Chapter 9
CHAPTER
NINE
Rain
It’s been two days since we got married. I was supposed to come over here yesterday and do all of this, but after talking with the girls, I didn’t have it in me. So instead, I stayed with Aspen and ate my feelings.
Here I am, though, standing in the living room of my childhood home, trying to make sense of everything.
“Thanks for letting me stop by. I was in the neighborhood and figured I would save you a trip to the office,” Mr. Cohen says.
“I appreciate it.”
“Is it okay to go over this without Ridge? I don’t mind waiting,” he tells me.
I shake my head. “No, I can fill him in when I see him later. He’s working.”
At least I think he is. He left this morning and told me goodbye, but didn’t exactly say where he was going. Not that it’s any of my business.
“Works for me.”
Leaning against the counter, arms crossed, I watch as Mr. Cohen slides papers my way.
“Everything looks good. The marriage license has been accepted, and everything stays yours, for now at least.”
“Is there anything else I need to know?”
“I just need to remind you that should you choose to sell anything, you will have to provide receipts of what you got for it. If it is over five hundred dollars, you must put it in the trust. You can donate clothes, get rid of old towels, things like that, but anything of value will be audited. If there is anything suspicious, it could void your entire inheritance. Mustang left a list of valued items in his will.”
I snort. Of course he did. That was my dad for you, always thinking ahead.
“I don’t plan to sell any valuables, only donate things that we have no use for. Thank you for stopping by.”
“You’re welcome. Let me know if you need anything,” he says as he gathers up his things.
“Will do,” I lie.
I walk him to the door and wave as he walks down the drive. Before he can pull away, the sound of a bike catches my attention. I watch as it rolls to a stop next to the curb, and Prairie gets off his bike. He waves to Mr. Cohen as he walks up the drive.
“What are you doing here?” I ask once he’s close enough.
Prairie was one of my father’s closest friends. He was like an uncle to me growing up. He probably knew all along what Dad planned too. It’s been a couple of weeks, and the anger still hasn’t faded.
“Nice to see you too, sweetheart,” he rasps, making me roll my eyes.
I step back into the house, and he follows, closing the door behind him.
“This place looks the same,” he murmurs as he looks around.
“Yeah, I haven’t had the heart to get rid of anything yet or do much with the place.”
“Understandable.” He nods.
“Do you want something to drink?”
“Nah, I’m good.” He walks over to one of the chairs and sits down, so I move to the couch.
“You haven’t been around much,” he says after a minute of silence.
“I’ve been busy.”
Prairie grunts. “That’s an excuse, and we both know it.”
“It’s hard being around all of you and wondering if you knew what he had planned.”
Prairie shakes his head. “Sweetheart, your father kept shit close to his chest. Now, don’t get me wrong, we all knew that he wanted you with Ridge at some point, but that’s where it stopped.
He always thought there was chemistry between you two and thought Ridge was the perfect man for you.
I heard that Ridge knew, but thought it was a joke, but other than him, I can assure you, none of us knew. ”
“I didn’t know,” I mutter.
Prairie chuckles. “Because he didn’t talk to you about it. When I said all of us, I meant the brothers and me.”
“Would you have talked him out of it?” I ask without thinking.
Prairie laughs. “Girlie, we both know that once your dad had his mind made up, there was no going back. He wanted to know you would be protected when he was gone, and he did that in the only way he knew how, even if his methods were a little unconventional.”
I scoff. “Unconventional? That’s putting it mildly.”
“You went along with it, though, didn’t you? You could have said fuck you and walked away.”
“Not wrong,” I mutter as I look down at the couch.
I run my hand over the worn fabric and sigh.
“He backed me into a corner intentionally. Hell, I can’t even do anything with this place. Not really, not until Ridge and I have been married for the amount of time he demanded.”
“What do you mean?” he frowns.
I fill him in on what the lawyer said and how I can’t get rid of anything worth anything value-wise without going through the trust.
“So this house is just going to sit here like a freaking time capsule for a while.”
Prairie shakes his head. “That’s not true. The lawyer didn’t say anything about you not being able to move shit out and putting it in storage. As long as you don’t get rid of it or prove what you got for it, you’re fine. Then you can move in here and start making any of the changes you want.”
I think about it for a moment.
“I didn’t even think of that,” I murmur.
“That’s what I’m here for.” He winks, making me smile.
“Don’t wink at me like that. My husband might take it the wrong way,” I tease, trying to lighten the mood.
“Speaking of your husband, how’s that going?” he asks, making himself comfortable.
“Fine, I guess. I’m supposed to move some more stuff over to his place later.”
I was only planning to grab the essentials when I moved in, but coming back here every time I need something seems silly.
I need to accept the fact that this is my new life.
“Do you need help?”
I shake my head. “No. Thank you, though.”
“Of course.” His phone pings, and he sighs. “That’s my reminder to head out. I have a doctor’s appointment I need to get to.”
“Everything okay?” I ask, trying to mask the panic in my voice.
Ever since my dad was diagnosed, I can’t help but feel terror when anyone mentions going to a doctor’s appointment.
Prairie stands and offers me a soft smile. “Everything is fine, sweetheart. Don’t worry. It’s just a routine appointment, I promise. I’m not sick.”
Relief fills me.
“Okay.” I stand and walk him to the door.
“Don’t make yourself a stranger, you hear me? We miss you around the clubhouse,” he says as he steps outside.
“I’ll come by soon,” I promise.
I watch him walk down the drive and get on his bike, waving as he drives away.
Shutting the door, I sigh, looking around the room. My eyes catch on a photo from years ago. Smiling, I walk over to it and pick it up.
I remember the day like it was yesterday.
I was ten and begged him for months to take me to the amusement park.
Dad might have been a badass, but he hated rollercoasters.
That day, though, he rode every one because he knew I loved them.
In the photo, he looks as white as a ghost. My hair is messy, ponytail falling out, and chocolate smeared on my face, but he looks at me with so much love as I beam at the camera.
Why, Dad? Why?
It’s so hard to comprehend that the man who did everything with me, who tried his hardest to make me independent, made me marry a man in the disguise of safety.
I want to trust in his decision, but it’s hard.
“I hope you’re happy, Dad,” I mutter as I set the photo down.
You got your wish.
Ridge
Taking a deep breath, I relax into my chair as my brothers filter in. Panther takes a seat at the head of the table with Eagle on his left. Once all of us officers are in the room, Meek shuts the door before sitting down.
“Church is in session,” Panther rumbles. “Who wants to start?”
Talon looks around before sighing. “I guess I will. Money is good. The bar reno has taken more of our budget than we expected it would, but that’s normal.”
“That’s why we had the emergency fund,” Eagle says.
Talon nods. “Exactly. Anyway, I think we will make up for the cost soon enough. If my projections are correct, we will pay it off within the first six months.”
“That would be good,” Panther tells him. “Anything else?”
“Yeah, I split the money we got from the fundraiser into two, like we discussed. Donated half to the hospital and the other to cancer research.” Talon turns toward me. “I put the donation in Mustang’s name. I figured it would be a good way to honor him. I’m sure Rain would love to know.”
I nod. “Thank you, and I’ll let you tell her yourself the next time she comes by.”
“Of course,” Talon says before looking back at Panther. “That’s all I have.”
“Meek, what do you have for me?”
Meek adjusts his glasses. “Several things, actually. First things first, everything is quiet. No hits on any of us or our club as a whole.”
“Even with the FBI?” Panther asks.
“Right now, they have bigger fish to fry dealing with the cartels. I’m sure they will circle back around to us when the time comes, but for now, we are good,” Meek says.
“It helps that we aren’t one-percenters,” Falcon, our sergeant, says.
“Not wrong,” Eagle says, making everyone smile.
“Next,” Panther says.
Dove, our resident chaplain, shifts in his seat. “I’ll go. So far, everyone seems to be healing from the loss of our brother,” he says, referring to Mustang. “Some of the older members have asked for my ear, mainly to tell me stories.”
“That’s good,” Panther tells him.
Dove shoots me a sympathetic look before continuing. “Some of them have also expressed concern.”
“Regarding?” I ask, tensing.
“They want to know if you are going to claim Rain. If you plan on being her husband only on paper or if you are going to take your marriage vows seriously,” Dove says, not holding any punches.
My jaw clenches. “If you’re asking if I’m going to be faithful to her, the answer is yes. We might not be the most traditional couple, but I’m taking this seriously.”
“Are you going to claim her?” Panther asks.
“Yes.”
“Wait, are you serious? Are you two actually going to become a thing?” Eagle sputters.
I shake my head. “Yes, I’ll claim her, but that’s where it ends. I won’t force her into a relationship, but she will fall under my protection, no questions asked,” I say, shocking all of them.
“So you are claiming her and don’t plan to be with her?” Falcon asks.
“Going celibate?” Talon adds.
I take a deep breath and try to tamp down my annoyance. “Yes.”
“You’re not going to hook up with anyone for multiple years or, like, the rest of your life?” Talon presses.
I shoot him a dirty look. “Last time I checked, my sex life isn’t any of your business. Rain is my wife on paper, and I won’t do anything to disrespect her.”
“What brand of lotion do you like?” Meek asks, catching me off guard.
“Why?”
“So that way we can buy stock in it,” he says, making the brothers laugh.
I raise my hand and flip him off.
Once everyone has calmed down, he speaks.
“Is everyone good with Ridge claiming Rain as his old lady? Everyone say, ‘Aye.’” Panther says.
All at once, every brother says, “Aye,” making me relax into my seat.
Shit, I didn’t realize how worried I was that someone would say no, that someone would oppose.
“Awesome. Should we start planning the party?” Panther tells me.
“Why not? She’s going to be pissed at me either way,” I mutter.
Is it a risk? Springing this on her? Absolutely. But Rain has been around long enough to know that this is how things are done.
“All right. I’ll ask Maggie for help and tell her to keep it a secret,” Panther says.
“Sounds good,” I tell him.
“The memorial ride. Do you have everything handled? A plan in place?” Eagle asks.
Mustang made us promise that we would ride after he died. If he died in the winter, we would head south. If he died in the summer, we were told to head north.
“I have a couple of ideas. It boils down to how long we want to ride for. We could head to Texas or Florida. Hit up some spots in between,” I tell him.
“Shit, didn’t I see that it snowed in Florida last winter? Should we really be heading there when we are trying to escape the cold?” Falcon mutters.
“That was just in the panhandle. We could always head further south,” I point out. “Anyway, I figured that we could put it to a club vote. I know that Rain has always wanted to go to Ontario, so if we hold off until this summer, we could do that.”
“Shit, the girls would love that,” Panther mutters.
“We would need to make sure everyone has a passport,” Meek points out.
“I think most of us have them, but if we plan it just right, it wouldn’t be a big deal,” Eagle says.
“Can you get into Canada if you have a record?” Talon asks.
“I’ll look into it and let you guys know,” Meek says.
“Sounds good. Anything else, or can we head out?” Panther asks.
Everyone shakes their heads.
“All right, meeting adjourned. Let’s get the fuck out of here and grab a beer,” Panther says as he stands.
As brothers clear out, Panther turns toward me and holds up his hand, silently asking me to stay put.
“What’s up?” I ask when the last person steps out.
“You good?” he asks.
“Yeah, why?”
Panther shrugs. “Just a lot of changes happening, so I thought I’d ask.”
“You thought, or Maggie encouraged you?” I tease.
Panther laughs. “Maggie for sure.”
It’s not the truth, though. Panther cares about his men. He would have asked regardless of what his wife recommended.
“I’m good.”
He nods as someone calls out his name. “Let us know if you need help moving her in.”
“Will do.”
He slaps my shoulder as he walks away, and it hits me.
Everything is changing. For better or worse.