by Jamie Begley
“Okay.” Jane gave him a smile as he moved away.
“Jane, can you box up the rest of the chicken?” Corra, the manager, asked.
“Sure.” Jane turned her back to the counter and started boxing up the fried chicken that hadn’t been sold.
Corra let the workers take home what they wanted, and Jane could now say she was sick of her favorite meal. She couldn’t choke down another piece of chicken if someone put a gun to her head.
She was almost done when she heard the bell ring over the door.
“Hold off on boxing the chicken. We may need to drop some more.” Jane turned around at Corra’s order, seeing the mass of large bikers entering the restaurant.
“Call the cops and tell them to do a swing by,” Corra muttered under her breath.
“It’s okay. I know them.” Jane’s words didn’t take the frown off her manager’s face.
Dozer was the first in line to place his order, but Jane’s attention was on Cade who stepped to the counter in front of her.
“We need to talk.”
“No, we don’t.” Jane ignored him, going to stand beside Corra.
Looking at the screen, she began filling Dozer’s order. She boxed his chicken and sides, placing them on a tray to hand to Corra. She continued to avoid Cade who was standing grimly in place when she went to fix Dozer’s soda. Her hand shook as she snapped on the lid. Carrying it carefully, she placed it down on the counter, afraid she would make a fool of herself and drop it. Cade merely stood with his arms crossed over his chest as he waited while she filled the orders.
The small restaurant was practically filled with the bikers. Jane was sure no other customers could come inside with the parking lot filled with motorcycles.
She went back and forth behind the counter, noticing that Corra was becoming more agitated with Cade watching her.
“Will you go away?” Jane hissed at him.
“No.”
“Jane,” Corra called to her as Jane shot Cade a nasty look. “You can go ahead and leave. Jake and I can finish up.”
“But I have fifteen more minutes.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll clock you out. Just go.”
Jane could tell she was better off not arguing. She went to the back and grabbed her purse before returning to the front. Stepping out from behind the counter, her path was blocked by Cade as he took her arm.
“Let me go,” Jane protested.
“We’re going to talk.”
“Let her go.” Rock came to her side.
“Back off, Rock. Jane has something she needs to tell me.”
Jane went white at his words. He had found out. One of her big mouthed friends must have told him about the miscarriage.
“I did have something to tell you, but now I don’t. I don’t know why you’re upset, anyway. It’s not like it would have mattered to you. You’re too busy getting laid and riding that bike around town with the brothers.”
Cade flinched at her words.
“It matters. It was my baby, too.”
“Not anymore,” Jane choked out.
Rock placed his arm around Jane, and she leaned against him for support, suddenly feeling dizzy.
“Take me home, Rock.”
“Brother, I’m giving you a warning. Take your arm off her, or we’re going to have a problem.”
“The only problem I see is a man who wants something back he threw away.” Rock didn’t take his arm away as he moved Jane so she was on his other side, farther away from Cade.
“I didn’t throw shit away. I screwed up.”
“What’s the fucking difference?”
“This is a talk me and Jane need to be having, not you and me, Rock.”
“Do you want to talk to him?” Rock questioned Jane.
“No.” Jane only wanted to get out of there and go to bed. She was exhausted. She needed to get some sleep before she had to be back at work at the hospital at six a.m.
“That settles it. Move, Cade,” Rock ordered.
“Make me.”
“Cade, stop it. I’m tired—” Jane began.
“Are you always going to hide behind someone, Jane? When are you…?”
Jane felt his words fade out as the room began spinning. The last thing she heard was Cade’s shout.
* * *
Jane moved her head on the pillow, staring at the man lying next to her. She was in her bedroom at Crazy Bitch’s apartment, having no idea how she had gotten there.
“Good, you’re awake.” Cade sat up on the bed, staring down at her.
“What happened?”
“You passed out.”
“I did?”
“Yes. Thank God Killyama came in when she did. She got the gel out of your purse. Why didn’t you tell me you’re hypoglycemic? Why didn’t I notice in Mexico?”
“Because it’s none of your business.” Then sighed seeing he expected an explanation. “I carried glucose gel in my pocket.”
“Do you know how fucking irresponsible it was not to tell me? Why couldn’t you have just told me? Why do you have a problem telling me shit I should know, like being pregnant with my child?”
Jane turned her head on the pillow to avoid looking at his face. “I was going to tell you. I had only found out I was pregnant a few weeks before I lost the baby.”
“You should have told me as soon as you found out.”
“You were kind of busy,” Jane said, tossing the covers back to sit up on the mattress. Putting her feet on the floor, she slid out of bed and moved carefully to the bathroom where she shut the door behind her.
She leaned back against the door, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She looked like crap. Her hair was limp and dull, her face was white as a sheet, and her nightgown hung on her too-thin body.
She used the bathroom before running a brush through her hair. Reluctantly opening the door, she reentered her bedroom to find it empty. Staring in dismay at her bedroom clock, she went to her closet to pull out some clothes.
“What in the fuck are you doing?” Cade asked from the doorway.
“I’m two hours late for work.”
“No, you’re not. Get back in bed. Crazy Bitch called in and told them you’re sick.” Cade placed the tray he was holding down on her nightstand.
Jane walked back to the bed, sitting down before she fluffed up her pillows so she could lean back against the headboard. After Cade placed the tray of food on her lap, she stared down at the huge plate.
“I can’t eat all of this,” she protested.
“You’re going to eat it all. I’m not leaving until you do.”
Jane picked up her fork, shoveling the egg into her mouth, while Cade sat down on the bed next to her and watched her eat.
“The day you left your phone in my room and I didn’t know it, I tried calling you several times. You told me you would come back to the clubhouse in a few hours, and when you didn’t show and my calls weren’t answered, I began to get mad. I know it was juvenile, but it didn’t make me any less angry. When you showed up and caught me with Demie, I felt like shit, but then I pushed you away even though I wanted you so badly. You had left me once already at the hotel in Corpus Christi, and when I couldn’t reach you, my pride took a hit. It seemed like I was always the one chasing after you. Stupid, yeah?”
Jane remained silent, eating her food, wishing he would just leave.
“I couldn’t get a decent night’s sleep after you left Corpus Christi. I thought that, after I fucked you, wanting you would ease up. It didn’t. It only became worse.
“Every morning, when I woke up with a different woman next to me, I intended to get on my bike and leave town, just like I’ve left every other place I’ve stopped in. But I couldn’t this time, because I would be leaving you behind. Even though I knew I had screwed up what was between us, I kept thinking about you, hoping to be with you again.”
Jane set her fork down on her empty plate. “I’m finished. Will you go now?”
Cade took the tray and set it down on the nightstand. “I’ll go, but I’ll be back tonight. Crazy Bitch said your new favorite restaurant is the steakhouse. I’ll bring you dinner.” Cade stood up, putting out a hand to cup her cheek. “I’m sorry about the baby.”
“Go away, Cade. Please, just go away. I don’t need this right now.”
“I know you don’t, but I’ll be back, anyway. The doctor told Crazy Bitch you need to gain at least fifteen pounds, and I’m going to make sure you do. Then, when you’re healthy enough, I’m going to put another baby in you.”
Jane picked up the tray sitting next to her and threw it at him. “You can’t replace what I lost!” she cried out. “It’s not like going out and getting a new puppy when the old one dies.”
“No, it isn’t,” he said hoarsely. “But it will be a part of you and me, the beginning of the family I intend to have with you.” He picked up the scattered dishes, placing them back on the tray before going to the door, where he stared back at her mercilessly as she sat crying.
Opening the door, he went out and reached back for the handle. “By the way, I called your boss at Popeye’s and told her you quit, and if she gave you your job back, I would make sure the brothers came to eat there for all their meals.”
He barely managed to shut the door before her bedside clock crashed against it.
Chapter 23
Jane was sitting on the couch, playing with her cat, when Cade knocked on the door later that day.
“Don’t open it,” Jane told Crazy Bitch.
Her friend went to the door to look out the peephole. “The dude is standing outside with bags of food.”
“I don’t care. Don’t—” Crazy Bitch didn’t wait to listen to the rest of her sentence. She just opened the door.
“Give me the bags and get lost.” Crazy Bitch blocked the doorway.
Jane heard Cade’s determined voice and knew Crazy Bitch wasn’t going to win this battle.
“I brought enough for all of us. Either I come in, or I take the bags with me.”
“Fuck.” Crazy Bitch moved back from the doorway, letting him inside.
“Are you feeling better?” Cade asked when he saw Jane sitting on the couch.
Jane didn’t answer him, still angry about losing her job at Popeye’s.
Cade simply grinned and set the two large bags on the coffee table in front of her. As he reached inside the bag and pulled out an aluminum foil covered bread roll, Jane couldn’t help herself. She started salivating at the smells coming from the bag.
“I’ll get us some plates,” Crazy Bitch said as she went to the kitchen.
Cade sat down next to Jane. She was about to warn him yet wasn’t given a chance.
“What the hell?” the cat was swatting at Cade’s arm.
“That’s Manson. Get used to him.” Crazy Bitch came back in and pulled a chair closer to the coffee table. She then took out three round aluminum trays and gave one each to Jane and Cade before she took the last one for herself.
Not able to resist the temptation any longer, Jane took off the cardboard top and stared down at the thick T-bone and mashed potatoes with asparagus.
“I hate asparagus,” she told him, about to put the offending vegetable on Crazy Bitch’s plate.
“Eat it. It’s good for you,” Cade said, popping a stalk of it in his own mouth.
“I hate it.”
After Cade dropped a dollop of butter on the vegetable she hated, Jane looked at it for a second. The butter did make it seem more appetizing. She lifted one to her mouth and took a small bite, chewing it thoughtfully before eating the rest of it. Cade smiled, eating the rest of his while Jane ignored him.
Cade had to repeatedly smack the cat away from him, finally giving up and ignoring it.
“You can have him if you want him.” Cade almost choked on a bite of his steak at Crazy Bitch’s offer. “I’ll even pack his litter box and cat food to the clubhouse for you.”
“No, thanks,” Cade managed to get out.
“He’s free. You can take him with you tonight.”
“Crazy Bitch, that’s my cat,” Jane said, laughing at Cade’s expression.
“No, he’s not. He’s Bailey’s. You got stuck with him when she wanted to put him down.”
“He’s mine now. He didn’t like Bailey, but he likes me,” Jane lied.
“That mean fucker don’t like anyone, and if he doesn’t quit shedding, I’m going to cough up a hairball.”
Jane finished eating, curling her legs under her on the couch. She petted her cat, ignoring the constant swatting.
After they all were finished eating, Cade dumped the trash into the empty bags while Crazy Bitch took the dirty plates to the kitchen.
“I thought we could watch some television, if you’re not too tired,” Cade suggested.
Jane stood up from the couch, barely holding on to her squirming cat. “You can watch it with Crazy Bitch. I’m going back to bed. I have to be up early for work in the morning.” Without giving him a chance to say anything, she went into her bedroom and closed the door.
Jane was determined not to give him another chance. He had been the one who decided he didn’t want her. Just because he was feeling bad she’d had a miscarriage was no reason to begin a relationship that wasn’t going to last.
Cade was never going to be happy in Jamestown, and she wasn’t going to spend the rest of her life pining for a man she couldn’t have like her mother. Jane was convinced she would get over him. After all, they’d had sex only one time. How hard could it be?
Jane sat down on her bed glumly, hearing Cade and Crazy Bitch’s voices from the other room. Maybe it wasn’t going to be as easy as she’d thought.
* * *
Jane rushed out her door, not wanting to keep Rock waiting. Killyama used to drive her to work, but Rock had taken over during the last two weeks. She came down her apartment stairs, seeing Cade sitting there, instead.
“Why are you here?”
“Rock couldn’t find his keys.”
Jane stared at Cade angrily.
“Get on. I’ll drive you to work.”
Jane looked down at her watch. She didn’t have time to argue with him; as a result, she got on behind him and clutched his waist as he pulled out of the parking lot.
Her apartment wasn’t far from the hospital; Jane could have walked it if she had to. In fact, she had done so many times. However, the early morning was dark, and she had promised her friends never to walk this early.
He swung into a fast food restaurant, going through the drive-thru and ordering an oatmeal and orange juice. At the window, he told her to take the bag.
“Make sure you eat it before it gets cold.”
“I hate oatmeal.”
He took off again, ignoring her words while Jane sat fuming. If he hadn’t been driving, she would have dumped the contents of the bag over his head.
As soon as he came to a stop in front of the hospital, she climbed off.
“I don’t need you to take care of me. I’ve taken care of myself since I was sixteen.”
“Eat your breakfast. You can bitch at me later.” With that, he took off, leaving her standing in the parking lot.
She went inside the building, going to her small cubicle. She had a few minutes until they would start sending patients back to be checked in; therefore, she opened the orange juice and drank it as she opened the oatmeal.
When she was younger, she had loved oatmeal, dumping copious amounts of sugar into the sticky goo. Even now, she would fix herself a bowl whenever she needed a warm comfort food. She had told him she hated oatmeal to be annoying. If he wanted to treat her like a child, then she would act like one. She didn’t need him to act all protective and caring when she knew it was all only an act to salve his conscience.
However, if he kept feeding her like this, she just might let him waste his time.
* * *
“It’s been two months. How long are you going to keep tortur
ing the bastard?” Sex Piston asked as Jane danced with Crazy Bitch.
She hadn’t felt this good in a long time. She had gained weight, felt stronger, and mentally, she was finally beginning to be in a good place again. She refused to admit it was because of the attention Cade was showing her.
She never knew if Rock or Cade would be the one to show up to take her to and from work. Rock had steadily become a good friend of hers, and she would have jumped him long before now, but something had held her back from beginning a relationship with him. And that something was Cade.
“I can’t stand the fucker, but it’s starting to get nasty between those two. You need to cut one of them loose,” Killyama stated as she danced with T.A.
“I’ve tried to get rid of Cade, but he won’t listen. As soon as Stud gets his bike done, he’ll take off.”
“Stud says it should be done in about two months.”
“Then he’ll be gone before Christmas. Merry Christmas to me.” Jane lowered her eyes to the dance floor, not letting her friends see the hopelessness in her eyes.
“I need a beer.” Crazy Bitch fanned herself in the stuffy room.
“Me, too,” Sex Piston seconded.
“I’ll grab us all one,” Jane offered, leaving her friends on the dance floor.
Deciding to use the restroom first, she veered in that direction. As she passed the doorway that led to the men’s bedrooms, she saw Demie standing outside Cade’s bedroom, talking to him. She caught Jane staring at her.
“What you staring at, bitch?” Demie snapped.
Jane started to walk off, ignoring her harsh words, but then anger flooded through her. She had been right not to take Cade’s attention seriously.
Jane turned around and snapped, “Fuck off!”
“What did you say to me?” Demie turned to face her.
“You too stupid to understand what I said?” Jane lost her temper, moving farther down the hall, closer to her and Cade, who was watching the building argument.
“You’re being brave tonight without your friends at your back. They must be within yelling distance, or you wouldn’t be up in my face.”
“I’m in your face because, every time you see me, you have something smart to say to me, and I’m sick of it.”
