Page 63 of Last Mile

“Fine, fine.” He turned around to where his back was facing her. “Okay, rug rat, jump up.”

Willow jumped onto Bishop’s back, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders. “Come on, let’s go! I’m hungry!” she exclaimed.

“You’re so bossy,” Bishop grumbled as he started up the hillside.

Beth and I fell in step beside him. “What do you want to eat, Willow?” Beth asked.

“I want a giant piece of cake with lots of icing.”

“Not until you eat your dinner.”

“Okay, then, I want a hot dog.”

“What else?”

“Just a hot dog.”

“Not some of your mom’s delicious chili?” Bishop asked. He then cut his eyes over to me. “You need to make sure you try some. It’s amazing.”

“I certainly will,” I replied with a smile.

“I just want a hot dog . . . and some cake and ice cream.”

“Ah, just the sweets, huh?” Bishop asked.

“Yep.”

“No cake until you’ve eaten a good dinner, Willow,” Beth instructed.

When Willow began to pout, Bishop leaned back to whisper in her ear, “Don’t worry, rug rat. I’ll hook you up with some cake and ice cream.”

She giggled. “Thanks, Uncle B!”

As Bishop and Willow started ahead of us to make a beeline for the food table, Beth grunted next to me. “Willow’s uncles love to spoil her.”

I laughed. “I can see that.”

“And it’s not just them. Most of the men in the club and even their wives are complete pushovers when it comes to her. By the way they act, you would think she’s the only little girl running around.”

“It doesn’t seem to be going to her head. She seems like such a sweet child.”

“She is. In spite of all the spoiling, she’s not a brat. Sometimes I think the spoiling doesn’t affect her because of the hard start she had in life.”

I knew all about Willow’s “hard start” from reading her file. Her former life with a drug- addicted mother had been hard to read about, especially the part where her mother had been murdered in front of Willow by the now deceased leader of the Nordic Knights.

Bishop brought me out of my thoughts. He had put Willow down, and now he beckoned us with his hand. “I wouldn’t be a gentleman if I started before you two.”

Beth gave him a sly smile. “My, you must really be someone special, Samantha, if Bishop is letting us go first. Usually, he’s elbowing people out of the way to eat.”

I couldn’t help laughing, especially when Bishop scowled at his mother. “Well, if it is a side he’s showing just for me, I guess I’ll appreciate it.”

“Women,” Bishop grumbled before thrusting a plate into my hands.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: BISHOP

Ihad to admit it felt pretty fucking surreal sitting next to Samantha surrounded by my family. Even though we were only eating hamburgers and hot dogs and drinking cheap beer, it felt significant. Of course, I couldn’t help thinking that the last time she had been here at the compound, it had been with Marley, and now she was here with me.

As my date. Well, sort of.