Epilogue
Jenny ~ Christmas Time
Ray ratchets the tie downs on his trailer as I stand there watching with tears in my eyes. I didn’t think I’d get so emotional at seeing it again.
He smiles at me as he moves around to the other side. “You want to stop and get breakfast before we head home?”
I nod, climbing up on the trailer to check that Raffe’s bike is secure.
“It’s not going anywhere,” Ray assures me.
My hands roam over the handlebars and then the seat.
“Dan and I will check it out and make sure it’s running good, and then I’ll bring it over before Christmas Eve. Sound like a plan?”
I hop off the trailer and hug him. “Thank you so much!”
He pats my back and then opens my door for me.
“What did you get Mom?” I ask him, curious as to what he’s gifting her.
“Well, you’re not the only one who’s hiding their gift at Dan’s.”
My eyebrows rise. “Did you buy her a car?”
He laughs. “No, ma’am. I do all the driving in the relationship.”
I roll my eyes because he’s obviously not going to tell me. “Well, I made her a quilt.”
“Now that’s something she’ll definitely love,” he says.
“There are so many people in the club. It was hard to decide what to get everyone, so they’re all getting baked goods. Well, almost everyone.”
“Can’t go wrong there,” he tells me.
When we get home, Raffe is not in a good mood. “You shut your location off,” he accuses with a bite to his tone.
“I told you I was going Christmas shopping with Ray,” I say, ignoring him. I knew he’d be grumpy about it, but I didn’t want him to know I went back to the town where we met.
Ray grabs him by the back of the neck and steers him away from me. They have a private conversation in the corner of the room. Ray doesn’t let anyone talk shit to me, even Raffe.
Dan jabs me in the side. “Hey, Sis. Are you getting your boyfriend in trouble again?”
I pat his cheek. “Do you want to be next?”
He rolls his eyes. “No.”
“Then go home, get my bestie, and my little bestie,” I tick them off with my fingers, “and bring them back here. I miss them.”
He laughs and pokes me in the chest. “No.”
“Why not?”
Dan looks around the room. We have the furniture all moved to one side. “It’s too dangerous. Maybe after we get the tree up.”
I smile up at him. Dan is the best. His personality reminds me of Bill. “Deal.” I hold out my hand.
“But you also have to tell Dad you’re the one who ate his last piece of pie.”
My mouth falls open. “Mom let you eat her husband’s last piece of pie? You’re so spoiled.”
Dan rubs his belly. “I can’t help that I’m the favorite.”
Raffe walks over with his head hanging low. He grabs me around the waist and pulls me close. “I’m sorry for jumping on you like that,” he says. “Ray explained you were just getting my Christmas gift. He told me I should think before I speak.”
Dan rolls his eyes, walking away from us to help hold the doors open. The boys are bringing in the tree.
Raffe continues to push his nose in my neck. “Let’s go upstairs. I’ll make it up to you,” he says.
I laugh. “Nice try, but you’re not getting out of this.” I push him away, clapping my hands. “It’s so big!”
“That’s what she said,” Elijah jokes from somewhere on the other side of the tree.
“You said you wanted a tall tree,” Jackson says, and I can see how proud he is that he found a good one.
A few days ago, I overheard him telling Raffe that he’s going all out on Christmas this year for me. It’s been a long time since I’ve spent the holiday with people I love. I appreciate him more than he’ll ever know.
Once everything is set up, the families slowly begin to trickle in.
I’m excited because we are decorating the tree with all natural items that everyone has gathered.
Pinecones, dried oranges, popcorn strings, and so many other things.
The little kids are going to make homemade ornaments with their handprints.
I love every minute of it. I’m pulling the cookies out of the oven when Brody walks into the kitchen. Out the corner of my eye, I see him set something in the windowsill and then walk away, but not before reaching around me to grab a cookie.
“They’re hot,” I scold, shooing him away with a dishtowel.
After he leaves the room, I walk over to see what he added to my collection of trinkets. It’s a tiny silver branch with a dragonfly perched on top. It’s beautiful. I smile happily, loving it.
Over the next several days, I continue to find dragonflies around the warehouse.
I thought they were all from Brody because I saw him leave the first one.
But today when I got home from helping Lily with the baby, I find Petey hanging the most beautiful glass light above the table.
It has an iridescent dragonfly on each side.
“What is this?”
He shrugs. “Just time for an upgrade. Do you like it?”
I stare up at it. “It’s stunning. Did you make it?”
Petey puffs his chest up proudly. “Sure did.” He climbs off the ladder and then turns the light on.
My hand goes to my heart. “Wow. I love it.”
I mean, it could be a coincidence, but this is getting a little crazy. I’m literally finding them everywhere.
When I’m tying my boots in the wee hours of Christmas Eve morning, I find a little dragonfly bead woven into my laces. Okay, this is getting ridiculous. But I don’t have time to think about it right now because Ray and Dan dropped my surprise off last night after everyone went to bed.
It’s still dark when I get outside, and it’s snowing! But it’s also cold, so I hurry over to the garage. I slide the door open a quarter of the way and duck inside. I do a happy little dance, stomping the snow off my boots.
I pull the big red bow out from under my jacket and carefully tie it to the handlebars. After that’s done, I hurry back inside and rush upstairs to hopefully sneak back to bed before Raffe gets up.
As I’m opening our door, I notice a little fairy house painted on the baseboard outside our room. I drop to the ground to study it. It’s just like the paintings Jesse has done up at the cabin. I love it. My finger gently brushes over the tiniest of dragonflies buzzing around.
Jesse and Dirk must have made it home last night!
I do another happy little dance and then step inside our room, quietly sliding over to the bed and under the covers.
Raffe pulls me close and rubs his nose against mine like he loves to do. His eyes fly open. “Why are you so cold?” He sits up in bed, pressing his hand to my forehead.
It makes me feel terrible because I know I’ve triggered him. It happens to both of us from time to time.
I sit up and place my hands on his face. He grabs them. “Your hands are cold too. Are you sick?”
“No, I’m fine. I woke up and it was snowing outside. It’s the first snow of the season. I had to go out and look.”
He hops from the bed like a ninja and opens the curtains. His shoulders fall in relief when he sees I’m telling the truth.
I step behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Isn’t it just beautiful?”
“It is. I hope Dirk and Jesse made it in last night.” He reaches for his phone, but I stop him.
“They did.”
“Oh, did you see them? Are they up already?”
I drag him out of the room and point to the little house painted by our door. He smiles wide.
“Okay, what is this about? I’ve been finding them everywhere,” I tell him.
“Finding what?” he asks, heading back to our room. He turns toward me, opens his arms wide, and then falls back onto the mattress. “Come here. I’ll warm you up, and we can get a little Christmas cheer going.”
I laugh, jumping on top of him and making him grunt. “Pinned ya.”
He flips us both, effectively making me forget about what we were talking about.
When we’ve finished with our merrymaking and are struggling to catch our breath, the door flies open. Jesse and Dirk both run into our room and jump on our bed. Raffe drags the covers over us.
“Fuck off you two! What the hell?” Raffe complains.
“This was our bed first, you know?” Dirk says, winking at me.
“Come on,” Jesse whines, tugging on Raffe’s arm. “We’re excited to see everyone. Get up!”
“Oh, I’ve got cinnamon rolls just waiting to be popped in the oven,” I say, pushing myself up to get out of bed.
Raffe pulls me back against him. “Wait. You’re not dressed.”
“Oh. Yeah.”
Dirk and Jesse both chuckle darkly. “We don’t mind,” Jesse says, exchanging a glance with her husband.
“Stop. You two out. We’ll see you downstairs in ten.”
“Five,” Jesse counters, pulling Dirk off the bed with her.
When they’re gone, he rolls me onto my back. “I’ve missed them,” he says.
“Me too.”
He kisses me, and then we head down to spend time with our friends.
The day goes fast as Jesse and I prepare for the Christmas Eve gathering.
I’ve been told the club always does Christmas Eve, so they can spend Christmas morning playing Santa Claus and delivering gifts and food to those in need.
I love that so much. Ray is even going to dress up like the big guy himself this year.
He fits the part well with his bushy white beard and infectious smile. I can’t wait to see Santa on a Harley.
“The warehouse looks beautiful, Jenny,” Jesse says.
“Oh, you know I didn’t do all this.” I wave my hand over the tree. “It was mostly Jackson,” I tell her.
Her eyes roam over me slowly. “Love looks good on you,” she says. “You were beautiful before, but …” She runs her hand down my arm. “You’re truly radiant.”
I blush, dipping my head because getting a compliment like that from one of the most stunning women I’ve met is just crazy.
“Well, look at you.” I lean back and whistle.
“I can’t take credit. It’s all Dirk. To put it as lady-like as I can, he’s been fucking me so damn good.”
A laugh bursts from my chest.
“I’m as relaxed as I’ve been in my entire life. It’s nice, you know? When you can forget everything and just get lost in each other. And man, have we’ve fucked in some pretty amazing places.”
I start to cough because I’m laughing so hard.
“Mom!” Billie Rose yells from across the room.