Chapter Thirty-Seven
Raffe
Of course she’s going to live with me. Who else would she live with?
“Let’s just go to the farm. We’ll talk about this there,” my son says with his hands on his hips.
He’s fed up with me today. First with the incident at the shed and now this.
“Okay,” I agree reluctantly, knowing this is going to give him the advantage. Once she sees the farm, she’ll never want to leave.
Jackson steps around me to press his hand against Rachel’s stone. “Love you, Mom.” He picks up the cat then walks away, not bothering to look back to see if we follow.
Jenny and I exchange a glance and then quietly fall in line behind him.
When we get to the bikes, again my son and I have the same idea. “You can ride with me,” we both say at the same time.
She laughs lightly and rubs her temple. “Um, if it’s not far, I’ll just walk. Which way?” She points a finger to the west and then the east.
“I’ll walk with you,” I say.
My son sighs. “Maybe that would be for the best. Grandma’s over at the house. I should probably give her heads up. I don’t want to give the old woman a heart attack by having her daughter roll in on the back of a Harley.”
Jenny and I both chuckle.
“Grandma used to let me ride with Raffe on his motorbike all the time. It was my dad who wasn’t too keen on it.”
My son smiles shyly. “Really?”
Jenny nods. “But I do want the next time I ride to be special,” she says, shocking the shit out of me with her honesty. “And I don’t mind walking. Willow said there is a pretty little path along the river to your home.”
Jackson sighs in relief. “There is. Dad knows the way.” He hands Garfield to me and then kicks his leg over his bike. “I’ll see you back at Dragonfly Farms,” he says to his mom, tossing her an ornery wink.
We watch as he drives away. “Will your bike be okay here?” she asks while her cat perches himself on my shoulder.
“It’s Brody’s, but yeah. Jackson will have him come get it.”
She nods shyly. “Good. Then lead the way.”
I hold my hand out to her. She stares at it for a long moment before raising her eyes, her hand following. Our gaze connects at the same time as our palms. I can’t explain it, but suddenly the universe feels aligned again.
We both look at our hands in disbelief and then at each other. Her bottom lip begins to tremble. “I’ve missed you,” she whispers.
I pull Jenny close, put my arm around her shoulders, and begin walking. “I’ve missed you too,” I tell her.
When we come to the river, she lets out a little sob, so I stop. I press a kiss on her forehead. “We can come out here every day, if you’d like.”
Tears stream down her face, and she grips my fingers tightly. “I’m so scared,” she admits. “I can’t see the road again, and I don’t like it.”
I wrap my arms around her, placing one hand on her back and the other against her head. “You are safe. You don’t have to travel this part of the road alone. Why don’t you let me take the wheel for a while? I won’t push you to do anything.”
When she doesn’t answer and begins to cry harder, I whisper over her, “You’re safe, Jenny. You’re safe.” I’ll say it until she believes it.
After a few minutes, she leans away from me. “I’m ready.”
Our feet slow when the buildings begin to peek out from between the trees. “I can’t stay with you, Raffe,” she says abruptly.
“What? Why?”
“It … it was Rachel’s home. I can’t do that to her,” she says as she begins to jog away.
My heart squeezes painfully as I watch her pull away from me.
I hadn’t thought about that. Actually, I haven’t pictured any of this, but she’s right. I don’t think I could live with Jenny in the home Rachel and I created together.
When I step from the trees, Maggie already has her daughter wrapped in her arms. Fuck, I guess that’s the end of that conversation … for now.
Aspen is jumping up and down waiting for her turn. Garfield leaps from my shoulder and runs to her, curling around her little legs like he’s known her forever.
Jackson looks at me over their heads. He wants to talk. I pat Maggie on the back as I pass. She’s over the fucking moon.
Jackson and I make our way around the house and sit on the porch. “Tell me what went down at the shed, and I’ll consider letting her leave here with you.”
I sigh. My son is a good president and an excellent negotiator. He was born for the role. “The man’s name was Benjamin. He was the man your sister was supposed to marry.”
Jackson’s eyebrows jump in surprise. “The wedding you all crashed?”
He’s heard the story many times. It’s one of the club’s favorites.
“Yeah.” I rub my head.
My son doesn’t know how his sister’s ex treated her.
I don’t know how much to tell him without revealing too much of her story.
It’s not mine to tell. “He – he wasn’t a very good man, Jackson.
Most of those types aren’t. Anyway, he told Jenny that his father was the top dog of the organization that took us. ”
The blood drains from my son’s face.
“But it was a lie, Jackson. It was a lie … he just wanted … he wanted to take advantage of her. He was a slimy low-life coward, but he’s gone. It’s done. And I don’t want Jenny to know that none of what he said was true. She would be devastated to know that she fell for his lies.”
He blinks at me. “What a fucking asshole. How did he know she was trafficked?”
“They all know, Jackson. It’s the game they play.”
He looks away from me, and I know he’s thinking of his biological father.
I nudge his arm, and his head falls.
“I’ll tell the guys to keep it quiet.”
“Thank you.”
We sit in silence for a few seconds before he speaks again. “I think we let her decide where she wants to go. I mean, maybe she wants to stay at my sister’s or Grandma’s. We aren’t the only two options.”
“I think that’s wise,” I tell him, even though I hate it. Why did I raise him to be so responsible? “We leave it up to her.”
“It’s crazy that her place burnt to the ground. I’m glad she didn’t get hurt.”
“Me too, Son.”
Both of us look at each other, and a niggling fear starts to worm its way into my brain. “You don’t think Jesse …?” I can’t say it because fuck, that would be insane.
“She was busy bringing that asshole in. It couldn’t have been her.”
“But she just left him there and then disappeared. Dirk and I didn’t see her the entire night. We still haven’t found her.”
“Why would she burn Mom’s house down?” Jackson asks. “I can’t believe my aunt would do that to her.”
“Yesterday Lexie delivered a letter to Jenny from your mom.”
Jackson’s face falls. “Mom left her a letter too?”
“Yeah.” I run my hand through my hair, thinking about it. From that moment on, everything has seemed to snowball. “Wait. Lexie told me Mom wanted her to remind me to remember the Skull motto.”
“To protect those we love?” he asks.
I stand from my seat. “What if Jesse was following protocol? She lives and breathes the club motto. What if she wasn’t doing it to your mom … what if she was doing it for her?”
“For her? I’m confused.”
“She opened the door to Jenny’s cage, coaxed her out, and then she made sure she could never lock herself back in.”
“Wow, that’s … that’s a little fucking crazy.”
I chuckle to myself. “Yeah, yeah it is, but that’s the Jesse I fell in love with.”
Maggie opens the door and joins us on the porch. “What the hell has been going on?” she asks with her hands on her hips.
Jackson and I both shake our heads. “We’re as clueless as you, Grandma,” Jackson answers.
All of our phones go off at once. It’s a message from Jesse.
Jesse: One of our own needs help. Jackson’s mother lost everything in a fire early this morning. She’ll be moving into my and Dirk’s room at the warehouse. Let’s make sure she has everything she needs and a warm welcome.
The three of us look at each other after we read the message. “That’s actually not a bad idea,” Jackson says.
“It’s a terrible idea. She should be with family,” Maggie grumbles, lowering herself into the chair I vacated.
Jackson’s phone starts ringing, and he laughs. “It’s Lily.” He answers. “Yeah, it’s true. Mom’s here now.”
He listens for a few seconds. “Yeah, okay. I’ll tell them. Sounds like a plan. I’ll send a few guys over to help.”
Maggie stares at me as her grandson speaks to his sister. “Did you do this?”
I shake my head. “No, ma’am.”
Jackson hangs up. “Lily wants to furnish the room with some pieces from the shop. I’m going to have some guys run over and get started.
She’s also sending Lexie and Kelsie out to get Mom some clothes and personal items. She was wondering if you had anything of Jenny’s we might include in her room to help her feel more at home. ”
Maggie sighs, rubbing her temples. “I just assumed she’d come stay with me.”
“We all thought that way, Grandma, but Mom’s been alone for a lot of years. Why don’t we just go in and ask her if this is what she wants before we go moving a bunch of stuff around?”
The three of us head inside, finding her and Aspen coloring together on the floor.
“Hey, Mom. We have a question for you.”
Jenny looks up, and even though she seems calm, I can see a storm brewing behind her eyes.
“You know you’re welcome to stay with any of us, but there is a room at the warehouse that is open. They’re more like little apartments. Jesse and Dirk just moved out, so one is available. It’s the nicest room in the entire building.”
Jenny sits up taller. “The warehouse? Where Bill lived?”
Jackson nods. “Yeah.”
She turns away from everyone as she thinks about it.
“You’d have the privacy of your own space while never being lonely at the same time. There’s always someone around over there. It’s real pretty, and it’s by a lake.”
“I know. Bill described it to me,” she says, smiling.
“While we’re getting it set up, you can stay here with us.”
He looks at me, letting me know he’s not having it any other way. It doesn’t offend me. I’m proud of my son for taking care of his mom.
“Aspen would love to have a sleepover with Nana and Papa on the living room floor tonight, wouldn’t you, baby girl?”
Aspen jumps to her feet. “Sleepover!” she yells, holding her tiny hands over her head. She immediately goes in search of pillows, bringing every single one she can find to the living room.
My hand rubs over my chest because my son is including me. I’ll admit I’ve been worried he wouldn’t like seeing me with anyone other than Rachel.
“It’s not time for bed right now, you little stinker,” Jackson says, scooping her up in his arms. “We need to go finish feeding the animals their breakfast.”
Aspen holds her hand out to Jenny. “Come on, Nana.”
Jenny stands, looking down at her apron. “I guess I’m still dressed for chores.” She chuckles sadly, but then her face lights up. “Oh, I forgot. I brought you something.” She reaches into her apron pocket and pulls out a little crocheted doll.
“My baby!” Aspen squeals, taking it from her and squeezing it to death.
“Okay, okay, let’s get the critters fed,” Jackson says, ushering them both out. He looks at me over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow.
I’m thinking the same thing.
A baby doll is an odd thing to carry around in your pocket when you’re out doing morning chores.
Unless … she knew something was coming.