11. Ghost
Ghost
“You got a minute?”
“I’ve got a couple.” Grim lowered his glass of bourbon as he asked, “Why? What’s on your mind?”
“I was hoping I could talk to you about Whitney and the kid.” It’d been days since I’d asked her to move in, and while I stood by the idea, I had some concerns. And Grim was the only one I trusted to lay it all out for me. “They’re moving over to my place.”
He didn’t respond right away.
He took a moment to consider what I’d said, then set his glass down and asked, “When?”
“I’m not sure. It could be today or a month from now.” I took a breath before adding, “We’re still monitoring the situation with the ex, and there’s a lot going on here. I just gotta figure out the right time... I was hoping you could give me your thoughts on things.”
“So, they’re leaving the clubhouse? For good ?”
“That’s the plan.”
“And you spoke to Preacher about this.”
“I did, and he agreed that it’s time for them to go.” I rubbed the back of my neck as I added, “You know how it is. There’s always so much going on—the late nights and the partying. It was fine for the short term, but it’s time to get them somewhere more stable.”
“And you think your place is the best option?”
“I do.”
He glanced at his glass on the counter then turned to face me.
He studied me for a moment—like he wasn’t sure that I’d really thought this through. “You bring a woman and a kid into your house, and everything changes. And I mean everything . It’s not like hooking up with one of the club girls and sending her on her way in the morning.”
“I know.”
“I don’t know if you do.” He cocked his brow. “Bringing them in, you’re taking on a lot more than just keeping them under your roof. You gotta think about what that means for you.”
“What are you getting at?”
“You know how I feel about Jenna and Luna. They’re my fucking world, but I can’t remember the last time I took a dump without one of them knocking on the fucking bathroom door.” He shook his head. “Privacy is a thing of the past, and you can forget about watching the game on Saturday afternoon. That shit ain’t gonna happen. And that’s just scratching the surface here.”
“It’ll be more than just playing house. You’ll be tied to them, brother. If something happens, you’ll be the one they depend on.” Grim leaned back in his chair, letting out a slow breath. “You ready for that?”
“I wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t.”
Grim was quiet for a moment, then said, “It’s not gonna be easy.”
“I’m not expecting it to be.”
“Alright, then.” Grim lifted his glass and took a sip. “You’re gonna have to be in two places at once, and that shit ain’t easy. Zeke is our best prospect. When you’re here, he needs to be there. Never leave them alone.”
“Understood.” I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear the answer, but I asked the question that had been weighing on all our minds since the night Kay’s house burned down. “What do you think’s gonna happen with this Carmine mess?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Carmine’s a smart guy. He might find a way out of this, but if he doesn’t, there’ll be hell to pay.”
“Knowing our luck, it’ll be the latter.”
“Maybe, but don’t let it stop you from doing what needs to be done.” He finished off his drink before saying, “Get the girl settled but be ready. It’s only a matter of time before the shit hits the fan, and we’re gonna need you here and ready.”
I nodded, then said, “You got it.”
I left the bar and went down the hall to find Cricket. As I’d hoped, I found her and Toby in their room, and from the looks of it, they’d already started packing. After a few seconds, Cricket noticed me standing in the doorway and gave me one of her smiles. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Toby never looked up. He just kept pulling his clothes out of the dresser and shoving them into his bag. I couldn’t tell if he was pissed or just ready to be done packing. “You two good in here?”
“Yeah, we’re just getting a few things together.”
I glanced over at Toby as I asked, “So, you two talked?”
“We did.”
“And?”
“It went okay.” She gave me a playful grimace. “We didn’t agree on everything, but we did agree that we can’t stay at the clubhouse forever.”
“That’s a start.”
“Yes, but like me, Toby still has some reservations.”
“Anything that I can do or say to help with those?”
“I think it’s one of those things where we have to find out for ourselves.”
“I’m not following.”
“How you are about certain things.”
“Such as?”
“Just day-to-day things, like how you do certain things around the house. Are you a night owl or an early bird? Do you eat standing up, or do you sit at the table? And...”
“What do you do when you get mad?” Toby interrupted.
“When I get mad?”
“Yeah.” The trepidation in Toby’s eyes tugged at me. “Do you throw stuff? Do you shout and cuss? Do you hit?”
“Where’s this coming from?”
“Just curious.”
“Hmm. Well, I ain’t gonna lie. I can get pretty fired up over a tight football game, especially one between the Razorbacks and Tennessee. If we’re losing, I might do a little yelling and toss out a few choice words here and there. And if someone crosses a line with a brother, I’ll be the first to have his back, and if that means throwing a punch, I’ll throw one. But I’d never put my hands on a woman or a kid. I’m just not built like that, and I have a strong disdain for anyone who is.”
“Disdain?”
“I want to put ‘em six feet under.”
“ Ghost ,” Cricket scolded.
“I’m just trying to be honest.” I held up my hands in surrender. “What you see is what you get.”
“And I appreciate that, but...”
“I went too far. I got it.” I looked back over to Toby as I added, “You ain’t gotta worry about me hurting you or your momma. Just the opposite. I’m gonna do everything I can to help you get your life back and keep you safe while you do it. You okay with that?”
“Yeah, I’m okay with that.”
“So, you’re good with staying at my place for a while.”
“Yeah.” A smirk crossed his face as he added, “As long as you don’t snore like you did that night when you slept in here on the floor.”
“Snore? I don’t snore.”
“Oh, yeah, you do,” Toby argued. “You sounded like a dying bear.”
“You’re full of shit.”
“Thought you died a couple of times.” He sounded serious as a heart attack as he told me, “You’d just stop breathing and then suck it all back in like you’d been stuck underwater. You should probably get that checked out. Maybe get you one of those old-man breathing machine things.”
“I don’t snore.” I turned to Cricket for help, but no such luck. Her cheeks were red from laughing, and all she could do was nod and giggle. “I must’ve had a bad night. Probably a cold or something.”
“Yeah, probably so.”
As much as I was enjoying getting bullied about my snoring, we had a lot to do and not much time to do it. I needed to get them over to the house and settled in before my shift at the Vault. That didn’t leave me much time, so I told her, “I’m gonna go grab your boxes from the garage and load ‘em up. Just bring out the rest whenever you guys get ready.”
“Okay. We shouldn’t be long.”
I gave her a nod, then made my way out to the garage. I grabbed Cricket’s things from storage and loaded them into the back of my SUV. It wasn’t much. Just a few boxes Cricket had managed to gather before they skipped town, but I hoped it would be enough to make my place feel like home. When I was done, I hopped back in the truck and pulled around the front.
I’d just gotten parked when I spotted Cricket and Toby coming out the door. Cricket had a backpack hanging on one shoulder and a duffle bag on the other, and Toby was right next to her with a couple of bags of his own. When they got to the truck, I asked, “Is this everything?”
“I think so.” Cricket glanced at Toby, then back at me, hesitating for a second before she added, “We cleaned the room the best we could. I would’ve washed the sheets and...”
“You don’t gotta do all that. The girls will take care of it.”
“I know, but I wanted to.”
“Well, I’m sure you did more than enough.” I grabbed their bags and tossed them into the back with the rest. “You guys ready to get moving?”
Cricket nodded, and then she and Toby got in the SUV. Seconds later, we were pulling through the main gate and driving toward downtown. It was tense, and no one was talking, which only made things feel more tense. Hoping to break the ice, I said, “It’ll be different out at my place. It’s quiet. You won’t have to worry about people coming in and out at all hours.”
Cricket forced a smile. She was still on edge, and I couldn’t really blame her. She knew this was going to be another big adjustment for her and for Toby, and it could blow up in their faces. Hell, it could blow it up in mine, too. It had been a lifetime since I’d lived with anyone, and even then, I wasn’t all that good at it.
When we got close to the house, I motioned my head forward and announced, “It’s just up ahead.”
Cricket leaned forward and looked at all the houses on the block. They were far from fancy. The neighborhood was filled with mostly working-class folks who minded their own. It was one of the things I liked most about the area. It was far enough from the busy streets that it was quiet, but it was still close enough to the clubhouse that I could get there fast if anything went sideways.
My house was one of the larger on the block. It was a three-bedroom with a small front porch and decent-sized back yard. Most of the homes in the area were kept up, but they were older and in need of some TLC, especially mine. I’d done some remodeling and painting, and while it looked a hell of a lot better, it could still use some work. I parked out front and killed the engine. “Here we are. Home sweet home.”
“It’s nice.”
“Come on and check it out.”
Cricket nodded, then opened the door, and Toby stayed glued to her side as she started up to the porch. I grabbed a couple of their bags and met them at the front door. I unlocked it and pushed it open, motioning for them to go inside. “Make yourselves at home.”
Cricket’s eyes were wide with curiosity as she stepped across the threshold. Her eyes darted around the room like she was casing the place, and Toby was right there by her side, taking it all in. I dropped the bags near the hallway and gave them a quick tour.
“It’s not much. The living room’s in here.” I gestured to the couch, TV, and coffee table. “Kitchen’s through there. You can help yourselves to whatever’s in the fridge.”
I led them down the hall, showing them the bathroom and the first guest bedroom. “It’s up to you guys, but I figured Toby could stay in here. It’s right across from the bathroom, and it’s closest to the kitchen for those late-night snacks.”
Toby looked around for a minute, then glanced up at his mother. “I get my own room?”
“You sure do.” Cricket pointed to the back of the room. “And look, you’ve got your own walk-in closet.”
“Cool.”
Toby walked over and collapsed on the bed, quickly kicking off his shoes. Seeing that he was content, I looked over to Cricket and said, “Your room is just down the hall.”
She nodded and followed me down to her room. As I opened the door, I told her, “You’ve got a walk-in closet, too, and it has its own bathroom. There’s also a lock on the door if you need it.”
“This is amazing, Sutton. It’s even better than I imagined.”
Her eyes met mine for a second, then dropped to the floor. She mumbled a quiet “thank you” and stepped inside the room, silently running her fingers over the edges of each piece of furniture like she was making sure they were real. I could see that she needed some time to settle in, so I stepped out into the hall and said, “I’ll go grab the rest of your things.”
She was still looking around the room when I headed back out to the truck. I started gathering the various boxes and brought them into the garage. I’d just started stacking them in the corner when I heard the rumble of Goose’s bike pulling up in the drive. I glanced back as he parked and swaggered over, that usual cocky grin plastered on his face.
“Hey, brother. What’s going on?”
“Nothing much. Just moving the last of this stuff.” I lowered the last box on the stack as I told him, “Cricket and Toby are inside. They’re checking things over and settling in.”
“I can’t believe it. I mean, I knew you were thinking about doing this, but I didn’t think you’d actually do it.” Goose glanced around at all the boxes. “Hell, you’re gonna be a regular Mr. Susie Homemaker .”
I didn’t bite.
I just nodded and kept moving. “Yeah, whatever.”
Goose helped me grab the last of the luggage and followed me inside. We’d barely gotten through the front door when Cricket appeared with a smile on her face. She reached over and took the larger bag from my hand, leaving me with a few of the small bags and a box. “I was hoping you were getting those.”
“I think this is the last of it.” I dropped the other bags on the counter. “I left the boxes in the garage. I figured we could get to those tomorrow.”
“Okay. That sounds good.”
When she started down the hall with her bag, Goose stepped forward and asked, “You need a hand with that?”
“No, thanks. I’ve got it.”
Once she was out of earshot, Goose leaned over to me and asked, “You really gonna leave them tonight?”
“I’ve got a shift.”
“Yeah, but I figured you’d wanna be around in case they needed something.” His voice was dripping with that familiar teasing tone, but I wasn’t in the mood for it. “I mean, I’m more than happy to step up to the plate and make sure...”
“That’s enough.” I set the box down a little harder than I meant to and turned to face him. “You’re here to keep an eye on them, not to be a pain in my ass.”
“Oh, I’ll keep an eye on ‘em,” he snickered. “You ain’t gotta worry about that.”
“Keep running your mouth and see where it gets you.”
“Hey, hey!” He laughed, holding his hands up in mock surrender. “Don’t gotta get your panties in a bind. I was just fucking around.”
“Yeah, well, what else is new?”
“Damn, brother. If I didn’t know better...” Goose gave me one of his looks, then shook his head and chuckled. “Nah, no fucking way.”
“I should be back around eleven. You good with that?”
Goose’s smile faded. “Yeah, eleven’s fine.”
I gave him a nod, then grabbed my keys and went out to my bike. I’d just kicked my leg over the seat when Cricket came rushing out the back door. She hurried over to me and asked, “Are you leaving?”
“Yeah, I’ve gotta get over to the Vault. My shift starts in twenty.”
“Okay. Well, I won’t keep you. I just wanted to say thanks.”
“For?”
“Everything.”
She leaned forward and gently pressed her lips to my cheek. She quickly stepped back, and her eyes met mine with mix of gratitude and longing. Her hair was a mess and her clothes were disheveled, but as she stood there holding my gaze, I’d never seen a more beautiful sight. A soft smile swept across her face as she whispered, “Have a good night.”
With that, she turned and hurried back inside.
Damn.
She’d surprised me, and I had a feeling there would be more surprises to come.