Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Billie Rose
My uncle Dan picks two of my children up by their ankles, holding them in air jail as I snatch the littlest one around the waist.
“Are you turkeys giving your mama trouble today?” he asks.
Aurelia giggles, not the slightest bit intimated by the big guy. “Yes,” she tells him not even lying about it.
I push my hair out of my eyes as he follows me into the cabin with his two captives, both giggling so hard I’m afraid they’re going to pass out.
He lays them gently on the couch before pointing at them. “If you both sit here quietly for thirty minutes, I’ll give you each two dollars.”
Tate looks to his big sister to answer. She crosses her arms over her chest. “Make it three and we have a deal,” she says, flashing him three fingers.
He shakes his head. “Just like your mama.”
“Hey.” I slap him in the gut and then shake my hand because fuck, he’s still solid. I plop his namesake, little Daniel, between my other two children. I give the three of them a stern look. “I’m not going to take you outside to play if you don’t listen to me when we’re out there.”
Aurelia wants to roll her eyes, but she doesn’t. “Okay, Mama. We’ll be good. Won’t we?”
Both boys look at her, nodding in agreement. They listen better to her than they do me. It makes me sigh loudly.
Dan points at them before pointing at his own eyes. “Thirty minutes,” he warns before placing the money on the middle of the table.
Aurelia rubs her hands together, anxious to fill her piggy bank. She’s been saving up for a new bike. The girl has a bike, but that’s not good enough for her. She wants a “real” one.
“It’s not a real bike if it doesn’t have a motor, Mama.”
Dan laughs when I tell him the story, handing him a cup of coffee. “I’m pretty sure they’ll stay put. Especially since you laid the spoils on the table.” I set down my own cup and fall into the chair across from him, blowing my hair out of my eyes. “So, what can I do for you?”
He turns serious. “I need you to talk your parents out of this hair-brained idea they have.”
My shoulders fall, because I hate seeing the big guy sad. “Dan, they won’t be gone forever. They’re just taking some time to themselves.”
“I don’t like it.”
“What don’t you like about it?”
He leans back, pretending like he’s peeking into the other room to make sure the kids are being good, but I know he’s avoiding my question.
“I’ll miss her too,” I tell him.
“Well, she has a business to run. She can’t be traipsing off around the country.” He crosses his arms over his chest, and it warms my heart.
“You’re worried about her?”
“Everyone around here is losing their damn minds.” He throws his hands up in the air. “Your parents are running off like two teenage lovers, my dad’s not acting much better. I suppose you already heard the news?” He waits for my response.
I give him a little nod, trying to hold back my smile. Dan is overreacting. That doesn’t happen often.
“And don’t even get me started on this whole Jenny thing.”
“Uncle Dan!” Aurelia yells from the living room.
“What, honey?”
“Has it been thirty minutes yet?” she asks in her sweetest voice.
I look at the clock. It’s been less than five.
“Not even close!” he hollers back, earning him one of her signature sighs. He winks at me. “Come on, they’ll stay if you ask them to.”
I sigh, realizing this might be where my daughter gets her dramatic exhales. “Dan, I can’t do that. I’m excited for them. They deserve this.”
He stares at me for a long moment, then makes a clicking sound with his tongue. “When the fuck did you grow up? I thought you’d be on my side.”
It gives me this warm fuzzy feeling in the center of my chest. I do love this man. “I’ll always be on your side. I don’t think this is about Mom and Dad. What’s really bothering you?”
His head drops between his shoulders as he rests his elbows on his knees. “It’s been a long time since it’s just been Lily and me at the house.”
“It will be your first time as empty nesters.”
The grimace he gives me tells me we’re finally getting somewhere.
“Change is hard, but my guess is you aren’t the only one feeling it.”
“You’re not. You’re all yay, Mom and Dad are leaving.” He waves his arms in the air like a cheerleader, and I die laughing.
“I don’t have time to worry about things changing. I’m just trying to keep my house standing and my kids alive. You remember how it is. Why don’t you talk to Raffe? I know he has to be feeling some kind of way about all of this. He could probably use your friendship right now.”
“You’re right,” he says, sitting a little taller. “I hear he’s on the mountain. Maybe I should go up there.”
“He’s back home. Dad brought him down this morning. Elijah and Ash went up to see him, but they were headed out. Elijah should be back any minute.”
“Uncle Dan!” Aurelia yells again.
He chuckles to himself. “That girl is going to be trouble.”
“You think?”
The sudden screams and giggles from the living room tell me their dad is home.
“What’s this? Why are you three sitting in one place?” Elijah asks.
“Mommy told on us, and now Uncle Dan says we have to sit here for thirty minutes,” his daughter tells him.
“Well, I’ll go set Mommy straight.”
“What about Uncle Dan?” she asks sweetly.
“Aw, yeah. Him too,” he says more quietly.
A few seconds later, he appears in the doorway. “What is this I hear …” he says loudly. He shakes his head as he enters, holding his finger to his lips. He falls into the chair beside me. “Just kidding,” he says, tossing a handful of sunflower seeds in his mouth.
“Don’t you dare spit those shells in the house.”
His eyebrows jump on his face in amusement. He turns his attention to Dan. “What’s up?”
Dan rolls his eyes, standing. “I’ll see you later.” He leans down and places a soft kiss to the top of my head. “Thanks for the talk.”
I hear him tell the kids goodbye and that they can get down when their mama tells them they can. My daughter groans, but it only makes Dan laugh. “That’s what you get for throwing her under the bus to your daddy.”
“But that’s what she did to me,” she squeals in protest.
“Maybe so, but she’s the mama. Not you.”
My eyes widen, mocking my husband. “See, that’s how you stand up to her.”
“Never gonna happen. That girl has a grip on this thing.” He beats his fist against his chest.
I shake my head, because I can’t deny it. They have a special relationship, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“At least you’re honest.” I lean over to kiss the tip of his nose, but he dips his head and captures my lips. His fingers weave into the back of my hair, and he tightens his grip, deepening the kiss.
A few second later, my daughter interrupts us. “Mommy!” she yells.
“Ten more minutes!” I holler back, giving my husband the look before taking off up the stairs.
He catches me before I reach the top and picks me off my feet. He gently drops me to the mattress before locking the door. The man’s not even winded.
“I love it when you run from me,” he says, stalking toward the bed.
It still makes my stomach flip. “You only have ten minutes,” I say, removing my pants.
“That’s more than enough time.” He rubs his hands together before placing them on my knees and pushing them apart. His tongue flicks at his lip ring, and the smoldering look he’s attentively giving my nether region is enough to send me over the edge.
“That’s it, baby. You’re always ready for me, aren’t you?”
Exactly ten minutes later, we are washed up and standing in front of our children as if nothing happened.
“That was a long time,” Aurelia complains, counting the money on the table.
“Now remember some of that is your brothers,” I tell her.
“I know. I know.” She waves for them to follow her, and they do.
Elijah throws himself on the couch. “The next generation of women are going to run this club someday,” he says confidently.
“You mean the women aren’t running it now?”
He scowls at me and I laugh, curling up beside him. “So, did you get a chance to talk to Raffe?”
“Naw, but he’s good.” He pats my back, hugging me close. “I have some tea,” he sing-songs.
I lay my head on his chest and roll my eyes. My husband is worse than the gossiping patch bunnies that hang around the club. “What now?”
He hugs me tight. “Your grandpa knew Jenny was alive. He helped her.”
I pull away from him slowly, my gaze bouncing over his face. “No,” I say quietly.
“Yep. She even came to his funeral.”
I sit up suddenly. “No! That is crazy. Why would grandpa keep their secret …” My words trail off, because I know why. Someone needed his help. My mind goes to the little box of secrets he has buried up at the cabin.
“Don’t be mad at him. I’m sure he had his reasons.”
“I’m not mad, Elijah. I know my grandfather. He only kept secrets for one reason and that was to protect those he loved. How do you know all of this?”
“Your dad told me this morning.”
Now it’s my turn to snap my head back in surprise. It makes my husband laugh.
“Hard to believe I know, but your old man is finally warming up to me.”
I run my finger over the rose tattoo on his arm.
“He came around a long time ago, he just hasn’t shown it.
But now that Mom and Dad are really stepping away …
” Tears spring to my eyes as I remember my conversation with Dan.
Maybe I’m a little more unsettled over them moving out of the warehouse than I thought.
“Hey, everything is okay.” Elijah brushes his thumb over my cheek, holding my gaze. “Let’s pack up the kids and go see them. Once you see how happy they are in their own place you’ll feel better.”
“Can we stop for ice cream?” Aurelia yells from the other room.
My husband mouths what the fuck?
“She has bionic hearing,” I tell him.
Our daughter giggles, letting us know she heard that too.