CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Laurel
The next morning, Bryan slipped away from me before the sun was up. He left me with a kiss on my forehead and a sweet whispers of how much he loved me.
I was half asleep but somehow aware of what was going on. After the door closed behind him, I chose to let myself drift off again.
I knew it. I had no idea how I knew, but I did. It was a feeling that had settled into my bones.
They had him.
I didn’t know where.
I didn’t know if he was still alive.
But I did know that they had him.
I found some kind of comfort in that. Enough to where I didn’t ask what was going on. There was a moment when Bryan looked at me and I knew that he would always take care of me. He would do everything to make sure I was safe. And now, he would make sure the things that had become my living nightmares would see a fitting end.
I woke hours later. Or so I figured because the sun was now up and the light was streaming into the room.
I took a quick shower and threw on something comfy but decent enough to step outside of the room in.
As I opened the door, I wasn’t at all surprised to see that there was someone standing near.
“Colby,” I greeted.
“Ma’am,” he said with a tip of his head.
I didn’t bother correcting him about calling me that and how it made me feel old. I had a feeling it wasn’t going to do any good.
“Do you cook?” I asked.
“Not so great, no,” he answered.
“Well, neither do I, or so I think. I haven’t really tried. Come on, let’s go see how many things we can ruin.”
He followed behind me as we made our way to the kitchen. I wanted to do something nice for the guys. I figured breakfast was a good idea. How hard could it really be to make something? I mean, people did it all the time, right?
I searched the pantry until I found a huge box of pancake mix.
“Alright,” I said to no one in particular. “This shouldn’t be too hard. I can follow directions.”
Colby got out a huge mixing bowl for me and I got to work. I read the directions twice, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything.
“There’s a griddle plate for the stove,” Colby said and bent down to look for it in one of the bottom cabinets.
He was also nice enough to set it up and get it heating for me.
“How old are you, Colby?” I asked trying to make some kind of conversation as I poured circles of batter on the griddle.
“Twenty-two.”
“Did you go to college?”
“No, ma’am. I had a sick momma that I had to take care of.”
“Oh,” I replied not really sure what to say. “I didn’t do the whole college thing either.”
“It’s not for everyone,” he said.
I flipped the first one over and realized that I had done it too soon. I made a mess. The second one I waited too long and when I turned it over, it was black. I wondered what the smell was. I kept messing with the heat, turning it up and then back down. None of them came out right.
“I’m not very good at this, am I?” I asked shaking my head and laughing.
“No. Sorry to say, but you’re not. I honestly could never do pancakes myself. I like waffles because the waffle maker has that little light that tells you when they’re done.”
“Oh!” I said excitedly. “That would have been so much easier. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“You seemed hell-bent on making pancakes once you found that box.” He gave a half-shrug and a shy smile.
I laughed.
“Fine. You have a point.”
Just then, Bryan walked into the kitchen. He wrapped me up in his arms and by the strong, fresh scent, I could tell that he had just gotten out of the shower.
“Do I even want to know?” he asked as he pulled back a little and looked over at the stove.
“No,” Colby and I said in unison.
Bryan raised a brow and looked back and forth between us. Then he smiled and shook his head.
“You know she’s mine right?” He looked at Colby with a deadly expression on his face but I could tell he was just messing around. It was all in the tone, it was playful.
“Stop it,” I said swatting his hard stomach.
“Come on,” he said reaching for my hand. “Prospect, clean this up and then get your ass to the hospital. It’s that time.”
I didn’t have a chance to ask what was going on or where we were going. Or even say that I didn’t want to leave the mess there for Colby to clean up. That wasn’t fair at all especially when the whole thing had been my idea.
“It’s what they gotta do, baby,” he said like he could read my mind. “Now, get your ass up to the room and get changed.”
He swatted me on the butt, effectively making me yelp and giggle at the same time.
“Jeans,” he said when I was about to open my mouth to ask him what I should wear.
So much for me trying to be sly and get some information out of him. Wherever he was taking me, he wasn’t letting me in on it.
I was a little surprised when he turned into the hospital. Only because he made it seem like we were doing something different. He had never cared what I wore here before. But then he headed past the main entrance and parked in front of a building off to the side. It wasn’t all that hard to figure out what part of the hospital this was because it was written on the outside.
“Why are we here?” I asked with confusion ringing in my tone.
“Just come on.” He playfully pulled me along.
No one stopped him as he strolled right in wearing his cut and looking like a biker up to no good. In fact, the old lady at the desk smiled at him like she knew him. Doors opened without us even being questioned.
And it was on the third floor that I found out why.
We greeted Mouse and Ky. There were a few other members that sent us that chin jerk thing that is like a silent ‘hello’ I assumed. I, however, did not chin jerk back because I didn’t feel like I could pull it off. I wasn’t some macho man Neanderthal, after all. I only meant that in the nicest way possible.
Then I saw all the bags that reminded me of what I imagined Santa had when I was a kid. They were overflowing with stuffed animals. A few of the guys were dressed up. Some of them even going all out and wearing spandex superhero costumes.
“Um,” I said looking at the guy in the far corner. “Why is that one dressed like a unicorn? And shouldn’t he be like down on his hands and knees? It just looks weird with him walking all human-like.”
“Because little girls like unicorns, right? And that was the best we could do. One time, we had one of the prospects dress up like a princess. Some of the parents weren’t so happy about that one.”
That sparked an idea in my head. But it turned out that I didn’t even have to say the thought out loud.
“You wanna dress up like a princess, baby?” Bryan asked me with a soft, sweet look on his face.
“Yes,” I said with a smile spread wide on my face.
“I’ll make it happen next time. I promise.”
He pulled me into his side.
The next few hours were spent going room to room and talking to all of the kids. It was so amazing to see the strength in all of them. They didn’t let the fact that they were sick get them down. And you could tell they were really excited to see the guys there. A few of them shared secret handshakes, which let me know this was something they did often.
I read some stories and even ended up attempting to paint some nails. I wasn’t great, but they didn’t seem to mind all the excess paint all over their fingers.
“Thank you,” I said after it was over and we were standing next to his bike.
“I kind of figured you needed it as much as them.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Maybe I had been lost. But I was slowly starting to find my way with a little help from him.
It turned out the day wasn’t over.
He took me to a hair salon and told me to get whatever I wanted done. I was nervous and I hated that he was paying for it, but the look on his face told me not to argue.
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I could cut it all off and start fresh. Maybe even find a new look. But in the end, I decided to keep the long hair and go a shade in between the golden blonde I had before and the ash blonde I was naturally.
“You look beautiful,” he said the moment I walked up to him. And he kissed me like he was trying to prove that point. “Now, you ready for dinner?”
“I could eat. What do you have in mind?”
“Cami told me about a place,” he said cryptically.
I shrugged and decided that I was along for the ride.
But when he stopped outside of the Phoenix Fire Café, I started to feel a little dizzy and unsure.
I understood what he was trying to do and I really hated to let him down.
But I wasn’t that girl anymore. And I thought that maybe I never really had been.
It didn’t matter that we were dressed the way we were because places around here added casual to pretty much everything. You could eat at upscale restaurants wearing jeans and no one would care. I also had a feeling it wouldn’t matter because Bryan would get a table no matter what, that was just the kind of guy he was. He didn’t give a crap what people thought. Even though I didn’t really see him eating at a place like this. He was clearly doing this for me.
Really, none of that mattered. Not that I didn’t feel made-up enough to walk in there or that I could run into someone I might know. And it wasn’t that I was ashamed to be seen with Bryan because that hadn’t even entered into my mind as I sat there and stared at the golden phoenix that was on the door.
“What is it?” he asked as he half-turned to look at me.
Maybe the fact that I hadn’t made a move to get off the bike had been a dead giveaway to my hesitation. He seemed so excited about this idea that I really hated to tell him this wasn’t what I wanted. And I didn’t want him to think it was for all the reasons that weren’t true.
“Cami said you love this place.”
“I used to. Maybe. I don’t know,” I said and bit my lip.
“Okay,” he said slowly. “Tell me what’s going on here.”
“I don’t want to go to some fancy place and eat a salad.”
“Well then don’t get a salad. I’m sure there’s other shit on the menu.”
“No,” I said and let out a frustrated breath. “I don’t want to eat here at all. Can’t we just go get burgers or tacos or something normal? This isn’t me. This isn’t… us.”
There was a smile that spread across his face so slowly that it was almost agonizing. When it was fully there, it made my heart flutter like crazy.
“That’s all you had to say, my Queen.”
I settled against his back again, with my arms wrapped tight around his waist.
We ended up at a tiny place that I had never seen before. We ordered burgers and shakes and it felt like a date straight out of the fifties. I loved it. It couldn’t have been more perfect.
Suddenly, I realized nothing mattered outside of this bubble. Not the man that took me or the things that might come tomorrow. Not the fact that I felt like I was starting all over, yet again. Or that I didn’t really know who I was.
It didn’t matter because I knew he would take care of the things I couldn’t. He would get revenge for me and his family. He would be by my side to catch me when I stumbled. And he would pull me up when I fell down. He wouldn’t let me take on the world alone, but he also wouldn’t do it for me. Because he knew. He understood me so well.
That was what I loved the most.
That I had a partner in this life.
And I saw it all with him.
The family gatherings.
The time in between that was all ours.
The house.
The kids.
Everything.
Forever.