Chapter 11
Angel
Holy shit, this is a lot of people.
Seems that being the first Ol’ Lady to be announced in years is a big deal.
There must be close to eighty people milling about.
Kids, women, men in leather cuts and some that looked like plain old cowboys.
This chapter of the Saint’s Outlaws may not be huge, but it employs many people, and they were all here to celebrate Axle taking an Ol’ Lady.
For someone that wasn’t used to loads of people, it was pretty overwhelming.
Garret had been called away a few minutes ago.
The garage had a problem. He hadn’t left my side since we arrived, and I’d met all his brothers.
It was my own fault that I was alone right now.
He’d wanted me to go with him, but I hadn’t wanted to look like a weenie and had waved him away, assuring him I’d be fine.
I wasn’t.
Pressing my back against the wall of the clubhouse, I draw further into the shadows as I survey the scene in front of me. Tables occupy spaces near the kitchen beneath gazebos.
They’re groaning with every sort of salad available, all cradled on trays of ice, ensuring they stay lovely and fresh. There are trays and trays of meat waiting to be put onto the four barbecues.
Lala commanded like a drill instructor, and watching the burly biker men obey her orders provided amusement.
Coolers overflowed with ice and drinks. It was a warmish day for September in North Dakota, but I knew it would get cooler in the evening, and I’m guessing that’s what the three bonfires were for. They’d be lit later in the evening.
My gaze catches and holds on Garret’s best friend sitting on top of a picnic table that’s pushed up against another building.
I’m not sure what it’s used for, a storeroom maybe.
He raises an eyebrow at me, and I make a beeline for him.
I may not know him well, but he’s not a complete stranger in a sea of strangers.
Plus, if he’s best friends with Garrett, then I know he’s a good guy.
“What’s up, buttercup?” he asks, amusement in his tone as I clamber up on the table and sit next to him.
“Too many people,” I gasp.
“You own a shop,” he chuckles, “surely you’re used to people.”
Turning my head, I glare at him. “They don’t all descend at once.”
He chuckles and nods, “True.”
“Anyway, why are you sitting here by yourself and not cracking a beer with your brothers?”
“Just thinking,” he admits. “Don’t feel like socialising right now.”
“Oh, you should have said. Sorry Roman.”
I go to climb off the picnic table only to be stopped by his hand clamping onto my thigh. “Not you Angel,” he pats my leg before clasping his hands together between his knees. “You’re not bothering me. Stay. That way I can be honest when I tell Axle you’re fine when he checks in.”
Shocked, I whip my head around to him, “He checks in?”
Roman chuckles, turning dark eyes to me, “Yeah babe, he checks on you constantly. I think he’s scared you’re going to disappear again.”
“Oh.”
“He’ll get better the longer you’re back in his life,” Roman reassures me.
“Okay.” We sit in silence and people-watch for a little while when I see North stride through the crowd, greeting people as if he knows them well. Which he does, as he’s been in Garret’s life for years. I met him this morning, and I liked him.
He was everything Garret had said he was. Although he was still carrying demons. He hid them or maybe controlled them by participating in underground fights. Fights that clearly worried Garret.
He scans the area until he sees me and Roman. Raising a hand in greeting, he goes to a cooler and grabs two beers and a soft drink. His long strides eat up the ground between us.
“You two looked thirsty,” he says, handing Roman one of the beers and me the soft drink before climbing onto the table on my other side. Sandwiching me between the two of them.
“Thanks, North,” I say, popping open the can and taking a sip.
“No worries, Angel. Garret sent me over to check on you. He’ll be done with the client soon.”
Warmth fills my belly and spreads through me that he’d been worried enough about me to send North.
“Thanks,” I bump North with my shoulder. “Appreciate it. I’m not used to so many people and until Siera and the girls arrive, I only know you and Roman. It’s a little overwhelming, although everyone’s been very nice.”
Roman chuckles and slants his eyes towards me. “That’s because Garret gave us all a warning this morning.”
I turn to Roman in surprised shock. “No! He did?”
“Yeah, look,” Roman replies, handing me his phone. His text messages are open.
Axle–Yo, fuckers. It’s Angel’s first day meeting all of you. Be cool, yeah, or I’m only going to let the appies work on your bikes for the next month.
There’s a bunch of shit talk in the threads below, but after the first one I don’t read any more.
Laughing softly, I hand Roman’s phone back to him, shaking my head at the ridiculousness of men but also absolutely thrilled that Garret had taken the time to make sure I was okay today.
I hadn’t realised that he’d known how nervous I was.
“Love the man,” I whisper under my breath.
“He’s a good man,” Roman agrees with a nod. “Kept me on the straight and narrow for years. Same for North.”
North nods. “Roman’s right, Angel. Axle’s one of the best, but then you already know that.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “I know.”
The three of us sit quietly, lost in our own thoughts when there’s a sudden flurry of activity amongst the bikers who until then had been milling around chatting amongst themselves.
“I guess Siera and the girls have arrived,” I say, amusement lacing my tone. That amusement increases when I feel Roman tense next to me.
Garret told me of his obsession with Siera.
I won’t interfere; Siera is more than capable of looking after herself, and Roman is a good man, but he’d have his work cut out for him when it came to her.
She had scarcely looked at a man since Caleb passed away.
I understood. He’d been a good man taken too soon, and she’d grieved for a long time after he’d passed.
Then there were the girls, the business and we’d got busy.
Life was like that, but I had to admit that I selfishly hoped she’d give Roman a chance.
“You guys really like the whole hippie thing, huh,” North comments.
“What do you mean?”
“Angel,” he grins at me, “you hardly scream biker chick with the whole Boho thing you have going on, and neither does your sister.”
Looking down, I frown. I’m wearing my favourite jeans; they’re old, soft, worn and fit like a glove, slouched brown boots with tassels and turquoise embellishments.
My top is cream and is gauzy with flouncy sleeves that are cuffed at the wrist. I’ve got a tank top under it as it’s completely see-through.
My belt is handmade, also with turquoise embellishments and tassels.
Lifting my head, I look at Siera who is wearing one of her loose, flowing dresses that clings to her in all the right places. She’s got her favourite cowboy boots on, and her usual plethora of bracelets and rings. Her hair is hanging loose around her shoulders, and she laughs at something Tru says.
Next to me Roman tenses, then sighs. Tru and Janis are in their usual jeans, boots, and band t-shirts. Tru has her bright red hair in a high pony, and Janis has hers in two braids.
I shrug, because I think we look good. We have our own style, and I don’t care if nobody cares for it.
“I think we look cute,” I reply.
“Cute isn’t what I’d say,”Roman mutters. “More like hot.”
“Thanks, big guy,” I grin and kiss his cheek, laughing out loud when his ears get a little pink.
Siera grabs a chair by the back and drags it over to us. “Hey,” she greets, sitting down and crossing her legs, taking the beer Tru hands her, “what’s shaking?”
North snorts out a laugh, and I grin at her as Tru and Janis sit on the bench in front of us. Janis stares at North until he sighs and spreads his thighs to make room for her. I’m amused when he tugs her braid, “Brat.”
She shrugs, “You’re family now, that means I get to boss you around.”
“Is that right? And how do you figure I’m your family?”
I’m barely listening to them, because Garret is walking towards us. His stride falters when Tru lays it out for him and North, something we’d all known but the two of them seemed not to get.
“Well,” Tru says, looking up at North. “You’re Axle’s adopted son, which means you’re our aunt’s now, and so that means you’re ours.
It’s how it works.” The way she says it with the hidden ‘duh’ is amusing.
Like she can’t believe he didn’t already know this.
To be fair to them though, they didn’t know how the Monde’s worked. Blood meant nothing to them.
“And” Janis says, resting her elbows on his knees, tilting her head, she continues where her sister left off, “When Honor finally joins us, you’ll have a little sister too. See, family.”
“Jesus,” Roman whispers, his gaze on Siera. Mine is on Garret, and the emotion on his face. His eyes slide to North, who’s looking like someone took a two-by four to his head. A little poleaxed.
“They’re not wrong, North,” Garret says.
“Axle,” North clears his throat and looks away. We’re silent as they come to grips with something that’s been clear to all of us from the start. He turns back to Garret. “Thank you.”
Axle tips his head in acknowledgment and then looks at me. “You doing okay, Angel?”
Men! Something huge just happened, and they glossed over it.
Siera rolls her eyes, and I bite back a chuckle before replying.
“Yep, Roman and North are doing a great job of making sure I’m okay. Everything okay at the garage?”
“All sorted,” he replies, pulling up a chair and sitting next to Siera as the girls keep the conversation flowing. They're good girls and they’re hilarious. I love them to death.
It’s during a lull in our conversation that we hear them. It doesn’t take me long to realise what the building behind us is, and who it’s for when we hear the hissed conversation.