by JC Belanger
Pulling into my job for the last few months, I take a deep breath. The Cookhouse is a greasy spoon diner with food that is out of this world. I know Scott will be in after a while to grab some food, because no one at the clubhouse can even boil water. So, unless I cook food for them, they have to go out and get it. But he is really just making sure I am where I said I will be. He was really upset when I came home. I know deep in my heart he was glad I came back, but he knew I was hiding something. I should have known he was going to push at some point. I just thought he would wait for a while for fear I would take off again.
“Girl, we got people wanting to eat so get your butt in gear!” yells Cookie our cook. Yes, his name is ironic or maybe prophetic since he says his mom called him cookie since he was six years old and tried to take over her kitchen.
“I’m going! Hold your horses’ old man,” I say with a smile. I love this old man. He can be gruff to some people, but I know that he is really just a teddy bear under that scruffy beard and abrasive exterior.
Looking around I can see its going to be a busy night. Every table is full, and we have people waiting to sit down as soon as anyone stands up to leave. I grab my tray and order pad after tying my apron on and head to my first table.
“What can I get you tonight” I ask without looking up.
“Do you have peach pie?” a familiar voice asks.
I jerk my eyes up and see that somehow the club has gotten here before me. That’s what I get for getting lost in memories that are better forgotten. But to be fair it’s not the first time that I have left the clubhouse only to find that they are waiting for me here at work. I wonder if they have a short-cut they can use because they are on bikes. I will have to look around and see.
“Nope we only have apple and cherry tonight,” I smirk at Taz. To be honest even if there was a slice of peach pie, I wouldn’t tell him. He is too cocky for my sanity.
“Give us the normal,” Prez barks. He is not wanting to watch the new member try to flirt with me. I don’t think he would allow anyone to flirt with me if he had a way to stop it. Instead of anyone pissing on me, maybe they should all just stand in a circle around me so that no one can ever get to me. they could just stand there and give everyone their death glares.
“Ok Prez and Taz what do you want to eat off the menu?” I ask sweetly. There is no way for him to know what the regular is, so I will give him a minute to think about what he wants. I was worried if I didn’t specify off the menu, that he would say something that would cause either Scott or Axel to blow a gasket.
“Just a burger and fries please Peaches,” he replies. Did he know what the others got or was this just a lucky guess?
Sighing I head to the kitchen to give Cookie the order. This is going to be a long night and it just started. I check my other tables and take the club their food. The next six hours is spent slinging food for one table after another. Tips are what make this job worth it, but I love the people too.
Clocking out, I head to my car and see a shadow. Leaning on my car, I expect to see Scott ready to go at it again. But to my surprise I see Taz. For as long as I can remember, one of the guys has always been waiting outside for me when I get out of work. Or school. Any place I go really.
“Voodoo said that I could be your escort home tonight,” he says thinking that is going to make it all better.
“Didn’t know that I needed an escort,” I tell him, not letting on that this is a normal occurrence. He doesn’t need to know everything about me.
“I told him that I wanted to thank you for the ride. He said that you might be pissy about the escort, but I thought I would take my chances,” Taz responds, staring me down.
“Well, I am a big girl, so I don’t need an escort. But you are welcome for the ride even if it did make Prez mad at me,” I laugh, knowing that it won’t be the last time that I stop for someone on the side of the road.
I open my door and climb into my car. Rolling the window down to say goodnight and give a wave, I decide to leave it open and let the fresh air in. He’s not on a loaner bike, tonight he is on his bike and I comment on how quickly Toad or Scott had fixed it. I’m not really surprised. The Steel Wrench is the best garage around. Scott may be the manager of the shop, but with Toad, Gizmo, and Turtle working beside him, they have built quite the reputation. Even with being bikers.
“Voodoo had it fixed in less than an hour when he got it in the shop,” he says, smirking to show me that he’s very happy to have his own bike.
“He is very good,” I reply.
“Did I cause you any problems with Voodoo,” he asks me quietly.
“Not really,” I mumble. “Scott just wants to know what I’m doing every minute of every day. It’s like he forgets that I am an adult.”
“Trust me, anyone can see you are all adult,” he says as he adjusts himself. I blush at his comment but then it doesn’t really take much to make me blush.
“It’s my fault. I took a break from this area for a while without giving him any real reason. I think it’s making him crazy that I didn’t tell him then, and I won’t tell him now, where I went and what I did. He keeps secrets, so why can’t I?” I reply with some snark.
“You know he can’t tell you club business, but I get your point,” Taz says with a grin. “I know we just met, but I will be here for a long time. If you want someone to talk to who has no history, I’m your man.”
Yes, he’s all man I think to myself. He stands over six-foot-tall and is maybe two hundred and twenty-five pounds of pure sex appeal. Midnight black hair that is pulled into a ponytail and green eyes a girl could get lost in…. not me of course. I have way too much baggage, but other girls could.
“I appreciate the offer, but I don’t think that would be a good idea.” I tell him while thinking that I would love for him to be my man, but I am so over men. “Prez and Scott get a little peeved if I try to talk to members or get too close to them.” Which really isn’t fair if you ask me, but no one ever asks me what I think.
“Let me worry about that. Just know if you need anything, to talk, a shoulder, a hug, or more, I am the man,” he tells me smiling.
Oh em gee! I don’t know what to say to that, as I blush deeply. If he knew what had happened, he would not look at me twice. But it’s still nice to hear. I feel the sadness trying to settle in my heart and know that it’s time to end this conversation. If I let it in now, it won’t go away. What happened to me is not something that someone can just get over. I don’t care what anyone says.
Thanking him, I start to make my drive home. He doesn’t seem to follow me which is a good thing as I am not sure I want him to know where I live yet. Scott will have him watching my apartment soon enough. Every night I see one of the club members sitting outside. I don’t know if they are watching for any trouble or to be sure I don’t take off, but if that makes Scott happy, I will go along with it for now. The time is coming that I will have to put a stop to it, but I hate knowing that Scott feels he has to do this in order to sleep at night, so he knows I’m still here the next morning. I’m the one that instilled this fear in him and made him feel the way he does.
The next few days pass without incident. I go to work, eat, sleep, and repeat. Before I know it, another visiting day has come. I stop by the shop to see Scott and have him check the fluids in my car before leaving. Breaking down would raise too many questions, plus I can’t afford the repairs anyway. This also lets Scott feel like he is taking care of me without me feeling like he is taking over things. After getting the all clear on my car, I sneak my way out of town. I don’t know how I missed the Harley following me or the sexy man riding it. Instead of daydreaming and trying to stay out of my own head, I need to pay more attention to what’s going on around me. You would think that I had already learned that lesson before now.
I pull up to my angel’s house and get out, making sure to get the stuffed rhino I brought for her. As I get to the door her mother, April, opens it and hands me Cecelia. Br
eathing in her sweet baby smell, I feel my world settle and a peace fall over me. As I place the stuffed animal on her stomach, she gives me the biggest toothless grin. I can’t help the giggles that leave me.
Following April into the house I see Kevin working in his home office. He is not here every time I visit so I just wave to him and move into the living room. My allowed two hours of time with CeCe is spent playing with her, feeding her, I was even allowed to give her a bath today. I slowly head to my car once the visit is over. When my time is up, I always head out of the house with my head hanging low and a feeling of defeat I can’t get rid of with the knowledge that CeCe is here and I can’t take her with me.
I still don’t notice the biker watching me with interest as I walk away from the house. Coming to a quick stop once I get to my car, I take a swift breath of air when Taz clears his throat as he calmly sits on his bike. He is watching me like he is trying to solve the mystery of the century. Why does it have to be him that discovers my secret?
“What in the hell are you doing here?” I screech at him.” Did you follow me? Did Scott or Prez tell you too? I am so gonna kick their asses when I get back,” I rant without taking a breath or allowing him time to answer. I can’t believe that everything I have done to keep this hidden is about to blow up in my face. What do I need to do? All kinds of plans run through my mind as I attempt to hold off the panic attack, I feel coming my way.
“Calm yourself Peaches. I was not told to follow you by anyone. Today’s the perfect day to take a ride to test my bike after the repairs. When I saw you headed out of town, I decided to try to catch up. Do you want to get some lunch and maybe talk,” he patiently explains.
“You cannot say a word about this town, or anything you saw,” I whisper. This is so bad. How do I get him away from the Quinn’s house before they see him and freak out? They can refuse to allow any more visits with the right reasons given to the adoption agency. His being here could ruin my life in several different ways.
“Peaches, I won’t betray you. As long as this does not affect the club, I will keep whatever this is a secret,” he says, trying to calm the fear I know he can see on my face.
“Follow me to the park down the road. We can talk there,” I tell him. This will give me a few minutes to try to pull myself together and to figure out what to tell him that will be the truth without telling him everything. If anyone found out the entire truth it could cause total destruction for my life, and a few lives inside the club.
“Ok, you lead the way. Do you want to stop and get something to eat or drink? I can pick it up if you want,” he tells me. While I’m not hungry this would give me even more time to plan what to do next. I tell him a diet cola would be great before he tells me he’ll stop at the little corner store down the block.
He follows me for a few minutes as we head to the park. I pull into the small park and find a place where we can chat without others hearing what is said. My nerves are going crazy right now. I knew at some point I would have to tell this story, but I did not expect it to be now. A few moments later, Taz pulls up beside me and we walk over to a table.
“Look, I never wanted to talk to anyone about this, but you have not given me a choice. I am not happy that you followed me. You have forced me to explain things I thought I would have years to talk about if I ever even had too,” I tell him, looking at him so that he can see the pain I’m feeling right now.
“Take a deep breath,” he instructs as he hands me my soda. “Just tell me whatever you want and how you want. I am not going to judge you. If I can help you then I will.”
“It was a dark dreary night,” I begin, letting my sarcastic side come out.
“Don’t be a smart ass!” he interrupts with a snarl.
“Fine. About ten or eleven months ago, I was at a party and there was some drinking. One thing led to another, and I found out I was pregnant. I didn’t think I was ready to raise a child, so I found a couple who wanted a baby and let them adopt her. After spending a few months at a home for women who were pregnant, and after I had CeCe, I came back home. Every few weeks, I get to go see her for a couple of hours each visit. I did not want to upset Scott or embarrass the club, so I have not told anyone. I would like to keep it that way!” I say, not noticing the tears running down my face while I tell the story of my broken heart.
“Peaches, the club and your brother would have stood behind you. You know, that right?” he asks me, placing his hand on my thigh as he slides a little closer to me. “Are you ok? Can you see her when you want? Do you need me to do anything to help? I will keep your secret, but I think that you should think about letting Voodoo know. He worries about you. He’ll be hurt you did not trust him, or that’s how he will see it, but he loves you and will do anything for you!”
“I know,” I tell him, wiping my tears away. “It’s hard to know what to say. And I know Scott will have so many questions that I don’t know if I can answer. I do not want to even think how he will feel or what he will think.”
Taz leans over and wipes the tears that are still on my face because they won’t stop falling, and pulls me into a hug. His arms feel so strong and for a moment it feels like the world has faded away. Before I am really ready, I pull myself out of his arms and tell Taz that we need to head home before we are missed. I am so glad that I have the day off. I’m going to go home, grab a glass of wine, and take a long, hot bath to finish reading Skylar’s Saviors as I try to forget this day has happened.
Chapter Three
Taz
Riding back to the clubhouse I keep going over everything that Anna told me. I know that she has not told me the whole story. There is something important that I am missing. When it hits me what she wasn’t saying, I begin to pray that I am wrong. If my line of thinking is right, I will have to tell Voodoo. I will help him kill whomever hurt her. I’m just hoping that I am wrong. She might get upset, but I only promised if it didn’t affect the club. Anna getting hurt affects the club.
When I get back to the clubhouse, I head to the bar to get several shots of whiskey. Skid, the prospect I met this morning, is working the bar and quickly refills my glass when he sees it empty. I keep drinking until I can feel the warm burn ease the turmoil I am felling, ideas start to take form.
“Hey Skid,” I ask him. “How often does the club host big parties?” I’m wondering if I can get some answers without anyone realizing that I am looking for information.
“Big parties are only for patching someone in or something like that. We do party about every weekend but it’s just us, the club girls, and friends of the club usually. Family comes sometimes but most of us don’t have much of that you know,” Skid informs me as he wipes the bar down. “Last big party was probably about ten to eleven months ago. Don’t repeat this,” he leans in to whisper “but I am kinda hoping that a patching party is gonna happen sooner than later.”
This information is like flipping a lightbulb on in my head. I know that something happened at the last big party to Peaches. My mind is racing. If I tell anyone, she is gonna be pissed. On the other hand, if I don’t say anything and the club finds out that I knew, I would be a dead man walking. I try to figure out how to tell someone what I think without hurting her or the club.
Prez and Voodoo walk into the clubhouse and head over to me at the bar. They both get a beer and take a seat next to me.
“How was the ride today” Prez asks, taking a large gulp of his beer.
“Did the bike run well?” Voodoo asks, genuinely wanting to know how the garage did with the repairs.
“It was a good ride,” I tell them both, motioning for another drink. “The bike ran like a dream. Don’t know what you fixed besides the rim and tire, but she was perfect.”
I am running through every idea I can come up with on how to talk to them about Peaches. Finally, I go with the old tried and true, “Do you feel up to taking a ride this week Voodoo?” I ask, turning to look at him. “Maybe you can show me some cool places to ride
when I need to think. Somewhere that I can go to clear my head and be alone for a while.”
Voodoo gives me a side look before answering. He knows something else is going on in my head. As VP though, he has to see what is going on and he has no real choice but to accept my offer.
“Sure, we can take a ride to the next town and get a beer before we head back,” he says.
This is exactly what I need to get him away from everyone and have a talk that could change everything for him and the club; not to mention Peaches. Hopefully he will let me brainstorm with him to figure out the next step we need to make things better for her. We won’t be able to get her daughter back for her, but we can do something to let her know that she’s not alone.
I finish my shot and tell him to let me know what works for him. I know I am not gonna be starting at the garage until next week, so I am spending this week getting to know my new home. For the most part, I just ride around so that I find stores and other things that I’ll need to locate. It’s going to take a while, but I don’t want to be the guy that’s constantly asking where things are. It gets old fast and if no one is around, I’m stuck at the clubhouse.
A few days later Voodoo and I are riding out of town. We have the open road in front of us and I am using the time to figure out how to tell him what I think without saying what I know. Peaches is gonna be mad at me, but I know this needs to come out for her and the club. If one of the members is responsible for her situation then he will have to pay. I know that whatever happened that night, the club is unaware of or heads would have already rolled. None of these guys tolerate any man hurting a woman. When that woman is a member of the family, the punishment is even worse.
Voodoo pulls into a little hole in the wall bar and it looks empty which will make what is coming easier. I am not looking forward to this, and I hope he doesn’t shoot the messenger. Telling my VP that I think someone hurt his baby sister and no one noticed could get me beat down. I’m willing to take that chance though if it means that she can get her secret out in the open. Peaches needs someone to talk to about this and if I’m not around, she needs to know her brother and everyone else has her back. Anna is not alone and something needs to make her realize that fact.
