Rebel Heart

by Jane Slate

  Yeah.

  That was what Kade did. He fought. He threw fists and made blood pour. He taught lessons. He fucked people up and scared them away.

  But it had never been a technique that had gotten him anywhere far. No...all he ever ended up was lonely.

  Kade groaned and a second later, the bathroom door opened and Stella was standing there, visibly flustered. She pulled a suture kit from her purse and held it in the air, nodding at the wound above Kade’s right eyebrow, which was still trickling blood.

  “You don’t have to...” Kade started to object but Stella shook her head and approached him.

  She opened the kit and pulled out a pair of plastic gloves, sliding her hands into them. Kade studied her and they met eyes for one brief moment. For a long time, neither one of them spoke.

  Stella was first to break the silence.

  “I have something to confess,” she whispered as she began to thread Kade’s wound closed.

  “When I came back to Falls Creek it wasn’t because I missed it here. I had a good life in New York. I was healthy there. Happy even. And so was Beth...”

  Kade winced as the needle pierced through his skin. Stella bit down on her bottom lip in concentration. Her hair fell into her face as she worked.

  “Why then?” Kade whispered, swallowing down the lump in his throat.

  Stella averted her gaze and shifted on her feet, bringing her face closer to Kade’s to inspect her handy work.

  “Perfect,” she whispered, knotting the end of the suture and pulling off her gloves with a loud snap.

  She reached into the kit and pulled out a gauze pad, fastening it over the stitch. Then, she stuffed everything back into the box and closed it.

  “I came back for you,” she choked out.

  “It’s always been about you.”

  Kade sucked in a deep breath, reaching up to brush his hand against Stella’s face. She stumbled slightly and fell into his lap.

  “I’m sorry,” Kade said with a nod.

  “About Patrick.”

  Stella shrugged.

  “He was kind of a pompous jerk.”

  Kade shifted. This was the closest he had gotten to Stella since she had come back to Falls Creek and there was a certain euphoria attached. He restrained himself from taking her right then in there, but in truth, he was more turned on in that moment, with her tiny hands against his flesh and her body in his lap, than he had ever been in his entire life.

  Stella sensed that something was up and looked back at Kade with a frown.

  “What?” she whispered.

  Kade shrugged.

  “Nothing. It’s just...I care about you.”

  It couldn’t have been more of an understatement.

  Love.

  The word had never sat right with Kade, and yet, here he was. Head over heels in love. He was so in love with her that it grated at him. He forgave her. For leaving. For running away. Even for failing to tell him about Beth...and that was something that really pissed him off.

  He hadn’t been there for her birth or to see her learn to crawl or walk or to say her first word.

  But Stella had done the right thing by leaving. The life she had given herself and Beth wasn’t one that would have been possible had she of stayed.

  Kade pressed a hand against Stella’s back and felt her heartbeat. It was then that he decided to stop wallowing in his pity. It wasn’t good for him. It wasn’t good for anyone. Kade lifted Stella’s chin, forcing her to look at him. The next words that left his mouth didn’t come easy but they needed to be spoken.

  “I love you.”

  And there it was.

  For once in his life Kade had told the truth.

  Stella froze. She tried to craft a response but her mouth felt dry and her tongue was heavy. Kade had never spoken those words unless they were choked out of him, but this time, they had come organically and completely on his own accord.

  Stella wasn’t sure how to react. She wrung her hands together and sat in dead silence, completely and utterly unsure of herself. Still. She could tell by Kade’s wavering lips and watering eyes that he had meant it.

  He stood up to distract himself and inspected Stella’s stitch work in the bathroom mirror, pulling back the gauze. She was good. Damn good.

  It didn’t surprise him.

  There had been so many nights right after she had left Falls Creek where Kade would find himself driving aimlessly around town on his Bonneville, pushing past city limits thinking he would be able to find her with sheer determination alone.

  But she had done it. She had left just like she had said she would and she had an accomplished career and a beautiful daughter to show for it.

  Kade hated himself for the way he had treated her. He hated the world he had involuntary shoved her into. He hated a lot of things, but in that brief moment, tucked inside of Stella’s tiny bathroom, all he could find it in himself to feel was love.

  That had to matter for something.

  Epilogue

  Things had changed. Promises had been made. Toxic habits were abandoned. Forgotten relationships evolved from dust and old memories.

  Kade and Stella announced their relationship to the world shortly after the altercation with Patrick—who couldn’t seem to get past his embarrassment and was quick to transfer to a hospital in another city. The only one disappointed to see him go was Anna, but that quickly dissolved when Stella explained what a douche he really was.

  Mel eventually came around. She married a guy the Sons had fondly come to know as Steel, a burly fuck with a heart of gold and a temper that put Kade’s to shame. Steel quickly jumped from club Prospect to Master of Arms, filling the rank Richie had never quite appreciated.

  On a rainy Wednesday night in the midst of spring, Kade proposed to Stella at Trig’s house after getting his blessing. The two married that following summer, surrounded by their family and friends.

  Grace, Maria, and Anna were Stella’s bridesmaids and after much convincing, Mel had agreed to be one too.

  It wasn’t an extravagant wedding but it was special nonetheless. It took place outdoors on Dice’s property, two weeks before that years Blessing of the Bikes festival. Stella wore a beautiful white dress, Beth and Stevie were flower girls, and the Sons were groomsmen. The event went off without a hitch and after exchanging handwritten vows, Stella and Kade kissed, sealing their fate as husband and wife.

  It had been a long time coming.

  The crowd cheered. The Sons removed their tux jackets and replaced them with their cuts, straddling the seats of their bikes and escorting Kade and Stella onto the road for their honeymoon.

  The pair spent a week in Vegas, but they didn’t venture very far outside of their honeymoon suite. When they arrived back in Falls Creek a week later, a home was waiting for them. The club had pooled their money together and had bought the newlyweds a foreclosed property. A two-story, three bedroom, one bathroom Victorian style house with a wraparound porch.

  It was perfect.

  “We should have another kid,” Kade slurred one night a year into their marriage.

  “Look at Beth. She’s perfect. The best parts of both of us...I want that again.”

  Stella smiled to herself and twisted her head up to look at her husband.

  He had changed so much in such a short period of time but maybe that was just what love could do to a person.

  “I think you’re just drunk,” she whispered.

  Kade shook his head.

  “No. I’m serious,” he said, grabbing Stella’s hand and giving it a squeeze.

  “Beth just turned seven. She’s doing great in school. She would do well with a little brother or sister.”

  Stella sucked in a deep breath and met eyes with her husband.

  He was serious...

  “Alright.”

  Stella nodded and shifted in bed so that she was straddling Kade’s chest. She ran her hands down his toned abdomen and smiled at him, pulling at the fabric of
his briefs.

  “I guess we should get to trying...”

  One Month Later

  She hadn’t made a sound in an hour. Not a peep. Kade rested his forehead against the bathroom door and sighed deeply.

  What was it this time?

  Maybe her mother had called. That never ceased to put her in a sour mood. Or maybe she was sick...the dinner they had ate the previous night had tasted a little off. Yeah...it was probably the salmon.

  Regardless, Kade had been banging on the door for over twenty minutes and he was getting worried. He tried the knob once more and this time, to his surprise, the door swung open.

  Stella was sitting on the lid of the toilet with her head in her hands. Kade bent down on his knees beside her and took her hand.

  “Hey,” he whispered.

  “You okay?”

  She looked up and met his gaze. There were tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, which caused her mascara to run down her cheeks, but she had a smile on her face.

  She was beautiful.

  Every time Kade looked at her he couldn’t believe what a lucky son of a bitch he was. She held up the object in her hand so that he could see it. It was a pregnancy test.

  A positive pregnancy test...

  “It’s my fourth positive,” Stella croaked out, nodding at a pile of identical sticks and pregnancy test boxes in the trashcan beside her.

  Kade’s heartbeat quickened. A smile spread across his face. He embraced Stella and pressed wet kisses against her cheeks. Within seconds, hundreds of images flashed before his eyes.

  He hadn’t been there for Beth’s pregnancy, but this one would be different. This time he would be involved. He’d read the books and attend the Lamaze classes. He’d run to the store at midnight when Stella got an odd craving. He’d put all his effort into being the best father he could be.

  “Hey...” Kade whispered, lifting her chin so that she was looking him in the eye.

  “We can do this. I promise.”

  Stella swallowed hard and clutched her husband’s hand.

  They had done it...

  One way or another, they had finally come full circle.

  More SOW books coming soon...

  About The Author

  Jane Slate is a bad girl living a darn good life. At the age of six Jane lost her first tooth. That was also the year she penned her first novel; a candid and close-up (although poorly written) look into an imaginative, high-functioning child’s mind. Now Jane spends her time drinking one too many glasses of merlot, relishing in the high and low points of her life, and binge watching “sooo bad they’re good” tattoo artistry reality shows. Jane has no offspring of her own (unless cats count!) but her Nieces and Nephews refer to her as the cool aunt, so that has to count for something right? Rebel Heart is Jane’s second novel and the sequel to her first novel, Sons of War (available on Barnes and Noble here) For free books and other sweet deals, you can sign-up for Jane’s nifty mailing list here.

  Acknowledgements

  I’d like to take a moment to thank all the people who said I couldn’t do it, all the people who knew I could, and those few who were sure I never would. All of you were a focal part of my determination and drive. Thank you, thank you, thank you! - xo, Jane