Chapter Nine
Kelley finished stocking the shelves and looked around at all the people. The grocery store was getting pretty busy, very fast. She was struggling to keep up. She rushed back into the warehouse, stacked up her cart, and went right back to the beginning. She worked tirelessly.
She had overtime for tonight. She wasn’t getting off until nine, and Crow had already told her Willow was going to come and pick her up.
It wasn’t Christmas Eve yet, but Crow not picking her up made her wonder if he had changed his mind.
Not that she blamed him. The open road did sound inviting to some people.
Not to her. She loved the warmth and comfort of her home.
Where some people hated the mundane life of doing the same thing over and over, she loved it.
She had a schedule, and sure, from time to time, it changed.
Growing up in chaos, a life with order was a dream come true.
Her mother had been a giant pain for as long as Kelley could remember.
There was rarely any food. Not that food was such a big deal, yet it was.
People needed to eat, or at least children did.
Even if her mother was getting food from the men she was having sex with, she always forgot her daughter.
Much to her shame, she had dumpster-dived for food.
Until she was able to get a job and supply her own food, she had lived the best she could.
Sure, there were times her mother pretended to care.
It depended on the man she was with. Rarely did they want to see a caring mother.
But it did happen—just never for long. Once they had gotten what they wanted from her mother, she’d always turn on Kelley. Kelley was always the reason something didn’t turn out great.
“You know, I thought you loved Christmastime,” Willow said, pulling her out of her thoughts.
“I do,” Kelley said, shaking her head, and hoping to keep those memories firmly in the past. They did not have a place right now.
They could fucking suck it.
“You could have fooled me, with that frown,” Willow said, putting a hand on her hip.
“You’re a little early,” Kelley said. “I’ve still got an hour until my shift ends.”
“I know, but I wanted to get some groceries. Whatever I don’t have come Christmas Eve, we’re doing without.”
Kelley laughed. “I get that, but for those that love to come out on Christmas Eve, I get to keep my job.”
“Fair enough. Just like I love Christmas Eve, because of taking over my father’s bar, it’s good for business. Although not this year. We’re keeping things pretty low-key. The guys want to have a little fun at the clubhouse, and you know everything else that comes with it.”
Kelley smiled. She liked Willow. She was a nice woman.
“Right, I will let you get back to work, and I’ll be waiting in the car, if I can get my shopping done within the hour.” Willow held up a long list. “There are a lot of things the guys want.”
The next hour flew by, and Kelley saw that Willow still had some shopping to do, so she went to her and made her way down the list. This was more than a quick shop.
After they bought everything, they got through the cash register easily enough, and then they were loading up Willow’s car, and she wondered if everything would fit.
After they were able to manage it, Kelley climbed into the front passenger seat, with Willow getting behind the wheel. She knew she should learn to drive, but it just seemed an unnecessary expense, when she was quite happy to walk everywhere she needed to go.
“So, how is everything?” Willow asked.
“It’s good. In fact, it’s great.”
“And how is it having Crow around?”
Kelley smiled.
“Your silence is not exactly encouraging,” Willow said.
“Oh, I love having Crow around. I love him being home, it’s ... amazing.” She looked down at her clasped hands.
She hadn’t made any close friends. The closest friend she did have was Crow, and he came and went.
“I’ve been in love with him for a long time, and I know in a couple of weeks, he’s going to leave. There’s no way I can compete with the open road,” Kelley said. “I’m not quiet, like the open road. I don’t offer what it offers.” She chanced a look back to the other woman. “I’m sorry.”
“No, no, it’s fine. I get it.”
“I don’t want him to go, but I don’t want him to stay because of me. I’m not making any sense ... I just ... I don’t want him to do anything he doesn’t want to do. I love him, and I am happy to wait for him. Does that make me sound like a coward?” she asked.
“I don’t think it makes you sound like a coward at all. Maybe you need to tell him you love him.”
“I don’t want to do that. What if ... it makes him stay and then he regrets it and then hates me for making him stay?”
“Kelley, I don’t think you and I are ever going to be able to make our men do something they don’t want to do. They are going to live their lives the way they want.” Willow pulled up outside her home, and Kelley looked at it.
The open road was not for her. But she loved Crow.
“Trust me on this, you mean more to Crow than you realize.”
“Thank you for the lift, and I’ll see you in a couple of days.”
Willow smiled at her. For some reason, it felt like it was a very conspiratorial smile.
****
Kelley’s mother was dead.
It wasn’t exactly hard to kill her. When he arrived at the woman’s house, she had a line of men outside the door, and there was a sign for anything, with a fee. There were a lot of men, and he and the boys took care of that.
Crow didn’t even have to lift a finger. All he did was supply the goods, then watched as Kelley’s mother took the bait. In the last five years, the woman had blown through the money she made from selling Kelley, and gotten a heroin addiction. She looked terrible.
Crow didn’t feel anything. Kelley would have been mortified to see what her mother had become. He stopped it from becoming a problem.
That had been several days ago. Now as he looked around the clubhouse, everything seemed right.
Willow had promised to go and collect Kelley, and he looked around at the guys, all of them drinking.
Christmas songs were playing in the background.
Alcohol was already being consumed, but the guys were on their best behavior.
“You’re sure you’re ready for this?” Rebel asked.
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
There was no doubt in his mind. He was ready to settle down. He was more than ready to make Kelley his. He was done waiting around. Kelley was his woman, and he just knew she had to be pregnant by now. Time would tell on that, and he was going to keep trying until she was pregnant.
He was nervous.
“You’ve got this,” Rebel said, slapping him on the back. “Willow said they’re a few minutes out.”
Making his way outside the clubhouse, he looked up into the night sky as a few flecks of snow started to fall.
He had already set up his and Kelley’s room to stay at the clubhouse. He knew she wanted to make Christmas dinner, but everything would keep until the following day. Or, they would make it back when they could. He wasn’t going to worry about those plans. He was only focused on the now.
Crow had never felt nervous in his life. He’d faced death, but he wasn’t this nervous. He watched as Willow came in, the lights from the car illuminating the parking lot. There were a lot of bikes. This was his home now, his future.
Willow climbed out one side, Kelley the other. She gave him a thumbs-up and brushed past him as Kelley came toward him.
“Hey,” she said. “Sorry we’re a bit late. It was a little crazy as we were close to closing.”
“You’re all good?” he asked.
“Yeah, of course. I was just helping as many people as I could.” She offered him that smile. “Are you okay?”
He had thought about how he was going to do this. Crow was not a romantic. He didn’t beat around the bush. In his life, he took what he wanted and didn’t give a fuck about the consequences.
Kelley was real. She meant something to him, and just blurting shit out didn’t seem right. He’d not prepared a speech.
“I love you,” he said.
Her eyes went wide, and her mouth dropped open just a bit.
“I have fallen in love with you, Kelley Rade, and I don’t want to go back on that road again.
I don’t want to ... lose you. You’re mine.
You proved that this year. You’re mine and I am yours.
” He reached into his jacket. “And I want to marry you. I want to have a bunch of kids, and I want to be here to see you at fucking Halloween. I want to be here for everything with you. No more road. I don’t want it.
I want you. I love you, and I want to marry you. Will you have me?”
As speeches went, it was not his finest. He didn’t talk a whole lot, but he held the velvet box open, and with each passing second, Kelley looked even more shocked.
“You love me.”
“Yeah, I do.”
And then, he got that smile. The one that made his heart set to burst. It lit up her whole face and she let out a little squeal, throwing herself at him, and he caught her as she threw her arms around the back of his neck.
“I love you too, and yes, I want to marry you, and yes, I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” She pulled away and kissed him. “But only if you really want this. I know you love the open road, and I don’t want to take that from—”
He silenced her with a kiss. “I’m done with the open road. You’re the only person I want. You’re the only person I care about. Just you and me.” He stroked her cheek. “And I want to have kids with you. I want to have that family.”
“I’m afraid of being a bad mom,” she said.
And he couldn’t help but smile, because that meant his woman had been thinking about having his babies, and what man didn’t want to hear that?
“You’re going to be a great mom, and trust me, you don’t have to worry about yours,” he said.
He looked at Kelley, telling her without saying a word what she wanted to hear.
She nodded her head. “I love you.”
“And I love you.”
He took the ring out of the box, and sure enough, it was a perfect fit as he slid it right onto her finger.
“Do they know?” Kelley asked.
“There is a party about to happen with our names on it,” Crow said. “The club knows you belong to me.”
She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Well, fine, I definitely belong to you.”
He pulled her in close, squeezing her ass as he did.
And he was not going to let her go.