the thoughtfulness of my new man or to drag his gorgeous muscled ass into the bathroom to thank him good and proper. "Okay, we're going to take off. Other than clothes, is there anything else you need?"
My voice must have sounded as funny to them as it did to me because three faces shot to mine as I spoke.
This is going way too fast, my mind warned.
But maybe that's how it works when a biker settles on one girl, my heart yelled back.
*.*.*.*.*
As decided, Trey swung by the clubhouse so I could meet with Drake. Since it was my first time on that side of the forecourt, I was more than curious.
He pulled my truck into a space back and behind the long building, next to a chain link fence and once I was outside, I could see there were six doors that faced us. Each with a painted number and looking much like an old motel would except for the padlocks on each door.
He led me to the one marked number six and knocked. At the muffled, "come in", Trey undid the padlock and opened the door before standing back.
"I'll be back for you later," he said before dropping a peck to my mouth and stepping away.
"Okay, sweetie," I whispered and went in to see Drake.
He was sitting at a small desk in the very clean room, an open laptop in front of him but as soon as he saw me, he was up and out of his chair. "Lally!" he cried and I was enveloped in a hug that shook me to my toes.
I couldn't tell you the last time my brother had touched me with affection. I was surprised to have to swallow the lump in my throat and blink back the prickles in my eyes his gesture had caused.
"How are you? Damn, you look good, Lal," he exclaimed.
"Me? I wouldn't have recognized you if I saw you on the street!" My brother had cleaned himself up with a new haircut and had shaved the scruff of his upper lip and chin. Even his clothes were different. Instead of an oversized polo shirt, he was wearing a carefully pressed oxford button down with the hem out and the sleeves rolled back. His bust-a-sag chinos had been replaced by a pair of normal fitting jeans. Plus, I could swear he'd grown another two inches and had even gained weight.
I had to admit, my brother looked amazing, more mature and actually very good-looking.
"Yeah. Decided it was time for a change," he said with an easy grin. "Come. Sit. Tell me what's been happening." He reached for the chair and turned it towards the bed, sitting only after my ass was on the wooden seat.
I gave it to him in the timeline it had gone down: Mom and dad's new closeness, me catching Greenway, the brick incident, mom's attack and then the break in. He didn't seemed too concerned about his old stuff being trashed but more worried about our parent's health
and state of mind.
"So I've got four bags of new clothes in my truck," I finished.
"Dad can't wear new clothes. Something in the finish irritates his scars." Drake's voice was quiet and I could see he was thinking as he spoke. "Do you have your cell on you, Lally?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I want to get permission to wash their clothes. I'm in charge of laundry here and I can get it all done in about an hour and fifteen. But I need the okay to leave my room."
"Who are you and what have you done with my little brother?"
He sat up and blinked at me. I'd said it to be funny but there was truth in there as well. It was like he was the kid I used to know. The one who I'd actually enjoyed being around and sharing a family with before he'd turned into an ass-hat of the first order.
"They're my folks, too. I may not be able to contribute a whole lot yet, but I'd like to be able to do something for them." If I wasn't mistaken, my attempt at funny had hit my brother in his new found pride. I wanted to apologize but somehow felt that my words wouldn't be accepted.
I reached into my back pocket for my phone. "Trey's listed if you want to call him."
That earned me a sharp glance.
As he spoke into the phone, I let my eyes wander around the room. There was a bowl of condoms on the nightstand sitting next to a book with a sexy cover. I saw a couple of girlie magazines sitting on the shelf of the stand as well. Through the open door, was a fully equipped bathroom with folded towels on the rod next to the shower. There was a closet with a folding door which was closed. Even when he had (as Trey called it) given a rat's ass, I don't think my brother had ever kept his room as clean as it was now.
"He said it was a good idea," Drake recounted. "Let's get the stuff from your truck."
"You into romance novels now?" I asked, pointing my chin at the book on the nightstand as we prepared to leave his room.
"Best sex ed in the world according to the brothers," he shot back with a huge smile. "These guys are great, Lally. Really. So cool once I settled my shit down. I've been watching and am kind of wondering if they might consider me. You know as a recruit, when I turn eighteen."
I felt my heart drop at my brother's words. It was one thing for him to get help from the motorcycle club, a little correction and a push in the right direction so he'd go forth and live his life as a citizen of value.
It was entirely different thing if he had ideas about actually becoming one of them.
I schooled my face and redistributed the bags, letting Drake take two of them before he led me to another entrance on the other side of the building. It had a Dutch door, the kind that you could open the top portion and leave the bottom half closed but it, like the others, had a huge padlock on it. My brother took out a key ring and released it.
"Only three people have a key to this room at the moment," he said with more than a note of brag on display. "The Prez, Bishop and me."
I raised my eyebrows at that bit of news before watching him step back to allow me to enter first. When the lights came on, I saw we were in a mini-launderette with full sized washers and dryers, rolling carts, counters to fold clothes on as well as a strip of connected chairs. And the entire space was spotless.
"This is where I spend a lot of my time," he explained as he up-ended the bags onto one of the countertops and reached for a pair of scissors hanging on a peg. "I'll get the water going if you want to start on the tags."
I had to physically remind myself to shut my mouth since it seemingly wanted to stay in the dropped position. Trey had said we'd see changes but I guess I really hadn't grasped what he meant because the boy who had tormented both me and the town was gone. And the boy-man now in front of me was a totally different person.
Making short work of the all the little pieces of cardboard attached with those plastic things, I had a growing stack of clothes which Drake began to separate into piles. "The important things to remember when doing laundry is to separate them by color and to use the right temperature."
I could only nod and bite my lips to keep from laughing at my brother's advice as he began loading all three washers.
"So if dad's staying at the hospital, where are you? You're not at the house, I hope."
"No. I'm, ah. I'm staying with a friend," I said, keeping my eyes determinedly on my task of cleaning up the bits of plastic and cardboard.
At my brother's laughter, I glanced over to see what was so funny. "Christ, Dallas! 'A friend'?"
"What's so funny about that?"
"Listen, sister, and listen well. One little known fact about bikers, and this has to stay between you and me, is that they gossip more than any little old ladies do. Word is, you and the Prez are somewhat of an item. An item with overnight visiting privileges, suck-face rights and might even contain the old 'getting jiggy wid it' contingents."
I felt the blow-torch of embarrassment hit my cheeks and I threw my eyes wildly around the room, looking for something, anything to do instead of look at my younger brother.
"They're all talking about it, even the girls. Trying to figure out the attraction." My brother's voice held laughter as he spoke, which kind of hurt. It was one thing for me to be confused by what Trey saw in me but another to think of the bright parrots wondering about it as well. I heard the lids of the washers bang shut before I felt Drake slide an arm around my shoulders.
"Hey. Hey, Lally. What's wrong? Did I say something…"
"No. You didn't. I'm just surprised, I guess. I mean, its new and everything so I haven't talked about it with anyone." I was shaken to my roots. What if someone said something to Trey? Would he start to wonder about it as well?
"Listen, they're giving him hell about it, too. But he doesn't say anything which Bishop says means Trey is serious."
God. I was so starved for confirmation that I was really with Trey one-on-one that my brother's words were like a balm
"And let me tell you, from the shit I've seen? These bikers aren't at all serious about any girl. Especially not if it’s one of the unclaimed Honeys! These guys fuck like rabbits and don't seem to be too choosy about who they get with as long as they're getting theirs. If it itches, they freakin' well scratch it, if you know what I mean."
Shit! I knew exactly what he meant and suddenly I was back in the same place I had been, balancing Trey the man against Trey the biker.
Quiet settled between us as we stayed in place, Drake's arm still around my shoulders as he rubbed my upper arm.
"But, Trey, he's a good guy. The best. The kind of guy I hope to be someday. I don't know if you could've found better, to tell you the truth. But I sure as shit know you can and have done worse." He squeezed my arm before turning me into him. "I'm sorry. Actually, that's kind of why I wanted you to come see me. To tell you how sorry I am. Sorry for all the fucked up stuff I did before. God, you've been so good about taking care of me with the jail shit and the fines. All while taking care of mom and dad and holding down a job."
I felt the first of my tears hit my eyes. I tried blinking to hold them back but it was a lost cause.
"You've been a fucking tower for us, Lal. And as soon as I'm able, I'll help pick up the slack as well as pay you back for all you've done." The sincerity in Drake's voice was hard to miss. I felt him pat my back as my breath hitched giving full confirmation of my meltdown. "You go on and cry, Dallas. You deserve it."
So I did.
I let go of the shit I'd been holding inside, both the good and the bad plus all the confusion about getting with a biker, just letting it all leak out onto my brother's former crisply ironed shirt. When I was down to just the remaining gasps, I felt him shift before he handed me a clean, white handkerchief.
The sight of it made me grin.
Drake leaned down until we were eye-to-eye. "Feel better?"
I nodded as I mopped up my face.
"Good. Now let's get the clothes in the dryer. The secret to fresh clothes that don't require an iron is to remove them immediately at the exact
moment they're completely dry." He held a entirely serious face and tone as he imparted that little bit of sagacious wisdom.
I couldn't help my sharp bark of laughter my 'new' brother quickly joined in on.
Chapter Twenty
Trey pulled up his calendar on the computer. He fucking loved Monday mornings and considered them the 'do-over' for the week before. A chance to rectify whatever had cocked up and make it right in the kingdom of Hellion Construction.
"They're ready for you in the conference room," Rita advised over his phone's intercom. "The managers for Idaho are already on the bridge-line and I had the speaker phone swapped out since you had so much trouble with it last month."
"Thanks, Rita." Trey, like most everyone who worked out of HC's headquarters, treasured her and knew that she was an integral part of the business's success. "What time for Wyoming?"
"Eleven, but I confirmed that each manager was flexible an hour on either side of that."
"Great! No interruptions unless someone is bleeding or dying." It was his standard warning, something he said every month and it earned him a giggle but this time he added to it. "Or unless the call is from someone with the last name of Sheridan."
Typically, the monthly management meetings ran between four and five hours depending on the business at hand. But he knew the doctor was meeting with Dallas's family this morning and wanted to ensure that, if need be, he was available to take the call regarding Mary's progress.
"Will do. I also brought in a box of Treasure State donuts. Tell the boys to play nice and then clean up after yourselves," Rita advised and he could hear the smile in her voice.
"You're the best, babe." Back in the day, Rita had been married to Gear. But after Gear bought it in a scuffle over a knife at a convenience store, she'd married a civilian and dropped out of the Honeys. Becoming the right-hand of whoever held the helm of HC had come later and Trey often wondered if it was her way of staying close to her former 'family'.
Trey entered the conference room to see the members of his council and Dice already seated, the decimated box of donuts lying open with one lonely cruller remaining.
The Possibility of Trey (A Hellion MC Novel) Page 16
