“I’ll only be a phone call or a plane ride away. There’s no reason to be getting upset. I’m always going to be here. No matter what.”
My mom smiles and nods before making her way to her master bedroom. I know she isn’t happy I’m leaving to go to Los Angeles, but Inc is our regent here at the club, and now I’ll be going down to their club to be the regent for the Reapers Rejects MC. The most important thing other than our safety is ensuring our alliances are flourishing, even if it means sacrificing some of what we want to do.
The club gave me a new life, and I’m happy to help in whatever way I can.
Chapter Two
You have a place in my heart no one else could ever have
~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
Shiloh
“Shiloh, are you busy today by chance?” Ashley’s voice comes up from behind me and I turn to see the blonde-haired woman with a hand supporting her back as she cranes her big belly around. She’s five days overdue and this kid is really giving her hell. She says it’s her last, but knowing her and Blackjack, I seriously doubt it.
I pull the black hair tie off my wrist and pull my sandy blonde hair into a high ponytail. “Not anything specific. What’s up?”
“If you have time, I’d really appreciate it if you could go over to Tart. I was supposed to, but I’m exhausted and this baby is revolting against me.” Ashley grimaces and her uncomfortableness can be seen very easily. She shouldn’t even be going out right now and doing this sort of stuff. The woman is literally ready to pop at any given moment.
“Oh my gosh, of course. What were you going to do today?” Whatever she needs doing, I’ll do, but I’d be lying if I said I’m hoping it isn’t something too strenuous.
“A bit of painting to freshen up the place and then we’re giving it another good clean today before we put out the new décor,” Ashley tells me. I’m a bit surprised we’re updating the décor at all. It wasn’t awful before and it’s not like the place is new either. It had some renovations a few years back that really put it in this era, but I get the club wants to put their own flare on everything.
“Okay, no problem. Is there anything else you need?” The woman is so worn down and I’ve known Ashley for a very long time. She’s the type who constantly puts more on her plate and rarely asks for help, one of those women who want to do it all. While I can’t blame her for it, she needs to ask for help when she’s drowning. I’m not one to speak, though. I’m guilty of the same thing.
“Actually, yeah, I’m really behind on ordering some of the new silverware, plates, mugs, all of it. We’re trying to keep its Billings charm, but we want to make sure we have some Tart merchandise in there as well, small, subtle flashes of the name on the side of mugs and glasses. I haven’t gotten around to it, so if you’re willing to look at some different options and make some decisions, I’d freaking love that.” Ashley hands me a credit card for the club, “Just put it on the card and have it shipped to the store. We re-open the place shortly, so get the quickest shipping, please.”
“No problem.”
“Oh, and can you order some shirts for Tart, please? We’re going to have the girls wear them while they’re working. I’d say get about twenty shirts in various sizes. In addition to who’s worked there before, Syd is going to work at Tart as well.”
“Holy crap, it’s her first real job, right?” Syd is Zane’s adoptive daughter, but her story’s a bit complicated. Her biological father was a biker named Tank, who was murdered when she was a small child, and her biological mother was a clubwhore like I used to be. Her name was Saffron and she was one of the sweetest women I ever had the pleasure of knowing. Her mother was low-key dating the old Prez, Fist, who was Zane’s dad. Long story short, both Saffron and Fist died, leaving Syd without anyone to care for her. Ashley stepped up for a while, but Zane officially adopted Syd a couple years ago. It made sense given the fact everyone here at the club is family and we’d die for one another.
Ashley nods proudly. “It sure is, and I’m amazed at her. Even with keeping her grades up and her sports, she still wants to work. I told her she’s only getting a four-hour shift on Sunday mornings and a four-hour shift after school on Tuesdays, but she’s not complaining. I don’t want to overwork her.”
“Yeah, she doesn’t need to run herself into the ground,” I comment.
“Ashley, what the hell are you doing on your feet?” Blackjack’s voice echoes through the clubhouse and I cackle to myself. He’s always so protective of her and the man treats her like a queen.
Ashley turns to look back at me for a second. “I’d better get going, but thank you so much for your help.”
“No thanks needed. You go take it easy.”
“Fuck that, I’m about to have him drag me into town for some spicy wings. Anything to get this thing out of me,” Ashley groans, causing me to laugh even louder.
I start to walk away, but Hammer comes straight in through the clubhouse doors and our eyes lock on one another’s for a moment. “Hammer, come here. I need to talk to you for a sec,” Blackjack speaks up and Ashley stops walking over to him.
She turns around and faces me. “We might as well go sit down, ‘cause those two can flap jaws more than any women I know.”
The two of us walk over to the booth and as we both take a seat, Ashley keeps her eyes locked on me. “What’s going on between the two of you? It’s like you’ve been avoiding each other lately.”
Inhaling deeply, I debate on answering her honestly, but instead I lie, because the last thing I want to do is cause more issues here. “Nothing, we just haven’t hung out a lot lately. I think he’s really focused on getting down to Los Angeles.”
Ashley nods in understanding at my words and I’m pretty sure she won’t dig anymore. It’s a bullshit response from me, but I don’t want to think about how much I will miss him.
Dammit, I already am.
I pull my phone out from the back pocket of my jeans and ask Ashley where she wanted me to order the stuff from. I only hope keeping busy can distract me from everything I’m feeling right now.
Chapter Three
Never be a prisoner to the past
~ Unknown
Hammer
“You wanted to chat?” I question Blackjack after he called me over a few moments ago. There’s been nothing but silence between us, which only tells me there’s something going on in that head of his.
He shrugs his shoulders. “Yeah, wanted to check in and see how your pops is doing.”
Fuck. I wish he didn’t have to ask me this. I feel like I’m the only person keeping shit together in my family. My mom and sister are barely holding it together, and while my sister’s doing better than my mom, it doesn’t mean she isn’t freaking out too. Jada just has her own way of keeping things to herself when she’s upset.
“He got another infection from the grafting. The doctors keep saying it’s very rare, how it doesn’t happen to many people, but it is possible for it to happen.”