Page 7 of Playboy’s Purgatory

Even though I don’t tell Vanessa the plan, like when we need to leave or what time people are showing up at the clubhouse, she pops up at just the right moment. I narrow my eyes at her, but she only smiles while carrying a tote bag with a board game sticking out of the top. I’m sure there are cards in there and it wouldn’t surprise me if she has something to draw with.

“Ready to go?” She chirps the question and I have to swallow down a refusal and the need to tell her I’ll never be ready.

My aversion to being around Playboy isn’t her problem. I was told Lola won’t be there for the BBQ since it’s a family day event. Apparently, she’s only allowed out at night since she’s a club whore.

I try not to think about exactly what her lovely title means.

When I found out she moved to Dogwood Ridge and was being kept by a motorcycle club, I wasn’t the least bit surprised. Moving to the same town was a decision I didn’t take lightly.

While I wasn’t all that hopeful, I couldn’t bear to prevent Vanessa from having a relationship with her birth mom. Even if the thought of it makes my chest ache. Lola will never be good to Vanessa; it’s not in her nature. But I also couldn’t be the one to say the bridge doesn’t exist or to burn it down myself.

So, I agonized over whether moving was the right thing for us. Vanessa still doesn’t have her birth mother in her life, but we have found something in this town. The people are kind and they are more than willing to support my business, Vanessa, and me. I haven’t completely relaxed here and I’m not sure I ever will.

“If he says anything mean to you, I’ll kick him in the shin,” Vanessa’s fierce voice pulls me back to the present.

When I laugh, she joins right in while reaching for my hand and tugging. “Hey now,” there’s a soft warning in my voice, “don’t pull me too fast. I need to grab my own bag of goodies.”

“Forgetting the cookies would be a crime,” she deadpans.

I grab the bag and herd a very excited little girl out of the apartment and down the stairs. We head toward the Bunz Out delivery van, which is really just a van with my logo on the window. My stomach is in knots the entire drive.

Vanessa hums along to whatever song comes on the radio which I hardly pay attention to. Because I’m already bracing myself.

In a few minutes I’m going to see Playboy. He’s going to sneer at me. He’ll make some sort of snide comment which might as well have come straight from Lola.

Maybe that’s why Vanessa and I are two peas in a pod—I had Lola as a sister and Vanessa was grown by her. But I’m her mom; always.

I’m waved through the gate by Bolt with a small wave and a nod. Vanessa rolls down the window as we drive through the gate and shouts, her voice bright, “Hi, Bolt. We brought cookies! I’ll save you one.”

I hear his chuckle through the window as I pull into a spot in the parking lot of what used to be a warehouse of some kind. I’m barely out of the van before Vanessa is there, tugging at me with her tote on her shoulder and shaking with the same impatience written all over her face.

“Come on, Mama,” she implores me.

“I’m moving as fast as I can. Jeez,” I huff.

She pulls me along, not stopping until we’ve stepped inside the main doors of the clubhouse as if she’s afraid that if she slows down then I’ll run in the other direction. It’s possible that her fear isn’t completely unfounded.

Before I can take a breath, I’m engulfed in a hug and Graycie’s excited voice wraps around me, “You’re here.” She pulls back and holds me at arm’s length for a moment with a bright, infectious smile on her face. Vanessa gets the same treatment while she gushes, “I’m so glad you two could come.”

“Don’t think I don’t know what you did,” I tease her with narrowed eyes. My glare is all bluster though, and she knows it.

Graycie shrugs one shoulder casually, not at all worried. She shouldn’t be. I’d never really be mad at her.

When she showed up in Dogwood Ridge, she was jumping at her own shadow. Her eyes were haunted; I didn’t need her to bare herself to me to know there are scars. Before she wore them like shame, but now she wears them as armor.

Her past no longer haunts her, and she’s found a love worth a lot more than her past. Snake adores her and has a protective streak I think most of the bikers in the club share. Most haven’t found an Old Lady though. Not yet at least.

“How are you feeling?” I can’t help but ask while my eyes flick down her body. She’s just starting to show, and I already know she’s going to be an adorable pregnant woman. “You’re glowing,” I chirp with a smile.

Graycie hugs me again, quickly, before pulling us deeper into the large common room. Honestly, the room feels both cavernous and grounded. Areas are carved out with furniture and pony walls along with lighting. It’s masculine to an annoying level.

I understand why; I can read the room. It’s still annoying.

The moment I pull the first box of cookies out of my oversized tote, Graycie is making gimmie-hands at me. I hand over the first box with a chuckle.

“Didn’t you have enough yesterday?”

“Never,” she gasps and clutches the box against her chest. She does it with care and clear possession.