“I mean, it’s not a bad motto to have,” she manages to say between giggles, “but this brisket is so good, I had to eat it first. Besides, I’ve had my banana pudding before, so it was more important to eat other things.”
“Well, I’ve had the brisket before, so I chose to start with dessert,” I reply, grinning at her. Seeing her so relaxed releases something inside of me. We might have a lot of shit going on within the club, especially with the situation that Doc brought up in church, but I sense Shelly needs this; the club, the camaraderie, and maybe, if I’m lucky, at some point, me.
Shelly is currently helping the women with Hope House round up their kids so they can be given rides on the horses, something the ranch hands and Issy are overseeing when Mack walks over to stand by me, handing me a beer.
“Appreciate it,” I say, taking it from him and popping the top.
“Nice place out here, wanted to thank you for inviting us,” he says.
“You’re welcome. We’ll have you come out one night to the clubhouse for a few beers and games of pool,” I reply. “I don’t think I ever asked, what made you decide to sell your shop and move all the way down here?”
He sighs and I see a look of pain cross his face before he replies, “Too many traumatic memories to keep staying there, for both me and Shelly.”
“Both of you?” I probe.
“Yeah, not gonna share her story as it’s hers to tell, but the latest hit which was to me was the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak. I wasn’t the marrying kind, but my woman stuck with me since we were in high school, even during my stint in the military. We never had kids of our own, but when I took Shelly on to raise as a toddler, she was by my side helping me navigate the world of teenagers and whatnot. Marcella was everything to me and she dropped dead of a massive heart attack in the middle of Walmart one day while she was out grocery shopping. Tried to stay because it was familiar for both of us and the one constant in Shelly’s life, but it was killing both of us. When I heard thaty’all were looking to add a few artists to your shop, it was the perfect opportunity for both of us.”
“Sorry to hear about your woman, Mack,” I say.
I knew Shelly had a story, it’s there in her eyes and how she seems to be moving through life, not taking it by the nape and running with it, but I’d rather hear it from her. When she’s ready, which I kind of hope will be soon. I want her on the back of my bike and in my bed sooner rather than later.
“She’d have loved it out here,” he murmurs, his tone wistful. “She loved wide open spaces and while we had that at first, developers were making it so that the quiet was leaving one brick at a time and we had started talking about relocating. Her passing made that a necessity instead of a possibility, but I sure wish she could’ve seen y’all’s ranch. Spent a fortune on boarding a horse for her because she loved to ride, and it killed me to sell him, but I don’t ride and Shelly never seemed interested in learning.”
“Based on the smiles I saw from her when she and Issy came from the horse barn, she may have gotten bitten by the bug,” I state. “I’m sure the allergy to hay might put a damper on that, but there’s ways to work around it if she’s interested in learning.”
“She might like that, you’ll have to ask,” Mack replies. “I’ve noticed we’re getting pretty busy these days.”
“I’ve had to turn business away for months since it was just me after losing several artists, so now that there are three of us, they’re coming back. Our reputation is strong and there are those who want to be able to say they had a biker tattoo their body,” I tell him, smirking.
“I like the fact that we’re adding sobriety tattoos to what we offer,” he adds. “Don’t mind pitching in to make sure we’ve got the inventory to cover those since we’re giving them away.”
“Don’t worry about it, the club will cover that cost. It’s important to us to keep that shit away from our town and the community as a whole,” I reply, the shit that Doc recently told us swimming in my thoughts. “If this helps someone keep themself on the straight and narrow, it’s worth it.”
“I agree,” he states.
“Are the two of you settling in okay? Gotten a chance to get the lay of the land yet?” I ask.
“Shelly had the house sorted out in a few days,” he replies, chuckling. “Once I got the furniture where she deemed it ‘had to go’, she took over to make it our home.”
“Good to hear,” I say. “Let’s go grab another beer.”
“Works for me.”
CHAPTER
FIVE
Shelly
The weekend seemsto have flown by with little to nothing to do, since I tend to putter at night when I’m home after work to get the chores done. Sleeping in after finally getting home from the party at the Triple R, I found myself finishing up the laundry then heading into town to take care of the grocery shopping. While I’m not a dedicated meal prepper per se, I usually do prepare some things to make it easy to pack a lunch for work or fix dinner depending on how late we have clients. Granted, we still end up ordering takeout quite frequently since Abyss is all about having food around for us to eat but knowing I’m doing my part to havehealthyoptions makes me feel better about accepting the fact that he won’t let either me or Uncle Mack pay for things.
So, with nothing to do, I head into the shop earlier than normal, driving in myself since Uncle Mack’s first appointment isn’t until about ten. I don’t have a client but can check the inventory and place an order if needed.
It was a bit challenging for me with all the kids around at the cookout this past weekend, so I’m a bit melancholy as I go through the motions of setting up the coffee pot, cleaning out the fridge of the leftovers from the week before, and making sure that we’re ready to go for the day. Deciding to call Beth and make an appointment, I fix myself something to drink then go into my room, smiling when I cross the threshold and see some of my designs hanging on the walls. While we all have binders in the front waiting area filled with examples of our work, as well as flash art we can do, these are some of my favorites that I’ve done over the years.
Settling in on the small loveseat that’s tucked in the corner of my room, I pull out my phone and hit the contact for Beth, which I put in after the barbecue. When she answers, I ask, “Beth? It’s Shelly. I was going to see if you had any available appointments coming up.”
“What’s going on?” she asks. “I’ve got time right now if you need to talk and can promise it’ll be just like you were sitting in front of me instead of being on the phone.”
