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Chains cornered Blackheart, his brows furrowing. “Why would Papa risk Juliette if she meant so much to him? Why let Zaiden know where she was?”
“Zaiden would have tracked her down. He’s the hunter type. It was safer to paint her as an innocent box buyer, clueless about its contents.”
“But couldn’t Papa have killed Zaiden right then and there?” Chains asked.
Blackheart nodded. “But Juliette needed to let go. Ever since her maw passed, she hadn’t parted with a single thing she bought or collected. Papa knew about her problem and how to solve it. By helping her fall in love and letting go of her possessions, he knew she could free herself from her self-imposed prison. The walls she had built around her heart.”
“But the love part wasn’t planned,” Chains interrupted. “If I hadn’t stumbled upon her at the swap meet, if she hadn’t bought the chest, our paths wouldn’t have crossed. Papa’s plan would’ve been toast.”
Blackheart chuckled. “But it did happen. And love, my friend, always has an element of luck.”
Chains wasn’t convinced. “But how do you explain what happened with the chest?”
“You thought you got it from a dead person,” Blackheart replied, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “Turns out, it was from someone very alive and close to Papa.”
Chains was taken aback. “What!”
“The chest was familiar to Juliette. She had seen it when she was a toddler at the same place you got it from. We hoped her subconscious would make her buy it,” Blackheart explained.
“Still risky,” Chains retorted. “I could’ve sold it before she got there.”
“But you didn’t,” Blackheart shrugged. “We delayed you until Juliette was at the swap meet.”
Chains shook his head, bewildered. “This is crazy. If I didn’t live through it, I wouldn’t believe it.”
Blackheart grinned. “That’s voodoo for ya.”
Chains pondered for a moment before asking, “Does Juliette know all this?”
Blackheart shook his head. “She doesn’t need to. None of it matters now. Papa helped her break free. Zaiden played his part. The only thing that didn’t go as planned was Paco.”
Chains sighed heavily. “That’s a real tragedy. I can’t help but feel guilty.”
“Paco lost the love of his life many years ago and no matter what any of us did, he suffered through each day since. He has been freed from the shackles of this world to reunite with his soulmate, Seraphine. They will be able to comfort one another for eternity…and it all happened out of love,” Blackheart said.
Chains quickly glanced around. Seeing no one else near, he hugged Blackheart. “I owe you, Blackheart. For everything.”
Blackheart returned the embrace, patting Chains on the back. “No debts among family, Chains. Only rewards.L’amour véritable vainc tout.”
“True love conquers all,” Chains whispered.
19
Juliette stood nervously in front of the storage unit where they had moved everything from her property, both inside and out. Surrounded by the old ladies of the Jokers MC, she felt a mix of excitement and apprehension, knowing that the task ahead of her would be both difficult and cathartic. Sally, Blackheart’s old lady, took the lead, explaining the process they would use to help Juliette sort through her belongings.
“There are three piles you need to arrange,” Sally said, her voice gentle and understanding. “You have all the time in the world to decide what goes where, and it’s okay if your decisions change over time as you move through the stages of coming to terms with the emotional turmoil you’ve been experiencing. The process of letting go and moving on takes time.”
She gestured to the empty spaces around them. “So these three piles are: one... I can get rid of now; two... I can’t get rid of at all; and three... I can’t make up my mind at this point in time. Even if you only do a little bit each day, we’ll be here for you whenever you like, for however long you like.”
Sally looked at Juliette, her eyes filled with compassion. “You’ll be moving closer and closer to the life you need to be living... the life your mother wants you to live, and I’m sure the life that Chains would like you to be living with him.”
Her words made sense to Juliette. They were a framework, a path through the chaos of her emotions and the confusion of her past. The piles were physical manifestations of her internal struggle, a visual guide that would help her navigate the turbulent waters of grief and recovery.
Tears welled up in Juliette’s eyes as she looked around at the supportive faces of these women who had come into her life as strangers, but now had such a profound impact on her. She was overwhelmed with gratitude and felt a newfound determination to make the changes she knew she needed.
Later, as she and Chains took a break from the sorting, Juliette joked that if it hadn’t been for her hoarding, and her decision to buy the chest at the swap meet, she might never have met him. They should both be grateful to her hoarding for bringing them together.
Chains laughed and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. “I love that you can see the bright side, the right side of life. You have a gift for finding the good, even the little bits of good in what others only see as bad. That’s the one and only way to have a good life.”
