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15
Madeline
Storm made it happen. I was ecstatically happy and stupidly giddy to be off the compound. Hero and AJ were our bodyguards for the afternoon. Emilee was beyond thrilled to see my classroom. I was probably more excited than she was, to show off my kindergarten room.
Tara came along, wanting to drop off supplies in her room. I had a sneaky suspicion that Hero was the reason she wanted to hang out with us. Of course I’d told her he was chaperoning us. She just acted as if she didn’t hear me. Silly girl. My bestie didn’t fool me. She wanted Hero.
I danced my eyes around my classroom, recalling all the memories, like my kids’ squeals and giggles of delight. Singing our welcome song. I could smell the paint, playdough, and dry erase markers. It’d been a great year.
Strangely, I hadn’t missed any of it. Storm had me focused on him the whole summer. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I totally love this!” Emilee exclaimed the same phrase for the third time. She was so teacher material. Flitting around the room, she “awed,” fawning over the little chairs and tables, art supplies, and books. Like me, her heart was drawn to the little ones.
“Three years of college, though. It seems like I’ll be in school forever.” She made a pouty face.
“Nah.” Tara waved her off. “You’re young. It’ll fly by. Enjoy the experience. Before you know it, you’ll be working for a living.” Tara screwed up her face. “Adulting.”
“That’s the truth,” I agreed. “When you’re in college, life is simpler. Then you graduate, get arealjob, and suddenly you’re an adult paying for everything.”
Although, I liked being independent. Living with Storm, I didn’t pay for anything, not even food. The commercial-grade kitchen in the clubhouse was always fully stocked. Sugar or Tina managed the grocery shopping and had an account they used to buy whatever was needed for the clubhouse. Money was never talked about, but Storm told me between all the club’s legit businesses and some not so legit dealings, the KLMC did well for itself.
Couldn’t say I was complaining about any of it. Well, I did have one complaint. I missed my privacy. Storm and I hadn’t talked about it, but if we were going to start a family, I’d really love our own home.
“True. I’m not looking forward to adulting. Daddy says I’ll never want for anything.” Emilee shrugged and zoned out for a moment, leaving Tara and I hanging on her words. “Because of the club, I mean. Whatever I need, they’ll make sure I have.”
“Wow, so the club is like your backup, huh?” Tara crossed her arms over her chest, peering out the window at Hero. She hadn’t said anything negative about Storm and his club since the party. Even after everything with Carla, Tara’s opinion of outlaw bikers seemed to have changed.
Emilee paged through a Dr. Suess book. “Mhm. The club is my family. They take care of their own.”
“Think you’ll find yourself a sexy biker and become an old lady?” Tara wiggled her eyebrows. More proof she had a fascination with the club.
Emilee blushed, turning away. Her golden blonde hair shimmered as sunbeams hit it near the window. “Um, probably not.” She strolled along the wall of windows, keeping her back to us. “Daddy doesn’t want me with a biker. He wants me to have anormallife, whatever that means.” She sighed, gliding her finger over the globe at the end of the bookshelf. “It was Momma’s dying wish that I fell in love with someone who wasn’t a biker.”
Oh, my heart.I needed to wrap up this conversation before I fell into a puddle of tears. Emilee was the sweetest girl. Strong too. Her momma died of breast cancer when she was in middle school. You’d never know it by looking at her. I imagined talking about her momma wasn’t easy. Turning her back to us, she was probably trying to hide her emotions. I would be if it was me. Losing a mother was a devastating thought. I knew what it was to lose a brother, but losing a mom seemed even worse.
“Anyone hungry? I’m starving.” I needed to change the subject before we were all crying.
Tara and Emilee turned my way with smiles on their pretty faces. “Yes!” they chimed.
“Excellent. I’m craving a burger and a Blizzard.” My mouth salivated just thinking of a juicy burger. Might even go for onion rings. The KLMC compound was on the outskirts of town. Running out for fast food took over twenty minutes—one way. It’d been so long since I’d had a good burger.
“Craving?” Emilee asked with a curious expression, eyeing me weirdly.
“Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve been to DQ. Let’s go.” I clapped my hands and grabbed my phone off my desk, taking the lead out of my room so the girls would follow.
In the parking lot, Hero and AJ perked up on their bikes when they saw us.
“What’s up?” Hero asked.
I stopped at his Harley. “Food. DQ.”
He nodded, accepting my reply. Storm had given him strict orders to have us back at the compound by five. We were to keep to public places. He had rejected my movie idea, totally bumming me out. What I wouldn’t give for a large buttered popcorn and a slurpee.
Dairy Queen was a short drive from Heritage Elementary. The girls and I sat inside to avoid the heat, taking our time eating our meal. Hero and AJ sat in the parking lot. It was sweet of them to give us space, but honestly, it was ninety-two degrees. They should’ve enjoyed a Blizzard in the air-conditioned dining room. Hero was more stubborn about it than Storm would’ve been.
Lately, I’ve had a larger than normal appetite. I hadn’t told Storm I was a week late, nor had he noticed. Finding out our real identities, the freaking Carla fiasco, and the recent murder, I didn’t want to put any more stress on him. Better to wait until I took a pregnancy test. I didn’t want to get his hopes up. The emotional crap I’d been through could be the reason I was late.
“I can’t believe Storm let you out of the clubhouse. It seems like since your big identity reveal, and that Carla clusterfuck, you two are even more inseparable than before.” Tara snickered, popping a fry into her mouth.
