I climbed on the back of my man’s bike while he shut the garage door, and flexed my fingers against the cold. It may have been sunny, but it sure as hell wasn’t warm.
My heart raced in anticipation as I thought about summer. Barbeques and bonfires and swimming at the river and a thousand other things my baby had missed out on. We were going to make up for every missed opportunity if it killed me.
As soon as Cam was seated in front of me, I wrapped my arms around his waist and gently tapped the front of my helmet against his broad back—my version of a kiss when I couldn’t actually reach him with my lips. Then, with little fanfare, we headed toward the club.
I could see the clubhouse from our front porch, but because of the way the land was situated, we had to drive down our driveway and fifty feet down the road before we reached the gates to the club. On days like today, when I was anxious to get going, it drove me crazy—but most of the time, I liked that there was a little separation between our home and the common area for all of our friends and family. It gave us a little privacy, which we needed, especially since everyone knew everyone else’s business ninety-nine percent of the time.
Inhaling a long breath, I forced myself not to snap at Cam when he parked and shut off the bike instead of letting it idle. I didn’t want to stop. Not now. I wanted to go.
“I told you we had time,” I mumbled under my breath.
As my brother strode out of the clubhouse, I flipped up the face shield on my helmet and glared, gesturing with the universal motion of hurry the hell up.
He flipped me off as he sauntered even slower toward his bike, making me grit my teeth. I wasn’t going to start shit. Not today. It was a happy day. An exciting one.
I watched as the rest of our family poured out of the clubhouse, clocking a familiar set of shoulders before I saw my son’s bright eyes and grim mouth striding toward his bike. God, I was thankful that all of us would be under the same roof tonight, even if it was only temporary. I needed my boys, all of them. It felt like I was a balloon that had been filling up slowly with panic and sadness and rage—and if things hadn’t changed, I would have popped, spilling those emotions everywhere.
“You need me to pick up anything at the store?” my mom called out, waving her arms as she hurried toward us. “Let me know if you forgot something and I can pop by while you guys are gone.”
“I don’t think so,” I replied loudly so she could hear me through the helmet. “We’re having spaghetti. Pretty easy and I already had most of the ingredients in the cupboard.”
“Did you remember some garlic bread?”
“I got some fresh this morning.”
“Beer?”
“Mom, who do you think you’re talking to?” I asked jokingly as she reached out to grab my braid, running her fist down the length of it.
“It’s a good day,” she said, her eyes shining. “Soak it all in and enjoy it.”
“I’m trying.” I looked around at the men climbing onto their motorcycles. “If everyone would hurry up and we could actually get going.”
Mom laughed and gave my braid a tug. “Love you.”
“Love you, too,” I replied, reaching out to hold her hand for a moment.
“Now go get our boy,” she said, her words drowned out by the sound of a dozen bikes firing up around us.
She strode back toward the clubhouse and I raised my eyebrows in surprise as she was almost plowed down by someone racing out the doorway. Mack’s daughter Kara was pale and wide eyed and barely stopped to apologize to my mom before she turned, her eyes on the columns of bikes as we started toward the road. She seemed paralyzed for a long moment, then as if the hounds of hell were on her heels, she sprinted for the old Jeep that Rose had given her years ago.
Leaning my head against Cam’s back, I forced myself not to worry about the poor girl. We all had our demons, and I couldn’t change the fact that soon she was going to have to face one of hers.
Chapter 2
Kara
4 ½ years ago
“We’re going to prom as sophomores,” I sang, throwing my arm over my best friend Charlie’s shoulder. “And you are wearing a dress. Don’t even try to get out of it.”
“Seems like you’d be a little less enthusiastic about our pity invites,” Charlie said dryly, shrugging off my arm so she could hitch her backpack higher on her shoulders. “I’m technically going with my nephew.”
“They’re not pity invites,” I argued, hurrying to catch up as she lengthened her stride. “They’re our best friends and they want us to go with them.”
“What they want is to console all the poor girls going solo, but they don’t actually want to go solo themselves,” Charlie said with a laugh, looking at me like I was a poor, naïve little waif. “They know if they bring us, we won’t care when they take off without us.”
“Obviously,” I said with a snort, hiding the twinge in my stomach at her description. “But by then, we’ll already be at the prom, shaking our asses.”
“You can shake yours,” she said, pointing at me. “I shake mine and we’ll get kicked out for indecency or something.”
I rolled my eyes in commiseration. She was probably right about that. For whatever reason, Charlie couldn’t even cough in class without being suspended. It was the strangest thing, because she was far from the wildest kid in the sophomore class. Hell, I participated in her shenanigans and I’d never been in trouble.
“How are we getting home?” I asked, the realization that we hadn’t planned ahead coming to me as we hit the sidewalk in front of the school.
“Walking,” Charlie replied. “It’s not that far.”
“It’s over a mile,” I practically shouted.
“I need to get the exercise in somehow, since they cancelled softball practice,” she said over her shoulder, her steps never slowing as I planted myself in the middle of the sidewalk. “Come on, or you’re going to have to run to catch up. I’m not slowing down!”
“You’re such an ass,” I yelled as I jogged to catch her. “I didn’t agree to this.”
“Stop bitching. You need the exercise, too.”
“Hey!” I yelped, making her laugh.
“What?” she said innocently. “You know by tonight you’re going to have some ridiculous workout plan to get ready for the stupid prom. I’m just giving you a head start.”
“I’m happy with how I look,” I replied superiorly. “You don’t know me as well as you think.”
“Yeah, okay,” she scoffed. “I bet you’re already planning your dress and how you’re gonna get your dad to pay for it.”
“Ha!” I yelled, startling a dog in the yard we were passing. “I’m just going to ask Rose. See, you don’t know everything,” I said over the dog’s panicked barking.
“Good call,” Charlie said, looking at me. “She’ll let you get whatever you want.”
“Probably,” I said, my confidence waning a little. “She’s gotten kind of… matronly since Brody was born.”