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I catch my breath when we reach a large black iron gate of the park.
Annabelle’s Garden.
My heart trips in my chest. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t wish I could have met and been a mother to Michael’s daughter. I have no doubts that she somehow helped warn me and keep her father and I alive when we were dealing with Blade…
I push those thoughts away. They don’t have anything to do with the here and now. Michael and I have fought hard to get where we are. My hand goes to my stomach, where our child is resting. Connor and Ryker are back at the club playing with B.B. and the other kids. I always concentrate on them and Michael—not the past. The past is well and truly behind me. The present, and my life with my family are all I need.
I look at Michael in question. “You never told me that Annabelle had a—”
“The club did this, Beauty,” Michael says, his voice hoarse with emotion. “They wanted me to have a place to come and talk with Annabelle.”
“Michael, it looks beautiful,” I whisper unsure of what to say. I know this means the world to him, but I also know he has to be hurting right now, too. He doesn’t talk as he leads me through the gate and toward the flower garden off to the side. It’s beautiful despite the time of year. But it’s when he shows me a headstone with Annabelle’s name on it, my heart squeezes in my chest and tears sting my eyes.
“It’s beautiful,” I repeat lamely, not finding the words I want to say—not even knowing what they are.
“All this time, there was a huge part of me that felt abandoned by my club when I needed them, Beauty, and now….”
“Now, what, sweetheart?”
“Now, I’m wondering if I wasn’t just so wrapped up in my grief and pain that I couldn’t see they were reaching out to me.”
I wasn’t there to know what happened, but I can tell that his family loves him. I also know that Michael was really damaged when we first met.
“Did Skull ask you to come back to Kentucky today?”
“No, not yet, although I figure that’s coming.”
I nod, because I know he’s right. “Do you know what you’re going to do?” I ask after we stare at each other for a few minutes, hands still linked.
“Annabelle’s not in Kentucky. She’s with me no matter where I’m at, Beauty. She’s in my heart.”
“I know that, sweetheart,” I whisper. “But where is your heart?”
He looks at me and I see the answer in his eyes, and I move into his body, hugging him.
“My heart belongs to you, Hayden,” he whispers. We kiss right here by Annabelle’s memorial, my heart full, while the scent of strawberries fills the air.
Beast
“I wish you would stay, hermano,” Skull says as we walk down the corridor to the main room of the club.
Beauty took the boys earlier to go say her goodbyes to Beth and Katie. I’m torn to be honest. I don’t want to leave, but I need to. I have a life away from here. Customers that depend on me, a house I built for my family. And I’ve already had Hayden move her business once…
Shit things are just complicated.
“I have a new house, Skull. A life in North Carolina,” I tell him, rubbing the back of my neck while being confused as hell.
“They have houses in Kentucky, Beast, and your life is anywhere your family is—” he says as we enter the main room.
“Hayden and the—”
“Your entire family, hermano.”
I freeze, unable to force myself to take another step as we get to the room. Hayden is there with Connor and Ryker. The rest of the men, their old ladies and their kids are all there also—except Sabre. Annie was sick this morning, so he texted me to tell me his goodbyes, and to let me know he’d be out my way soon.
“What’s going on?” I ask, my voice hoarse. I have a feeling the question that Skull has been dying to ask the last few days will finally make an appearance. I look over at Hayden for reassurance and she smiles at me. Then, she mouths the words that soothe me like nothing else could.
“I love you.”
“The boys and I have one last gift for you, Beast,” Skull says, clearing his throat.
Fuck.
I look at the man who, when I got out of the military, became my rock. He was a brother of soul and through the blood we spilled together. We worked hand in hand to carve out a life, to create something good and lasting. As I look around this room at all of my family, their kids and my wife and sons, it feels good to know that I was a part of that. It feels good to know that my brothers and I have a legacy that will live on through our children and through this club.
