Chapter 16
Sixteen
I’m under no obligation to make sense to you.
—Bernice to Creed
Bernice
I felt like I was floating on cloud nine.
Seriously, there I was, in The Mercantile, with Hux next to me ordering from his mother.
His mother was glaring at me, giving me the stink eye every few seconds.
She was also punching down hard on the iPad that she used to take orders with, her face a mask of disgust.
Hux moved closer to me, his front brushing my side, as he took the iPad from his mother and tapped in what he wanted.
His mother huffed in anger and glared at me while Hux placed our order and handed it back to her.
I didn’t move away, even though Hux’s mom’s glare was clearly warning me to, and I shivered in delight when he hooked his finger in the waistband of my leggings and tugged me toward him sideways. “We’ll be upstairs. Send your new girl up with our food, please?”
“I got it, Hux.”
Vera’s new girl was the girl I’d trained for a week before I’d taken off, and she was a hell of a lot more capable than me. She was also related to Vera and knew damn well how she acted.
It was funny that Hux called her “the new girl,” though.
Katana Lei Palao was a spitfire.
I’d liked her the instant that I’d met her.
“I got it, Hux,” Vera mocked her.
Katana ignored her and took a food order out to one of the customers.
Hux kept his finger tucked into my waistband as he walked us out of the shop and into the warehouse.
“You know that’s Katana, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Then why’d you call her the ‘new girl?’”
“Because I knew that it would irritate her.”
My lips twitched. “Why would you want to irritate your cousin?”
“Because she didn’t listen to me when I told her she shouldn’t take the job,” he grumbled as he put his thumbprint into the scanner that led to a door that I’d always wondered where it led.
When the door opened, I was presented with a set of stairs that looked like they went on forever.
“Whoa,” I said as I took the stairs behind him. “You need an elevator.”
He snorted. “When I need an elevator, I’m going to be dead.”
“Getting groceries up here would suck,” I pointed out.
He hummed. “I guess you’re right, but it’s not often that I have more than one or two bags.”
“What if you had a girlfriend and then got married and had kids? What then? You’ll need a hell of a lot more groceries, then you’d have your new wife making that haul up the stairs.”
He grunted. “I guess that could happen.”
When we reached the top of the stairs, I was slightly breathless.
He studied my face with a serious expression, taking in my elevated breathing and the pulse at my neck, then said, “I’ll talk to my contractor.”
I blinked. “Why?”
He didn’t answer.
He also let me go finally, which I hated.
Not having his finger in the waistband of my pants anymore felt like I’d lost my soul.
What the heck was wrong with me?
We rounded the corner of the stairs, and I stopped at what I saw.
The apartment wasn’t an “apartment.”
It was a massive, wide-open space that had the dining room, the kitchen, bathroom, the laundry room and the bedroom.
“Whoa,” I said.
“There’s more beyond that door over there,” I said. “It’s getting finished out and everything. But for now this is livable.”
“Can I see?” I asked.
He nodded and led me to the door. “At first, I was just going to make it into a one-bedroom apartment, but the contractor, Koen, said that this place could be a home if I took the time to finish the rest out. For now, this is where I’ll be staying.
When he has the other end done, then we’ll break out a wall to make the hallway, and I’ll probably move into one of the other bedrooms. The bathroom will eventually be enclosed, along with the laundry room and the closet. ”
“Nice,” I breathed.
I was in awe.
This place was pretty darn cool.
Exposed brick. Wood on the ceilings. Dark-stained concrete floors.
It was my Pinterest board come to life.
The back would be even cooler, I knew.
He led me through the closed door, and I heard the hammering before I saw anyone.
“Great soundproofing,” I mused.
“The best,” Hux confirmed.
“When are you moving in?” I asked.
“When they’re done.” He shrugged. “Plus, I kind of feel bad, because Benz likes going outside, and she won’t be able to do that here.”
“She has a lot of room,” I pointed out. “It’ll be okay.”
“Maybe,” he agreed.
We came to a stop at the first bedroom, where I spotted Koen in the corner of the room talking to another man I didn’t know.
Koen was a part of the Dixie Wardens MC and a general contractor. He also owned several businesses in town, along with an RV park I’d briefly considered moving into when I’d first decided to move here.
In the end, I’d chosen to take Birdee’s place. Which sometimes I hated, because the Hubers made it damn near impossible to enjoy any time outside—or even inside sometimes.
I felt like I had eyes on me twenty-four-seven in my own damn neighborhood.
It felt slightly suffocating.
“Ah, Hux.” Koen pushed off the wall and came our way, his eyes briefly hitting on me before settling on Hux. “You got a minute?”
“Go on,” I said. “I’m just going to explore.”
Hux winked and stepped away with Koen, leaving me in the room as I stared at what was going on in the floor.
“What are you doing to the floors?” I asked curiously.
“Putting in new heated floors,” the man said. “Better ductwork and insulation, too.”
“Oh,” I breathed. “Heated floors. That sounds heavenly.”
“Heavenly, and pricey.” The man chuckled. “But it’ll be real nice in the middle of winter, that’s for sure.”
I left him there, wandering my way throughout the house.
There were six bedrooms in total.
There was also a back set of stairs that led directly to the outside.
But there was parking on the backside, which I recognized as where Hux usually parked his truck and bike.
“…elevator,” I heard Hux say.
I turned around and spotted him at the end of the long hall.
“Can easily add one to this end,” I heard Koen say as they continued to walk toward me.
I leaned against the door and watched them come.
Koen was wearing a Henley, jeans, and boots just like Hux was, but in a different color.
Koen’s boots were also covered in sawdust and he kicked up even more as he walked, not noticing.
I noticed, though.
But only because the sawdust in the air, paired with the sun that was coming in through the open doorways, were making them look kind of ethereal.
They finally reached me just as the door behind me was pulled open.
I would’ve gone ass over tea kettle had Hux not moved like lightning, pulling me into his arms and against his solid body.
“Shit, sorry,” I heard someone say.
A woman.
I turned my head to see that Ida Bell, Koen’s nanny, was there.
“The kids settled with their parents?”
He nodded once. His face tight and sad.
Ida Bell touched my arm and whispered, “You okay?”
I nodded.
I was more than okay.
“Good.” She stepped back. “Yes, they’re with your sister and brother-in-law. They said that they’d call you when they made it back to Lubbock.”
I had no clue what was going on. But I didn’t necessarily like the way my belly felt when she spoke.
“Good.” Koen sounded a little bit sad. “It’s good that he finally made it home.”
Ida Bell nodded, but she also looked sad. Way more than sad. She looked devastated.
“We’re headed out,” Koen said. “Have a good one.”
I waved from Hux’s arms, which were still firmly around me, but only Ida Bell smiled and waved back.
The door closed, and I turned to look up at Hux. “What the hell was that? I thought those kids were Koen’s?”
“They kind of are.” Hux squeezed me and let me go, and the bereft feeling was back.
“They’re Koen’s nephews. For the sake of getting custody of them, though, he was their dad.
Long story short, Koen’s sister is fucked up.
She has a really bad case of postpartum depression.
Tried to kill them when her husband disappeared.
And Koen had to say he was the baby’s father to get custody of the kids.
He took them home with him and left his sister to get some help at an in-patient medical facility that specializes in PPD.
Koen’s brother-in-law, Porter, however, was a prisoner of war.
He was captured two years ago and found nine months ago.
It’s taken him this long to recover on his own.
And come find his sister and kids. Porter is a Dixie Warden down in Texas, which happens to be where his sister, Brea, also has her medical treatment facility.
I doubt they stay down there long, though.
Once Brea’s better, I’ll bet they’re right back up here. ”
“That’s both awful and sweet at the same time,” I breathed.
“Come on,” he said. “I’m tired of breathing sawdust.”
I followed behind him, stopping when he did to get rid of my dusty boots right inside the door that led back to his main apartment.
“This place is going to be really cool when you’re done,” I said. “And heated floors. The guy I was talking to sounded like they were too extravagant.”
“I’d like to keep things that are important to me warm.”
It took me a minute to consider that maybe he was talking about something more important than his toes. Like a person.
But the butterflies in my belly made me clam up.
Just as we got to the kitchen, there was a knock on the door.
Hux walked to it and opened it up wide, revealing his cousin, Katana.
“I took this job to see more of y’all,” she said. “And guess what? I never see y’all. It was like you all dropped off the face of the earth. I only have six months, you know.”
Hux paused. “Six months for what? This was just a weird week. I was gone for five days. Hampton had to work a couple of forty-eight on and twenty-four off to cover for one of his coworkers that had a baby. Heidi is sick as a dog. And Harvey hates our mom with a passion.”
Katana covered her mouth. “Oh, nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
Hux caught her hand and stilled her from retreating. “Katana, what did you mean?”
“Oh, nothing.” Katana stilled, looking cornered.
Huxley moved closer. “Katana.”
Katana’s shoulders drooped. “It’s just…”
Huxley growled. “Katana!”