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Chapter 7
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Within the first ten minutes of arriving at the clubhouse, Lolly’s pretty purple dress with big pink flowers on it was now also sporting a smear of dirt right down the front. Not that I minded. I’d rather expected it, actually. Raven, Cleo and she were well acquainted with the clubhouse yard and were doing what they normally did—running around the large area having a great time. Ariel and Ashlynn, who were both six, had started off with them, but had now gone off on their own, no doubt planning some sort of chaos. The club didn’t call them double trouble without good reason. Sparrow was also with the younger trio, Cleo not letting her adopted big sister to get far from her. It was sweet to see the teen being so happy to do her baby sister’s bidding. Cleo was like that, though. The girl managed to get everyone near her wrapped around her little finger in no time at all.
The club had rescued Sparrow from a cartel brothel in L.A. about six months ago, and she’d refused to stay with the other kids and women to wait for the authorities. Instead, she’d stowed away in the club’s van. When they’d discovered her, she begged to come home with them and in the end, Mac and Zara had adopted her. In just the last few months the teen had blossomed. She was getting regular counseling and tutoring, and it looked like by the fall she’d be ready to enroll in the local school where she’d make some friends and be a normal teenager. We were all so happy for her.
Sparrow’s attention wasn’t one hundred percent on her sister, though. Nope. Every few minutes her gaze would linger on a certain man standing in a group of younger brothers and prospects hanging out to the side of the yard, away from the families. They’d all helped set up and some of the prospects needed to hang around for their turns on either guard or bar duty. It wouldn’t be long until the ones not needing to work cleared out. Kid parties didn’t really spell fun for men in their late teens to early twenties. They’d no doubt be back later tonight, well after Lolly’s party was done and dusted.
I glanced around, looking for Mac. Most of the club knew there was something happening between Jazz and Sparrow, but as far as I knew, neither had done anything about the attraction, mainly because Mac would skin Jazz alive if he dared touch the teen. I chuckled at the glare Mac was sending the young man’s way.
Zara came up beside me. “Sparrow’s gonna die a virgin.”
Silk scoffed. “Nah, she’ll be fine. She’ll just need to learn to be real creative, is all.”
That had us all laughing. As the niece of the club’s previous VP, Silk had firsthand knowledge of how hard it was to get laid when you had the Charon MC’s officers protecting you.
The sound of a Harley pulling up had me growing serious and turning toward the door, praying it’d be Taz who walked out next. When it opened and Arrow came through, Tabitha trailing behind him holding a present, my heart dropped.
Zara wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me in against her. “He’ll be here.”
I nodded but had serious doubts as I began to wonder if he even remembered it was Lolly’s birthday. Tears pricked my eyes, but I blinked them away.
“Is it too early to start drinking?”
Silk gave me a sad smile before she shrugged. “It’s five o’clock somewhere, yeah? I’ll be right back.”
She slipped her phone out as she headed inside, and I knew she’d be either messaging Taz directly, or her man, Eagle, about finding Lolly’s missing daddy. Zara gave me another squeeze before she let her hand drop away.
“Mammmma!”
I dropped down to my knees as my sweet girl came barreling my way, hands reaching for me. I spread my arms and let her run into me, nearly knocking me over with her crash-hug.
“Hello, baby girl. You having fun?”
She snuggled in for a few moments before she pulled away to look up at me. The seriousness in her gaze reminded me so much of Taz, tears threatened again. Before I cracked wide open and started bawling because my daughter was looking into my soul, the rear door smacking shut broke the moment.
Lolly looked to the sound and her little face lit up. Thinking it must be Taz to get that reaction, I brushed the dirt off her dress and my shirt before I released her. She was off like a rocket before I could stand and turn.
My heart both warmed and sank as Jacie crouched down to clutch Lolly to her.
“Hey, it’s my favorite niece! Happy birthday, Lolly.”
Jacie handed her a toy koala that Lolly cuddled in against her as she rested her little head on her aunt’s shoulder. I sighed as they walked over to me.
“Hey, Flick, you doing okay?”
I shrugged, trying to not fucking cry. Jacie had the same eyes as her brother, and it was nearly more than I could take. When I stayed silent, Jacie winced then she lowered down to set Lolly on her feet. “Why don’t you go play for a bit, Lolly?” Before she finished speaking, my daughter was off, heading to Cleo and Raven to show off her new toy.
Before Jacie could say another word, Silk reappeared with shot glasses and a bottle of whiskey that she settled down on the table behind us. She’d barely filled the first glass when I snatched it up and downed it.
“Damn, girl. My brother’s a bloody moron.”
Silk nodded Jacie’s way and refilled my glass. A shudder ran through me after I downed the second. It was eleven in the morning, way earlier than I’d normally drink, but I didn’t care. Not today. There were plenty of adults here to help me take care of Lolly, and I needed to get out of my head for a little while. I had my third shot pressed to my lips when the rear door opened once more, and this time I didn’t bother to look over. Accepting Taz wasn’t coming, I downed my shot and tried not to think about how I’d lost my man for good when all I’d wanted to do was save him some pain.
* * *
TAZ
