Chapter 4
Worley
For half a second, no one moves. I swear, even the air pauses.
Every woman in the room gasps and grabs hold of something to keep from falling to the floor.
Lily and Emily grab Nana. I didn’t think this through at all.
Granddad should’ve been here to support his wife.
Well, I wasn’t actually planning on sharing the information in front of the ladies. It’s too late now.
The sight that rips my heart out is watching my best friend’s knees buckle while he catches his wife.
Nanny’s hand flies up to cover her mouth.
She collapses into Mack’s arms as she screams into her hand.
Evelyn McLeod may not mentally come back from this one.
Seeing my club Queen broken brings tears to my eyes.
I should’ve waited and told Mack privately.
I slipped tonight. It won’t happen again.
“Mom!” Maci bursts through the door from the bar and rushes to her parents. She looks up at her father. “What’s happened? What’s wrong?”
“Y’all said she was safe,” Nanny cries.
“Harley? This is about Harley?” Maci looks from her parents to me.
Nope. I can’t do it. My club Queen and our former Queen are in pieces. Lily is terrified, with tears running down her cheeks. She needs Jack. Maci is my Goddaughter. All of the McLeod children are my Godchildren. I won’t break another McLeod woman tonight. My eyes lock with Mack’s.
Mack pats Maci’s arm but stays focused on me. “What do you know?” His breaths come hard and deep. He’s about to lose it.
“Not a lot. The center director wants a video meeting with us asap. Nick’s setting it up in your office now.”
“Maci, stay with your mom.” Mack kisses his daughter’s forehead.
“No!” Nanny jerks away from them. Mack quickly grabs her before she falls. “I’m going, too.”
“Love, let me find out what happened. We’ll talk…”
“No.” Nanny pushes against Mack’s chest. He doesn’t release her. “Don’t you love me. Wait.” She holds up a finger. “Do love me, but don’t keep me in the dark.”
Mack rests his forehead against hers. “Let me lessen the sting.”
Nanny places her hand against his neck. Her thumb moves back and forth over his beard on his right cheek.
“You’ve done that since high school. You shielded me and everyone else when we lost Ariel.
” She softly presses her lips to his for a brief kiss.
“Not this time, Jacob. This is our daughter. We do this together, as a family.”
Mack did shield her and nearly every member of their family from the worst details when we lost Ariel and her baby.
It was hard, and I helped him. With Nick’s help, we still keep most of the details hidden from the public.
Mack wanted to keep as many of the details from Nanny as possible.
We almost succeeded. Unfortunately, we had a DA who didn’t honor Mack’s requests.
She shared things in court that nearly caused Nanny to lose her mind.
“Worley?” Nanny turns her head to face me.
I snap out of my horrible thoughts. “Ma’am?”
“Have Nick set the meeting up in Church. Every member of this family will be there.” She holds up her finger again. “Except for Logan and Everly.”
Logan and Everly are teenagers now. Unless someone in town has slipped up and told them, they don’t know how we lost their mother. Hopefully, they never find out.
“Mack?” I want to grant Nanny’s request, but I’ll never go against my best friend’s wishes.
Mack’s eyes bounce between Nanny’s. “Love…”
“No!” Nanny shoves out of Mack’s arms and narrows her eyes at me. “Set it up, Worley, or I’ll march myself to the office. I’m not being left out.” She turns back to Mack with tears in her eyes. “I’m stronger than everybody thinks I am.”
“You are.” Mack takes her hand and lifts it to his lips. His eyes meet mine. “Move the meeting to Church.”
“Very well.” I’ll do as he asks, even though I’d rather not.
“Nina and I will keep an eye on things here and carry the food to the tables as needed,” Lauren offers.
“No, Ma’am.” Nanny grabs Lauren’s hand. “You’re family. You’re coming with us.” She looks across the counter at Nina. “You, too.”
“But I’m not family,” Nina protests.
“Oh, but you are.” Nanny walks around the counter and takes Nina’s hand, too. She turns to Emily. “Do you mind watching things here?”
“Not at all.” Emily quickly wipes her hands with a towel. “I’ll ask Deanna to help me.”
Nanny holds up her hand. “You finish the cookies. We’ll send her in.” She glances around the room. “Ladies, follow me to Church.”
After the ladies leave the room, Mack takes a deep breath and runs a hand over his head. “I bet she’s waited most of her life to say that.”
“Yep. Thirty-seven years, if I’m counting correctly.” I’d laugh under different circumstances. His daughter is missing. The last thing my friend needs is jokes.
“Our anniversary is in October.”
October twenty-third is one of my best memories.
I was Mack’s Best Man. Their wedding took place right here in the backyard of the Den.
Mack and Evelyn were friends growing up.
They dated for two years in high school before getting married.
They’re the only reason I believe love is real.
Maybe the universe sent all the love it held to them, and that’s why I never found it.
I slap a hand on his back. “You go settle the ladies in Church. Parker can watch the bar. Ross has the gate. I’ll get Hendrix to keep an eye on things here and in the Den.”
“Yeah. Thanks, man.” Mack pulls his keys from his pocket as he casually walks across the Den to unlock Church. As much as we need to get this meeting going, he’s in no hurry to do it with so many women present.
After sending Ross’s wife, Deanna, to the kitchen, I hurry to the office. I don’t bother knocking and step inside.
Jack stops pacing and spins around to face me. “What’s going on? What happened? Is someone hurt?”
I hold a hand up before he can throw more questions at me.
I’m surprised Nick hasn’t filled him in.
“Harley’s missing. We don’t know all the details yet.
We’re having a meeting with the director.
” I look at Nick. “Move everything to Church.” Jack and Granddad will flip on the next part. “The entire family is waiting.”
“Mom? Lily? Nana?” Jack’s already heading toward the door.
“Yeah. All the ladies,” I confirm.
Jack doesn’t wait for more and takes off running down the hall. Granddad hurries behind him. It’s going to take every male member of this family to hold the women together.
“Jay?” I lock the door and follow Nick.
“On his way.” Nick doesn’t look up from his tablet. I take his arm and steer him around the corner. “He got one of the prospects to watch Grayson.”
“Have you found out anything yet?”
“No.” Nick’s hands tighten around the tablet. “We have to find her, Worley.”
“We will,” I assure him as I nudge him into Church and lock the doors behind us. I only hope and pray we find Harley before something bad happens to her.