Chapter 17
CHEWIE
“We’re hiring if you need a job,” Blaine offered as watched me jack up the coop I’d built so I could roll it off the trailer onto the grass. “Great pay, decent hours, and we’ve got solid benefits.”
I smiled before I said, “I’m good, but thank you.”
“You’d have to pass a background check,” Brandt lied.
I knew that wasn’t the case because I’d heard some of Taya’s stories about the men who drove for her husband’s company, but I didn’t comment because I knew where Brandt was going with this.
He didn’t disappoint when he said, “Do you have a criminal record?”
“I do.”
“That might be a problem depending on your conviction,” Brandt said seriously.
I saw that he was watching me, so I was careful not to let my amusement show.
Donner wasn’t nearly as discreet and started laughing before he said, “Quit being a pussy, and just ask him already, man.”
“We’re not trying to pry.”
I coughed out the word, “Bullshit!”, and Donner hooted with laughter before he said, “Yes, you are. Just own it. It’s not like any of us keep it a secret, you know.”
“Any of who?”
“You know I’m in a motorcycle club, right?”
“I didn’t before, but I guess I do now,” Blaine said as he knitted his brows. “Which one?”
“Time Served MC.”
Brandt pulled his phone out and started typing. I knew he was searching for the club information but wouldn’t get much because Preacher was on top of that shit.
“Boys, if you’re not going to help them, then come inside where it’s warm,” Taya called out from the back door.
“They’re not finished grilling me yet,” I answered just as loudly.
“They can multitask. There’s no reason for you and Donner to do everything!”
“We’ve got this, Taya. Get back in the kitchen!”
“Don’t tell me what to do!” she yelled through her laughter before the door shut again.
I was still chuckling when Blaine said, “Honestly, I don’t trust you, but my mom seems to think you’re an okay guy.”
Brandt had to ruin it when he said, “She thought our dad was, too, and look how that turned out.”
“I give it five minutes. No! Three minutes.”
“For what?” Blaine asked.
“Before she finds a reason to come out here and jump in the middle of this conversation to make sure everything is going okay.” Donner stood up and looked at Taya’s sons before he said, “Let’s shorten the process.
Yes, he’s been to prison. Yes, he’s sorry he did what put him there but not for the reasons you may think.
No, he’s not going to tell you what he did because if you really give a shit, you’ll pay for one of those websites to find out all the nosy details.
Yes, he’s hot for your mom. Yes, I understand that’s disgusting because she’s your mom, but you’re going to have to deal with it because she’s the one that invited him to have dinner with your family.
” Donner looked at me before he asked, “Did I cover everything?”
“Since when are you one to make speeches?” I asked.
“Fuck you. I was sick of listening to the clattering gears in their head while they tried to muster up the balls to outright ask you if you’re a fucking asshole who’s after their mom’s money or something.”
“Do you blame us? You haven’t known her for a month, and you’ve already moved in.”
“Not true. We go back and forth between our houses.”
“But it’s not your house, is it?”
“So, you have done your research.” It wasn’t a question, just a statement acknowledging that I was fully aware I was under scrutiny.
This wasn’t my first interrogation, and I had to admit, they were doing better than some cops I’d encountered - probably because they felt like they had more to lose.
“Why does it bother you that I don’t own the house where I live? ”
“Because you’re living off your daughter. Was your plan to move in and start mooching off our mom?”
“Do you know why I live with my daughter?”
“Does it matter?”
“It does to me.”
Taya’s sons didn’t ask me why, so I went back to work. It had been at least two minutes before one of them said, “Well, are you gonna fucking tell us or not?”
“You didn’t ask. You’ve obviously formed your own opinion, although I am curious as to how you found out that Samara owns the house.”
“Brinn mentioned that she was going to move in with her at the end of the semester. When Mom asked how much the rent would be in comparison to the dorms, Brinn explained that it wouldn’t be much since Samara owns it.”
Samara and I had discussed Brinn and Jaimee becoming her roommates, and I thought that was a great idea.
LIfe in the dorms was very restrictive, and Samara had moved home after her first semester.
Apparently, Jaimee was having a problem adjusting, and Brinn was ready to spread her wings, so they decided to room together.
With Samara’s encouragement, I set up a small apartment in the loft above my shop which was at the back of her lot in town. My plan had been to move into it when the girls left the dorms to live in the house.
We had finished jacking up all four of the wheels using the frame that I’d welded for this exact purpose and were about to roll the coop off the trailer when one of the brothers cursed and said, “It’s like pulling teeth!
Why do you leech off of your daughter instead of living in a house of your own. ”
“Samara’s adoptive parents, who were her mom and dad in every sense but DNA, were family friends.
They took her in when she was born and gave her a better life than I ever could have, even before my prison sentence.
Her mother died of cancer a few years ago, and then her father got cancer too.
He called and asked if I would move back to get to know her so that she wouldn’t be all alone when he passed, so I did exactly that.
I helped her care for her dad in his last few months while we slowly got better acquainted.
Before he died, I promised Vincent that I’d take care of some repairs he’d let slide during he and his wife’s illness and that I’d live with Samara until she was ready to be alone.
He asked me to encourage her to go on with her life the way they’d planned before his diagnosis, and I’ve done that.
I helped her work through her grief, which still brings her to her knees on occasion, and I’m there to help her up when she needs it.
I fixed up the house, remodeled the areas that needed updating, and kept it maintained while she lived in the dorms and then after she moved back home.
She’s ready to be in her own space, and I think that’s a good thing, so I’ve already made other living arrangements that I’ll put into place when the time comes. ”
“Living with our mom,” Brandt said with a frown.
“That was a good thing you did, taking care of her adoptive father and then her like that,” Blaine admitted.
“He was never her adoptive father. He was her dad in every way. He held her when she was born, kissed her ouchies, taught her to ride a bike, cheered her on through every endeavor, and then made arrangements for her to be taken care of after he was gone. I’m just the guy who had a part in making her, that doesn’t make me her dad.
” Blaine, who was a father himself, nodded, but Brandt still looked confused.
It was clear that my explanation hadn’t hit home with him the same way it had with his brother, so I said, “I loved Samara when I found out her birth mother was pregnant, but I knew I could never be the father she deserved, so I found one that fit the bill. She had a much better life than I could have given her. Now that I’m all she’s got, she’s stuck with me, but she considers me part of her family, so I’ve worked very hard to make sure I’m worthy of that. ”
“Samara’s a great kid, and I’m glad she had someone to help her through that, but right now, I’m worried about my mom,” Brandt insisted.
“I think Mom’s gonna be okay,” Blaine said as he walked closer to help us with the coop. “Let’s get this unloaded so she can tell us where to put it and then change her mind and make us move it four times before we put it back in the original spot.”
I barked out a laugh and asked, “Is that how things usually go?”
“Every fucking time,” Blaine muttered.
“Why did you go to prison?”
“I killed a man.”
“Well, fuck,” Brandt said before he cleared his throat. “I thought maybe it was drugs, drinking . . . hell, maybe even a robbery or two, but not that.”
“It’s public information, so there’s no reason to lie about it.”
“Was it just something that happened in the heat of the moment or what?”
“I was told by my girlfriend, his stepdaughter, that he raped her, and it wasn’t the first time he’d done that. I went to his house with the intent of making sure he was never able to hurt a woman like that again.”
“Holy shit! Did she testify against you?”
“No. She and her mother went to prison for a multitude of things, but arranging for his death was at the top of the list. They planned it out and used me to do it.”
“Whoa,” Blaine whispered.
“I was convicted and served my time. Your mom knows all the details, and now so do you. Anything else, or can we get this shit done so we can enjoy the holiday?”
“Let’s get it done,” Brandt said. He still didn’t look convinced that I was the right man for his mom, but at least he had some understanding of the kind of man I was.
I guess that was enough for now. I had no illusions that it was going to be an easy road and understood I may never be friends with Taya’s sons, but at least we’d gotten everything on the table.
“I’m cold and hungry and ready to go inside. ”
“You made this?” Brandt asked as we started rolling the coop down the ramp.
“I did.”
“Hmm,” Blaine hummed as he inspected my work. “Where’d you learn how to do something like this?”
“I worked for a construction company in Tenillo, Texas when I got out of prison.”
“What did you learn in prison?” Brandt asked sarcastically.
“That I don’t ever want to go back.”
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TAYA