AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What about your mom? I thought she went to be with you.”
These memories were such a jumbled mix of fear, misery, and joy. The elation of bringing a new life, her beloved daughter, into the world combined with fear of Beth’s father, rejection from her family, and concern for Beth’s life. “You know things are strained between us.” Shell cleared her throat. “She hates the club and, uh,”—God, this was so embarrassing—“she’s convinced Beth is yours. Thinks we had some one-night stand back then. Anyway, she refused to come to the birth even though she tells everyone she was there.”
“Jesus, Shell, so you had no one?”
“No, I had a friend. I told you that.”
He snorted. “Some college friend? Another teenager? Was it a guy?”
Shell rolled her eyes. “No, it wasn’t a guy. Do you want to hear the story?”
All she got was a grunt of affirmation.
“Anyway, two days before I was due, I started bleeding. The pain was…intense.” She shuddered. Not a pleasant memory. It’d been the scariest moments of her life. Young, alone, pregnant and in very real danger of losing the baby. “My roommate called an ambulance, and I was rushed to the hospital. They took me straight to the operating room. Turns out my placenta had separated from the wall of my uterus early, which is not a good thing. I needed a few pints of blood, and spent some frightening hours worried about both my and Beth’s lives, but in the end, everything worked out.”
Copper’s arms tightened around her. “Why keep it a secret? You know I’d have been there in a heartbeat. Anyone from this club would have. We’re family, baby. What about the fucking father? I want to kill the shit who knocked you up and left you alone to experience that.”
Shell gasped. Not once had anyone in Townsend spoken of Beth’s father. They all seemed to understand without her informing them that the topic was painful and off limits. Leave it to Copper to push through those boundaries. She sniffed as the emotion became overwhelming. Why hadn’t she told anyone? What about the father? What loaded questions. Ones that caused her to wake in the night shaking and sweaty.
“I was fine. There was no point in talking about it. I had a problem, and it was handled by the doctors. You know I’m not exactly big on sharing my burdens or asking for help.”
“Yeah,” he grumbled. “That shit’s gonna change.”
“And please don’t ask me about the father. I don’t want to think about it much less talk about it. Please?”
He hesitated, and she knew he didn’t like the answer. He wanted to press. It wasn’t in his nature to let things lie. He plowed forward, solved problems, and fixed things.
“For now,” he said. “Someday, though, that won’t be enough. Close your eyes. We have two hours until you need to pick up Beth. I want to hold you while you take a nap.”
Nodding, Shell burrowed into the comforting warmth of his body. She rested her cheek against his heart, soothed by the constant steady beat. His words didn’t send the fear through her they might have just a few weeks ago.
Someday.
It didn’t matter because it didn’t exist.
Someday wouldn’t come for them.
Someday she’d be gone.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“EARTH TO SHELL.”
The events of the previous day had played through Shell’s head so many times in the past twenty-four hours she was almost sick of them. Despite how mind-blowing every second of her time with Copper had been.
“Hello, Shell, are you in there?”
After an hour nap, she’d woken to Copper’s hand between her thighs and his mouth on her neck fifteen minutes before she had to leave to get Beth from preschool. Turned out, Copper could work some serious magic in just fifteen minutes. Two orgasms later she was sneaking out of the clubhouse to pick up her daughter. Sneaking because she’d die on the spot if any of the brothers saw her slap-happy, just-fucked glow.
“Michelle Ward, your daughter is across the room playing with knives.”
In the evening, she’d gone on to her second job while Mama V watched Beth in Shell’s home. The surprise of a lifetime had come when she returned home at nine fifteen to find Beth sleeping peacefully and Copper in her kitchen pouring her a glass of her favorite wine.
A girl could get used to that.
A girl could also keep her head on straight and remember the difference between reality and fantasy. Copper was her fantasy come to life, but that’s all it was. A short-term departure from life. A lovely, but fictional illusion.
“And a chainsaw. Holy shit, Shell! Beth is about to cut off Copper’s foot with a chainsaw. No, Beth! Don’t do it!” Toni cried in a panic that rivaled the drama of a slasher film actress.
“Huh?” Shell turned to her friend. “What the hell are you talking about? Beth is at school.”
