Chapter 6 – Gabe
GABE
It’s absolute chaos in the clubhouse tonight.
The prospects brought in a tree and set it up.
The kids are working on decorating it with Mom and Dad.
Kaylie is trying to string the popcorn, but I think she’s eaten more than she’s strung.
Carter and Lilah are handing the lights to Mason as he wraps them around the tree.
The women are all spread out doing different tasks.
Jayde, Sadie, and Avery are working on the tulle for the archway in the barn.
Austin brought in two boxes of fresh-cut flowers to be added to it and another three boxes with bouquets and boutonnieres.
When Jake told everyone we were giving Avery whatever she wanted, we all thought he was kidding. He was not.
The clubhouse looks like one of those large craft stores exploded inside it. There’s shit everywhere. Flowers. Ribbons. Tulle. Ornaments. Stockings. Christmas lights. Candle sticks. It’s fucking insane.
I love my daughter, and I’m happy to make her special day everything she could ever dream of, but I can’t wait to get my clubhouse back to normal.
The decorations are only half the chaos.
The clubhouse is full to the brim with people.
Eli and the Mountain Heights chapter came in a couple of hours ago.
All my guys are here with their wives and kids.
Andi is in the kitchen with a few of the club girls, putting them to work on her menu while she bakes the cake.
Everly and Kaylie are staying here for the next couple of days.
We figured letting them stay over would allow Everly to work without worrying about Kaylie so much since there are more than enough eyes to watch her and Carter to keep her busy.
Russell even flew in this morning after Linzie left.
Speaking of which, I haven’t seen Linzie since she bolted out of here this morning. I thought what happened between us was proof enough that we’re not finished, that we belong together, but something spooked her and I want to know what.
Figuring the best place to find her would be with her best friend, I head for the kitchen. Andi is barking instructions at Rachel and Candi, telling them how to roll a proper meatball while Skyler and Violet help wrap little sausages in triangle-shaped dough.
“Have you figured out how to tell him yet?” I overhear Skyler ask Violet.
“I think so. I’m going to …” Her words trail off when she notices me standing beside the table.
“Don’t stop on my account. I just came to check out the food,” I tease. Violet’s cheeks are red with embarrassment, like someone who’s just been caught stealing Santa’s cookies.
“Um, it’s fine. We can discuss it later. It’s just Declan’s Christmas present.”
“I won’t tell. What did you get him?” I ask, enjoying her discomfort a little too much.
Violet has come a long way since Declan finally got his head out of his ass and laid claim to her.
She came from an abusive relationship and needed a lot of convincing, but Declan stepped up to the challenge.
He’s even embraced fatherhood with her son Carter.
He and Declan have a surprise planned for Violet for Christmas that will probably have all the women in tears.
But he’s doing the right thing, and with Carter on board, I’m sure things will work out as planned.
“It’s nothing, really,” Violet says. Skyler’s eyes widen.
“Uh, it’s a very big deal, and you should probably give it to him sooner rather than later so he’s better prepared.”
“Prepared? For what? I thought you were buying him a custom gas tank for his bike. I saw the invoice down at the shop. Aaron told me about it and asked me to hide the paperwork so Dec wouldn’t see it,” I push.
Violet waves me away. “I did. And Skyler thinks I should give it to him early in case it’s not the right one, so he has time to swap it if he needs to. You know how hard it can be to exchange things after the holidays.”
“Hmm.” I don’t believe her for a second, but it’s their relationship. If she wants to keep secrets, that’ll be for them to work out. So long as it doesn’t cause trouble for the club or bring Declan down, I’m staying out of it. “Have you girls seen Linzie?”
“She was here a little bit ago helping Andi with the cake.” Skyler says, craning her neck to see the kitchen. “I don’t see her now though.”
“I’m going to go see if I can hunt her down.” I give them both a kiss on the head and make my way past the table of food trays to where Andi is talking with Cash.
“Peaches ′n Cream? That’s your company name?” Cash asks teasingly. He climbs halfway up the island, leaning over to peek at Andi’s side. “Yeah, Peaches fits what you’ve got going on there. And I could definitely help with putting the cream on that nice, sweet, juicy…”
“Hey Andi,” I call out, cutting Cash off. Good thing too, because Andi looks about two seconds away from slapping him with her spatula. “Have you seen Linzie?”
“It’s Peaches and Pastries, jackass,” she snipes at Cash before turning to me. “She went to help Trevor. The weatherman is calling for the temperature to drop and maybe rain later. So, Caleb asked some of the guys to go out and round up the animals. Linzie went out to lend a hand.”
“All right.” I turn to go get my coat, but Andi calls me back.
“You don’t want to go out there.”
“I don’t? Why?” I fold my arms and await her explanation, since the only place I want to be is where Linzie is so I can figure out my next move.
“I don’t know exactly what happened between you two this morning, although her freshly fucked hair kind of gave me a general idea.”
“Whoa! Way to go, Gabe! Linzie is a pretty cool lady, and that body she’s rocking is—”
I point a finger in his direction and cut Cash off. “Don’t finish that sentence, or Eli will be taking you home in a bag.”
“Cash!” Skyler shouts across the room. “Don’t mess with Gabe. He’s not like Hawk or Ethan. Gabe will shoot you and not give a shit about repercussions from Eli.”
Cash smirks. “Yeah. All right. Can’t have you taking me out, man.
I have a couple of nieces whose boyfriends I’ll need to be here to torture and scare off someday.
” He hops off his stool, then points at Andi.
“Come see me when you’re finished and we’ll talk about that business name.
I think you should see what the cream is all about.
” He wiggles his brows, and Andi wrinkles her nose.
She may look disgusted, but her pink cheeks and the way her eyes track Cash as he moves about the kitchen tell a different story.
“Anyway, you were saying?”
“Look, Gabe. I don’t know what happened, but whatever was said or—I don’t know, maybe something you did—it has Linzie upset. She’s been quiet. Keeping to herself. It’s like she shut down all of a sudden.”
“Nothing was said. We hardly spoke. We just …” I pause, not wanting to put our business out there for fear I might embarrass Linzie.
“There wasn’t much of a conversation. She thought I had slept with one of the club girls, but I set her straight on that.
I don’t know what’s got her upset. Did something happen at the café? Could it be something with Trevor?”
I’m going over everything that happened this morning, and I can’t for the life of me think of what she could be so upset about.
We discussed the fact that I haven’t fucked anyone since I’ve been seeing her, and then we had mind-blowing sex against my bedroom door.
Or at least I thought it was mind-blowing.
Did she fake it?
No, I shake the ridiculous thought. I saw her face when Linzie came apart this morning. I felt her body grip my dick and pulse around me as she came. There’s no way she could have faked that.
Then what the hell is wrong?
“Just give her time to think through whatever is bothering her,” Andi says, shaking me from the memories of earlier.
“Linzie sometimes struggles to put her feelings into words. Maybe it has nothing to do with you at all. She might just be feeling a little down because she’s missing Trevor’s dad being this close to Christmas.
I don’t know. But I wouldn’t push her if I were you. ”
“Shit.” Maybe Andi’s right. Maybe Linzie is missing her husband.
I’ve had my own thoughts about Maggie over the last few weeks as we’ve been working up to Avery’s wedding.
Wishing she could’ve been here to see our baby girl get married.
Maggie would’ve loved all the fuss and the decorations.
She loved Christmas, and Avery was her world when she was a baby.
It’s one reason Avery chose to get married three days before the holiday.
She wanted all the decorations and the wintery feel, as she called it.
But most importantly, she knew we would all come together to celebrate the holiday, and this way, no one had to make the trip twice.
The girl does almost everything while considering the impact on others.
She’s never been one to be selfish or inconsiderate.
She is more and more like her mama every day.
It’s both a blessing and a curse. Sometimes when I see Maggie in her, it reminds me of the love I lost. But other days, it brings me joy to know Avery will carry Maggie’s spirit on and someday, when she has her own children, I’ll watch as she loves on them the same way her mother did her.
“Hey, are you okay?” Andi asks, her hand gripping my shoulder.
“Uh, yeah. I was just reminiscing about something. I’m good.”
I’m not good.
I came in here looking for Linzie, wanting to fix what fell apart, and now—I’m wondering if maybe I just need to give her some space.
Let her sort through her feelings. I know I’ll never love another woman the way I love Maggie.
But Linzie has a space in my heart that is only for her.
I see a future with Linzie. The question is, does she still see one with me?