Ashton
One week later...
Wasp and I are sitting down going over the plans I’ve made for the retreat. “So, I’ve spoken with all of the women from the club and I have Jackson’s Resort all booked and ready to go. Each woman will be bringing extra snacks, food and drinks of their own choice. Each club is sending either a set of prospects or patched members to assist with the children and safety. We’ll be leaving tomorrow to get everything ready before the rest of the women arrive over the weekend. The place has been closed down to the public until further notice because we’re unsure of how long it will take for the construction and rebuild of the towns.”
“I’ve spoken with the club Presidents and we’ll be leaving over the weekend. Most of us are contributing supplies along with the labor. Several of the brothers in different clubs have construction companies so we’ll have access to not only materials, but also equipment needed to get the job done. I want to make it understood that if any of us call you women, you stop whatever you’re doing and answer your phones. It’s not a request, it’s non-negotiable. Are we understanding each other here, Ash?”
“Don’t worry, we live to serve our men,” I sassily respond.
“Your smart-ass mouth is going to end up gettin’ your ass in trouble, Ash. Keep it up and I’ll bend you over this desk and spank your ass red.”
“Since when does that threat stop me?” I mean, after twenty-four years you’d think he’d know better. I know we were separated for most of those, but I haven’t changed since day one.
“Go talk to your girls, we’ll catch up tonight.”
“See ya later, stud,” I walk out the door, knowing that everything is ready has excitement running through my veins. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson have given their resort to us free of charge due to owing the club a marker. It’s an expense we won’t have to worry about funding, I know a few of the clubs have offered to pitch in, I won’t disrespect them by turning away the money, I’m sure between all of us we’ll find a way to put it to good use. Whether that be a night on the town, massages, pedicures and manicures, all of it sounds like a great plan to me...I’ll speak with the women when we get there and we can discuss and plan an itinerary. I’m sure the men will want to know every move we make anyways. We have several new moms who aren’t ready to part with their young ones yet, maybe we can make this a yearly thing so we can meet everyone at some point.
The next day…
Our drive wasn’t too terribly long but we are anxious to get the rooms set up and prepared for the women to arrive Friday. We placed an order earlier in the week to be delivered so that the refrigerator and pantry can be stocked. I plan on cooking a welcome dinner and am going through the menu to make sure everything was ordered that I’ll need. Bristol and Lizzie are still learning to cook, so they’ll be my assistants while Rainey makes sure linens and towels are clean, accessible and each woman will have a welcome basket of fruit, chocolates and a separate basket of bathroom items such as loofahs, lotions, bath oils and body wash. I went with sensitive, organic skin products since things are included in most products that could break someone out.
Once our deliveries are all ordered, we organize the baskets and prepare for everyone’s arrival. I can’t wait to get to meet and greet all of these amazingly strong women I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know online. I hope everyone gets along as well in person as we do online. Getting a lot of headstrong women together should be interesting to say the least, but I’m always up for a challenge. Playing referee is nothing new to me, but I’d prefer everyone plays nicely and we just have a good time and let the troubles that are from home stay there and not follow us here. I have a feeling that we’ll be just like family and we may end up with some uneasiness in the beginning, but once we spend time with each other all will be good.
These women seem to be understanding and loving, I’m not saying it will be all roses and sunshine, but I think at the end of the day, everything will work out the way it’s meant to be and we’ll make long lasting friendships that will stand the test of time.
Fourteen
DJ
“Hatch! Dammit, we’ve gotta get on the road,” I say as he nuzzles my neck.
“I know, babe, but dammit, y’all are gonna be in the lap of luxury and all us men are going to be sleeping in fucking tents and shit.”
I laugh at his face, knowing that he actually doesn’t mind roughing it from time to time. In fact, I think aside from them not knowing each other, all of our guys are kind of excited to be doing this for another club. “You’re not going to be in a tent, Hatch, y’all are staying at their clubhouse, remember?”
“Yeah, I know, but you won’t be there, so it’s like I’ll be in a tent.”
“Whatever, can you grab the bags and shit? I’ll herd the kids.”
Ten minutes later, we’re loaded up and headed to the clubhouse. Most of the men are riding their bikes, leaving the prospects to drive the SUVs and haul the trailers. Who knew that taking all these kids and shit would result in what amounts to a moving caravan?
“Y’all remember to be on your best behavior,” Hatch says to the kids. I turn in time to see them nodding their heads. “And Talon? No sneaking off with Claree or I’ll bring your ass to the work site, you hear me?”
“Yes, sir,” Talon mumbles.
“Didn’t hear you, son,” he states, using his enforcer voice. Fuck, I love when he uses that in bed. I shiver a bit and he glances at me with a smirk.
“Yes, sir,” he replies, a little louder. I hide my grin because part of me is concerned that we keep finding the two of them in somewhat compromising situations.
“That might not be a bad idea, lover,” I reply. “That way, Chief keeps his hair and Trinity won’t have to play referee.”
“I’ll talk to Axe about it when we get to the clubhouse.”
Mass chaos ensued once we hit the clubhouse until Axe put his foot down. Cara, me, Trinity, and Paisley are in one SUV. Hannah, Bridget and Cassarah are in the second one, and most of the kids are in the other two. I kind of feel bad for the prospects having to put up with the kids, but it’s nice having most of my girls around me. Lulu stayed home and is running the salon for Cassarah, and Chef stayed to keep the truck stop running. Other than that, the rest of the Rebel Guardians family is headed to Sundown, Texas!
“I’m a bit nervous,” Trinity says.
“Why?” I ask. I mean, we’ve been chatting with these women and they’re old ladies like us, what’s to be nervous about?
“Well, what if they don’t like us?”
“What’s not to like? We’re pretty fucking awesome,” I state. “Don’t worry, Trinity. I’m sure they’re just as nervous as you are.”
“I hope the kids all get along.”
“I’m positive they will. They’re kids. Give them some movies, some snacks, some activities and they’ll be fine,” Cara states.
We had the prospects put on the DVD player for the kids to give them something to occupy their time while us women talk about how excited and what plans we’d like to make. Getting the opportunity to actually meet the others should be nerve wracking, but it’s the opposite. We’re all in separate vehicles, but according to the texts I’m receiving, the kids are settling down while watching movies, and the older kids have their headphones in listening to music using their phones. The next few hours might be fun, we should run a talley of how many times we have to stop for restroom breaks, could make for a fun bet.
Savanna
Jenalyn, Sidney and I are packed and loaded down in one of the SUVs. Sidney is perfectly fine riding in the back while Jenalyn drives us. Sidney’s got her freeze blast cup with a lid, iced down with sweet tea and peach vodka. I’ve got my organic fruit smoothie, while Jenalyn’s sipping on her soda.
Ty leans in through the driver’s side window and reaches in, pulling me to him for one final goodbye and kiss. “I’m not leaving the country, sexy. I’ll be back before you know it. Plus, look behind us.�
� I turn my head and cast my eyes at Heavy and Patch behind us on their bikes ready and waiting. “Those guys know it’s a death sentence god forbid a hair on our heads get touched. We’ll be fine, and I love you. Plus, that parting gift last night was pretty amazing, huh?” I wiggle my eyebrows, causing a chuckle from him.
“Yeah, it was. I love you too, blondie,” he tells me, kissing my forehead once more like it’s the last time I’ll ever see him.
“Get a room!” Jenalyn hollers out, catching my attention and I turn to mock her only to see that she and Justice have already done their goodbyes and kissing. Wow. That must be some sort of record for my brother considering I know how this is eating away at him even though he’s doing his best not to show it.
“Oh, hush,” I tell her, before I turn my gaze to the backseat where Sidney and Vault have already said their own goodbyes. “Well, damn,” I mumble out. Looking back at Ty, he smiles before he turns his back and begins to walk away, causing conflict to arise and beat within my chest. Ugh. I can’t wait to meet these ladies we’ve made friends with, but I wasn’t expecting me leaving Ty to hit me as hard as it just did.
Jenalyn bats my arm, recapturing my attention. “Buckle up, buttercup!” she orders me as a mischievous grin crawls up her face. “Who’s ready for a getaway?”
Sidney and I both hoot and holler and Jenalyn cranks up the radio connected to her playlist and ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ engulfs our hearing. As we make our way through the clubhouse gates and onto the open road, we all begin to sing and dance as we officially hit the road.
Jenalyn
This is weird. I set the navigation with the address Ashton gave us, and it gave an estimated arrival time that we’ve now surpassed by forty-five minutes. Even with the two stops we’ve already made, it shouldn’t have set us back this far. “Anyone need to pee?” I ask, hoping that they do and I can figure out why in the world we’re off by a whole forty-five minutes.
“Nope,” Vanna replies as Sidney echoes her response from the backseat.
“I bet the guys really need to make another stop,” I tell them, biding my time as I make my excuse. “Even if not, we’re getting low on fuel, so we might as well stop. The next gas station is right up ahead.”
Vanna leans over attempting to have a peek at the fuel gauge, and I casually push her back over toward her side of the vehicle. Suddenly, she plops her seat back and gets a nice big look. “Jenalyn Paine, we’re lost aren’t we?” she blurts out, as she pulls the lever and pops her seat back forward, facing me. “We still have three quarters of a tank of gasoline.”
I begin to exit the highway heading toward the next gas station, but never take my eyes off the road. “No!” I swiftly dismiss her accusation. “It’s this GPS. Must have a glitch or something. And stop being so nosy about the fuel level. It makes me uncomfortable when it gets this low,” I respond.
Sidney busts out in laughter from the back seat. “Since when?” she chimes in. “You’re notoriously letting the fuel light come on in your Camaro before entertaining the thought of refilling.”
“Oh, really? And just how would you know my refueling habits?” I ask, practically demanding an immediate response. They think they know me so well.
“Just a few weeks back before the storm, did you, or did you not get stranded on a beer run for the guys? And didn’t Justice have to come bring you gasoline because Heavy couldn’t leave you and no way in hell Justice was allowing you to ride on the back of another man's bike?” she asks, reminding me of a time I’d much rather forget.
Briefly removing my hands from the steering wheel, I toss them in the air. “What the fuck? Are y’all seriously keeping track of every damn thing I do? Save yourself the hassle. I have Justice for that, and twenty-miles after the light comes on my ass,” I finish, making a justified excuse for that incident.
We pull into the parking lot, and I scan it for an empty pump. Yes, I am going to go ahead and top off the fuel while I try and figure out where the hell we are and what went wrong. As I find a pump, and put the vehicle in park, I look back and forth between the both of them. They seem to be finding such humor in it all. I point my finger them both. “Don’t either of you dare tell the men this happened. I’ll figure something out. Can’t have my first outing away from Justice have any hiccups or I’ll likely be chained up once we get back and never allowed to leave his sight. This needs to be as flawless as possible. Plus, I really do think it’s this damned GPS.”
“Let’s see.” Savann pulls out the paper with the address written on it and I try to yank it from her, but she proves to be faster than me. “1101 E. Jackson Road,” she tells me as she glances up at the navigation system. “Nope, it’s definitely user error. You have it as 1011 E. Jackson Road which is only about another fifteen minutes north if you really wanna go?” she teases me.
I can feel my eyes narrow. “No, no I don’t.” I notice a shadow approaching and glance in my rearview mirror. “Quick! It’s Patch. Vanna, change the GPS to the right address while I get out and keep him distracted,” I order her.
“Oh, geez. Fine, but you do know by now Justice will figure this out, right? I don’t know why you even bother. Just admit you fucked up. It’s an honest mistake, Jenalyn,” she replies as she begins to correct the address entered and I hop out of the SUV.
“Sup, Patch?” I ask, batting my eyelashes at him innocently as I grab my debit card from my wallet.
He hands his cell phone to me and I can feel the confusion as it crosses my face. I look down and see that it’s Justice. Fuck! Placing the phone to my ear, I answer with the sweetest tone I can muster, “Hi, babe. We just pulled over for some…” I begin, but he stifles my words with his response.
“You’re lost, Jen. Don’t try to butter me up or sugarcoat this. You know better. You know we have our own tracking devices on your phones and on the vehicles. Just how far were you planning on traveling before you figured out you were headed in the wrong direction?” he asks, before a chuckle breaks free, catching me off guard. I briefly pull the phone from my ear and make sure that I am speaking to the right Justice, and it turns out I am.
“It was a minor mistake, an honest one. It’s fixed now. That’s why we pulled over actually,” I reply.
“Okay. Just get your asses there so I can rest a little easier, please. Only you, my everything, only you. I love you,” he finishes.
“Love you too, Jus.”
I hand the phone back to Patch whose piercing glare quickly turns into a chuckle. “I’ll ride these open roads all day, but I think my VP would have my head if we don’t make sure y’all get to your destination at some point this century.”
I roll my eyes before turning away to get back into the driver’s seat, only it’s no longer vacant. Vanna has found her way into it and is damn proud of herself judging by the smirk on her face. “Seriously?” I question her.
“Yes, seriously. Now, hop your ass on over into the passenger side and I’ll worry about getting us there,” she responds as she pats the leather on the other seat.
“Fine,” I mumble. “I’m tired of driving anyway. Just get us there,” I tell her as I climb into the comfort of the passenger seat and lean it all the way back. “I’ll just be here resting my eyes if y’all need anything.”
“If we need to recalculate to another state, we’ll definitely be sure to notify you,” Sidney says before she and Vanna belt out a laugh.
“Fuck both you bitches. If I didn’t love you so damned much, I’d kick you both out and leave you here.”
After a few seconds of me attempting to be serious, I too, can’t help but let the ridiculousness of it all consume me in laughter. I crank the radio back up and we hit the road again. This time, in the right direction. I shoot Ashton a message letting her know we’re running a little late, but still due to arrive soon.
Bailey
Today is finally the day that all of us women have been waiting for. While the men have been busy getting what they need to take with the
m, we’ve been packing and making sure that everyone has enough clothes, diapers, snacks, and everything else that we could ever need while we’re gone. And, we’ve all been helping Skylar do what she has to get done because she’s determined to work right up until the very last second. My brother is going to have to talk to her ass about calming down some. This trip is definitely something that she needs.
“Crazy girl, you here?” Grim asks, stepping in the house and making his way over to me for a kiss.
“You just caught me. What’s up?” I ask, giving my attention to my man and not the packing I’ve been finishing up for the four of us.
“I had a minute and I wanted to come see you and the kids for a little bit. What’s goin’ on?” he asks, concern lacing his voice.
“Nothing. I’m finishing up with our stuff so it can be brought to the clubhouse. Once I’m done here, we’re heading over to Skylar’s to help her. She’s working herself to death to try to raise every single penny she can until we leave,” I tell him, wrapping my arms around my man and soaking up his strength and heat.
“You’re worried about her?”
“I am. This trip is needed and she’s not going to make it if she keeps up the way that she’s going,” I answer, leaning back so I can look him in the eyes.
“If you need help with the kids, let me know and I’ll send some guys over. We’re almost done loading the trailers up. One is just goin’ to be for the bags that aren’t goin’ in the SUVs with you guys,” he tells me, placing a kiss on my forehead before going in search of Zander and Alexa.
As I finish stuffing the last of the clothing and toys in a suitcase, I hear the kids’ delighted squeals from the hallway. Grim must be going after them and making them run and hide. It’s their game and the kids love it. Finally, after almost having to sit on the damn thing to close it, the zipper reaches the end and I leave it where it is for Grim or one of the other guys to take care of. My muscles just can’t handle it right now, not after lifting Alexa all morning and everything else I’ve been doing the past few days.
Old Ladies Club Book 3: Rebel Guardians MC (The Old Ladies Club) Page 9
