Chapter Four #2
She dropped Lidia off, who talked nonstop about what a good guy Pat was.
She just wouldn’t stop. Ava didn’t want to talk about it, and she struggled to get to sleep last night.
Violet wanted to talk. Their mother wanted to talk about it, as well as why she danced with Pat.
All she wanted to do was process what she had heard. If she had even heard anything.
“What are you two talking about?” Hazel asked, walking into the kitchen and yawning as she did.
“We’re talking about last night at the bar. Someone set Pat’s bike on fire, and it fucking exploded,” Violet said.
“Pat?” Hazel asked.
“Yeah, one of the members of the Chaos and Carnage MC. Someone is going to get messed up,” Violet said. “And this is important because our girl Ava was dancing with him last night.”
She had no chance to make her escape as their gazes turned toward her. As if she was judging her as well, Bernice turned to look up at her. Great, now they were all staring.
“So? What has that got to do with anything? I can dance with whoever I want to.”
“I know that, honey, but ... this could spell trouble for the club,” Hazel said. Her mother poured herself some coffee and then, holding the mug and the pot in her hand, she tilted her head to the sky, clicked her tongue, and shook her head.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just trying to figure out when the last bunch of real trouble came to Carnage is all. It has been some time since anyone has dared attack them, especially directly like that.”
“Wait, what?” Violet asked. “You mean it has been more serious or something?”
“Well of course it has. Chaos and Carnage MC haven’t always had an easy time in town.
A lot of the locals got fed up of gangs and stuff just driving through town.
I can’t even remember the man’s name that was in charge of it before.
Bull and Grant’s father was a piece of work, and not a nice guy either.
” Hazel’s nose wrinkled. “The guy had a problem with anyone who didn’t look a certain way. ”
“A certain way?” Ava asked.
“Yeah, he liked them blonde, slender, and easy. Those were always his demands.”
“How do you know this?” Violet asked.
“Lived here all my life. Listened to your grandparents when they were alive, and learned to steer clear of the club. I know my mom was terrified of me even thinking of going to one of their parties.”
Ava didn’t like this. She liked Pat. After last night, she didn’t know if what she heard was real, or if she had somehow made it up. There had been no alcohol in the few sips of juice she drank, so there was no reason for her to be worrying about being drunk.
“They’re not like that,” Ava said. “Pat’s a good guy.”
Hazel sighed. “I’m not going to do what my mother did, sweetheart, and forbid you from talking to him.
The club has changed a lot since then, and I’ve seen the difference.
This is not good, though, and all I ask of you is to be careful.
You’re a grown woman, and you’re free to make your own choices.
You always will.” Hazel moved toward her and stroked her hair.
“Besides that bit of excitement, did you two have fun last night?”
Violet groaned. “Hell, no, after that happened, Pat shoved me, Lidia, and Ava into her car and told us to get each other home safely. I got one pesky little dance. That was it.”
“I’m sorry,” Hazel said.
“How was Bernice?” Ava asked.
“A dream.” Hazel took a long sip of her coffee. “How about I make you girls some of my pancakes, and then we get to the shop?”
Ava wanted to have something to do with her hands, and seeing as she could also take Bernice to the shop and keep her in the staff room, it was a win-win.
“Yeah, I’d love them.”
Hazel went into the pantry to grab the necessary ingredients while Violet came toward her. “You know, you blushed a lot when Pat was mentioned. Did he say anything last night? Did he do anything? Did he come to your bedroom window and sneak in?”
She raised her eyebrows at just how many questions her sister was asking. They were coming at her, one after the other, after the other.
“You’re just full of those questions today, aren’t you?” Ava asked.
“What can I say? I’ve never seen my sister so into a guy that she would be willing to dance with him. In fact, I don’t even think you went to prom.”
“There was no point in going to prom,” Ava said.
“True, but I have a feeling if Pat asked you, you’d be more than happy to go on that special date.”
She wanted to roll her eyes at her sister, but she didn’t. There was no point in even denying it, because it was a tiny bit true. If Pat did ask her to go to a prom, she would go in a heartbeat. Did that make her a sucker? A doormat? Damn it.
Being with Pat excited her. What was wrong with wanting to be with someone who thrilled her? It wasn’t like anything was going to happen. She wasn’t even sure if what she heard him say was accurate. Besides, there were no numbers swapped, no dates mentioned.
Her mother returned and got to work in making them pancakes.
Ava’s mouth watered at the smell of the vanilla batter.
Of course, her mother was also a gem in sprinkling chocolate chips into the batter, but only when it was in the pan.
Once that was done, the scent in the air was amazing.
She was starving. Maple syrup was warmed up on the stove, and as a little extra, her mother added in some sliced strawberries.
Within twenty minutes they were enjoying piles of delicious pancakes, and Ava had a feeling each one of them was thinking about Dad. He loved their mother’s pancakes. She made them for special occasions and whenever someone was feeling glum.
This meant their mother was not happy today. Today was a hard day for her, and she glanced over to Violet who knew it was. Ten years without Dad, and their mother still mourned. Some days were easier than others.
Ava just wanted to hug her mother, however, she also knew that was dangerous. Hazel was holding onto her control. She wasn’t crying, and the moment they hugged her, she cried.
This is why going to the shop was important to her as well.
It was strange but immersing herself into the shop made her feel closer to Dad.
He was the one who had believed in her. Ava remembered the fear she had at running her own business.
Terrified that she wasn’t going to make it work.
Of course, Dad always knew best. In that moment, she missed her dad.
After the pancakes, Hazel went to get dressed, while she and Violet did the dishes in silence.
“I guess that means we shouldn’t convince her to go on any dates,” Violet said.
At least it was silent. Violet could only stay quiet for so long.
The silence got to her, made her nervous and awkward.
When they were in high school, before Dad died, Violet had been so nervous about the final exams. She struggled in a silent classroom.
So, for many weeks prior to the exams, he would force Violet into exam-like conditions.
She wasn’t allowed to speak, no one was allowed to speak to her.
The house had been silent. And it helped Violet get used to it, so she could pass her final exams, which she did.
Neither she nor Violet wanted to go to college. Ava took a few classes randomly at the local college, when she found a topic that interested her. Violet just wanted to work with their mother. And so, she stuck by Hazel.
Ava missed this, but she had done it just in case they ever needed a backup plan. Working in a fabric store was a dream come true. The one thing all the Beckett women had in common, including Violet, was their love of sewing.
Hazel loved to make everything, from furniture covers, to clothes, to quilts, and everything in between. She also knitted.
Violet was a clothes girl. She loved to make clothes.
She herself was a quilt and clothes girl. She loved to make quilts when the challenges of fitting clothes got a little too much for her, and just piecing together bits of fabric was a lot of fun. That was what she enjoyed. She still loved it.
Once the dishes were done and Hazel was finished getting dressed, she urged Bernice to do her business one final time out in the yard.
She did not want Bernice dropping any kind of log in the car, as that would just stink.
Then, she went in her car, while Hazel and Violet drove together in their car. Her mother and sister shared their car.
Arriving at the fabric stop, she parked, opened the back of the car, and reached in to release Bernice, who jumped out with ease.
Ava had tried to pick her up multiple times, but her dog liked to be independent.
She didn’t even need to have her on a leash, at least not to get to her mother’s or walk into the fabric store.
They walked in, and the scent of that store made her feel at home. Bernice got settled in the back. Violet fired up the computer, and her mother, bless her, got the kettle started, so they could all have another cup of coffee.
“We had good sales,” Violet said.
“Print them off. We might get most of them packed before the store even opens.”
The main store was clean. Ava didn’t expect anything less. Her mother and sister always cleaned the place before making their way home.
She gripped the back of her neck, giving it a stretch, as she got the stations ready complete with scissors, envelopes, boxes, the works. It didn’t take Violet long to print off the orders.
Ava took several of them, attached them to a clipboard, complete with a little basket, so she could wander the shelves and look for what she needed, ticking them off as she went.
“And I think about taking you home, stripping you naked, and showing you every little thing I could do to you. To put it short, Ava, I want to fuck you. That is why I keep coming to the coffee shop.”
Pat’s words from the previous night came to her as she stood in the pattern section.
She was a little taken aback, and for a moment she just stood.
Had she really heard that? Did he want to fuck her?
Did she want him to fuck her? Crap, she felt hot around the collar, and it had been a rather cold morning, but thinking about Pat was making her think all kinds of dirty things. Hot, dirty, sexy, sweaty things.
What the hell was wrong with her? She was never like this over a guy. Pat wasn’t just any guy though. When she was with him, he made her heart race, and she always felt that pulse between them, that connection. It drove her insane.
But she had to put him to the back of her mind. She had orders to fill, and not memories from the previous night.