AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I can help you with all of that, Bear. It’ll be fun.”
“You make it sound easy when I know it’s going to be a ton of work.”
“It will be. But it’ll be worth it, right? To have not only your own business but one that helps vets?”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re right,” I agree. “First things first, I should probably call the mother chapter, get their approval.”
“Why do you need their approval?”
“Because for one, I’m hoping they’ll be generous,” I explain. “And also, I’m gonna need them on board to get all the other chapters across the country to help place veterans.”
“Gotcha,” she replies. “Then make your call.”
“I don’t have the president’s phone number, but Remy does.”
“Have you told him about all of this, your plans?”
“Yeah, him and the rest of our club. They support it, and Remy offered to do a call with the president on speakerphone whenever I wanted.”
“Thenwhat have you been waiting for?” she asks.
I rub my hand over my growing beard, thinking over her question. “I don’t know. There’s just a lot going on. And I guess I’m worried the president will hate it.”
“He’s not going to hate it.”
“Remy seemed to think he would be on board since he’s a vet too.”
“Then of course he’ll support you. I bet he’ll even offer some start-up money,” she remarks before wincing. “I mean, I’m not saying you need the money or anything.”
“Oh, I could definitely use the money. I have a little cash in savings, but I haven’t had a job since I came home.”
“Then here’s hoping the president is loaded and wants to share the wealth for a great cause.”
Taking her hands in mine, I tell her, “Thank you. Not just for helping me figure out what the fuck I’m doing, but for making me feel like it’s a worthy pursuit.”
“You’re welcome, for the help and for my honest belief that you’re going to not only succeed in starting up this endeavor but also make a huge difference in a lot of people’s lives.”
“That’s the goal. Save one life with the hope that they’ll also save another and so on.”
Lyla reaches for a piece of pizza and puts it on her plate but doesn’t eat it. Instead, she quietly says, “Did you…is that how you came up with the idea? You couldn’t save someone?”
It’s not a big surprise that she figured that out so easily. So, I tell her the truth.
“I blamed myself, the army, the world when I lost a good friend. His name was Tobin Apple, just a really good guy who was also from a big family. We both had three brothers. That was one of the things we bonded over, being the youngest of a madhouse. I don’t think we had been home a month when I got the news.”
“I’m so sorry, Barrett,” she says, getting out of her chair to throw her arms around my neck and give me a tight hug.
“I wish I had reached out to him more than once a week, talked to him longer, invited him to visit, anything,” I say, holding her to me.
“There was no way you could’ve known, Bear. He may not have ever told you how he really felt, even with a million conversations.”
“Maybe not, but maybe I would’ve picked up on the fact that he felt even more alone and out of place than I did despite being surrounded by family. I wish I knew what broke him, made him do something so awful…”
“It probably wasn’t one particular thing but a culmination of everything in his life,” Lyla says when she pulls away to retake her seat.
“I think he would’ve liked being in the MC. He was so young; he never got a chance to even learn to ride a Harley.”
“I just had an idea for the name!” she exclaims. “Sorry. Bad timing. Never mind.”
