20. Londyn #2
I walked slowly, hoping to give them a minute to finish talking, and as I got closer, I heard the man say, “I know it looks bad, but I’m telling you. I didn’t tell him.”
“Then, how the fuck did he know?”
“You know Torch. He’s a smart guy. He figured the shit out on his own. I swear it.” The man sounded sincere as he said, “You gotta know I’d never run my mouth about you having a kid unless it was something you wanted me to do.”
Malcomb was about to respond when he noticed that I was walking towards them. I looked over to his brother as I asked, “Hey, is everything alright?”
“Yeah, yeah. I was just having a word with Rooster.”
Rooster extended his hand as he said, “I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure.”
“No, we haven’t. I’m Londyn. Nice to meet you.”
“Right back at ya.” He released my hand as he said, “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“I wish I could say the same.”
“Oh, give it time. You’ll hear plenty.” He chuckled as he started towards the house. He didn’t get far when he stopped and turned back to Malcomb. “Did you know we’re getting that new light at the square?”
“He actually got them to pass that shit?”
“Apparently so. I saw them putting it up earlier this morning. That man never ceases to amaze me.” Rooster chuckled then continued up the porch steps. “You two have fun. We’ll be waiting inside when you’re done.”
“Stay out of the fridge!”
“I can’t make any promises.”
Rooster continued up the porch steps, and seconds later, he’d disappeared into the house. I immediately turned to Malcomb and said, “He seems like an interesting guy.”
“You have no idea.” He reached down and grabbed his duffle bag. “I thought we’d do a little target practice.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“Have you shot lately?”
“No. I haven’t really had any reason to.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think so.” He nailed a target to a nearby tree and then started digging around in his bag. He pulled out a small handgun, quickly loaded it with ammunition, then offered it to me as he said, “This is just like the 9mm you’ve used before. It’s light and doesn’t have much kick.”
“Okay.” I took the gun from his hand and studied it for a moment, then pointed to the button on the side and asked, “This is the safety, right?”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
He took a moment to remind me how to push the safety button on and off and how to load the clip. Once he’d gone through the basics, he showed me how to align the front and back sights to mark the target. As soon as I was in position, he said, “Don’t forget to use your left hand for support.”
“And breathe out as I pull the trigger.”
“She does remember,” he chuckled. “Now, let’s see what ya got.”
I looked at the target and tried to do all the things Malcomb had told me.
I released the safety, inhaled a deep breath, and as I exhaled, I pulled the trigger.
The sound was louder than I expected, making me flinch and clamp my eyes shut.
When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t surprised to see that I hadn’t hit the center of the target, but I was close. “Wait, I can still do it.”
“I know you can,” Malcomb replied, sounding a little too confident.
I prepared myself to take another shot, going through the same steps all over again, but this time I kept my eyes open.
Just as I’d hoped, I came even closer to the center.
I didn’t have a chance to boast before he ordered, “Again.”
I nodded as I lifted my hand and prepared to take another shot, letting out a deep breath before pulling back the trigger.
I repeated the same steps over and over until I’d run out of ammunition.
I looked at the target and was pleased to see that I’d improved with every shot, and I even hit it several times. “So, how’d I do?”
“Pretty damn good.”
“Great!”
“If the time comes, you just have to keep a level head and remember everything I taught ya.”
There was something about his tone that worried me, so I asked, “Is there a reason why we’re doing this today?”
“I just want you to be able to protect yourself. And Dalton, if it’s necessary.” He took the gun from my hand and holstered it before putting it back in the duffle bag. “We should probably head back inside and see about Dalton and the boys.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” I followed him up to the steps, but stopped when we reached the porch. “How long are you planning to keep Dalton a secret?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You seemed pretty upset at Rooster for telling Torch about Dalton. I was just wondering when you were planning to let the cat out of the bag.”
“It’s not like that. I’m not trying to keep him a secret.
I want all the brothers to know. I want my folks to know, too.
But you know how they can be. They’ll be all over us.
Just like today with Torch and Rooster. They can’t help themselves.
” He stepped over to me as he said, “And I’m selfish.
I wanted some time with just us this weekend. Is that okay with you?”
“That’s more than okay.”
“Good. Now, let’s get inside and check in on our boy.”
He leaned down and gave me a quick kiss, then took my hand and led me into the house.
Little by little, we were finding our way.
I knew getting back into the club life was going to be hard, but I had no idea how hard it could be until I went to drop off a simple box of cookies.