Crash & Carnage by Emma Slate

Chapter 24

It wasearly evening when I rolled up to the Queen Anne Victorian house and parked behind a black SUV. Motorcycles and cars already littered the brick driveway.

I was dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a gray turtleneck sweater, my blonde hair in a loose braid down my back. I rang the doorbell. After a few moments and no one answered, I rang it again. Still no answer. I turned the knob on the heavy wooden door with a stained-glass window. It was unlocked, and I walked inside.

If Joni hadn’t warned me about the fixer upper status, I would’ve been horrified. They had their work cut out for them.

I opened the sliding door and went out onto the back patio. Though it was still sunny, there was a nip to the air. Heating lamps had been placed all around the stone terrace.

An old gray u-shaped couch graced the edge of the patio with a matching wicker table that was covered in cups. The Old Ladies were sitting and talking, while a few children played cornhole on the lawn. The Blue Angels were nowhere to be found.

“Linden!” Joni greeted, hopping off the couch and coming toward me. She looked me up and down. “You weren’t wearing that this morning. Did you go shopping? I know you didn’t drive all the way back to Dallas just to change clothes.”

“Good God, no,” I said with a laugh. “I always have spare clothes in the back of my car. You never know when you’re going to need them.”

She smiled. “Can I get you a drink?”

“That sounds good.” I handed her the orchid I’d picked up at a plant nursery in town.

“Thank you! I’ll plant it this spring in the new garden—if it survives until then. I have a brown thumb, but I’m determined to get better. This is the perfect gift!”

“I’m glad you like it,” I said, feeling my insides warm.

“Let’s get you a drink.” She headed to the makeshift bar, which was a few feet away from a gas grill. “Red wine, white, something stronger?”

“Oh, red, please.”

She lifted a bottle of red and uncorked it, then poured me a serving in a plastic wine glass. “Have you been at Boxer’s this whole time?”

I shook my head. “I left when he headed out for church. I wanted to buy you a plant and now here I am. This commuting for a relationship is kind of a pain in the butt.”

“You could move here.”

“It’s a little too early to be talking about that,” I protested.

“Is it?” She studied me for a moment and then smiled. “Come sit. The guys are in the garage. When they come back, we’re grilling.”

She looped her arm through mine and pulled me in the direction of the Old Ladies.

“Hey, Linden,” Mia said with a smile.

“Hi,” I said.

“Sit,” Rachel said, getting up and pulling over a chair.

“Thanks.” I sat and took a drink of my wine.

A woman I didn’t recognize said, “Hi, I didn’t get a chance to meet you the other night at the clubhouse party.” Her hair was teased to high heaven, and she had a rocking body. “I’m Darcy.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“So,” Joni began, taking the empty chair next to me. “What do you think of the house?”

I looked at her and then gazed at the other Old Ladies. All of their expressions were casually blank. “It’s got great bones,” I said diplomatically.

Peals of laughter echoed in the air.

“It’s a fucking mess!” Joni said with a snort.

“You did tell me it was a fixer upper,” I reminded her.

“About a month ago, Zip surprised me by handing me the keys. I just about strangled him when we walked in. But he said when he saw it, he knew it was perfect for us. We’re going to breathe life back into the house.”

“I love that so much,” I said.

“Zip wanted a nest,” Mia said with a grin.

“Took him long enough,” Joni said dryly, fiddling with the simple, unadorned gold band on her ring finger. She looked at me. “We started with the patio and the upstairs because that’s where we spend most of our time. The downstairs is a shitshow, and I wince every time I see it.”

“You’ll get it sorted, and it will be beautiful,” I assured her.

“You guys have gotten a lot done in a short amount of time,” Darcy said. “This patio is a work of art.”

“That’s what happens when you have prospects at your disposal.” Joni shook her head. “I’m not above using young brawn to speed this process along.”

Rachel laughed. “Young, shirtless, brawn, yes? Please tell me they walk around shirtless and wearing tool belts.”

“Perhaps,” Joni said with a devilish smile.

“I still haven’t seen the upstairs,” Rachel said.

“Later, after we eat, I’ll give you the tour,” Joni said.

I looked out across the lawn to stare at the kids and gestured at them with my chin. “Who’s who?”

“The tall lanky one is Silas. He’s mine,” Mia said.

“The other two are mine. Cam and Lily,” Darcy explained.

Allison adjusted the sleeping baby in her arms who was swaddled and protected from the chill. “This is Tank.”

“Tank,” I repeated.

She grinned. “His given name is Jones, but he was ten pounds when he was born, so…”

Rachel shuddered. “I just had the worst visual of what’s going to happen to my vagina.”

“You?” Mia demanded. “I have to go through it first.” She rubbed a hand across her round belly. “Have you seen Colt? He’s a beast. Kid’s gonna be like Godzilla.”

“Reap is not a small man either,” Rachel pointed out.

“None of them are,” Joni said.

The guys came around from the side of the house. Colt and Reap were carting a long folding table, and they set it up on the far edge of the patio. “Doc,” Boxer greeted, wrapping me in a bear hug from behind. “How long have you been here?”

I looked up at him and smiled. “A few minutes.”

He kissed me on the lips, and I thought for a moment about being embarrassed, but these people had already witnessed Boxer pulling me away from a party and disappearing for hours.

There was no point being self-conscious, and I chose to ignore the stares in our direction.

“Are you guys done doing manly things in the garage?” Joni asked Zip.

“Yeah, we’re done,” he said with a smirk. “Let’s grill.”

The guys wandered over to the barbecue and bar area, but Boxer remained. “Aren’t you going to join your male brethren?” I asked him.

“Nah. I’d rather stay here and listen to girl talk. You were about to discuss me, weren’t you?” Boxer flashed a teasing grin.

I looked up at him. “How am I supposed to exaggerate your manly attributes if you’re sitting right here?”

“She’s kidding about the exaggeration. I need no exaggeration. Joni can vouch for that, can’t you?”

Boxer winked at Joni who then slugged him in his upper arm. “Ow.”

“That didn’t hurt,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

“Yeah. You’re right. It didn’t hurt.” His smile was strained, and I realized she’d punched him in his injured arm.

She didn’t know he’d been shot.

A heaviness settled over my heart. I didn’t like the secrecy, but it wasn’t my choice about what to share with the Old Ladies.

Joni rose from her seat. “I need some help grabbing the burgers and hot dogs.”

“I’ll help,” I volunteered immediately.

“Me too,” Darcy said.

I hopped up, but before I could follow Darcy and Joni into the house, Boxer’s arms went around me, and he pulled me flush to his chest. We met each other’s gaze, and something passed between us in that moment. He raised his brows, and I shrugged. Now was not the time or the place to have it out about my feelings on how the Blue Angels ran their club or handled the flow of information to the Old Ladies. And more importantly, it wasn’t the time to talk about how he’d steamrolled me and flat out told me I was going to have to live with it.

He ran a hand down the side of my face and pulled me closer for a quick kiss before releasing me.

On my way inside, I caught Mia’s snarky grin. I stuck my tongue out at her, causing her to laugh.

Joni was taking out platters of hamburger patties and hot dogs from the refrigerator and handing them off to Darcy who proceeded to remove the cling wrap. There were different types of salads, platters of fruit, and trays of baked goods.

“How many people are you expecting?” I asked in amazement.

“The Idaho boys are coming over a bit later, but they’re hanging with the younger Blue Angels—the ones that don’t have wives or girlfriends,” Joni explained. “The prospects aren’t allowed to come. They’re on clubhouse guard duty.”

I frowned. “Guard duty?”

“It’s not as sinister as it sounds,” Darcy assured me. “But we have to keep an eye on things. Be alert.”

“Right,” I murmured. “Makes sense.”

Only it didn’t. Not to someone who’d never had to think about things like guard duty.

After Boxer getting shot, things like that shouldn’t have surprised me, but I wasn’t there yet.

“So…” Joni handed me a condiment caddy. “You and Boxer...”

“Me and Boxer what?” I prodded.

“You and Boxer were getting handsy in public, weren’t you?” Joni asked.

“I—er—um—”

Darcy cackled. “Oh, I love this. I love this so much. But now is not the time for this. I want no interruptions from children or a man walking in on our girl talk. Plus, I want wine while I listen to all the juicy details.”

My cheeks flamed. Though I was glad to be included in girl talk, and about to be subjected to their curiosity, I was in no way planning on kissing and telling.

“You’re terrible, Darce,” Joni said with a laugh.

“Me? You’re the one that brought up the two of them getting handsy. I so need the dirt!”

“Why? It’s not like you have to live vicariously,” Joni pointed out. “Gray still looks at you like you’re a steak dinner.”

Darcy beamed. “He does, doesn’t he? Still, it’s fun to hear about the start of something when its new and exciting. Gray still excites me, but after years together and two children, it’s just not the same.”

Joni sighed dreamily. “I can’t wait for all the phases I’ll have with Zip. But right now, I’m enjoying the newly married phase.”

We headed out back to the patio, carting platters and bowls and putting them onto the table. The grill was heating up and like most parties, the guys congregated in one area and the women in another.

A lanky boy sat next to Mia, and she absently brushed his dark hair away from his forehead. She looked at him with love and adoration. Because he was a kid, and a boy no less, he immediately ran his own hand through his hair to make it flop forward again.

“Can I have a cookie?” he asked.

“Just one,” she said. “I don’t want you spoiling your dinner.”

“Mama!” A little blonde girl yelled as she dropped her bean bag and ran to Darcy, wrapping her arms around her mother’s legs. “If Silas can have a cookie, can I have one?”

“Me too?” her brother asked, following at a slower pace.

“Sorry,” Mia said to Darcy.

“You guys can split one,” Darcy said to her children.

“That’s not fair,” Cam whined. “Silas gets his own cookie.”

“Silas is not my child. You are. It’s half a cookie or no cookie at all,” Darcy said in a firm tone.

Silas shot up from the couch and raced to the table, Cam and Lily not far behind him.

“He’s tall,” I said to Mia.

She sighed with maternal pride. “And getting taller every day. Smart as a whip too.”

Baby Tank started to cry, and Allison got up from her seat with a sigh. “I just got comfortable.”

“I’ll change him,” Torque voiced, coming to his wife and son.

“No, he needs to be fed, too,” Allison said. “I can change him.”

“I’ll come with you.” Torque grabbed the diaper bag by Allison’s feet, and they disappeared into the house.

“Did you ever think you’d see the day when Torque would volunteer to change diapers and just sit there while his Old Lady breastfed his kid?” Rachel asked.

Mia shook her head. “You know him better than I do. Though he is finally warming to me.”

“Having Tank softened him,” Darcy said. “Don’t let him hear me say that, but it’s true.”

Mia’s brown eyes shined with happiness. “I can’t wait to see Colt hold our daughter in his arms. There’s something so beautiful about seeing a burly, tatted man cradling an infant.”

Rachel sighed. “Yeah, I can’t wait to see Reap do the same thing with ours.”

“I need a refill,” I said suddenly. “Does anyone need anything?”

“I’m good,” Mia said.

“Me too,” Rachel added.

I escaped the family and father talk, but their conversation hit me deep. They were all so happily settled down with wild and dangerous men, yet it was clear they wouldn’t have chosen anything different. My childhood life had been nothing but fights between my parents, and then my father left. Listening to Mia and the other Old Ladies talk about their men made me realize how much I wanted the same thing. A loving partnership, a family, people I could count on. The insight walloped me hard and fast. I hadn’t expected it.

“Hey, darlin’,” Boxer crooned, sidling up next to me.

Startled, I jumped a bit and sloshed a few drops of wine over the side of the cup onto my hand.

“Sorry.” Boxer took my fingers and brought them to his lips, and with his tongue, lapped up the wine.

My insides heated from the look of promise in his eyes.

“You okay?” he asked, not releasing my hand.

I nodded.

He stared at me for a moment and then he said, “I challenge you to a game of cornhole.”

“You like your games.”

“Some of them.”

I knew we weren’t talking about cornhole.

“You sure you want to challenge me to a lawn game? I’m from Watch Hill. Lawn games are a big deal where I’m from.”

“I’ll take my chances.”