Chapter 13
Angel
The night I became an Ol’ Lady will forever go down as one of the best nights of my life.
In the weeks following, we settled into a routine.
The garden centre was mostly stocked and finished, so we’d moved our attention to the house.
We needed to get it liveable, because winter would be on us before we knew it.
Jen settled in at the garage, and Axle was thrilled with how she was working out.
North was living on the property adjoining ours in my van but spent most evenings with Tru, Janis, and Siera.
They’d enfolded him into the family. Sometimes I wondered how he felt about the way the girls treated him, like the brother they’d never had.
He took their teasing in his stride though and didn’t seem to mind spending his spare time with them.
They had motorcycles and cars in common, and while not trained, the girls knew their way around an engine. Stone had made sure of it.
“Angel, you free?”
I look up from my laptop at Siera’s shout. The spreadsheets were beginning to blur, so it was as good a time as any to take a break. “Yeah,” I shout back "what's up?”
“Come help me figure out the coffee machine. It’s too space-agey for me,” she shouts back.
Shaking my head with amusement, I get up from my chair, stretching my back. Picking up my phone, I check the time and see it’s already mid-afternoon. No wonder I’m stiff, I’ve been looking at figures for several hours.
Leaving my phone on my desk, I go to see what Siera needs, walking out of my office into the main garden centre.
A feeling of pride overwhelms me. We’ve worked hard, and it shows.
Shelves were stocked as we received deliveries.
Stone and Bridget would come the day before our opening with a delivery of plants, and the seedlings she’d propagated.
Our greenhouses were almost complete, and we’d have our own stock next year.
I veer off to check on the gift shop first before going to the café, and a sense of satisfaction fills me as I look around the shop. There are crystals and wooden bowls dotted around, clothing and locally sourced art hanging on the wall. The most surprising art we had were metal sculptures.
The surprise wasn’t so much the sculptures, as who made them. Carnage had brought me a piece when I’d mentioned wanting to stock the shop with art from locals, and I’d fallen in love.
When I asked if I could meet the artist, he surprised me by taking me to a workshop in town, close to the garage. It had been filled with sculptures. Seems the man that liked to beat people up in fights also had the soul of a poet, because his work was amazing.
I bought a waterfall sculpture for the garden centre, and it had pride of place right by the front doors.
Janis had plumbed water to it, and it now had trickles of water running down the wavy sheets of metal into a small pond that was constantly recycled.
It was gorgeous, and I knew his stuff would fly off the shelves.
Leaving the shop, I walk across the centre to the café and bite back a laugh when I see a frazzled Siera, hair up in a scarf, coffee paraphernalia scattered around. She looks up when she hears me.
“Whose fucking bright idea was it to get this machine? What’s wrong with normal coffee?”
Laughing, I slide onto a stool by the counter and spear her with a look. “As I recall sister dear, it was yours.” I pitch my voice and bat my eyes. “Oh, please, Angel. Let’s get a machine that makes fancy coffee. It will be so much better.”
“Fuck off,” she glares at me, making me laugh louder until she comes around the counter.
Squealing, I jump off the stool and run.
The problem with siblings is that they know you, and Siera knows I can’t run for shit when I’m laughing.
She tackles me, digging her fingers into my ribs before we even get to the door.
The two of us are rolling around on the floor like kids. I’m laughing so hard I can barely take a breath. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I wheeze.
“Too late,” Siera smirks, leaning over me and clamping her legs around my hips when I try to buck her off.
“I’ll help you,” I splutter as I manage to get my leg hooked around hers and lift.
We’re mid-roll, laughter ringing out when an amused voice asks, “What are you two doing?”
Siera and I stiffen. We look up to see Garret, Roman, Spook, and Maverick staring down at us with amusement.
“Um, wrestling,” Siera replies, wrinkling her nose and looking at me as if to say, surely it was obvious.
Giggling, I take the hand Garret offers me. He tugs me from the floor right into his arms, kissing me.
“Hey,” I say breathlessly, “what are you doing here?”
“Jake called Spook when you didn’t answer your phone, we decided we needed a ride and came over.”
Siera rolls her eyes. “That’s code for dad got spooked and rallied the men. You know what he’s like. If we don’t answer in five rings, he panics.”
“For good reason though,” I point out, wrapping an arm around Garret. “Anyway, as you can see, we’re fine. The coffee machine’s been delivered, and Siera’s having some issues.”
“And that meant you had to wrestle?” Maverick asks with amusement.
“Sure,” I reply with a grin. “It helps us think.”
“Jesus,” Garret sniggers, then jumps when I pinch his waist.
“Let’s have a look,” Maverick says, walking into the café with the rest of us following him. “Oh, fuck me gently,” he whistles, going straight to the coffee machine and caressing it. “This is one of the best ones you can get.”
“You’d know,” Spook smirks, taking a seat at the counter. Maverick continues to run his hands over the coffee machine, inspecting it. “Do you want us to leave you two alone?” he teases Maverick.
“Fuck off,” Maverick replies, giving him the finger. “She’s a beauty. Now, let’s have a look at you,” he croons, picking up the instructions.
“Now that’s hot,” Siera sighs dreamily, “a man that reads instructions, and knows coffee. If you get her working Mr. President, I’ll make sure you never have to pay for a coffee from this shop.”
Roman grumbles something under his breath. Maverick smirks at him. “You’re on. I’ll have her working soon.”
Picking up the stool that had fallen over when I’d run from Siera, I straighten it and clamber back on. I lean back against Garret when he stands behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. We watch as Maverick gets the coffee machine working in under ten minutes.
“Woo hoo,” Siera throws her arms around him in a quick hug before releasing him. “My hero. Let me run a cleaning cycle, and I’ll get us coffees. In the meantime, tell us why dad was calling.”
“Yeah,” I turn my head and look at Garret over my shoulder, “what did he need?”
Garret hesitates, then lets out a deep sigh, “He spoke to Honor.”
I turn around when I hear something in the tone of his voice. “What’s wrong? Is she okay?”
“Angel, breathe, okay?” Garret cups my cheeks, tilting my head up to his. “She’s alright. Jake and Fern are meeting up with her. She’s driving here with them, they’ll arrive tomorrow. She wants to meet us.”
“Oh,” I whisper, shocked. I’m not sure how to take the news. After all these years, I’ll get to see our baby in person. Not that she was a baby anymore. She was a full-grown adult, but to me she’d always be that small baby I held in my arms.
“You okay, baby?”
Gulping, I nod. “Yes, no … maybe. I don’t know. Ask me one on sports.”
Garret bursts out laughing, pressing his forehead to mine. “Ask you one on sports. What the fuck, Angel?”
“I’m nervous okay,” I mumble, pressing my face into his neck. “What happens if she hates me?”
“Never happen,” Siera says, pushing between us and wrapping her arms around me. “You’re the best person I’ve ever met. There’s no way she’s going to hate you.”
“Exactly,” Garret replies, not seeming to be bothered that Siera had just pushed between us. Just another thing I loved about him, he understood the closeness I had with her.
“When do they arrive?” I ask, still clinging to Siera.
“Tomorrow,” Garret replies with a soft smile.
He reaches out and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.
“It’s going to be okay, Angel. You’re not alone, and there is no doubt in my mind that Jake wouldn’t bring Honor here if he didn’t absolutely believe that her coming here was the best thing.
So take a deep breath, have a cup of that amazing smelling coffee, and we’ll take this a day at a time. ”
He’s right. There’s nothing I can do about how Honor’s going to feel about me. Taking a deep breath, I squeeze Siera one more time before releasing her. My eyes on Garret, I mouth, “Love you.”
Garret’s gaze softens, and he presses his lips to my temple as Siera leaves us to help Maverick.
We spend the next hour sampling coffee and making adjustments to the coffee machine, laughing at Maverick and Siera when they get into an argument. Although she has to back down, because he’s in the right. I’m not an idiot; they’re doing it for me and Garret, trying to keep our minds off tomorrow.
If I didn’t know it before, I knew it now. I loved the Saint’s Outlaws MC. More especially, I loved Garret’s brothers for caring enough about a brother and his Ol’ Lady to spend an afternoon keeping us busy when I’m sure they had better things to do.