Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
If I ever get rabies, you’re high on my biting list.
—Birdee to Creed
Birdee
One month later
My dad was in prison. Grace was in prison. Cody was dead. My mom was dead.
And Mable and Bernice were now so far entrenched with Charleigh and I that it was like she’d always been there. Even Shade was hanging out with us, and he and Mable hadn’t fought once.
It was…weird.
A good weird, but weird all the same.
“No, but seriously. Why don’t you just start your own business?
” Shade asked. “You could literally be feeding everyone. You could start a meal prep business. Cook everyone food to take to lunch every day. I’d buy.
I suck at cooking. Like really suck. If I had somewhere where I could buy food for myself that wasn’t fast food or takeout, I’d feel a lot better about myself. ”
Mable’s eyes were contemplative. “Cody always said that, too. I don’t know. I just feel like maybe if I started cooking for work, it’d be just that. Now, it’s fun.”
“You’re technically already cooking for work,” Bernice pointed out. “You cook for everyone at your job. You’ve been doing it for years, from what I understand. Why not just quit the job and do what you want for a bit? See how it goes?”
Before Mable could answer, the black truck with ‘MONTANA GAME WARDEN’ pulled up to the curb outside of Reyelle’s coffee shop where we’d been sitting in for the last hour.
“Here comes trouble,” Charleigh mused.
I kicked her under the table. “Why do you keep saying that? You’re more trouble than I am. How’s your job going?”
“You know the answer to that. You just want me to explain in front of our friends,” Charleigh pouted.
I grinned at her. “Tell them.”
Charleigh sighed.
“What is it?” Shade asked as he took a hefty swallow of his black coffee.
When Charleigh didn’t say anything, I said it for her. “Our boss has the hots for her. He’s made it more than apparent that he wants to date her. She’s said no…so far.”
“Whoa,” Shade said. “Do you like your job?”
“Not particularly,” Charleigh admitted. “I love working with Birdee, but I’ve decided I’m not into administrative tasks. I’d rather be working in a garage.”
“You work in garages?” Mable asked. “Since when?”
“Since forever.” She shrugged. “My dad was a diesel mechanic. He taught me all kinds of stuff, strictly relating to diesels. Then when I was in the Marines, I was a mechanic there, too. Though on aircraft. I kind of started to go that way when I got out, but my mom highly encouraged me to give being a girl a try, and here I am. Miserable.”
“If you don’t like the job, and you like your boss, I say go for it.” Shade shrugged.
“I agree,” Mable said.
I didn’t.
But I wouldn’t be telling her that. It was Charleigh’s life. If she wanted to date our boss, that was her business. However, I saw how she lit up when Courtland was around.
Courtland lit up, too, which was saying something because he was a really hard person to get to give you any emotion at all.
“Whoa,” Bernice said. “Who is that?”
I looked over to see Koen talking to Creed outside the coffee shop.
“That’s Koen,” I said as I finished off the last of my pastry and called out, “Rey, do you have my treat for Creed?”
“Right there at the edge of the counter, darlin’,” Reyelle called out.
I grabbed it, then my coat, and said, “Thanks, Rey!”
“You’re welcome, Doll!” Reyelle said as she smiled at me from behind the counter. “Love ya.”
“Love you, too,” I said as I caught the eye of all my friends. “I’m heading out. Bernice, are you coming over for dinner tonight?”
“Nope,” she said. “Dinner is in my crockpot.”
“Gross,” I said. “Bye, y’all!”
They called out their goodbyes from behind me, but I only had eyes for the man who had stopped talking to his friend when he saw me coming.
I walked right up to him, ignoring his friend, and gave him a solid kiss on the mouth before pulling back with a grin. “Good day?”
“Shitty, but better now that you’re here,” he said. “You ready?”
I nodded before turning to his friend. “Hey, Koen.”
He gave me a small smile. “Hi, Birdee.”
“How are the kiddos?”
Koen had two kids, both boys. They were two and four and looked like the exact replicas of their father.
I wasn’t sure of their story, but I knew that it was an intense one.
One day, I hoped that I learned it. But until then, I’d let my imagination run wild.
“They’re good, Purdy.”
I laughed at his kiddos’ nickname for me. They’d heard it one time from Reyelle, and it’d stuck.
“You ready to go?” Creed asked after Koen said his goodbyes.
“Yep.” I handed him the cream cheese pastry. “I snatched you one before they ran out.”
He groaned. “I’m starving.”
He devoured it within two bites, and I threw the box into his floorboard as he navigated our way home.
Home.
His home—my old home—was now our home.
Creed had offered to sell it, but I hadn’t taken him up on the offer.
I liked the location, the size, and the mountain views.
One day, I hoped we had a ton of kids who would grow up with this same view.
“Got a call from the prison today.”
My brows rose. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.” He took the final turn to our house. “Your dad. He called me because he wants to see you.”
I snorted. “No.”
“That’s what I said.” Creed winked. “He asked why not, and I gave him the obvious reasons. He said he’d try again in six months.”
“The answer will be the same in six months,” I said.
“That’s what I said, too.” He grinned wickedly. “I asked him for your hand in marriage.”
I burst out laughing in his front seat. “And what did he say?”
“He told me he’d rather see me dead than married to you.”
I batted my eyes at Creed before saying, “We could always make that happen.”
He caught my hand in his as he pulled to a stop in the front of the garage.
My breath caught when he produced a small velvet box from his door and flicked it open.
“I told him it didn’t matter what he said. That I would be marrying you, and taking away his shitty name, by the end of the year.”
I stared at the princess-cut diamond ring and almost burst out crying.
“You’re not kidding.”
“Never kidding about this. About you. About us.” He pulled the ring out of the box and slipped it onto my finger.
“You forgot to ask,” I pointed out.
“Asking gives the impression that this is a choice,” he pointed out. “And this is most certainly not a choice.”
And for some reason, I was totally and completely okay with that.
“The answer is yes, anyway.” I pulled my hand away to examine the ring closer. “I love you, Justin.”
His eyes went soft as he bent over the console and placed a wet kiss onto my lips. “I love you, too, Purdy Birdee.”
I licked his face from chin to nose, and he pulled back with a chuckle.
“Let’s get inside. I’m starving…and not just for food.”
“The door won’t open itself, Creed.”
He got out and rounded the hood of his truck, opened my door, then tossed me over his shoulder as he carried me into the house…and straight to the bedroom.