Chapter 17
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Jack
I’ve never been so glad to see the sunrise in my life. My sister is getting worse by the month. I would say day or week, but those aren’t accurate. Harley’s drinking isn’t an everyday thing. Well, not that we know of, anyway.
Throughout the week, she works and keeps to herself. She goes out nearly every weekend with her friends. They don’t always go to parties and bars. She acts out more during parties at the clubhouse. We don’t have those every week. Her worst moments are when the brothers from Texas are here. After the night we had, Shep led his guys out here first thing this morning.
The meeting with Dad is off to a rocky start. We should probably postpone this. We’re all functioning on less than two hours of sleep. Lily may be the only one who got more. Mom was home with Everly. After my niece fell asleep, she paced the floor until Dad got home.
“Okay, Miss Harman. We apologize for holding you here for two nights. That’s not common for us. It’s time to discuss your next step and for you to make some decisions.” Dad sits behind his desk with Mom at his side.
“What exactly do I need to do?” Lily sits in the chair beside me in front of the desk.
Jay leans against the window sill behind Dad. Rodeo and Worley Bird stand on either side of the door behind us. Meetings with angels in our care are kept as private as possible.
“Your next step is to decide where you wanna start over. If you have family or friends on the East Coast, we’ll help you get there,” Dad replies.
Mom rolls her eyes. It’s a good thing Dad didn’t see it. A fight between my parents is explosive. With the headache I have this morning, the last thing I need is these two arguing.
“Ariel’s Angels doesn’t just rescue women. We’ve mentioned that we help you find a safe place to start over. We give you a new identity and help you find a new job. But you can never contact anyone from your old life again,” Mom explains a little better.
“Not even your parents,” Dad adds.
“Not a problem,” Lily mumbles. She raises her head and looks Dad in the eye. Brave girl. “My mother overdosed five years ago.”
“And your dad?” Dad asks.
Lily shrugs one shoulder. “I don’t know where or who he is. Mom would never tell me.”
I rub my thumb and index fingers over my eyes. I’m an idiot. I should have asked these questions last night so she wouldn’t have to share them for the first time in front of everyone. Mom and Dad look at each other. I reach over and take Lily’s hand. She looks toward me but doesn’t meet my eyes. She really is alone. It could explain how her abuser was able to get her into a vulnerable relationship with him.
“What about your mom’s family?” Mom is softer-spoken than Dad.
Lily slightly shakes her head. She doesn’t look directly at anyone. “Mom ended contact with her family before I was born. I don’t know why. All I know is she mentioned growing up in North Carolina.”
Again, my parents do that looking at each other thing. I swear, in these moments, they’re telepathic.
I slide to the edge of my chair. “Actually, Lily and I talked last night. I offered to show her around Willow Creek.”
Yep, my parents are telepathic. From their expressions, they’re shocked, or maybe they're angry. It’s hard to tell. The latter sounds more like them this morning. Both are very touchy today. Jay’s interest is piqued. Rodeo and Worley Bird move around behind us, but neither speaks.
Mom recovers first. “Lily, do you wish to stay in Willow Creek for a while?”
Lily looks up at Mom and lightly squeezes my hand. “I would.”
Dad clears his throat. “Okay. That changes things. We’ll get you settled and find you a job. We’ll hold off on finding one in the medical field until you make a final decision. The bar isn’t a good idea.”
“Waiting tables at the diner isn’t either,” Mom adds.
Dad looks over his shoulder at Jay. “You need a secretary?”
“Nope.” Jay shakes his head.
That’s a lie. Jay seriously needs a secretary. His office is a mess. I don’t understand how he finds any of his paperwork.
“What about the bakery?” Worley Bird suggests.
“Good idea. I’ll call Emily and see.” Mom definitely approves of the bakery. She’ll make this happen.
“Okay. That’s it for today. Sweetheart, take Lily to the kitchen. You two help Mom make breakfast.” Dad pulls Mom down and kisses her until everyone in the room is uncomfortable.
When he releases her, Mom walks around the desk. Her eyes settle behind Lily and me.
“Worley Bird, please take Lily to the kitchen. I think I need to be here for this conversation.”
What conversation? I groan. My idea went over a little too easily. Of course, Dad had more to say.
“Mac?” Worley Bird will honor Mom. She is the club Queen, after all. However, Dad’s word is law around here. Dad dips his chin. Worley Bird walks up to Lily’s chair. “Come on, Miss Lily. Let’s get you to the kitchen.”
Lily slowly lifts from the chair. “Don’t I get a say in this?”
I stand, never letting go of her hand.
“You had a say. You chose to stay.” Dad lifts one eyebrow. “Or have you changed your mind?”
“No, sir,” Lily replies softly.
I gently nudge her toward the door. “I’ll see you in a bit. Worley Bird will take you to Nana.” It’s best we get her out of here now.
She reluctantly follows Worley Bird. The room erupts after the door closes behind them.
“Jacob,” Mom scolds.
“What was that?” I ask at the same time.
Dad stands and places his palms on the desk. “That was me doing my job as club President and the head of this family.”
“The counselor said we have to speak gently to angels.” It’s why I’ve chosen my words carefully and controlled my actions around Lily.
“Well, she kinda stepped a little outside the role of angel, didn’t she?” Dad snaps.
“She’s still under our protection.” It’s never good to argue with him.
“Yeah, she is. But we don’t keep them, Jack. We rescue them. We help them move on. They don’t stay.” Dad doesn’t back down.
“Just because one hasn’t doesn’t mean one can’t.” I don’t back down, either. This won’t end well.
“What are you doing, son? What are your intentions with this woman?” Dad demands.
Mom steps between us to defuse things like the desk wasn’t enough. “Jack, you really like this woman?”
“I do,” I admit. “I just haven’t had a chance to figure things out.”
“She’s attracted to you, too.” Mom sighs. “We’ll get her settled with a temporary job for now and let you get to know her. If it’s more than just attraction, we’ll do even more for her.”
“Where’s she gonna stay?” Dad asks.
“I was hoping she could stay on club property. She can have my room in the clubhouse.” It’s a bad idea, but it’s all I have at the moment.
Mom shakes her head. “She can keep staying in the guest house.”
Dad, Jay, and I snap our heads toward her.
“Are you sure?” Dad’s temper softens for a moment.
“If our son is falling in love with her, she can’t stay in the clubhouse.” Mom shudders at the thought.
“Fine.” Dad snatches his phone off the desk. “Nick, I need a full search on Lily Harmon. Bring me everything you find by the end of the day.” He ends the call and tosses his phone down.
“Are you insane? That’s invading her privacy. You’ve insisted for years that we don’t ask them questions. They only tell us their story if they want to.” I just crossed a line, and there’s no coming back now.
“She’s in our home, Jack. A part of our lives. If she means something to you, great. Figure it out. Claim her, and make her your ole’ lady. For now, I have to do my job and protect everyone.”
“Your job? How’s breaking one of your own rules doing your job?”
He jabs his finger at me. “When you’re President, you’ll have to learn how to protect everyone.”
“I won’t do this.”
“Until you have to make these types of decisions, you can’t say that. This job isn’t as easy as it looks.” Mom has a point.
“Call Nick off. Let me have today with her. Give her a chance to tell me her story first.”
“If I thought she’d talk, I would. You can try to get her to talk, but I won’t stop Nick.”
“It’s wrong, Dad.”
“It is, but it’s what I have to do. Every woman who comes to us, whether we meet them or not, comes with medical records. Some have police reports. All of them have bruises or broken bones and are emotionally broken.
“Somewhere out there is some lowlife piece of crap. He hurt Lily. He’s probably looking for her. We know they do. If he finds her here, and she’s on club property, he’ll find my wife, my mother, my daughters, and my granddaughter.”
I quiet down and back off with each word he yells. He’s right.
“I lost my brother.”
Jay flinches. Losing his dad almost destroyed my family.
“I lost my daughter, my firstborn, and an unborn granddaughter at the same time.”
Losing my sister and her baby completely destroyed our family. No matter how many ways we find to honor Ariel and fight for justice, we’re never coming back from this one. On the outside, everyone believes we have it together. On the inside, we silently destroy ourselves, and in moments like this, we do it very loudly. Our enemies don’t have to come for us. We’ll end ourselves eventually.
“I can’t lose anyone else!”
My fight’s gone. Those words slice through my soul.
Mom rushes around the desk and slams into Dad’s chest. “Jacob, come on, hon.”
“I can’t, Ev. I can’t bury anyone else.”
“I know. We won’t. You’re protecting us all, Lily included.” With her arms around his waist, she eases Dad into his chair. She doesn’t take her eyes off of him. “Jay, you and Rodeo take Jack to the kitchen. Send Worley Bird back.”
“Got it, Aunt Ev.” Jay pushes off the window sill and motions for me to walk ahead of him.
“Mom? I didn’t mean...”
She looks over her shoulder. Her tears send another dagger through my heart. “Please, Jack. We just need some rest. Go take care of Lily.”
I say no more and follow Rodeo out the door. This has officially gone to pot.
“Everybody’s exhausted.” Rodeo falls in step next to me.
“Yeah,” Jay agrees. “Lily isn’t why he’s upset. Your sister said some horrible things to him before you showed up.”
Harley said some horrible things to everybody. I was only there for thirty minutes. I’d hate to imagine what was said and done before I arrived. Finally, she collapsed into Maci and Ember’s arms. Rodeo and I put her to bed. We left our younger sisters to watch over her. They’re still at Harley’s house, waiting for her to wake up.
“Why don’t you let Lily stay with Nana for a few hours and get some rest?” Jay suggests.
“What about you? You ok?” My cousin worries me. He keeps everything bottled up.
“Nope. Going for a ride.” Jay walks across the Den and out the front door.
“He shouldn’t be alone.” I go to follow him.
Rodeo grabs my arm. “I’ll call Bankz and Cloudy. They’ll watch over him. Your mom has your dad. Go have breakfast with Lily. She’ll be fine with Nana. I’ll have the entire club watching today. Go get a nap, man. I sure need one.” Rodeo has things handled. He’s going to make a great VP one day.
“Thanks, man.” I slap him on the back and head to the kitchen.