Chapter 37
TRUCK
Moving into the house took more effort than I thought it would.
Rory’s house was a scenario of shall we take this, do we want that, and that took us over a week.
Rory said to leave everything in the kitchen so that the club would have things already in place when they bought it.
I was surprised she sold the house, but as she said, it was something we didn’t need and saved us from renting it out.
Rory has taken to helping the club where finances are concerned.
She only offers help where it’s been asked of her.
She is also helping Shelby check over her finances, and some of the other diners that have small businesses have come to her for advice.
She has told me she’ll not take much work as a financial manager as she loves working in the diner, although she is tired when she comes home in the evening.
I’ve taken to fetching her home, and Fallon has been picking her up as she passes the compound on her way to work.
We settled into our new home, and I love it. The rooms have so much space, and the large windows let the light pour in, making everything feel open and bright.
Rory is talking about getting a dog. Now that did surprise me, but even more of a surprise was the fact she wanted a large dog, and not something to cuddle in her lap.
A German Shepherd, Dobermann, or a Rottweiler is what she is looking at having, but she is doing all the research on each one before she decides.
My only stipulation is that we have a boy dog and not a girl as we don’t want seasons to contend with.
The brothers have been helping in the evenings to strip out and replace the pipework in the pit stop showers.
We replaced the tiles on the walls and replaced the sinks and toilets in the cleaning area of the shower block.
Three showers and the area where anyone can wash their hands, face, and generally freshen up if they don’t need a shower.
There is a warning that the area is monitored with a camera, but not the shower areas themselves.
The last thing we need is some asshole coming into the block and ripping out the sinks and toilet for the fun of it.
Thankfully, it is fully operational and the comments we’ve had from truckers, especially long-haul, have been positive.
Briony comes to work daily, and she comes early, earlier than I thought she would if I’m being honest. She’s turning up at 5:00 a.m. and she’s doing one hell of a good job.
I’m not sure what she’s using to clean, but it’s not that lemon shit we smell everywhere else.
Even hospitals, doctors, and dentist surgeries stink of the nasty lemon crap, but this has a soft smell like lavender, well I think that’s what it is.
Briony also works for me, coming to the house once a week and cleans throughout.
She’s thorough, and I’ve noticed she helps Rory in the yard when asked.
I like her, she’s quiet, gets on with what she must do, and has a softness about her that would make a man protective.
I know Echo has taken a liking to her and after that kiss I saw, she’s doing her best to stay out of his way.
It’s fuckin’ amusing to watch him chase and her dodge.
Briony also works for Tracker at his house.
We all pay her through the club, so she doesn’t have to be self-employed.
Tracker was watching her closely for the first two days, but after that he left her to get on with her work.
He is at the clubhouse all day, sometimes not returning to his house.
Maybe he needs to let his clubroom go so he has to use the house.
He needs a woman, but it’s going to be one that can put up with the shit he gets into.
He is a complicated man, but he’s a good one, even though he can take out the trash without blinking.
Cilla and Rory are still going shopping to get things they’ve forgotten to get.
Like kitchen weighing scales, yeah, you heard right, kitchen things for cooking and baking.
Oh, and for the cookouts that I’m going to be holding with the new grill I had Dice help me build.
Well, I need to stop daydreaming and get on with the job.
I’ve wasted enough time standing outside the gas station store drinking coffee and mulling over my life.
I’m nearly done for the day and head to the counter to speak to Echo who is working today.
Ian is spending much of his time here making sure shelves are full, and the storeroom is kept fully stocked.
The grocery store area of the station surprised us all.
We have regular customers that live close, who use the store regularly.
We have kept our prices reasonable, so we don’t out-price ourselves.
The last thing we need is to be too expensive so our customers cannot afford to shop in the store.
Hearing hogs nearing the gas station, both Echo and I look out of the window.
Tracker, Cap, Finger, and Rides pull into the station and park near the building.
When they walk inside Tracker gives me a nod to follow him.
Which I do, of course. I mean who in their right mind would not do what Tracker wanted, especially when he is in Pres mode?
I follow Tracker through the building and to Bull’s office. Bull looks up and shows the same surprise that I had on my face. But we are both smart enough to wait for what is going on.
Tracker takes a seat and looks from me to Bull and back again. “I’ve been thinking about this asshole who was stalking and the woman that ran that night.”
“Oh, yeah?” Bull says while getting a frown from Tracker for his trouble.
“Yeah. I don’t want any of you looking for her.
Leave her be. If you see her that’s different.
At that time, you can tell her she’s safe and the asshole is no longer a problem.
But I don’t want anyone looking for her because she may think we are part of his stalking shit.
That would be terrifying, and we are not doing that to any woman,” Tracker looks again at each of us.
I’m nodding because I can see the sense in that.
“We haven’t seen anything on the cams. But she can’t live far from here because she’d hardly run the whole length of town to get here to hide. We’ll watch for her but not actively go looking, Pres. I hope she’ll come here eventually so we can tell her she’s safe now.”
I nod in agreement with Bull's statement because she could still be frightened that he’ll find her. Hopefully that will ease when she doesn’t see him around. It may take a while, but eventually I hope she’ll be okay knowing he’s gone.
“Good. If you see her put her mind at rest. If not, don’t go looking. That means you too, Demon,” Tracker states, and we all know Demon would keep looking if not told to leave it be.
“Heard you, Pres,” Demon responds, but for some reason I don’t know if I believe him.
Three hours later at the clubhouse, Rory, who is having a day off from work, and I are chilling. Enjoying an evening together instead of her being at work and me waiting for her to be done.
The common room is quiet. Cilla takes Ayla from Tracker who, of course, had been hogging her for over an hour. Suddenly Tracker goes still, and his eyes widen a fraction as he stares at Cilla.
Everyone in the common room turns to look at Cilla who has gone rigid. Finger notices something is wrong and takes Ayla from Cilla, but he’s watching Cilla closely while he does it.
Cilla has all of us jumping a little when she speaks in a voice that is obviously not hers. It’s deep, gruff, and male. We are all stunned at the sound but wait for what is going to happen next.
“Colt Burrows, otherwise known as Tracker, brother-in-arms, veteran of the Marine Corps, listen carefully. We are not leaving you any time in the future. We are here to stay for a long time.” Cilla is standing so stiffly I’m wondering if she’ll ever be the same again.
“Fuck, is that you, Bono?” Tracker asks, and fuck if we don’t all continue staring at Cilla, but with a renewed interest. Rory, who is standing next to me, grabs my hand and holds onto it tightly.
“Yeah, and I’m learning how to speak to you all through people. But I gotta use...”
Cilla jerks badly, nearly falling on her ass.
Tracker lunges forward and grabs her upper arms to steady her, but she rips herself out of his grasp, and snarls, “Get the fuck out of me, Bono. You ever try that again, and I’ll make sure to find a way of having you move on, whether you like it or not.
” Cilla shudders so badly you can hear her teeth rattling.
“Fucking, stinking, rotten, asshole...” Cilla curses up a storm right as she turns her glare onto Tracker.
Tracker takes a small step back, but we can all see he isn’t frightened of Cilla, or what she will do next. Finger is standing watching in such shock that his mouth is gaping open.
Cilla shudders again, “If you encourage him to do that again I’ll kill you myself. Then I’ll move both of you on faster than you can say jackshit.” Cilla turns to Finger, takes Ayla, and storms out of the common room.
We all look wide-eyed from one of us to the other, but don’t know what we should say, so remain quiet. Tracker shrugs and walks over to the bar, but he’s chuckling to himself.
Rory looks at me and starts to giggle. “Good grief, Truck. I hope they don’t do that to us.”
“I’ll fucking kill them if they try that shit with us, Rory,” I respond sharply.
Rory laughs with her head back, and it’s a sight to see. “Hardly, Truck, they are already dead.”
I chuckle for a moment before responding.
“I wonder if we can learn how to do exorcisms?” I feel a nasty push on my arm, by one or all three of them, so I quickly cover my ass.
“Maybe not!” I’m not wanting the assholes to try that shit on me so I’m going to keep my mouth closed on the subject.
That’s when I feel another push, but gentler. Phew, I think I'm okay now!