Epilogue
Kennedy
Two years later
Two years ago, I’d sat at a banquet with Reed and Trinity, only to have our whole lives shattered by the arrival of his ex-wife. It seemed like a lifetime ago. So much had happened since then. It hadn’t taken long for me to move in with them. I stopped being the nanny and the cook shortly after and became a loving girlfriend and part of the family. I continued working for Camille but worked only during the hours that Trinity was at school. On the days when I had to work longer, we got someone in to help. As it turned out, I didn’t want to leave my job with Camille. It was perfect for me.
Only two weeks ago, Camille had asked me if I still wanted to own my own restaurant and I’d laughed at the idea.
“I forgot about that dream,” I said. “Wow, things have certainly changed. I actually don’t want to do that anymore.”
“Really?” she’d asked.
“Yeah. Really. I’m just happy working with you. I love my job.”
“Oh, that’s a relief,” she said.
“Cam, it’s been two years. Do you really think I would leave?”
“I wasn’t sure. I mean, there was a time when you really didn’t want to work with us. Remember that?”
I chuckled. “I remember. But I had no idea how much I would enjoy it. Anyway, starting my own business would be too much. I enjoy the freedom that this job gives me. I get to do what I love and still enjoy my time with Reed and Trinity. It’s a win-win.”
She smiled. “I’m glad. So, I hear we’re all going to a banquet for Reed’s work soon?” she asked.
“You’re coming too?”
“You didn’t know? Yeah. Reed invited myself and Mark.”
“That’s nice. He’s probably winning another award and wants to show off,” I said. “Although, he’ll never admit to it.”
She giggled. “That’s kind of sweet, isn’t it?” she said.
I smiled. “It is.”
Now, I was getting ready for the big day. I’d asked Reed if he was going to be winning anything, but he said he had no idea. I wasn’t so sure if I believed him because he had a huge grin on his face when he said it. Camille was right; it was sweet that he wanted everyone there.
Trinity had asked if she could do my hair for me, and she was now attempting to curl the bottom. Reed walked in and shook his head.
“What on earth is going on here?” he said.
“Oh, Trinity has turned into a hairdresser,” I said casually.
Trinity was eight years old now, with more confidence than ever before. She’d grown into such a happy little girl, and the two of us were closer now than we had ever been, even at the beginning. We’d been through a lot together, and I often felt like we were kindred spirits. I may not have given birth to her, but she felt every bit like a daughter to me. She’d called me ‘mom’ once in her sleep, which I’d never forgotten.
Reed raised his eyebrows, and I could see that he thought she was not doing a very good job at it. I tried not to laugh at his expression. I could see that he didn’t want to hurt his daughter’s feelings. Instead, he just smiled and told me that I looked beautiful. When Trinity ran to her room to get ready, I quickly fixed up the messy parts. I had no idea how Trinity had managed to get my hair looking like I had just woken up. If that was what she was going for then she had done a sterling job.
“I didn’t want to embarrass you at the banquet,” I said as I curled the edges and tried to fix her mistakes.
“Are you kidding me? You could arrive in your pajamas and you still wouldn’t embarrass me.”
“Well, this dress is actually a bit on the uncomfortable side. And I have some beautiful new pajamas that I would love to wear today. You sure you don’t mind?” I asked.
“Uh . . . well . . . .”
I burst out laughing. I loved that he really believed I was going to do that to him. “I’m just kidding. I’m not going to change into pajamas. I love this dress.”
He looked relieved. “I think you look beautiful. But, I would’ve been okay with the pajamas, you know.”
Reed looked so nervous on the way to the banquet hall, and when I looked at him and asked him what was wrong, he just shrugged.
“I mean, they might call me up,” he said. “And I get nervous when I have to be up in front of people.”
“I knew it!” I said.
“You knew what?”
“I knew that you had won an award. No wonder you’re nervous. But don’t be. This is amazing news. Ah, my talented boyfriend,” I said and smiled at him. “I’m proud of you, Reed.”
“Thank you, Ken.”
But moments later, I noticed that we weren’t going the right way, and I frowned when we pulled up at my work.
“Huh? What are we doing here?” I asked.
“Oh, we’re picking up Camille,” he said. “She asked for a ride. Didn’t she tell you?”
“She didn’t. And you’re getting her from work instead of home,” I said and shook my head. “I swear, that girl works too hard. She’s always here, so I’m definitely not surprised. Are we waiting in the car?”
“I don’t see her. Let’s go inside and see what’s taking her so long. You’re right; she’s probably working. You’re going to have to drag her out of there. You and Trin can do that. She won’t listen to me.”
I laughed and climbed out the car. The building looked magical at night. Little lights dotted the outside, and the entire place was lit up. For a moment I just stood there staring up at it and taking it all in. It almost didn’t look real. It looked like something straight from a movie. Even Trinity sighed beside me.
“It’s so beautiful. I’ve never seen it at night,” she said in awe.
“Me neither. It’s wonderful. No wonder Camille likes to work here late at night. It’s gorgeous. Well, let me go and find Camille. She’s probably in her office.”
“I’ll wait here,” Reed said.
“Me too,” Trinity said, and I had a feeling that she just wanted to stand and look at the building some more.
I walked inside, peering into the darkness and calling out her name, but she was nowhere to be seen. I chuckled to myself. She was more than likely waiting at home to be picked up, and Reed had probably gotten the details wrong. The two of them were always getting their wires crossed. I did one last check, but she was definitely nowhere to be seen. I walked out to tell Reed, but he wasn’t where I had left him, and neither was Trinity. What was going on?
“Reed?” I called out. I looked toward the car, but it was also empty.
“Over here,” he said, and when I looked toward the sound of his voice, I saw some light in the distance.
I walked toward the light and inhaled deeply when I found them. Trinity and Reed were sitting on a picnic blanket surrounded by little candles in the shape of a heart. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, but I was still completely confused as to what was going on. Moments ago I thought we were on our way to the banquet hall.
“What . . . I don’t understand? The banquet . . . .”
Reed laughed. “There’s no banquet.”
“What do you mean?”
“Come join us in the heart,” Reed said.
I stepped over the candles and sat inside the heart with them. Trinity was grinning so broadly I thought her mouth was going to crack.
“What’s going on?” I asked them both.
“Trinity and I have been planning this for weeks,” Reed said. “She’s actually the one that helped put this whole thing together. I tell you what; she definitely has a future in event planning. She was brilliant. We wanted to surprise you.”
“Did we surprise you?” Trinity asked. She looked as if she might burst at any moment.
“I’m suitably surprised,” I said. I couldn’t believe that they had done all of this without me even suspecting a thing. I was usually so good at detecting when something was going on but they had not seemed suspicious at all. “So, there’s no banquet? I thought you were winning a prize?”
“I am. Well, hopefully,” he said.
“I don’t understand.”
“Kennedy, will you be my prize tonight?”
“Your prize?”
He grinned. “Will you marry me?” he asked.
I stared at him in shock as the words slowly started to filter into my brain.
“Really?” I asked.
He laughed. “Really.”
“Come on,” Trinity said. “You’re supposed to say ‘yes’ now.”
I laughed too. “Sorry, I’m just in shock. Yes! Of course, I’ll marry you!”
“Dad! The ring!” Trinity hissed. I had a feeling that she had the whole thing planned out for Reed. He was probably supposed to be following a certain set of rules that she had put together. I could imagine the two of them practicing at home when I wasn’t around, and the very thought of that warmed my heart.
“Oh, I forgot,” he said, and Trinity shook her head in dismay. He got out a little box from his jeans and opened it up. He took out the most beautiful little diamond ring that I had ever seen. It was so elegant and perfect and exactly the type of thing that I would’ve picked for myself. I had never been one for flashy jewelry, and this was something I could easily imagine wearing for the rest of my life.
He started to put it on me, but Trinity stopped him.
“Dad, you’re forgetting . . . .” she hissed.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “Sorry. Take a look at the ring,” he told me. “Look on the inside of the band.”
I held the ring to one of the candles for some light, and I giggled with delight when I saw what he had gotten engraved. Petunia and Peter forever.
“That is the best!” I said. I loved the fact that we shared a joke that only we would understand. He took the ring back and put it on my finger and then he kissed me.
“Sorry,” I said to Trinity who always hated it when she saw us kissing.
She laughed. “This time I don’t mind.”
“I love you, Kennedy.”
“I love you, Reed.”
We kissed again and then turned to Trinity, “And we love you, Trin.”
“Does this mean you’ll become my mom?” Trinity asked.
I grinned. “You better believe it. I told you that I would never leave you.”
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DIRTY BIKER
By Alycia Taylor
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Alycia Taylor
Chapter One
Ian
I could never understand why people worked in a job they didn’t like. Sure, they needed money. But when did their passions leave them? When did they stop working toward a career they actually enjoyed? I’d been told that I like my job too much, if there was such a thing. But how could I not? I got to play around with motorcycles all day. They’d been a part of my life since I was just a little kid, and my love for them had only gotten stronger as I’d gotten older. There was just something about knowing how it all worked that made riding them even better. I could clearly remember the first bike I worked on. My father had let me help in in the shop, and he’d told me that I had an aptitude for it that he’d never seen before. And I knew he wasn’t just saying that to me because I was his son. He was a no-bull sort of man, and when he said something, you always knew that he meant it. From that very first day, I knew that it was what I wanted to do with my life. And I’d been doing it from such a young age that it now came naturally to me.
I had my head under one of the bikes that had been dropped off yesterday morning when my father walked in.
I didn’t see him at first. If I had, I would’ve seen him survey the shop and shake his head in despair. Instead, I heard him cough and I turned my head to see who it was. I probably should’ve known that it was going to be him. He had a very distinct cough, and he was always popping into the shop to see how things were going. But I’d been concentrating too hard on the bike to really notice what was around me.
“Oh, hey, Dad,” I said and crawled out from under the bike. I stood up to shake his hand.
I got along well with my father, but he’d always demanded respect from his sons. My other brothers often didn’t show it to him, but I probably had just the right amount of fear to give it. He shook my hand firmly and frowned.
“Ian, what’s going on here?” he asked.
“What do you mean, Dad? I’m working.”
“Did you get that bike yesterday?”
It still amazed me how he knew every bike intimately, even if he’d only seen them for a few minutes. He could pick out a bike from a lineup without fail. If people thought that I was passionate about motorcycles, then they had clearly never met my father.
“Yes, it came through yesterday morning. It’s Trevor Lynn’s bike. Remember him? He used to live a few blocks down from us all those years back. The guy with the funny mouth. I hadn’t seen him in such a long time. I’ll tell you, I never pegged him as the motorcycle sort of dude, but clearly, I was wrong.”
My father nodded impatiently. “Yes, I know who Trevor is. I think he started riding because of me. But you should be done with this bike by now. A whole lot of new ones came in this morning.”
I followed his gaze toward the row of bikes in the corner and sighed. “Yeah, I know, Dad. It’s just that we’re so busy right now. I thought that you’d be happy about that. There was a time when we were worried about keeping the shop open, but now we have more customers than ever. I don’t know how it happened, but they love us.”
“Yes, that’s good. Of course it is. I’m very happy about that. But the reason people come to this shop is not just because we are good at what we do: it’s because of the quick turnaround time. Things have changed these days. People have become impatient. Sure, they want the job to be done well, but they now also want the job to be done quickly. It’s just the way that the world is going. Now, you know I can’t work like I used to, and you’re running the show now. But you need to make some smart decisions, too. You’re not just working on the bikes now, but you’re also running a business.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked. I wasn’t sure I liked where this conversation was going. Especially since I had been working hard all day without any breaks. I could have used a cup of coffee and a sandwich, but I’d been putting off lunch so I could get the work done. Did my father not see how hard I worked?
“All I’m saying is that you might need to start thinking about hiring some more mechanics. I know we’ve had this conversation before, but maybe it’s time you really sat down and gave it some serious thought.”
I shook my head. “No way, Dad. I don’t want some random person coming into this shop to work. This is our family business.”
“A ‘family business’ that only you and I care about,” my dad said. “Which is fine, but it does mean that we should think about getting some more hands on deck.”
I sighed. He wasn’t wrong. I had four brothers, and while they all loved bikes, none of them had an interest in running the shop. I’d even once asked my cousins if any of them wanted to be a part of the business, but they’d all said no. And I had six male cousins who would’ve been a great help to us. I had no idea why it was only me that had wanted to continue in my father’s footsteps. But perhaps that was for the better, though; I’m not sure if I’d even want to work with them, anyway.
“Don’t forget Chris,” I reminded him. Chris was my best friend, and the only person I really trusted in the shop with me. I hadn’t hesitated to say yes when he’d first asked if he could help out in the shop. Anyway, sometimes he felt more like a brother to me than my actual brothers did.
“I know you have Chris. But two guys doing all this work is simply not going to be enough. Look at all the bikes you have. How on earth are the two of you going to be able to get those done in enough time to make the customers happy? How do you think they will feel when they come in here and see that you haven’t even started on them yet?”
“We can handle it, Dad. Come on, we’ve just hit a busy patch, but it’s not always like this.”
“But it should be like this. Busy is good. And if you and Chris can’t work faster, then you’re going to have to get some people in to help you.”
“Then we’ll work faster.” My father might be a very determined man, but I was just as willful. He’d allowed me to run the shop, and I wanted to show him that I could do a good job. I had great faith in myself and Chris as a team. We’d always worked well together, and I had no idea why anything should change.
“Fine. Suit yourself. You really are a stubborn one, aren’t you? There are times when you just have to swallow your pride and admit that you need help.”
“But I don’t need help,” I insisted. I stood up straight and looked him in the eye. I was serious, and I wanted him to know that I wasn’t going to back down.
“Hmm,” my father said with uncertainty. I knew he wasn’t going to let this go, but he seemed reluctant to keep going with it now. As usual, he’d let me think he’d forgotten about it and then come back to me in a few weeks and bring it up again. “Anyway, I have to go now. I have a few things that I need to get from the shop. But give some thought to what I said, Ian. I think you should at least give some consideration to what I’m saying. Don’t just shrug it off because of your stubbornness. Think about it. Don’t be stupid, okay? This is our company—our livelihood—and we need to be smart about it.”
I felt annoyed at my father’s words. I was being smart about the company. In fact, I was always putting the company first. I just wasn’t sure if my father realized that. I was still scowling after my father when Chris walked in.
“Whoa. What’s wrong with you, Gunner? You look mad about something.”
I couldn’t help but smile at the nickname. Most people, except my father, called me Gunner. At least I knew that I had Chris on my side. I’d asked my father to call me it once, but he’d refused.
“Ah, it’s my father. He thinks we need more people to help run the shop. He says we are too short-staffed for the amount of work that we have. Obviously, he just caught me at a bad time. I’m usually a lot quicker with the bike, but this one in particular just happened to need a lot of work. Anyway, I’ve heard this story before, and I’m sure I’ll hear it again. But I’m not going to give in. I’m going to prove that I don’t need anyone else here.”
Chris shrugged. “Hey, I don’t think it’s such a bad idea. And I’m all for listening to Pop. That guy knows what he’s doing. I mean, he had this place running smoothly for many years before we got here. He knows things that we don’t know.”
I looked at Chris. “Really? You don’t think it’s a bad idea? Are you crazy?”
“Why not, man? The two of us could definitely use a helping hand. I think it could be pretty cool. Imagine how much more we could get done. We really are a lot busier lately than we used to be, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get quiet any time soon. We could get the new person to do all the jobs that we don’t like doing. And we could probably spend more time doing the bikes that we like rather than rushing. I hate rushing.”
Chris most definitely hated rushing. He was one of the most laid-back guys I’d ever met. My father had once told me that Chris was a good influence on me. He was the calm in my storm. But there were times, like this, when he frustrated me. Although I couldn’t quite get too mad at him. This wasn’t his family business. This was just a job to him. He loved his job, but he’d never feel the same way that I did about it.
“No way. I don’t want other people working in this shop. This is a family business. I don’t want some weirdo here. I already told my father that it’s important to keep this family only.”
“I’m not family.”
“You are to me. I’ve known you long enough, my dad loves you, and I get along better with you than I do with my own brothers. No, this shop is better just being the two of us. We know what we’re doing. And it’s not always this busy. We’ll get through it. You happy to work an extra hour or two tonight?”
Chris shrugged. “Sure, only if you buy me a beer afterward.”
“Now that I can definitely do. You see, we’ve got this. Nobody else would be as dedicated as we are. We don’t need anyone else.”
“Well, I don’t really care, to be honest. I love it here, and your father pays well. And I get to fiddle around with bikes all day. Nothing wrong with that.”
I smiled at him. It always felt good to have someone on my side. “You see? At least you get it. Now, when are you going to join the bike club? I’m glad you’re working here and all, but you’d love the bike club, man. I promise you. It’s so different to this; it’s like the other side of bikes.”
It wasn’t the first time that I’d asked Chris to join the club. Even my brothers were a part of it. But Chris didn’t seem interested. He liked working in the shop but didn’t feel like adding to his responsibilities. I kept telling him that there wasn’t a huge amount that he really had to do, but he was happy to carry on with his life as it was. And he was a very hard person to influence. When Chris set his mind on something, he stuck to it no matter what.
He shook his head, just as I thought he would. “Nah, I’d rather not. Honestly, I’m happy just working here. The club is not for me. Maybe one day.”
I grunted. “Sure, sure. Maybe one day. That’s what you always say. Man, the guys at the club are so much older than me. Most of them, anyhow. It would be cool to have someone my own age around for a change. Anyway, think about it.”
“I will,” he said, and I knew he wouldn’t.
“Now, I better get back to this bike. I’m almost done. If my father walks in again and sees that I’m still working on it, he’s going to have a fit. I swear, that man doesn’t trust me at times.”
“Well, he lets you run the shop. So, I think he trusts you more than you think he does.” Chris, as usual, was sticking up for my father.
I shook my head. “I don’t know so much, Chris.”