Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Violet held Deacon’s hand as they walked to the clubhouse for lunch. The sun was warm on her face, with a slight chill in the air. Deacon was in a good mood, though he was a little sleepy.
He’d talked a mile a minute since they picked him up about all the fun things they’d done. One thing he kept repeating was about how cool it was that so many kids had pets here. She and Speedy had hidden their smiles at his way of asking for an animal without really asking.
Violet woke up this morning with her head on Speedy’s shoulder and her leg thrown over his thigh. She would have been ecstatic, but she wasn’t naked and neither was Speedy.
She remembered riding back with Speedy last night, hoping he’d be willing to move their physical relationship forward.
They’d pulled into the compound and gone to the house.
Speedy had left her inside and said he was putting his bike away.
She’d sat down on the couch, then nothing.
She guessed she’d fallen asleep and Speedy must have carried her to bed. She wished she remembered that.
She’d woken this morning to pounding at the front door. She and Speedy had been cuddled together when Deacon had woken them up. She adored having Speedy’s arms around her, but he’d given her a quick peck on the lips before letting Deacon in.
Now that he’d said he was interested, she wanted it all, but she also wasn’t going to begrudge Deacon a minute of time with his dad. He’d missed the first five years.
Deacon slowed down as they passed the barn. The doors were open and some of the animals were in the corral. Sourdough, the donkey, came over to see if they had any treats.
“A donkey is probably too big to be indoors, but a small dog or cat would probably love our house. It could even sleep in my room,” Deacon said.
“An animal is a big addition to a house. It will probably require multiple conversations,” Violet said, though she secretly wanted a cat or kitten. She’d always wanted animals growing up but her mother was against them.
“David and Grant said if you or Daddy said maybe, it meant no. Conversations don’t mean no, right?” Deacon asked.
His pleading eyes had her wanting to go get an animal right now, but she had to be strong. This kid was going to be a heartbreaker. Of course, it had nothing to do with how much he resembled his daddy. Nope, not at all.
“It doesn’t mean no, but it doesn’t mean yes,” Violet said.
Deacon stared at her for a minute, then turned and pulled her toward the clubhouse. Well, she survived this, but she was positive raising kids wasn’t easy.
As soon as they entered the doorway of the clubhouse, Deacon let go of her hand, running toward his friends. Grant, David, and Hank were standing around Dex, staring at him intently.
Violet walked into the kitchen.
“Anything I can help take in?” she asked.
“If you could grab that tray of toppings, I’d appreciate it. The diner delivered all the items for a taco bar. I wanted easy today,” Regina said.
“I bet. You were brave having all the kids last night,” Violet said.
“Oh, they’re all great kids. How was Nelson’s? Did I hear that there might have been a change of status last night?” Regina asked, grinning.
“We would love all the details,” Clara said, walking in to pick up plates and silverware.
Violet admired both of them so much and was happy to have them take an interest in her and Speedy’s relationship.
“We are a couple, and at some point in the future, he will propose, and I will say yes,” Violet said, her cheeks flushing. She wasn’t embarrassed, but she also wasn’t used to sharing personal details. Eventually, she’d probably quit blushing but not yet.
“Oh, Violet,” Clara said, laying down the items to pull Violet into her arms. Violet soaked it in. These women were going to make her cry. She’d found the man she couldn’t be without and a family she’d never had.
“I’m so happy for you,” Regina said, sliding her arms around them.
Speedy followed Baron inside the snowplow barn, which was on the other side of the orchard. The snowplow had been moved outside and Speedy could see why. Tables were set up and were overflowing with wrapping paper, tags, tape, and gifts.
“Regina said she talked with you about gifts for the kids,” Baron said.
“Yes, she said we could look through the extra items, and then she’d watch the kids if Violet and I wanted to make a quick trip to the city,” Speedy said.
“This side of the barn has the available items. Anything on the west side of the tables is an item that was bought for our special project. These over here are all available. Take whatever you want and don’t think, oh, I shouldn’t take this much.
Regina bought these on one of her buying sprees—just because.
If people don’t use them for Christmas, then I’ll have to find room to store them someplace the kids can’t find.
Do you know how hard it is to hide stuff when there are so many kids? ” Baron asked.
Speedy grinned. The MC did have a lot of kids.
Plenty of kids for the next generation of the MC and the next kids to run Franks and Daughters Bail Bonds.
He wondered what Deacon would be when he grew up.
Speedy needed to plan some time to take Deacon to the garage.
Speedy’s dad had taken him out to the garage that early to learn about cars.
“This room over here,” Baron said, keying in a code to unlock the door. He flipped on the light. The room was probably the length of the back of the snowplow barn, which Speedy estimated was sixty feet. There were rows of all sizes of bikes.
“Now this is Locks, Rascal, and my special storage. Whenever we don’t have kids with us and are in the city, we stop and buy a couple.
We never want any kid on the property to feel left out because he or she doesn’t have a bicycle.
We started this before Locks and Benji decided to start building BMX bikes.
The younger ones do fine with these bikes.
Take whatever you think he’ll like and toys too.
I’m sure you want this Christmas to be memorable,” Baron said.
“I do. I’ve missed too many of his,” Speedy said, his throat tightening when he thought of the lost years.
“We’re here,” a voice yelled from the other room. Speedy looked out. War, Cannon, and Roam were in the room.
Baron laid a hand on Speedy’s shoulder. “Cannon and Roam are here to tell you which toys they like their boys having and which ones they would have never let in the house if they’d known. Not sure why War’s here,” Baron said.
“Remi kicked me out. She said she and Mellie needed girl time. It really meant she wanted to read the new book she had. Mellie was taking her nap,” War said.
“Please tell me it’s not another book club read. I am so tired of being compared to their book boyfriends,” Cannon whined.
Speedy smirked. He couldn’t wait until Violet felt comfortable enough with him to tease him about her book boyfriends.
“I asked what it was about and Remi said fierce women and hot men. Some new author they found,” War said.
“Who is the author? If I read the book before Jesse does, then I could make sure I’m definitely better than the book boyfriend,” Cannon said.
“It had flowers on the cover. Let me think. Oh, Melodye Davis’ The Bucket List,” War said.
“We’ll see who is better—me or the book boyfriend. This time, I’m winning the contest,” Cannon muttered.
Roam shook his head. “Let’s look at these toys and I’ll help you out. Sprite knows that her man is always better than the book boyfriend. Book boyfriends can’t warm her cold feet under the covers or wrap their arms around her after a hard day.”
Speedy had to agree. With Roam’s help, and eventually Cannon’s, he picked out games, toys, and a bike for Deacon.
Speedy had to chuckle at how all three men were vehemently against the slime Regina had purchased.
The words “too easy to get stuck in hair and carpeting” had him shuddering.
Roam’s description of having to try to get it out of Blake’s bunny’s fur was vivid.
Speedy appreciated having the help. Between the four of them, they loaded everything onto a side-by-side, including wrapping paper, tape, and boxes.
In no time at all, it seemed, the items were hidden in the basement storage room of his house.
He and Violet could wrap the presents and get them under the tree tonight after the kids went to bed.
He had a council meeting this evening but nothing else. He was looking forward to hanging out with Violet and the kids. Having kids made the season so much busier, but he wouldn’t change anything.