Chapter 26 #2
I went into the house, leaving my boots at the door, and asked her, “I got time for a shower and a change of clothes before dinner is up?”
“Yeah, you should,” she said. “I’d make it pretty quick, though, if you’re hungry. Should be up in about fifteen minutes or so.”
“Plenty of time,” I said, moving past her and stealing a kiss along the way.
I showered pretty quickly, got changed into some comfy lounge gear for around the house, consisting of a pair of shorts and an old Harley tee with the sleeves cut out down the sides.
I met up with her at the dining room table just as she was setting down some plates with a pasta dish and a mound of salad next to it.
“This looks fuckin’ great,” I said, and she smiled.
“It’s a lot easier than it looks,” she said. “And pretty good if I do say so myself.”
She went back to the kitchen, brought us a couple of beers, and sat down with me.
Dinner was good, and I helped her clean up, which was only two pans. The one she’d done the pasta up in and the pan with the sauce and shit. Oh, and the one mixing bowl she’d done the salad in.
She knew how to cook, and I needed to watch myself lest I turn back into that fat guy. I worked so hard to get out of that overweight meat suit, and I felt a lot better for it. I wasn’t trying to go back for a lot of reasons.
“You keep cooking like that, you’re liable to turn me back into a fat guy,” I said.
“You were just as attractive then as you are now,” she said, and I laughed.
“Bullshit.” I called her out.
“Believe what you want.” She shrugged me off.
“You ready to come look at this?” I asked.
“Yeah!” she agreed enthusiastically, closing the dishwasher and starting it.
We took our beers and went out the French Doors onto the patio, where she let out a soft little gasp.
The soft light from the Edison bulbs was just enough to read by if you wanted to, and they were on a dimmer, so you could brighten them up more.
I told her about it, and how the hammocks were both enough to fit two if we wanted to, and rated for up to four-hundred-and-fifty pounds each.
I took her beer from her and set both of ours on the small metal table between the hammocks.
I helped her into hers and went around to mine.
“I could get used to this,” she said happily.
“Still needs some pots and plants. I totally agree on that.”
“How about some hibiscus and maybe some morning glories?” she asked.
“Pfft! Morning glories are weeds and will take over the known world. I was thinking clematis or even some passion flower vines.”
“Morning glories are not weeds!” she cried. “I love their colors and flowers. We had some growing in our backyard over the fence back home.”
“And they took over everything, right?”
“So?” she countered. “They were pretty!”
I laughed and said, “I feel like a point’s gone in my favor.”
“Maybe,” she said, grinning and leaning her head back to look at the sky.
We rocked in silence for a moment, and somewhere from off in the distance, the sound of horns playing some bright jazz filtered through the neighborhood.
“If you want morning glories, I’ll plant ‘em for you,” I said finally.
“Thank you,” she said, and I cleared my throat.
“Need to talk to you about something…” I hated this part. I was worried she’d be hella pissed, and I didn’t want to fight, but I should have known better, even if this thing with her was so relatively new.
“What’s that?” she asked cautiously.
“Back at Marchesi’s, when he handed me that envelope, I really did think all that was in it was the cash for taking down his Nonna’s tree for him. Turns out, there was more than that in it, which I didn’t know at the time. I swear, I didn’t discover it until I hit the bank to put it in.”
“Okay,” she drawled carefully.
“They asked the club for a favor this Friday, and there was extra in it.”
“Okay,” she said again, and her tone was a little guarded.
“We still got this thing going on with the Bayou Brethren, and this is gonna divide us more than usual.” I cleared my throat and said, “I was hoping you were working when this went down, but you’re not.
LaCroix wants all the girls at the club with Cypress on lockdown while we go do this thing. You good with that?”
She was silent for a long time and finally said, “You promise you didn’t know it was there?”
“I swear to God, I had no idea until I went to put the money in the bank the next afternoon and I found the extra with the request wrapped around it.”
“Pretty bold of them to write it out like that,” she said.
“I was surprised, too, but the club has a relationship that goes way back with the Marchesi’s. There’s trust there.”
“I really don’t know if we need to go that deep into it,” she said.
“I know I have a hard time trusting from the house I grew up in, but I do trust you, and I appreciate you trusting me enough to tell me as much as you have. I’m happy to go on Friday for your peace of mind as much as to get to know the rest of the women of the club.
I like them, and I really want them to like me. ”
I snorted and laughed a bit and said, “They already do. You can trust me on that.”
“Well, that’s comforting,” she said with a dry chuckle.
We fell into a comfortable silence, but I still felt like it held a little tension to it. I wondered if that was going to get any easier, or if it was only going to get harder as we went along.
I certainly hoped it wouldn’t be the latter – but then again…
“Can I ask you another favor?” I put forward.
“Of course,” she said.
“You still got that necklace that’ll call the cops for you?”
“Yeah, I’ve still been wearing it, too. I mean, it’s paid for, the next three months, and it’s pretty. Even though Luke’s…” she faltered and finally settled on, “…gone, I don’t know. I still have it, and it’s comforting. I’m sorry?—”
“For what?” I asked. “I was about to ask that you wear it on Friday. Just in case.”
“You got a bad feeling?” she asked.
“Yeah. I can’t put my finger on it, but I do. Are you cool with that?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said.
“I don’t think there’s anything to worry about,” I told her. “This is just a better-safe-than-sorry kind of thing.”
“No, I get it,” she said, sounding troubled. “You just promise me that you’ll be careful.”
“Oh, trust me, I will. I’ve gotta come home to my baby.” I reached out a hand, and her fingers found mine, twining between my thick digits and curling elegantly over my knuckles.
“I love you,” she said. “I don’t know how all of this is going to work, but I love you.”
I sat with that for a heartbeat or two and let it sink in.
“I love you, too,” I said without hesitation.
“You complete me… and I promise, as soon as we can, we’re gonna put this shit to bed and do what I said we’re gonna do.
This isn’t what any of us want anymore. Running protection rackets is one thing, but we want out of everything else and the protection thing?
We aren’t into the ‘pay us or else’ model.
They want us, we’re there, but beyond that – we really are trying to slow down. ”
“Semi-retire?” she suggested with a chuckle.
“From the Life? Probably never, but from the fast pace and violence? For sure,” I said.
She sighed and said, “When it comes to the life , I don’t know that you ever get to do that, but I see your vision and I’m all for getting there. I just don’t know how to help, you know?”
I shook my head and said, “Just be patient with me… with us… and let’s keep talking every step of the way.
If you need to tap out and take some time away from me or the club, we can make that happen…
” I liked the way her hand tightened on mine when I even suggested that we take a break, as though that wasn’t really an option.
“I’m doing my best,” she promised, and I knew that and appreciated it. I dragged her knuckles to my lips and kissed them lightly, and returned our hands to dangling between our hammocks, still interlocked.
“I know,” I said. “I see and appreciate it. I know none of this is easy, even if it is familiar, and I respect that there’s a part of you that’s always waiting with bated breath for the other shoe to drop.
For me to end up back in your ER or in the grave, or worse, locked up away from you for years.
I promise, I’m trying like hell to not let anything like that happen, and we’re treading carefully but?—”
“You can’t predict the unpredictable.” She stole the words right out of my mouth. “I know,” she said.
“Thank you for hanging in there with me,” I said.
“Thank you for answering my call and for taking care of my thing so swiftly,” she answered.
“We’re still not even, baby. I’ll spend the rest of my life taking care of you for what you did for me,” I told her.
She snorted and said, “That’s a bit much, love.”
I chuckled, but didn’t say anything, because no, no, it wasn’t.