Chapter Twenty-Nine
Melissa
Entering the main room, I spotted Haizley immediately. She was sitting next to Ellie. I closed my eyes and sighed. The woman deserved a chance. I had to remind myself I knew nothing about her. She could be perfectly lovely. Except she married a biker.
And Haizley is an old lady, too.
Yea, about that. I narrowed my gaze at my best friend, wondering how that happened. Straightening my shoulders, I pulled in whatever strength I could muster and walked to the other side of the room and sat with the women gathered there.
“Hi, Melissa, I’m Sam.” She smiled warmly, and I instantly knew why Dante was jealous of her. The mom gene poured from her, like she had been designed specifically for that role.
“Hi, Sam.” I wanted to tell her Dante talked about her. How he was jealous of her warmth and natural inclination with children. But he was a patient.
“Melissa.” I turned to Ellie. “Can you tell us what happened? How do you have Dani?”
“I’m sorry, Ellie. I can’t share information from a patient.”
She nodded, biting her lip.
I was being a bitch. I could have told her what I told King. But this woman was a threat. She could take Dani away from me if she wanted to. Especially since I had told King that Dante asked me to bring Dani here.
“Hi!”
The small voice at my side belonged to the cutest little girl with a mop of brown curls and the bluest eyes I had ever seen.
“I’m Charlie. Can Dani play with us?”
Behind Charlie stood two other girls about the same age. That must be Chrissy and Tabby. Dante had talked about them.
“This is all pretty overwhelming. Maybe we should give Dani time to adjust,” I told the little girl.
“Melissa.” Haizley laid her hand on my arm, and I knew what she was going to say. “They know Dani. And they won’t leave the room.”
“Haizley—”
“You’re projecting. Look at the smile on Dani’s face.”
When I looked down, I saw Haizley was right. Dani was smiling at the little girls and I saw her looking at the toys.
“I thought we agreed not to shrink each other?” I said, smiling at my friend.
“Do you want to play with the girls, Dani?”
Dani nodded and moved her little fist up and down, indicating her answer.
“Use your words, Dani.”
“Yes,” she whispered. Dani tried to avoid using words; the sign language being easier to communicate. But I was determined she would learn.
Setting her on the floor, she ran off with the girls. When the big dog that had been laying on the floor jumped up and followed, I moved to stand.
Haizley grabbed my arm. “She’ll be ok.”
“She’s afraid of animals.”
“Watch,” Haizley said, not letting me go.
The dog laid on the floor about four feet from where the girls were playing. With his head nestled between his paws, he watched them. Anytime a brother got close, the dog would lift his head and growl deeply.
“Why is he growling?”
“He is protecting them,” the dark-haired woman on the couch said. I hadn’t gotten her name yet. “I’m Aspen. Diesel is my dog. And amazing with the kids. Why don’t you sit over here, and you won’t hurt your neck while you watch them.”
She scooted over, making room next to her where I had an unobstructed view of the girls.
“Thank you,” I said as I moved over next to Aspen.
“You’re very protective of her,” Sam said.
“I’m all she has,” I answered absently.
“She has her fathers,” Ellie countered.
Turning to the woman I really wanted to be objective with, I asked, “Does she? Where are they? How much time did they spend with her before they left? How much time have you spent with her?”
“Melissa, that’s not fair.”
“No, Haizley, I want to know. How much time have you spent with Dani?” When she didn’t answer, I did. “Days, right? Danny spent two weeks with his daughter before he left. Dante was more, but only by a few weeks. You know who has been in that little girl’s life the longest? Me!” I slapped my hand on my chest to emphasize my point. “I have seen that little girl every day for almost three months. The last seven weeks of that have been just her and me.”
I stood up. I couldn’t sit there any longer. I refused to let someone make excuses for Danny and Dante.
Walking over to where the little girls played, I sat down next to Dani. I wouldn’t punish her for what I was feeling. So, I sat on the floor and watched as she played.
For an hour, I observed the four little girls and how they interacted with each other. Occasionally casting glances back toward the couches where the women sat talking.
About me, no doubt.
As a psychologist who worked with children, many of my hours in sessions was spent observing how they played. How they interacted with me, their parents, and any siblings they might have.
The dynamics of this group were quite interesting. Chrissy, who was the oldest, had told me she was five and didn’t have school today because it was Sunday. She was very smart for a five-year-old.
Then there was Charlie. She was four and a chatterbox. Charlie kept the group informed of everything that was happening inside the clubhouse. The names of some of the men had me questioning what her parents were thinking, letting her live here. Especially when she spoke about someone named Banshee.
Banshees were Irish folklore, but the part that concerned me was that they were predictors of death. I understood how bikers got their road names. I wondered how many people Banshee had killed.
Tabby was three, and Chrissy’s little sister. Ellie’s younger stepdaughter. I watched as she played quietly. She had a teddy bear that sat in her lap. No matter what she did, she never let it go. When Charlie tried to move the bear while they were building with blocks, Tabby grabbed it back and put it where it was.
That wasn’t unusual. Children often had security blankets and toys that were important. Items they didn’t want anyone else to touch.
What concerned me was that in the hour or so that I had been sitting here with them, Tabby hadn’t made a sound. Not a single word was spoken by the little girl. But no noises either. No grunts, no babbles.
Nothing.
I looked back at the women and saw Haizley staring at me. I knew that look. She was watching to see at what point I noticed the little girl. It should have been sooner, but I was distracted by my anger.
Anger at being here in the clubhouse.
Anger at Ellie, who clearly didn’t deserve it.
Hefting myself off the floor, I walked back over to the couch.
“Tabby doesn’t talk.” It was a statement, not a question. An observation.
“She does, some,” Ellie whispered quietly.
“Is she delayed?” I asked, my profession taking over.
“No.”
Ellie was giving me short answers. I knew she was upset with me. I wasn’t making a very good impression on these women, and I wasn’t sure why I was letting it bother me. I was only here for Dani.
“Ellie, Danny trusted her,” another woman said, taking Ellie’s hand in hers. “Maybe she can help.”
“Ellie, I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you.” My eyes dropped to my hands. I owed this woman the truth. “Dante asked me to come find you if I didn’t hear from him.” Her eyes bored into mine. “You have to understand, Dani has come to mean so much to me and I know that when her fathers come home, I will have to give her back. But until then, I can’t. I’m sorry.”
The front door opened, and another woman walked in. She looked around the room until her eyes focused on Dani.
“Is that?” She looked back at Ellie and when Ellie nodded, she walked over and scooped Dani off the floor, holding her close. “Where is he?”
“We still don’t know,” Ellie said, standing up and walking to the woman. “We don’t know anything about either of them.”
“Then how is she here?” Dani put her hands on the woman’s cheeks and smiled. She clearly knew her. And it took everything in me not to rush over and snatch her back.
“Jessie, this is my friend Melissa. She is a child psychologist in Oklahoma. Dani is staying with her.”
“Do you know where Dante is?” she asked.
I shook my head, unable to speak as I watched her hold my daughter. And she was my daughter. Until they came back for her.
“Wait, if she’s a kid’s shrink, can she help Tabby?” Jessie asked, looking at Ellie.
“Tabby is fine,” Ellie insisted, taking Dani out of Jessie’s arms.
She never asked me about holding her. I let her yesterday. I would have let her today. I didn’t want to keep Dani from Dante’s friends. I just didn’t want them taking her away from me.
Dani squirmed to get down, and Ellie kissed her head, setting her down. She ran back over to where the girls were playing and it was then I noticed the dog barely acknowledged when the women went near the kids.
“Just noticed, huh?” Haizley asked beside me.
“Does he just not like men?”
“No, he doesn’t trust the men. He was raised to be a therapy dog. There are actually two of them. But there are a couple of men they treat the same as the women. One of them being Banshee.”
Banshee?
“Charlie and Chrissy were talking about him. Something about him screaming at them.”
Haizley laughed at the look on my face.
“Banshee got his name from the way he screams if he gets startled,” Sam offered. “The girls love sneaking up on him. He sees them coming and screams extra loud, then pretends to scold them. They love it.”
I shook my head. Looking around the quiet clubhouse, I didn’t understand the dynamic.
“Things are different here, Mellie.”
I looked over at my brother, who had sat down and pulled Haizley onto his lap. I was skeptical of his assessment. Sure, things seemed different, but bikers were bikers. They did what they wanted with no regard to anyone else’s feelings.
Danny and Dante were bikers.
“Nothing is different,” I scoffed. “I once again find myself abandoned by a biker ‘for my own safety. ’”
“I was protecting you,” he insisted.
“You abandoned me.” I stood from the couch and went to scoop up my daughter. When I walked toward the hall that led to my room, I heard Aspen call out, “Diesel, stay!”
I looked down and saw the dog trailing behind me. He sat watching me and I was hesitant to take a step.
“He won’t hurt you,” Travis said behind me. He placed a hand on my lower back and asked, “Can we take a walk outside?”
“Dani needs a nap. This is a lot for her.”
“A lot for her, or for you?”
“Travis—”
“Come outside with me. Dani can come with us. The compound is safe and there is plenty of room for her to run around.”
“Why?” I asked, suspicious of his intentions.
“I just want to spend time with you while you’re here.”
“I told you I can’t be—”
“With a biker. I heard you.” He nodded. “But while you are here, we can still get to know each other. What’s the harm in making a new friend?”
Friend my ass. I eyed him for any hint of deception. But his expression told me nothing.
“Outside.”
Travis grinned at Dani’s small voice. And I knew he thought he’d won.
“Fine, but there is nothing happening between us. That night was one and done.”
“One and done,” he agreed.
His acceptance of my position appeared genuine. But deep in my soul, I knew it was bullshit. I knew that because my proclamation of it being one and done was bullshit.
I didn’t want to be done with him. Just standing next to him, no loud music, no alcohol to lower my inhibitions, and I still felt that connection. That spark. No, a wildfire spreading through my body. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this man, feeling like I did right then.
Only I couldn’t.
He was a biker.
And I had decided ten years ago, I would never trust a biker again.
Every biker I knew had let me down.