"That's not true," Jelly insisted, though there was a note of truth in her words.
I knew, from this point on, there would be more and more of her moving on without me, not missing me as much as she once did. It wasn't going to be an easy transition, but little doses over time would help build up a tolerance, I guess. "Is everything okay?"
"If someone sent the order down to send you guys home, then yes. For now. But make sure you keep your emergency bag packed, okay?"
"Always," she agreed. "It's important to be prepared," she added, giving me a firm nod.
"She's been spending a lot of time with Chris," Freddie explained, and her sudden seriousness made a lot more sense.
"I hope you didn't have any plans, baby. I agreed to having breakfast with Eva and Jacob this morning," I told her.
And if I didn't know my girl so well, I might have missed the light that teased at her eyes. "Really?"
"Really," I agreed, unable to hold the smile in.
"Awesome. No, I didn't have any plans. Do I have time to get changed?" she asked, looking down at her jeans and tee.
"Yeah. I have to jump in the shower. But it's a casual thing, baby. Don't fuss too much," I demanded, but my words were promptly ignored as she rushed past me and into the house.
"That girl might miss the freshly-rolled look on your face, but you aren't fooling me," Freddie said, giving me a knowing smile. "Things are going well with neighbor-lady?"
"Yeah," I agreed, seeing no need to lie about it, to brush it off.
"I'm really happy for you, Colson," she told me, coming up on the porch to press a kiss to my cheek. "No one deserves to find someone more than you do. And Jelena has been talking about little else but how she hopes you find someone who makes you happy."
"She makes me happy. But Eva does too," I admitted.
"Good. I am going to go see my man. Go have fun with your woman."
My woman.
I liked that more than I ever could have anticipated.
"Be careful, okay? I don't think things are settled yet," I told her.
"Oh, please, we have all been good and lectured by Lo and Cash and Chris. I will be at the clubhouse anyway, so I will be as safe as can be. Have fun," she said, giving me a smile then heading off to see her man.
On that, I went into my house, listening to Jelly's upbeat, poppy playlist as I got showered and dressed, collecting the bread and the orange juice we had in the fridge to bring over.
"Alright. I'm ready," Jelena declared, making me turn to find her changed into a sweet light blue dress with a white cardigan sweater, looking like she was ready to head to church. I decided not to comment on the fact that she had on some makeup even though we'd had the no makeup talk two weeks before. She'd kept it natural. And I had to loosen the reins a bit as she got older. She'd left her hair alone, natural, instead of spending an hour straightening it, leaving me frustrated and yelling at her up the stairs, ruining the mood of the day.
"You look real pretty, baby girl."
"Thanks," she said, beaming, reaching up to touch her hair. "Eva wears her hair like this too, right?" she asked, giving me a little twisting sensation in my chest. For both bad and good reasons. Bad, because she had been looking for someone to look up to about things like her hair and style. Good, because she was happy to have Eva be that woman for her.
"She does. It suits her," I added. "And you."
"Is that what you're wearing?" Jelly asked, grimacing at my jeans and tee. For the entirety of her life—save for special occasions—this was always what I wore.
"What's wrong with it?"
"You could try a little," she suggested, shrugging. "That's all I'm saying. A nice button-up shirt would be good."
Eva had no delusions about how I looked or dressed, but Jelly was trying; it wouldn't hurt for me to do so as well.
"Alright, I will go change."
"And make sure it's not wrinkled, Dad," she insisted, giving me a nod.
"When did you get so bossy?" I asked. "What?" I said when her eyes slit small at me.
"No one calls boys bossy. You shouldn't call girls bossy either," she insisted, chin lifting, even if her voice wavered a bit, authoritativeness being new to her.
"You're right," I agreed, nodding. "You're not bossy. You are smart and opinionated and have great leadership skills. But sometimes, even smart and opinionated leaders boss people around. Men and women alike. And it's never a good look."
"Okay, fine. But she will judge you if your shirt is wrinkled," Jelena insisted, shaking her head.
"As she should. Is the iron in your room?" I asked. There was no way her dress had stayed as pressed as it looked right then in her closet. There were even creases in the seams.
"Yeah."
"Alright. Be ready in five."
"I'm already ready. You're the one holding us up this time," she told me, smirking.
"Smartass," I shot back as I jogged up the stairs.
I'd worried we'd gone overboard with our outfits, but when Jacob answered the door, he had put on jeans and a black button-up as well. I swear he stood straighter wearing it.
"Jelena, this is Jacob. Jacob, Jelly. I don't think you guys have ever officially met."
"Nope," Jacob agreed. "But I've heard your music through the wall."
"And?" Jelly asked, voice tentative.
"You have a couple good songs in there."
"A couple!" Jelly objected, following him in, demanding to know what song he objected to. Jacob had a list at the ready.
"Should we be worried?" Eva asked, handing me a cup of coffee as she leaned in the doorway from the kitchen, watching the kids discuss music a bit heatedly.
"Sometimes, Jelly can be a little... shit, I need a new word. She informed me this morning that I can't call her bossy anymore."
"You called her bossy?" Eva asked, nose wrinkling up. "Ew."
"Yeah, that seemed to be her reaction to it too," I said, smiling.
"Gotta find other words. She might be too young for my favorite. I mean, I have no personal objections to calling a kid her age a badass bitch, but you might not be too keen on it. Oh, yay, orange juice. I was looking like a crappy host since all I have to drink is water and powdered iced tea. You look nice, by the way," she added, giving me an appreciative smile as she turned back into the kitchen.
"You look beautiful," I told her truthfully. Just like Jacob and Jelly and, after my daughter insisted upon it, me, Eva had dressed up a bit for the occasion. She had on a flowing floor-length white skirt with pink and yellow flowers on it, pairing it with a simple white tee that she had knotted just above her navel.
Aside from naked, it was the softest look I'd ever seen on her.
"Thanks. But don't get used to it. I own about three dressy outfits. The rest make me look like an overworked college student. All sweats and graphic tees. I never did adopt a grown-up wardrobe."
"I like how you dress. It matches how I dress," I admitted, shrugging. "Can I help?"
"Nope," she said, shaking her head, waving a knife toward the kitchen table, a silent invitation for me to sit.
I sat there, watching her as she moved effortlessly around the kitchen, realizing I hadn't had a woman cook for me in, well, ever. If family didn't count. And it didn't. And while I was perfectly capable of cooking for myself—and my kid—there was something endearing about someone else wanting to take care of me in even a very small way.
We talked about all the things we needed to catch up on since having to drop our lives for a few days, about the club, about my siblings, before we were interrupted by Gus as she sauntered into the room.
"I love your mom," she declared, helping herself to the coffee. "She told me I made her look like a two-dollar hooker. I take that as a compliment," she said, beaming. "If you are ever looking for someone to help out around here, I will probably be looking for a new gig soon. What?" she said, rolling her eyes at me.
"Nothing. Didn't you just start that job a few months ago?"
<
br /> "Yeah, well, they told me that if I kept bringing the ladies in "smut" that they were going to have to fire me."
"You brought a bunch of elderly women porn?" I asked, though I wasn't exactly surprised. When it came to crazy chicks in Navesink Bank, Peyton took the cake, but Gus wasn't too far below.
"I brought them romance novels. Sure, the very smutty kind. But books. Bunch of puritanical assholes. They don't like the old people getting frisky. I think if anyone wants to bump their dangling uglies with other dangling uglies, then they should be allowed to. But, apparently, that makes one a 'bad influence'," she said, air quoting the words.
"I would love to have some help around here, but I can't afford that right now," Eva admitted.
"Oh, didn't he tell you?" Gus asked, waving her mug toward me. "These guys are loaded. Like, high six-figures sitting behind walls for safekeeping loaded."
"Oh, ah, it's not... we're not...things are new," Eva decided on after tripping over how to explain it.
"Oh, please," Gus said, shaking her head. "Trust me, these guys, once they make a choice, they are like dogs after a bitch in heat. He will have a ring on that finger in no time. And then you, little lady, will have access to those accounts. But, anyway, I don't really need the money," Gus said, shrugging. "I just need distractions. And I love my old people. West works a couple shifts a week. And he goes on drops. I get bored. And, apparently, I get myself into 'trouble' if I have nothing to do."
"You got hauled in twice since you've been up here," I reminded her.
"Oh, please. It hardly counts as getting arrested when the cops call you before they even throw me in a cell. But yeah. If you want someone here when West is working, let me know. Oh, is that French toast? I will go tell Maeve that her plans for oatmeal are cancelled."
"So, that's Gus," Eva said, turning back to me, smile lopsided.
"That is Gus," I confirmed, nodding. "Told you she was a trip."
"I love her," Eva declared.
"You are going to love a lot of the girls club," I told her.
"Can I admit something?"
"Always."
"The idea of them scares the shit out of me. I mean, twenty-something badass ladies? It sounds like a high school nightmare where they are the popular clique and I am the new girl without their badass karate skills and knowledge of guns."
"They are a good group, babe. They take all the new girls in. They do kinda split up though. The OG ladies and the newer ones. But they all get together to train and shit at the gym or up at Hailstorm."
"Training," Eva said, curling her lip. "That sounds an awful lot like exercise. And we have already established that there is only one good form of exercise," she told me, eyes melting a bit.
"Keep looking at me like that, babe, and we are going to need to concoct some reason to go next door for an hour while they starve."
Eva's nose lifted, sniffing the air. "Gee, is that a gas leak I smell?" she asked, then shot me a smile.
"They seem to have come to a truce," I said, looking toward the kids sitting int he living room, listening to something on Jacob's phone, both of them nodding along with the beat.
"Well, I mean, I would seriously worry about our children if they didn't both agree that Kendrick is amazing."
"Kendrick?" I repeated.
"Kendrick. Lamar. Oh, you sweet thing," Eva said, pressing a hand to her heart. "We will all educate you, don't worry."
"I haven't had a lot of time for music lately," I admitted.
"There is always time for music. Always. It is especially useful to humiliate your children. I mean, I don't care if I am eighty and using a walker, when Juvenile tells me to back my ass up, I am backing my ass up. I have backed my ass up walking down the street to the store when someone passed with the music blaring. Much to my son's mortification. What are you doing?" she asked as I pulled out my phone to type in it.
"Making a note to put that on for you sometime later. When we're alone," I told her, getting a saucy smile from her before she turned back to cooking.
And the whole morning was just... easy, fun, light, full of teasing and laughter.
On more than one occasion, I caught Jelly looking at Eva with what I could only describe as wonder in her eyes.
A part of me wanted to pull her aside, to tell her that things were new, that it was smart not to get too attached too soon.
But the other part of me liked seeing it too much. That part of me also acknowledged that this wasn't some fling. It wasn't something I could see myself getting sick of anytime soon.
I never wanted to say that our- mine and Jelly's—lives were missing anything. We'd always been happy. Our home had been filled with love and laughter.
That said, watching Jelena and Eva interact added something to an already complete puzzle. Jelena hung on Eva's words, basked in her praise. And, in turn, Eva clearly enjoyed talking about 'girl things' with someone, had a lot of wisdom to impart on a growing girl.
And as for Jelly and Jacob, they poked fun at each other in a way that was not mean-spirited, but reminiscent of the way my siblings and I had ribbed one another when we were young.
"They are cute," Eva decided, both of us pausing in the doorway to the kitchen with dishes in our hands, looking at the kids as they fought over what movie to watch.
"I, ah, I probably should have asked this before," I said, looking at the warm light in her eyes. "About kids. Do you, you know... did you want more?" I asked, hoping the tension wasn't in my words.
"Oh, God no. I mean, wow, that was probably a little too forceful, huh?" she asked, grimacing at me as she turned into the kitchen, putting her dishes in the sink, running hot water on them.
"Not if that is how you feel," I told her, shaking my head.
"I know I am supposed to want more. And there is like this unspoken rule about how blended couples seem to have to have one child that is, you know, both of theirs in the strictest definition of the word. But I sobbed happy tears when Jacob learned to potty train. I really don't think I could go back to diaper changing again. Or sleepless nights. Or having a teen gap between children. I never saw myself having another. Sorry."
"There's nothing to be sorry about," I told her, shaking my head. "I didn't see myself having more either. I can't imagine doing it all over again all these years older."
"I heard a mom talking about a blowout diaper in the store the other day. I swear my eggs trembled with fear," she told me, then laughed. "Sorry, that was probably a weird visual. But, yeah, the way I see it, Jacob will be off to college in a few years. And I will have some time to have some me-time for the first time in my life. And then, before too long, he will make me a grandma. And I can enjoy all the cute parts of a baby without the sleeplessness and dirty diapers."
"You're really hung up on the diaper thing, huh?" I chuckled.
"They claim you get used to it," she said, looking a little green. "I did not. And I have this tendency, when I smell something gross, to kinda, gag and baby diapers are..." she said, trailing off on a genuine gagging noise, getting another laugh out of me.
"Okay. Maybe stop thinking about that. You look like you're going to get sick," I said, smiling as I moved toward her, grabbing her hips, pulling her up against me. "You know what I was thinking?"
"That you smell that gas leak now too?" she asked, eyes dancing.
"Well, there's that," I agreed, but we both knew I was joking. "But I was thinking that maybe that me-time you were talking about could be us-time."
"So long as us-time involves a lot of healthy exercise," she said, nodding. "I mean, cardiovascular health is very important. We can't slack on that. Not even if our—how did Gus put it—uglies get dangly," she said, giggling at the phrasing.
"I will make sure you get your workouts. Multiple ones a day. Your health is very important to me," I agreed, letting my hands glide down to sink into her ass for just a second.
"So you see a future here?" she asked, sounding hesitant and hopeful at the same time
. I knew because I was feeling the same way.
"I see a future here," I agreed.
I was so lost in her, in us, in the potential for the future that I missed my phone ringing in the other room.
FIFTEEN
Reign
Ultimately, it seemed like trying to force the women to stay up at Hailstorm any longer would turn into a bigger war than the one we had all just fought.
And with Summer as their fearless leader, I knew me and my men didn't stand a fucking chance against them.
They wanted to come home.
And we couldn't find any immediate threats to use to make them stay.
That said, they had to come back to the clubhouse, or they could go home, but only with guards from Hailstorm. Which was stretching Lo's—and let's face it, these days, Chris's—crew thin, but I was calling in the favor this time. Just to be sure.
Because the fact of the matter was, we still had no fucking idea what was going on.
Someone had tortured and killed Miguel Alvear and dumped him in front of our clubhouse.
Was it a message?
A warning?
Or was it a peace offering of some sort?
We had no fucking idea.
And neither did the police, it seemed.
So until we knew for sure there was another threat that warranted the women and kids staying at Hailstorm, I decided it was alright to let them come home for a bit, see their men, see their fathers. It was easy enough to ship them all back if we needed to.
"Sit your stubborn ass down," Summer's voice snapped, coming back in the room from the kitchen.
Okay.
Well, maybe some of them would be easier to ship back than others.
My woman was on a mission. And that was to nurse me back to health. No matter how much I tried to fight it.
To be honest, though, I wasn't trying that hard.
My shoulder was fucking throbbing. My ribs were screaming. Every inch of me was hurting in one way or another. And I hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep.
Colson (The Henchmen MC Book 20) Page 18
