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Laughter surrounds me.
“Is someone in need of a babysitter?”
“We’re fixing to open the Cerberus daycare,” Emmalyn says with a proud smile.
“To the public?” I have no business telling these women how to live their lives, but I was working on the assumption that the property was sort of off-limits to anyone that isn’t directly connected to the club.
“Gosh no,” Khloe laughs. “Could you imagine? The guys would scare everyone off.”
“We have several women here that prefer to work, and several working on college degrees,” Misty continues.
“And we just really love babies,” Emmalyn beams, laughing when I scrunch my nose.
“We’d never make you help, but the offer stands if you find yourself bored and looking for something to pass the time,” Khloe says, noticing my unease.
“Can you cook?”
I don’t know what kind of face I make, but it pulls another round of laughter from them.
“I feel like a failure as a woman right now.”
The room grows serious as quickly as it would if a man walked in with a gun.
“Never,” Misty says, reaching out and placing her hand over mine. “Never feel that way, especially not here. As quick as Grinch is to get a pedicure, it’s just as fast that Rivet or Slick will offer to teach someone to shoot a gun. We don’t really subscribe to gender roles around here.”
“I can teach shooting,” I say with a grin.
They laugh again.
“You learned that in the Navy?” Khloe asks as she lifts her wine glass to her lips. “What else did you learn?”
“Lots of stuff,” I begin before spending the next hour telling them tales from my time in the military and the places I got to travel while enlisted.
All four of us have flushed cheeks from the wine before we look at the clock and realize that it’s well past midnight.
“We’re going to be doing Lana’s celebration of life tomorrow afternoon,” Emmalyn says as she stands and carries her empty wine glass to the sink.
“He wasn’t up for it after the funeral, so we postponed it for a while. We could use your help with setup,” Misty adds.
“I’d love to,” I quickly agree, even though I’m fairly certain they’re just giving me an opportunity to keep busy instead of actually needing my help.
“Do we need to get out the sleeping bags for a slumber party?” Kid asks as he walks into the kitchen, his focus arrowed on his wife.
He doesn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around her and press his lips to her temple, even with Shadow and Kincaid close behind him. I don’t have much experience with men, but I don’t know that I’ve ever witnessed a man be so open about his affection toward a loved one.
Kincaid tucks Emmalyn into his side, and Shadow bends low, whispering something in Misty’s ear that makes her blush, all the while making me wonder if I’m going to need earplugs tonight to get any sleep.
“We just realized the time,” Khloe says.
“We’ll see you tomorrow,” Emmalyn says, squeezing my hand softly before leaving the room.
Khloe breaks away long enough from Kid to wrap her arms around me in a quick hug. “Sleep well.”
I nod, turning to the sink to wash the wine glasses when Misty stops me.
“I want to help,” I tell her.
“Help starts tomorrow. Tonight, just focus on getting some rest.”
I give her a quick nod.
“Some of the girls put together a bag for you,” Shadow says. “I left it by the staircase.”
“Thank you,” I whisper before leaving the room.
When I first made the decision to come to New Mexico, it was because I wanted to heal and eventually feel safe leading my own life, but the nicer the people are to me, the harder they’re going to make it for me to leave.
Chapter 21
Grinch
I kind of understand why there’s an absence of alcohol in the clubhouse right now. I don’t think anyone expects that Harley is going to turn to alcohol to ease the grief he’s feeling, but I know Kincaid and Shadow didn’t want to take any chances.
I support him in theory, but the soda in my hand is a weak replacement for the whiskey I’m craving. Hell, I’d settle for a beer, but I know I wouldn’t stop with just one. Maybe I’m the one who needs to worry about replacing my feelings with the numbness alcohol provides.
The celebration of life we’re having for Lana is as sad as everyone could’ve predicted, but it’s also a little stunted. Everyone who knew Lana before Harley joined Cerberus left days ago after the funeral was over, and those here, not including Harley’s mom and dad, didn’t have very long to get to know her.
The stories we have that we can tell are so recent, they’re a painful reminder to everyone that she didn’t even make it to the middle of this chapter in her life.
