Chapter 4 #2
“Clean clothes,” I nod to the pile at the end of the bed.
Surprise flares in her eyes as she looks at me, then at the pile of clothes. “You washed them?”
“You needed clean clothes. Mom gave you t-shirts, and I’m sure underwear, but there weren’t any jeans or such in the pack.”
Nora lifts luminous grey eyes to mine. Her voice is soft when she says, “Thank you, Nickel.”
I’m missing something. At least I think I am. Why my making sure she has clean clothes is a big deal, I have no idea.
“You’re welcome. I’ll let you get dressed. We’ll have breakfast at the clubhouse.”
“Okay,” Nora agrees, downing her coffee. She finishes it and hands me her mug. “I’ll be ready in ten minutes.”
Taking the hint, I leave her to get ready.
Exactly ten minutes later, she walks out of the bedroom in socked feet, carrying her boots. Clothed and ready, she puts her hair up in a messy bun, then slips on her boots.
I hand her another cup of coffee as she straightens and open the front door for her. We do all this without uttering a single word. For me, that’s normal, but I’m not sure if it’s Nora’s go-to or if she just isn’t a morning person.
She’s waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs, sipping her coffee and scanning the area.
“Ready?” I ask when I reach the bottom.
Nora looks up at me with a slight smile and nods. “Yeah, let’s go.”
We walk towards the clubhouse, and I’m surprised when her fingers curl around mine. I don’t make a big deal of it. I squeeze her fingers so she knows I’m happy to be holding her hand. She tilts her head, resting it against my shoulder for a second.
What most people don’t realise is that a lot can be said without uttering a word. That small gesture means more to me than anything she could have said.
The walk to the clubhouse takes no time at all. We hear voices before we get to the door.
“It’s going to be loud and chaotic,” I warn before I open the door.
“So it seems,” Nora says wryly as one of the brothers shouts something and laughter rings out.
She drains her coffee and straightens her shoulders as if she’s going into battle. “Okay. I’m ready.”
I chuckle as I open the door for her, my palm resting on her lower back as I usher her into the mayhem that is the Queens Wraiths brotherhood and the rest of my family.
I’m right.
It’s chaotic.
My niece, Shea, and my nephew, Noah, are giggling their heads off as Opal and Bolt chase them around the clubhouse common room. Coal, Thea, and Bolts’ Old Lady, Jeanie, laugh as they watch them.
Looking around for my parents, I spot them through the kitchen hatch, along with Copper and Bee. The rest of the brothers are sitting at the long table where we eat, or in the seating areas scattered around.
Coal nods as we walk in.
I lower my head and murmur to Nora, “Let’s go to the kitchen and grab another coffee and something to eat.”
“Sounds good,” Nora agrees.
Taking her hand, I pull her along behind me, nodding at brothers as we walk through the room towards the kitchen.
My mother is the first one to spot us.
“Hi, baby,” she says, smiling widely as she walks towards us.
“Hey, Momma.” Keeping hold of Nora’s hand, I wrap an arm around my mom, hugging her to me, and press a kiss to her head.
“Missed you, son.” She smiles up at me, eyes crinkling. My mom is happiest when all her chicks are at home.
She looks over my shoulder at Nora.
I step aside and gently tug her forward when I realise I’ve not left enough room for her to get around me. “Mom, this is Nora. Nora, my mom, Maggie.”
Nora holds out her hand to Mom, who releases me and pulls Nora into her arms. “Welcome to the Queens Wraiths, Nora.”
“Thanks for having me,” Nora replies, her eyes on me. They’re filled with an emotion I can’t read.
She removes her hand from mine and wraps both her arms around Mom, returning her embrace.
Mom sways them from side to side before releasing Nora, but keeps an arm wrapped around her waist as she ushers her towards the counter where breakfast is laid out. “Come on, let's get you fed before they call Church.”
My eyes meet Copper’s over their heads, and he nods.
Bee studies Nora with a soft smile, handing her a plate when she gets close enough. “Here you go, Nor. Plenty of food, so help yourself.”
“Thanks,” Nora replies, taking the plate and looking at me over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m right behind you,” I assure her, taking a plate from the counter. Mom is pouring coffee into mugs on a tray. “Thanks for breakfast, Momma.”
“Welcome, son. I have lots of help now.” She tilts her head towards Bee, who’s still chatting to Nora as they fill their plates.
I’m happy Nora has someone here she knows.
I follow behind and dish up, taking our plates to the common room, where we join everyone at the table.
“Fifteen minutes until Church,” Coal announces, looking at each of us. “Thea, Jeanie, Bee, and Nora need to attend. Mom, are you and Opal okay with the kids, or do you need to get to the cidery?”
“Opal and I will take the kids with us,” Mom replies. “They can play in the playground while we sort through the orders in the back. We’ll keep an eye on them.”
She gives Coal the look—the “don’t fuck with me” look that only mothers seem to be able to perfect. The look that tells us she means business. Coal may be the president of our chapter, but even he straightens and gives her his full attention.
“Son, you need to think about building a nursery. We’re getting busier, and the kids need stability. And we’ll have two more with us soon, what with Thea and Jeanie expecting.”
Nora’s shoulders shake beside me. I glance at her to see her biting her lip, trying not to laugh.
She pinches my leg when I grin at her and leans closer to mutter in my ear, “Don’t make me laugh. It’s disrespectful to laugh when your president is being berated by his mother.”
I snigger and cup her thigh, squeezing it. “It’s funny, though. Do you reckon moms go to schools to perfect that look, or does it come naturally as soon as you push the first kid out?”
Nora snorts and slaps a hand over her mouth as she leans against me, laughing silently.
“Stop it,” she stutters, burying her head in my shoulder.
Her laughter is contagious, and I’m soon joining her. It’s only when I realise that the table is silent that I look up and find everyone watching us.
“Care to tell us what’s so funny?” Coal asks.
“Nope.” I shake my head. “Inside joke.”
“Huh.” Coal narrows his eyes before they slide to Nora.
She sits up and wipes the tears of laughter away with a finger under her eyes.
She looks up at me, and I wink. Biting her lip, she shakes her head, averting her eyes as if she’s afraid I’m going to set her off again.
I didn’t think my comment was that funny, but I like that Nora is amused.
I have a feeling she hasn’t had much to laugh at in recent years.
“I’ll see if I can get the contractors out as soon as possible, Mom,” Coal assures our mother. “I’ll make it a priority.”
“Thank you, son,” Mom says, giving Coal a soft smile. “I know you have a lot on your plate, so if you need me to do more, I can. You have people to lean on. Dog and Maggie have offered to help too. Your dad and Dog are more than capable of supervising a build.”
“Out of interest, who are you using for the build?” Bee asks.
“Not sure yet,” Coal replies. “I was going to see if Reaper had a contact. I’d like Abby’s company to do the electrics, and whoever she has that helps with the plumbing.”
“Do you mind if I give someone a call?” Bee asks. “It’s the company Abby works with on builds. They’re trustworthy.”
“Go ahead,” Coal agrees. “Let me know the answer as soon as you can.”
“Give me a minute,” Bee says, standing and gathering empty plates. She walks them to the kitchen, her phone already at her ear.
I have a feeling that the small school we planned to build will get done sooner rather than later.
“Church,” Coal orders, standing.
We hastily finish our food and clear the table. We’ve got clean-up down to a fine art now. Mom and Opal do the bulk of it, but we try to make it as easy as possible for them.
“Come on, let me show you where Church is held,” I say to Nora.
A chair is waiting for Nora next to mine. As I seat her beside me, I feel like I belong for the first time in my life. I’m not sure what it is about Nora, but she settles me in a way that no one else ever has.
Copper and Bee are the last in, and Bee gives Coal a thumbs up, so I assume she’s organised a contractor.
“Right, settle down, fuckers and ladies. We’ve got a lot of shit to cover, so let’s get on with this,” Coal says, slamming the gavel on the table.
“Church in session. Let’s go over the last few days and make a plan.
We’ll hold another Church to go over the businesses and budgets in two days, once Nickel and Bee have time to go over everything with Tinman.
We’ll start with the news that Nora extracted for us from that fuckhead, Eade.
Then we’ll move on to what we could have done better. ”
It takes a couple of hours to debrief and make plans. I know I’ll have to do additional training after my fuck-up.
“Okay, so as it stands, we need more information on Miles Burres and what we can do to bring him down,” Coal states. “Sterling, work with Bee and Nora, as they know these men best. Brass, Iron, and Cross, put together a training plan. We start tomorrow. Is everyone good so far?”
We all nod our confirmation.
“Wet room,” Coal states, looking around the table. “We need one ASAP. We can’t keep using The Hole, even though the O’Sheas are more than happy for us to do so. They’re out of this business, and I’d rather not bring eyes on them. How do we go about building our own?”
“We’ll need to build it ourselves,” Iron states. “We don’t want anyone to know about it.”
“Is anyone good at building?” Jeanie wants to know.