CHAPTER SIX
This morning, Bailey asked me if it itches when a girl kisses a guy with a beard. I told her yes, and that’s why she probably shouldn’t do it till she’s thirty. I couldn’t help it.
~Text from Ben to Kimbra~
Ben
These last few months have been great. Kimbra and I are solid.
The kids are doing great and love everyone in the club.
There are usually a few brothers at each of Branson’s games and sometimes even to help at his practices.
Bailey has had countless tea parties with a variety of brothers, though she’s become quite attached to Logan and Asher.
Bentley has come to the shop with me as often as he’s been allowed to.
I haven’t technically moved in, but we’ve been talking about it, and she wants me to.
I’m basically there every night, and I think she wants to talk to the kids about it when they get home from their dad’s on Sunday.
I’m not going to get into my opinion on their dad, but let’s just say this is the first time in the last month and a half that he’s actually taken them on his weekend.
Kimbra hates it when he cancels at the last minute because the kids get disappointed, though, to be honest, I think at this point, Branson and even Bentley expect him to cancel every time.
Bailey is the one who still holds out hope, and she’s crushed every time he cancels, but then she’s also sad when they come home from his place because she’s been ignored by him for most of the weekend.
Luckily, Kimbra plans play dates over at Anna’s the day after those weekends.
She’s smart like that. Just don’t ask her for directions because you will end up going in circles.
Watching her trying to give directions cracks me up every time.
We’re about to head out for a ride since it’s nice out and almost warm today. Some more of the club is going to join us, and we’ll take the long way around town and a few back roads before we end up back at the clubhouse for food and a bonfire. It’s going to be a good day.
**********
We’ve been riding for a couple of hours, and there’s nothing better than a good ride with friends and my woman’s arms around me.
It turns out just us mature brothers and our finer halves went riding today.
I say mature because I ain’t calling us old or anything else that implies that.
We’re young at heart but old enough to know better.
Anna, Linnea, and Kimbra have spent the day enjoying the ride and laughing at some inside jokes that none of us guys seem to know about.
At a stop, I ask Jonah and Jackson if they knew what the gals were laughing so hard about.
Jonah gave me a look. “That’s not an answer we really want to know.
It could be something they shared with each other about one of us.
It could be about something they read, or hell, knowing them, it could be because we drove by a spot that looked perfect for some serial killer to do a body drop,” Jackson added in.
“This is one of those times where living in blissful ignorance keeps our hair from going grayer or falling out altogether.” I thought about that for a moment and realized how right they are.
I mean, I’ve been around Kimbra long enough to know she can go from making dinner while listening to ABBA to taking a bath reading a dark romance book to falling asleep to a serial killer documentary.
I also know she knows all the ways to cut arteries, so I strive to be on her good side anytime she’s got a knife in her hand.
Jonah leads our group into the parking lot of the clubhouse, and we all park, with Grant coming in at the end of the group.
I wait for Kimbra to climb off before I get off, taking her helmet from her to put on the bike.
She’s attempting to revive her hair, but she looks perfect to me.
I lean forward and give her a quick peck.
“You have fun, Doc?” She leans forward to kiss me and lingers a little longer till some of the brothers start hooting and hollering.
“It’s been great. Thank you for getting me out of the house today.
I don’t think I realized just how much this was needed.
” I grab her hand and squeeze. “Anytime, Doc. Let’s go inside and get a drink and see what they made for grub today.
” We walk inside with everyone else, with Grant leading the group.
Erik didn’t go on the ride today since he’s still not one hundred percent.
I think he might have insisted Grant go because this was the longest he’s left him since everything went down with the fuckers who took over the Sangre Devils.
Taz is still out there, and I know we’re all chomping at the bit to find him and take care of him once and for all.
Mike, Tripp, and I are more than eager since we have started to suspect he dispatched our old president, who no one has heard from since he supposedly retired and/or went nomad.
The Fed we worked with is still recovering and hasn’t been off pain meds enough to really give us anything.
Jonah mentioned having an idea of someone we could reach out to, and if nothing happens this week, I’m gonna ask him about it at church.
Kimbra squeezes my hand. I look over at the woman who’s captured my heart.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Focus man. “Nothing serious, Doc. Everything’s good.
Want a glass of wine?” She tilts her head, and I can tell she’s trying to decide whether she wants to push about what I was thinking about.
She must make a decision because she nods and answers me.
“Yeah, maybe a glass of that Moscato that Linnea said she had here.” I leave her and go over to the bar area, surprised to see my nephew Logan behind the bar.
“What are you doin’ back there? You’re not a prospect anymore.
” He gives me a chin lift in greeting. “Yeah, but we don’t really have any prospects right now besides Leif, and he’s outside getting the cord of wood we just got stacked up.
David is probably gonna start soon, but he’s still getting his life sorted and all.
Besides, I don’t mind grabbing drinks every so often.
” I look at him for a beat, but before I can ask, his husband, Asher, comes up and steals the words right out of my mouth.
“What did your sister offer to make you for you to agree to do this tonight?” Logan, attempting to glare at Asher, has me biting my lip so I don’t laugh at my nephew.
“She’s making me a pan of her homemade mac and cheese, and I don’t have to share it with you.
” Knowing that this will turn into something no uncle needs to hear, I head into the kitchen to grab the wine since I’m sure Linnea put that in the fridge.
Ki mbra
Leaning back in my chair in the main room, I wipe the tears from my eyes.
Kierstie and Jane’s stories about their little ones peeing on their dads were great.
It’s something just about every parent with a boy has been a victim of, but their telling of it had us all in stitches.
I know Brian got hit by Branson and Bentley.
That’s back when he was an active dad. I still hold out hope that one day, he pulls his head out of his southern orifice and becomes active again.
The guys are all outside at the fire, getting it going.
I think we’ll head out there once the coffee is ready so we can doctor them up.
You haven’t had a good cup of coffee till you’ve added some Bailey’s to it.
Anna’s sharing her story of the first time Asher got Wyatt when there’s a ringing from my pocket.
I pull out my phone and see it’s Brian calling me.
He better not be calling to tell me he’s dropping the kids off early.
Not after he’s canceled his last few weekends.
I answer the phone, “Yes, Brian — ” but I’m interrupted by Branson yelling into the phone.
“Mom! Mom!” I can hear the panic in his voice, sending me on alert.
“What’s going on?” I hear noise on the other end of the phone and Brian yelling in the background.
“Dad’s girlfriend got us pizza, and she didn’t listen to Bent!
I wasn’t in the room, or I would have stopped it.
She said he was overreacting, so she ordered pizza with tomatoes on it ‘cause she liked it, and he could just pick them off.” I stand up so fast that my chair is knocked back.
“Did your dad—” Branson must’ve put me on speaker because Brian comes over the line.
“I just gave him his EpiPen, but I remember his last reaction, so we’re heading to the ER now.
” I tell him I’ll meet him there in a few minutes.