8. Chapter Eight
Chapter Eight
After two days staying at the clubhouse, Cecilia had been going stir-crazy. She was used to going to work and being busy. There were only so many things to do around the clubhouse.
The club had a workshop where they built and finished the coffins.
Torrent had been busy, but he’d made it a point to be home at lunchtime and for supper.
He’d spend the evening with them, but there were hours during the day when Cecilia was bored.
She loved reading books, but being forced to stay at home was different from taking an afternoon off for reading.
He’d been the perfect gentleman each night, accepting her kiss and not asking for more.
Each night when she’d awakened from a nightmare, he’d been there to soothe her back to sleep.
The first night, he’d held her hand as she drifted back to sleep so she’d know she wasn’t alone.
Last night, he’d tugged her closer and had her lay her head on his shoulder.
When he’d slipped his arm around her back, she hadn’t been scared despite his arm holding her close to his side.
She’d been warm, safe, and had drifted back to sleep.
When Sally had offered to have Calliope and her come help at the funeral home, Cecilia had jumped at the chance. There were only so many cookies they could make or games they could play.
“We’re usually closed on Sundays and Tuesdays, but I had a special request for a funeral on Sunday.
This week, we’re closed on Tuesday and Thursday.
It will be just us today unless Chey is here working on someone.
She keeps her own hours and has a key to come and go as she pleases.
Let’s grab some drinks from the staff kitchen, and then you girls can help me with some flower arrangements,” Sally explained.
Cecilia noticed the clean, fresh smell. She had attended funerals over the years, and some of the places had a stale smell as if time had stood still.
They picked out drinks and followed Sally into a large room with coolers taking up one twenty-foot wall. A five-foot area of the cooler held flowers already in arrangements. The rest of the coolers had buckets filled with flowers and green stems separated by color and kind of flower.
“I need to make arrangements for a bridal shower this weekend. I thought you both might like some flowers for your rooms at the clubhouse, and it would be a great way to learn,” Sally proposed, gesturing toward the vibrant coolers.
“Yay, can we pick the flowers?” Calliope chimed in.
“Well, of course,” Sally replied warmly.
“Now, making a flower arrangement is a little different than, say, if we were putting together the flowers to plant in the containers out front by the doors. If we were doing a container, we’d want what we call thrillers, spillers, and fillers.
Thrillers are your colorful flowers that are the base of your arrangement.
Fillers are the greens and small fillers like baby’s breath.
Spillers are the trailing plants that go down the side of the container.
Since these are a flower arrangement, we’ll have thrillers and fillers.
Now, let’s pick our colors and flowers,” Sally instructed, leading them to the case.
Cecilia enjoyed just being in the moment and learning about flowers. Sally had them pick out which vases they wanted in their rooms and then hooked a little grid on the top of each vase that would keep the flowers in a certain position.
“How did you and Dragon meet?” Cecilia asked. Their relationship was such a blend of personalities. Dragon, the club President, and Sally, his Ol’ Lady, but there were times Dragon deferred to Sally.
“Oh, it was in unusual circumstances that we’ll have to discuss sometime over drinks,” Sally teased, winking and nodding to Calliope.
Cecilia wondered how wild the story was if Sally didn’t want to tell it with Calliope around. Calliope had picked purple, yellow, and white flowers for her arrangement. Following Sally’s directions, Cecilia had to admit that hers looked pretty good.
Cecilia had picked three variations of yellow. She usually had a pretty sunny personality, but she’d been having a hard time seeing the good the last couple of days. Having the sunny bouquet on the kitchen table would be a visible reminder of all the good things in the world.
“I come bearing gifts,” a voice called from the hallway.
“Brace yourself,” Sally whispered.
Cecilia wasn’t sure what she’d expected after Sally’s comment, but it wasn’t the woman who walked in the door.
Her hair was a mishmash of braids, some with woven-in beads and some with flowers.
Her face was absolutely stunning, with a glowing tan.
She had on a long, flowy skirt, multiple bracelets that jingled as she moved, and a tank top.
She carried two large containers of flowers.
“Who are your friends?” the woman asked, placing the containers of flowers on the counter.
“Really? You expect me to believe that Mav or Harley didn’t call or text you?” Sally challenged.
The woman grinned and giggled. “Okay, Harley did first, then Mav. Hi, I’m Willow, Sally and Dragon’s daughter. I also claim Mav, Torrent, and Harley as brothers.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Cecilia said, wondering why Willow hadn’t been at their wedding.
Willow gave her a hug then walked over to Calliope. “You must be my new niece, Calliope. Has Torrent shared that I have a farm with animals, a flower garden and a vegetable garden?” she asked, her eyes bright.
Calliope let Willow hug her.
“He hasn’t but it’s been busy,” Calliope murmured softly.
“Oh, I like that you’re defending him. I’m sorry I missed the wedding. I was at a show buying more seeds and implements,” Willow explained, pulling Sally in for a hug.
Willow sat down beside them as they worked on their arrangements.
Cecilia found her easy to talk to. She promised that she had lots of stories to share about Mav and Torrent in high school.
Cecilia would love to know more about the man she was married to.
She wondered if he had always been grumpy and quiet or if prison had done that to him.
The slam of a door echoed loudly down the hallway outside the room. Sally reached into her purse and pulled out a gun, as did Willow. Willow stood up and walked to the side of the room where someone walking in the door couldn’t see her.
“Girls, come get behind me,” she directed.
Cecilia and Calliope got behind her, and Cecilia had Calliope scoot down onto the floor.
Torrent came running into the room, skidding to a halt, Maverick and Dragon right behind.
“Oh, fuck, you’re okay,” he panted, his chest heaving.
“Why wouldn’t we be? Is there another threat?” Sally demanded.
“Cecilia wasn’t answering her phone, and neither were you. No one knew where you were,” Dragon said, walking toward them.
Calliope stood up. “Yes, they did. The woman that glares at Cecilia saw us leave,” she insisted.
Sally laid her gun on the table and pulled her phone out of her purse. She held the phone up to Dragon.
“No one called me,” she stated flatly.
Dragon stared at her phone.
“Can I see your phone, Cecilia?” he asked.
Cecilia pulled hers out of her pocket and handed it to Torrent after checking that there weren’t any missed calls. After Torrent looked at the phone, he stared at Dragon.
“Any ideas?” Torrent pressed.
Dragon shook his head. “I’ll have Gunner look into it.”
“That was exciting. If you ladies are done with your bouquets, we could go back to the clubhouse. I brought a game system from my room into the main clubhouse. I challenge you to a tournament, Miss Calliope,” Maverick announced with a grin.
“Seriously, you get married and don’t even say hi to me,” Willow whined.
Torrent’s mouth quirked up in a hint of a smile. “Willow, good to see you,” he greeted her, pulling her in for a hug.
“Getting married without me was rude,” Willow joked, kissing Torrent’s cheek above his beard.
“Club…”
“I know, I know, I know. Club business because the club is above everything. I think that has been drilled in enough over the years,” Willow interrupted, rolling her eyes.
“Glad it finally sunk in that last quarter inch,” Dragon teased.
“Love you, Dad,” Willow breathed, hugging him tightly.
“Love you, too. You bring some good stuff?” Dragon asked, kissing the top of her head.
“Let’s get back to the tournament I’m challenging Calliope to,” Maverick reminded them, clapping his hands together.
Calliope smiled and laughed. Her giggles made Cecilia feel better, but she couldn’t shake the feeling there was something going on. Why would the men say they tried to call but she and Sally didn’t have any missed calls?
“I accept your challenge. You’re going down,” Calliope promised.
Torrent’s hand on the back of her waist as she carried her flowers out felt good.
He’d been very careful with his touches, but she could see that not knowing where she and Calliope were had shaken him.
She’d be a liar if she said it didn’t please her to know she mattered to him.
He’d looked so relieved when he’d seen her.
Torrent kept an eye on Calliope playing the video game with Maverick. Cecilia was sitting by him while she, Willow, and Sally chatted.
“Hey, Torrent, can you and Cecilia come chat with Dragon and me in his office?” Ashe requested.
Torrent wasn’t sure what was up, but the look on Ashe’s face concerned him.
“Hey, Cecilia, Dragon would like to talk with us,” he noted softly.
“I’ll hang with Calliope and Maverick,” Willow offered.
He led her down the hall to Dragon’s office. He’d had his hand on her waist leaving the mortuary, and she hadn’t shied away, but he still wanted to be careful. He’d noticed her flinch mid-sentence with Sally the moment Maverick yelled at his game.
Dragon was behind his desk and motioned to the two chairs in front of him. Torrent sat down after Cecilia had settled in her chair.
“What’s up?” Torrent asked.
“Nothing good. You’d asked about Calliope’s backpack.
Since we hadn’t done anything with the car, it was still in the backseat.
Ashe opened it as he brought it back. It has some concerning items in it that I wanted to talk about with both of you before it was given back to Calliope,” Dragon disclosed, motioning to Ashe to show them.
Ashe pulled out two pocketknives and laid them on the desk.
Cecilia swallowed hard. “We sold those at the store. Calliope slipped one of those in my sleeve. It’s how I killed him,” she admitted.
Dragon nodded, and Ashe pulled out a pair of scissors, a steak knife, and a large butcher knife, laying them on the desk.
Torrent stared at the items, wondering how Calliope had gathered all of them.
“Did she go in the kitchen? I don’t remember you saying she was in there,” Torrent asked gently, his eyes searching hers.
Cecilia reached for the large butcher knife, shaking her head. “No, she went down the hall to her room and came back. She wasn’t ever in the kitchen.”
Dragon watched the exchange silently as Ashe pulled out a hammer and two screwdrivers. One of the screwdrivers had a nine-inch shank.
Torrent wondered why the hell a ten-year-old would have all of this in her room, and he wasn’t liking the answer he was coming up with.
“Is that all?” Torrent pressed.
Dragon’s grave expression remained unchanged. “This is why I wanted to speak with both of you. It seems strange Calliope would have all of these items in her room,” he pointed out.
Cecilia sat in the chair, trembling. Torrent reached over, holding his hand out if she wanted to hold it, but he wasn’t touching her unless she asked. Her hand grabbed his and held on.
“I need time to think,” Cecilia said.
Dragon nodded. Torrent appreciated how soft Dragon was being with Cecilia.
“Okay, darlin’, but we’re going to keep the backpack until someone discusses with Calliope why these weapons were in her bedroom,” Dragon explained softly.
Cecilia nodded.
Torrent stood up and waited on Cecilia. They went out to the main room.
“I need quiet to think. Can you keep Calliope busy so I can go to our room?” she requested, her voice barely a whisper.
“Sure,” he reassured her, keeping an eye on her until she walked up the stairs to their suite.
Once she was gone from his view, he headed over to join the video game tournament that Mav had organized. Maybe mindlessly playing the game would have him coming up with another answer for all the weapons in her room besides the one that was making his stomach churn.