“Let me gather my thoughts for a second because there are two things going on and I gotta figure out how to say them so you’ll understand.”
This was what it was going to be like living with two girls. Going from living with a bunch of guys to two chicks was going to be a huge change that I wasn’t so sure I was ready for. I pulled my phone out to see Wrecker had messaged me sometime between Adley storming off and now.
Church in an hour.
The timestamp on the message was from five minutes ago.
Wendy had about five minutes to get her thoughts organized and then about thirty minutes to explain whatever the hell was going on.
I watched as she brewed two cups of coffee, set one in front of me, and then dumped a shit-ton of milk into her cup.
“You want a little coffee with your milk?” I chuckled.
She flipped me off and sat back down at the table. “I normally use vanilla creamer but had to improvise this morning.”
“Drink it black, and then, you won’t ever have to improvise.”
She sipped her coffee and glared at me.
“You got those thoughts organized in your head? I do have somewhere I need to be in about an hour.”
“Is fathering your daughter getting in the way of your social life?” she snapped.
“You know, I don’t think I gave you time to gather your thoughts. I think I gave you time to get sassy.”
Wendy rolled her eyes. “Maybe I’ll just keep my thoughts to myself and let you figure everything out on your own.”
“You do that a lot around me.”
“I do what a lot?” she asked.
I casually sipped my coffee and made her wait for me to “gather my thoughts.” “Roll your eyes, sugar.”
She scoffed and sat back in her chair. “Tell me something I don’t know. You and my family make me roll my eyes the most.”
“Now tell me what the hell is going on with Adley.”
She held up two fingers. “There are two things going on with Adley. Well, there are probably more than that, but the two things that you need to deal with right now are she more than likely didn’t have much before coming to live here, and she’s worried you might not be her dad.”
“The first thing doesn’t matter. That’s in the past. If I want to buy her a brand new computer and all new clothes I can.”
Wendy held up her hand. “Are you trying to make me roll my eyes now?”
“And I’m also worried I might not be her dad. The only way to figure out if I am is get the damn paternity test done.”
“What happens if you’re not her dad?” Wendy asked.
That was the one question I did not have the answer to.
Send her back to live with her aunt who doesn’t want her?
What else was I supposed to do it that happened?
“There’s a letter. A letter Adley’s mom wrote, and it just sounds like there isn’t anyone else that could be her father.”
“You mean…” Wendy trailed off.
“Yeah, I mean I was the only one she was with. Ever.”
“Ever?” Wendy gasped.
Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. “Ever as in before she got pregnant. It was only me.”
“Ohh,” Wendy marveled. “I’m totally on the same page as you now.”
Were we? “Anyway, I just don’t know how her mom could be wrong or why she would lie about something like this.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re not shying away from this or acting like there isn’t a possibility that you’re her dad.”
“So what do I do about what just happened?”
Wendy shrugged. “Honestly? There really isn’t anything you can do to fix her fears other than get the test done and give her the results.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket and typed for a few seconds. “Let me Google to see how long something like this takes.”
“Really, sugar?”
Her eyes connected with mine. “Yes, really. I’m a millennial. This is what I do. Google something, take what it says to heart, and then worry about it until I actually get the right answer in life.” She turned her phone towards me and smiled. “Says here once it gets to the lab it should only take three to five days.”
“But how long does it take to get to the lab?”
“One second,” she mumbled. She turned the phone back towards her and typed again. “Bingo,” she sang. She turned the phone back to me, and there were search results for hospitals and labs in the area. “I say we go with the second one. It’s an independent lab that’s only half an hour away.”
“And they’re accurate?” I squinted at her phone and tried to read the name of the place.
She snatched her phone away. “Just let me click on the reviews real quick.” She pursed her lips as she read. “Well,” she drawled. “There are mostly five and four star reviews. The few one star reviews are basically disgruntled people who didn’t get the results that they were hoping for.”
“We’re really gonna pick this place off of your phone?”
She set her phone down and smiled. “Yes. Yes we are, because I don’t know how else you planned on doing this.”
I didn’t have a plan. I just felt making a huge decision like this should be more of a dramatic doing than Wendy just typing on her phone and showing me an address. “Okay.”
She obviously had a better grasp of what needed to be done than I did. She had the luxury of none of this involving her personally so she could step back and see things better.
“So that’s decided, then.” Wendy grabbed her coffee and stood up. “Now, you go wherever you need to go, and I’m going to hang out with Adley for the day.”
“Wait? What?”
“Bring home some dinner, would you? Maybe fried chicken.” Wendy breezed out of the kitchen and jogged up the stairs.
I stared into my cup of coffee and was once again wondering what in the hell just happened. Things were being decided so quickly, and I just felt I needed more time to wrap my head around them before we moved onto the next thing.
Life was moving at warp speed, and I was sinking in quicksand.
*
Wendy
“I don’t want to talk.”
I rested my hand on Adley’s closed door and sighed. “Your dad has some stuff he needs to do. He’s leaving in a little bit.”
“Fine,” Adley called.
“If you need anything I’ll be down in the living room.”
“I’m fine. I don’t need anything.”
Part of me was relieved that Adley didn’t want to talk. There had been so much talking the past couple of days that I was totally okay with silence.
“Just holler if you need me, doll.”
Adley didn’t reply, but I hoped she knew that I really was there for her if she needed me.
*
Chapter Seven
Slayer
“How’d the night go?”
I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and twisted the cap off. “It was fine.”
Pipe leaned against the bar. “What’d you guys do?”
I racked my mind for something to say but nothing came to mind. “The usual.”
Pipe chuckled. “The usual? How the hell do you have a usual in a new house?”
I took a swig of water and shrugged.
“There’s the new daddy.” Nickel walked over to the kitchen counter and grabbed an apple. “How was the first night in the new house?”
Jesus. Who would have known everyone was going to be so interested in what my night was like.
“He said it was like the usual.” Pipe smiled wide and clicked his tongue.
“Usual?” Nickel asked. “Man, I wish like hell I had a usual night with Cole. Something different is always happening.”
“Something tells me that the night was anything but usual but he doesn’t want to tell us.” Pipe elbowed Nickel. “What do you suppose happened?”
“Brother, with a kid around, anything could have happened.”
Nickel bit into the apple and chewed thoughtfully. “Though Adley is a hell of a lot older than Cole. She could be going through some teenage shit that I am in no way looking forward to.”
“Is it teenage shit?” Pipe asked me.
“I don’t even know what that means.” Teenage shit didn’t sound fun. Though, Adley wasn’t technically a teenager.
Nickel whispered loudly. “You know, periods, boys, and shit like that.”
Oh, hell no. I was not ready for any of that shit. “I fell asleep at seven, assholes. None of whatever you just said is going on.”
I’d rather tell these assholes I went to bed like a grandpa than talk about Adley going through puberty.
Nickel busted out laughing, and Pipe shook his head.
“What a fucking wuss.” Pipe clapped me on the shoulder. “Chickened out and just went to bed.”
“I was fucking tired, asshole. And Adley was already in her room. You really think she wanted her dad barging in to hang out with her?”
I really didn’t know what she wanted but I thought back to when I was twelve and knew I wasn’t hanging out with my parents in my room all night.
“Weird as hell to refer to yourself as a dad,” Pipe chuckled. “Straight-up never saw that shit coming.”
I sure as hell didn’t see it coming either. “Well, I’m living it.”
“Church!” Wrecker bellowed.
We all moved through the common room and down the hallway to church.
“Anyone know what the hell this is about?” Boink asked.
I sat down next to him and shrugged. “Not a fucking clue.” I had enough shit on my plate so I hoped like hell it wasn’t anything I needed to help with.
Wrecker sat at the head of the table and waited ‘til everyone sat down before he started. “How are things with Adley?” he asked.
“Uh, I guess good.” I cleared my throat. “I think I pissed her off this morning, and I’m not sure what I did.”
Freak chuckled. “Sounds like us dealing with our ol’ ladies.”
“Here, here,” Maniac agreed. “Last week, I woke up and Wren was pissed off at me. I have yet to figure out what I did, but I know it was something I did in my sleep.”
“You’ll get the hang of it,” Wrecker called. “Let us know if you need anything.”
I nodded and assumed we weren’t having church for something to do with me. That was a relief, but my interest was piqued to know what the hell was going on.
Wrecker cleared his throat and rested his hand on the table. “I asked Pipe to get in contact with Brinks since we hadn’t heard from him in a couple of days.”
“Oh, hell,” Boink called. “Whose bed did you end up finding him in?”
Pipe looked at Wrecker and sighed. “I didn’t find him.”
“What the hell do you mean you didn’t find him?” Nickel questioned.
“I mean, I can’t find him. He was in River Valley keeping an eye on Jenkins and just hanging around to get the pulse of the town right now.” Pipe cleared his throat and rested his hands on the table. “Had a contact I have there do a check for him after I couldn’t get him on his phone.”
“He ain’t answering his phone?” Boink hissed.
Pipe shook his head. “No.”
“So what in the fuck are we doing?” Freak exclaimed.
Wrecker held up his hand to silence everyone. “I just got off the phone with Oakley. He didn’t even know that we had sent Brinks down there so he’s already behind the ball on trying to help us.”
“Well, why don’t we talk to someone who can actually fucking help us?” Nickel growled.
This was some serious shit right now. Brinks, a main member of the club, was missing.
“I also called Leo,” Wrecker replied calmly.
Fucking hell. Wrecker had called in both big gun connections we had.
“I’m heading to River Valley this afternoon, and I need a couple of you to come with me.”
Everyone volunteered at once to go with.
“Put your fucking hand down, Slayer. No fucking way I’m going to have you come with. You got your own shit to deal with right now.” Wrecker shook his head. “I’m gonna take Pipe and Freak with me.”
“You sure Alice is going to like you heading out of town with her being pregnant?” Boink asked.
“She’s not popping that baby out for at least another three months. I’m hoping that we roll into town, figure out what the hell is going on with Brinks, and be back by the end of the week.”
Nickel shook his head. “You have no idea what the hell you guys are walking into, Wrecker. Why don’t you take more of us to give you more cover?”
“That’s why I put calls into Oakley and Leo. They both have men already headed in that direction. I need to have my ass covered in River Valley, but I also need to keep things safe here with all of the girls.”
“Are we thinking Jenkins has something to do with Brinks disappearing?” I asked.
Wrecker shrugged. “That is the first thing we are going to figure out, but at this point, we don’t really have anything to go on other than Brinks ain’t answering his phone and we can’t get in touch with him any other way.”
“We gotta move all the girls into the clubhouse?” Maniac wondered.
Wrecker shook his head. “Not right now. Keeping you guys here is a precaution. Just carry on like you normally would. We don’t need to alarm the girls. As far as they will know, we’re just headed to River Valley for club business.”
“Are we really still thinking that we can tell our ol’ ladies it’s club business and they aren’t going to ask any more questions?” Freak laughed.
Laughter and groans sounded around the table.
“Well, for the time being, that’s all we are going to tell them.” Wrecker nodded to Nickel. “You’re in charge while we’re gone. Just keep things running like business as usual.”
“I’m not sure exactly what that is since we always seem to have some kind of shit going on.” Nickel smirked and elbowed Pipe. “Maybe that means going to bed at seven every night.”
And here we go. I figured they were going to give me shit about passing out last night, but I had hoped with Brinks missing they would forget about it. I was wrong.
“I am never telling you assholes anything.” I flipped them both off and scowled.
Wrecker pounded his fist on the table. “Yo, can we focus on Brinks right now, fuckers?”
Pipe and Nickel wiped their smiles off their faces and cowered a bit in their chairs. They both muttered sorry under their breath and stared at the table.
Wrecker shook his head and stood. He towered over us with a grim look. “I’m gonna say this, and you assholes better hear exactly what I’m saying.” His tone was firm, and the words that came from his lips were not what I expected. “This is bad. One of the worst things we’ve dealt with as a club. One of our brothers is missing. Let’s fucking hope we bring him home alive.” Wrecker walked out of church without a backward glance.
No one said a word.
Brinks missing weighed heavily on all of us.
We were a club.
A family.
And we never left anyone behind.
*
Chapter Eight
Wendy
“Long day?”
My eyes fluttered open, and I smothered a yawn with the back of my hand. “More like a boring day,” I mumbled.
Slayer stood over me with a bowl in one hand and beer in the other. “Scoot over.”
I looked at the space next to me. “Why can’t you sit there?”
It was a big couch. There was no reason why he had to sit exactly where I was sitting.
“Because I want to sit where you are.”
I wrinkled my nose. “That’s a horrible reason to make me move.” I nodded that the bowl in his hand. “What do you have there?”
“Ice cream. Scoot over and I’ll share with you,” he reasoned.
I tipped my head to the side. �
��I could just get my own ice cream.”
He nodded. “You could, but then I would just take your spot when you get up. If you scoot over, you don’t have to get up to get your own ice cream.”
Either way, I was going to get scooted over. “You don’t play fair, Smead.”
Slayer quirked his eyebrow. “Smead?”
I scooted over on the couch. “Yeah, from Peter Pan. Captain Hook’s first mate.”
I had been so bored today that I had actually Googled unique names that started with S.
Adley had only come down from her room to eat lunch then headed back up before she had even finished chewing. I cleaned the house, made a shopping list, sat on the porch for an hour, and scrolled social media for the rest of the day. Here I thought keeping an eye on Adley would be hard but it was just straight-up boring.
Slayer sat down next to me and set his beer on the coffee table.
“Are you really going to drink beer with ice cream?” I curled my lip in disgust.
He shoved a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth and shrugged. “I like both. Why not eat them together?”
He reached for the beer, and I turned my head away.
There was no way I could watch.
Slayer chuckled, and I glanced over my shoulder at him when I heard the can hit the table again.
“Not exactly the best combination, but not bad.”
“Maybe I’ll just get my own ice cream.” And maybe sit on the other end of the couch.
Slayer was pressed up against my side, and I could feel the heat of his body radiating through my clothes.
He chucked and handed me a spoon. “Knock it off, sugar. I got enough ice cream for the both of us.”
I peeked into the bowl and saw a thick ribbon of caramel over the ice cream. “Did you put half of the jar of caramel on it?” I swirled my spoon through the sugary goodness and lifted it to my mouth.
“Doesn’t seem like you should be complaining about it since you’re enjoying it.”
I licked my spoon clean and let out a moan before I could stop it.
“Jesus, sugar.” The words rumbled from Slayer’s mouth, and a warm feeling washed over me.
He had been calling me sugar lately and given up calling me any name but my own. I wasn’t sure what it meant other than I like when he called me sugar.
Fallen Lords MC: Books 7-9 Page 20
