12.
Z ANE
I was taken off guard when the alarm went off.
I hadn’t been woken up by a single call throughout the whole day.
Once I was out of the shower and dressed, I called the office to make sure everything was okay.
Joan sarcastically informed me that the world of towing did not revolve around me and the company wouldn’t collapse without my grumpy presence.
I wasn’t grumpy.
Okay, that was a lie. I wasn’t grumpy when I’d had enough sleep and more than one day off in two weeks. Since half that was true and six hours of sleep in one stretch was a lot for me, I wasn’t nearly as grumpy as usual today.
I sent Courtney a quick text to let her know I was awake, and she responded just as I got on my bike to leave for today’s meeting.
Apparently, talking to Courtney was good for me because I was still smiling to myself as I pulled away from my house, happy that she’d replied she couldn’t wait to see me tonight.
But I had a lot to accomplish while she finished her day and then went to eat an early dinner with her grandmother.
When I pulled up to the clubhouse, I saw that there were already a few motorcycles parked out front, but everyone was already inside. I walked in and found my dad and his two brothers in the kitchen waiting for the coffee to finish brewing.
“It’s about time you got here,” Uncle Zeke teased.
Jace conceded, “Thought you’d probably sleep through it.”
“Late night?” Dad asked.
“All night,” I answered. “That wreck on the highway took forever. I didn’t get home until after seven this morning.”
Dad glanced at the clock and said, “Shit, son. We would have understood if you had stayed in bed.”
“I got a solid six hours of sleep, so I’m good.”
When Gray Vance, his brother Andre, and our friend, Tay Cardenas, all walked in together, Uncle Jace yelled, “Shit! It’s the police!”
I laughed as the uniformed officers all flipped my uncle off and then greeted them as they joined us at the long bar that separated the kitchen from the dining area.
When he had a big gathering, the bar served as a buffet, but when there were just a few of us having a meeting, it was where we congregated, probably because of its proximity to the coffeemaker and the beer fridge.
“Who else is coming today?” Gray asked.
“Tink and Sandy are on a trip in the RV with Smokey and Martha, so Tink won’t be here. Nick’s got some fancy-pants police chief meeting, so he isn’t going to make it either,” Dad explained.
The door opened again, and Christopher Charles and our mutual cousin, Booker, walked in together, toting their laptop bags they were rarely ever without. They worked for Uncle Zeke’s security firm and were computer geeks at heart who also had the motorcycle bug.
Once Booker greeted his dad, Zeke, he sat down at a table behind me and opened his laptop to take notes during the meeting. While we talked about upcoming events around town and made plans to gather for a benefit bike run in a few weeks, a few of our other MC brothers trickled in.
Duke Conner was wearing one of our tow service shirts, so I knew he was on duty today.
He walked in with my younger brother, Xavier, who worked in our scrapyard that was combined with our towing company.
Right behind them were my cousins Kaiser and Landry Lincoln, who were on their lunch break from the family garage in town.
“Let’s get to it so you guys can get back to work,” Uncle Zeke suggested before he topped off his coffee.
Since most of our club members worked strange hours, between the rotating shifts of the police officers and those of us that were on call for the tow companies, it was difficult to find a time when everyone could meet, so we usually ended up having short meetings around lunch before those of us who had the day off rode together.
Of course, we all met up individually throughout the week, depending on our schedules, but official meetings were just a pain in the ass to plan sometimes.
“I got some great news yesterday, and we’re gonna have to plan a party,” my dad announced. When everyone looked at him expectantly, he said, “Lee’s got an official release date. He’s coming home for good!”
We immediately started cheering. My cousin Lucas, who everyone called Lee, had followed in the footsteps of his father and uncles and gone into the military straight out of high school.
Now, ten years later, he was finally ready to come home, and everyone was excited at the thought of having him around again.
“When will he be here?” my brother asked.
“We don’t have an exact date yet, but it should be sometime in October,” Dad answered.
Uncle Zeke chuckled before he said, “I’m not sure how we’re going to keep your Aunt Kari from climbing the walls until then, but we’re going to have to try.”
“Is it just going to be a party for our club or . . . ?”
My dad laughed before he said, “We could say that, but you know it would be bullshit. We’ll have all the Kings and the Queens here, I’m sure. I’ll talk to Bird and Lark in the next few days and see if they want to plan a blowout or just keep it tame.”
“Blowout it is,” Booker said as his fingers flew over the keyboard. “I’ll coordinate with the brains of their operation once I get the all-clear from you.”
“I think he just insulted us,” Dad complained to Uncle Zeke.
“Of course he did.”
“He’s your fucking kid. Get his ass in line.”
“Does he look like a kid to you, old man? Why don’t you try?” Uncle Zeke asked sarcastically.
“Look at my boys over there - calm, rational, and respectful .” When Uncle Zeke looked over at me and Xavier, we both wore wide and obviously fake smiles, which caused everyone in the room to laugh. Dad smirked before he said, “Don’t oversell it, guys. Damn.”
Jace and Zeke rolled their eyes, something they did often when the three men were arguing about who had the better kids.
They’d been comparing us since we were small, but everyone around knew that Levi and Kari’s kids were the most well-behaved.
And even if that weren’t the case, they were definitely the least likely to bite someone when they were small. I’d heard that repeatedly.
◆◆◆
“Tell me about this woman you took to meet your sister in the middle of the night.”
I smiled at my dad and asked, “Are you curious or is this coming from Mom?”
“Son, you know the answer to that just as well as I do.”
Zeke and Jace both started laughing, and I smiled before I said, “I’m going to see Mom in the morning. I can tell her all about Courtney then.”
“That’s not gonna work. You’ve gotta tell me now because she’s gonna start grilling me the minute I get home.”
“What do you want to know? Didn’t Zoey fill you in?” I asked.
“She just dropped that little nugget and then had to go to a meeting, so she left your mom hanging.”
“I’m sure Zo will call her with all the details later.”
Dad frowned before he ordered, “Give me her stats.”
“Wow, Dad. That’s a little sexist,” I joked.
Dad narrowed his eyes and growled, “Name, age, how you met, and all that other bullshit, smartass.”
“Her name is Courtney. I met her at that truck stop out on the loop when she waited on me and some of the guys after we picked up a tow. She’s got a few kids.
The oldest is a few months older than Xavier, and her youngest boys are four.
” I watched the men around the table process that information, but before they could say anything, I continued.
“She’s still married, but she’s pretty sure it will be easy to get a divorce once the cops find her ex and take him in for all of his warrants. ”
It was like sitting at a table with a bunch of owls - they just sat there blinking with really confused expressions.
Uncle Jace finally asked, “So, um . . . back to that first part. Her kid is Xavier’s age?”
“Close to it.”
Uncle Zeke pointed at my brother and asked, “ That Xavier?”
“I don’t know any other ones. Do you?”
Dad swallowed hard and asked, “How serious are you about this woman, son?”
“She’s crazy, but in a fun way, you know?”
Dad started to say something but made an odd gurgling sound, so Zeke jumped in and asked, “What kind of fun?”
“She’s got a thing for fire, but it’s all good.
She’ll be done with parole at the beginning of next year for the last one she set.
She was really excited when I told her about the bonfires we have sometimes.
” I frowned before I pulled my phone out and looked at it.
I stood up as soon as I saw it was a text from Courtney letting me know she was finished at her grandma’s.
I pulled cash out to cover my drink and said, “That’s her.
I’ve gotta go get my truck since she doesn’t have enough seats in her van for all the kids. I’ll talk to you guys later.”
“Hold on just a fucking minute . . .”
“Can’t! I’ve gotta go. They’re waiting for me to take them to Dairy Queen, and with that many kids, I don’t want to leave them hanging. I’m way outnumbered and a little afraid of what might happen if I do. Love y’all! See you soon!”
I rushed out of the restaurant and hopped on my motorcycle, surprised that no one had followed me outside to hound me for more details. I knew they were probably watching me through the window, so I managed to hold in my laughter until I’d pulled out of the parking lot and got on the road.
As soon as I was far enough away to be out of sight, I pulled over and called my sister. Luckily, she was available to talk. Once I explained the story I’d told Dad and the rest of the guys, she was laughing so hard that she was gasping for air.
Once she finally calmed down, I asked, “Will you roll with it for me?”
“You’re horrible, Zane!” She giggled before she said, “You know I will!”
“We make a great team, Zozo. I knew I could count on you.”
◆◆◆
“Okay, I need you guys to do some work for me, but you’ll have to follow some rules,” Dahlia warned Leo, Beau, and Alana.
Since she was holding a box full of tools and other gadgets, Dahlia had their complete attention.
“I need you to stay inside this room and only use the tools I’ve given you.
As you take things apart, you’ll find surprises inside.
If you put them back together, I’ll give you another surprise. ”
“How do we do it?” Alana asked.
“Use what I’ve given you, and figure it out,” Dahlia told her with a shrug as she walked into a small area with half walls. “There’s a TV over there if you get bored. If you need anything, just holler and one of us will come help you.”
“We get to work?” Leo asked as he bounced up and down.
Beau was just as excited when he said, “With big tools!”
“Yep. They’re the real deal,” Dahlia assured him as she set the crate down. “Have fun!”
Leo, Beau, and Alana dove into the crate as Dahlia shut the partition behind her and smiled over her shoulder at them before she walked our way.
“I wonder how many hours we spent doing stuff like that,” I said to her.
“Too many to count.” As she smiled at Courtney, she asked, “Are you going to help the guys work?”
“I am going to sit out of everyone’s way and read my book until I see that someone needs water or asks me to grab a tool for them,” Courtney said with a grin. “That’s as helpful as I’m ever going to be in a garage.”
Dahlia and I started laughing, and Dahlia said, “I think you just described what most of the men I know would consider the perfect woman!”
“I can tell you’re not that type, though.”
“Oh, hell no. I’m right in the middle of things, getting dirty and fixing shit!”
Dawson and Dayton walked our way, both wearing the coveralls Dahlia had provided. Without another word, she made her way toward the bay where they’d put our grandfather’s car and got to work.
“Aren’t you going to help them?”
“They’ve got a lot to get through before they need another set of hands. It’s not going to be a quick or easy fix.”
“Because it’s been sitting in the garage for so long?”
Instead of answering her question, I asked, “How long, exactly?”
“Twenty years, I guess. Grandma would go out and let it run for a few minutes occasionally, though. She even put more gas in it a few times. I asked her once why she wanted to keep it since she never drove it, and she said my grandpa was so proud of it that she could never imagine getting rid of it.”
“What did she drive?”
“The car that Dawson uses now. How long do you think it will be before they get Grandpa’s car running?”
“Honey, that car has two modes right now - idle and why in the hell is it making that noise. They’ve got hours and hours of work ahead of them, but it’s the best kind.
It keeps them busy, off the streets, and gives them a goal to accomplish.
The best part is that they both seem excited about getting it running, so that is a bonus to them having a project to work on together. ”
“So, even if they never get the damn thing running right, it’s still going to be a win.”
“Exactly.” I pointed toward an old bar table and some stools that were off to the side, and Courtney started walking that way as I said, “And there’s another perk about this too.”
“What’s that?”
“I get to hang out with you while the kids are occupied.”
“I think that sounds like the best part.”