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“Are you still planning on going to visit Lennox next week?” she asked.
I dried my hands and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. “Uh, well, that had been the plan, but she’s actually driving up today.” And I was fucking pumped for her to get here. I had been shocked as hell that she was going to come here. I thought for sure once she woke up today that she was either going to forget she even mentioned she would come here or find a way out of it.
Meg squeaked, and her jaw dropped. “You’re kidding me. That’s great, Jonas. It was feeling like it would be forever until we got to meet her.”
I tipped my head to the side. “You mean it was feeling like forever untilIgot to meet her, right?” Meg had only known about her for a couple of days. I have been waiting three years to meet her. And I wasn’t going to have Lennox show up at the clubhouse with everyone here. Hell no.
This was a big freaking deal, and I wasn’t going to have anyone mess it up.
I love Meg and the club, but I knew they were a lot to handle when I first met them. I was going to need to ease Lennox into meeting everyone, but that wasn’t going to happen until I met her.
“Well, I’m sure it feels like forever for you since you didn’t tell me about her for three years, but you get my point. What do you want me to make for dinner?” Meg asked.
“Uh, nothing? I was kind of thinking I could just order pizza or something for dinner.” I cringed, waiting for Meg to tell me there was no way in hell that would happen. “Or something else.”
“There is a new place over on Mickelson that has good pizza. You two should order from there?”
“Uh, what?” I laughed. “You’re not going to fight to be here to make dinner?” What was going on, and who had kidnapped Meg?
Meg laughed and grabbed the bag of garbage. “No, Jonas. Lo and I planned on going home today, and I was just about to tell you that when you tried shoving me out the door. I’m getting old and need my own bed. I won’t even tell you how old Lo sounds when he rolled out of bed this morning.”
“Oh, uh, okay.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “I do appreciate everything you’ve done for me, Meg. And if you want to stay, that’s fine. You’re going to meet her eventually, so maybe it would be cool to do it right away.” What on earth was I saying? I didn’t want anyone to be here, but I was pretty much begging Meg and King to stay. “But you can leave.”
Meg blinked rapidly and shook her head. “I think you just gave me whiplash, Jonas. Get out, but you can stay, but leave.” She walked up to me and reached up to cradle my face in her hands. “Are you okay, honey? I’m normally the one who is all over the place.” Her eyes connected with mine, and it felt like I was five years old again. Her touch was tender and soothing, and I felt a calm wash over me. Meg knew every battle I had faced, and she had always been there for me.
Her love and strength were always unwavering.
“Good things never seem to happen for me, Meg, and when they do, they seem to disappear in an instant,” I confessed.
“Like Layla and your parents,” she whispered. “Oh, Jonas, I know it seems like everything good goes away, but that’s not true. You have so many good things in your life, but it’s hard to see them sometimes.”
“I know I have you, King, and the club, but...” I closed my eyes and leaned into her touch. “It just feels like there is a storm at bay, and when things start going good, it moves in to wipe out everything around me.”
“Losing your parents is something that will never sit comfortably for you, Jonas. You lost them when you were so young and barely had any time with them. And then Layla,” she sighed.
“Layla,” I whispered. “I can’t even tell you if what we had was forever, but it just hurts. I couldn’t even know because she was taken from me so quickly.” I had tried to work through losing Layla, but her loss still hit me out of nowhere. If Aaron Gibbs hadn’t been such an asshole and not driven into that parking garage six years ago, where would I be? Would Layla and I even be in each other's lives now?
“I know, honey. You lost something that could have been amazing, but you never got to find out.” A tear streaked down her cheek. “But I want you to know that where you are now and the things that have happened to you are part of your story, Jonas. Your mom and dad would be so proud of the man you are today.”
“I don’t know if they would be proud of everything.” I wasn’t proud of killing Aaron Gibbs, but it happened.
Meg rolled her eyes. “Well, shit, Jonas. I’m sure we all have things our parents wouldn’t be proud of us doing, but that doesn’t mean they stop loving us because of one thing.”
“I killed a man, Meg.”
“Yup, you sure did, but it wasn’t like you walked into some innocent man’s house while he was sleeping and killed him. Aaron Gibbs was a bad man who was willing to do anything possible to save himself. He killed Layla, and I still stand behind the fact that he was going to die whether or not you hit him. He had a ton of internal injuries that would have killed him.”
“Pretty sure the prosecution argued that not to be true.”
“Pfft, don’t get me started on this again, Jonas. I know the type of man you are, and that is good. You would die for the ones you love and will do anything to protect them. Whenever you struggle with the choices you have made, just come to me, and I’ll tell you what a badass you are.”
“Meg,” I laughed.
“Mama Meg,” she whispered. “I miss being called Mama Meg.” She patted my shoulders and sighed. “I know you think I saved you all those years ago, Jonas, but the truth is we saved each other. You gave me so much, Jonas. I could never list all of the things you’ve done for me, but if you want me to, I can try.” She held up one finger. “When you were in the second grade and–.”
“No,” I chuckled. “I think I’m okay with just knowing we both needed each other all those years ago.”
“You’re sure?” she smirked. “It’s not like you have any plans tonight.” Her eyes twinkled with mischief, and she pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I love you, Jonas, and you deserve all the happiness in the world.” She stepped back and threw her hand in the air. “And now I need to get the hell out of here so you can find that happiness with Lennox.”
