Johanna answered the incoming call. "Hello?"

"This is Seattle Penitentiary; will you accept a collect call from inmate... Dean Stanton?"

"Yes." She grabbed the pillow off her bed and squeezed it to her stomach.

"Bug?"

"I'm here." Adrenaline bubbled inside of her. "Everything okay?" she asked, breaking the rule of asking after him on the prison's phone system.

"Yeah."

In less than sixteen hours, Chief would walk out of prison after serving four years. Goosebumps broke out over her arms. She had a hard time believing Chief would be free to walk out of prison and scared to death something would happen that would keep him from returning to her.

"I made ground hamburger today, so tomorrow, all I have to do is throw some seasoning in and make the fixings for tacos." Her voice quivered. "I thought you'd like your favorite meal when you get home."

"You are my favorite meal," he whispered.

She laughed softly, nervous, not to see him, but what would happen between them when they're finally together in the same room. "I hope you're starving," she whispered back.

"You have no fucking clue, bug."

A quiver swept through her, and she hummed, making him chuckle at the effect he was having on her. "I heard tonight that the plan is to pick you up in the morning and bring you home."

The whole club, leaving only a skeleton crew back at the clubhouse, planned to gather on Interstate 5, away from the prison. One of the prospects would follow Keeffe to the penitentiary in Chief's truck with his Harley loaded in the back.

"Are you excited to ride?" she asked.

"Ride home."

She hummed, imagining him coming toward her. "I'm not going to be able to sleep."

"Yeah, me neither." He paused. "I'm going to cut the call early."

"Why?"

"Best if I go back to my cell." He cleared his throat. "Remember what I told you last time."

"I do." She sighed. "That's why I don't want to let you go. If I can hear you, I know everything is okay."

"Go to sleep. Time will go faster."

"I'll try."

"This is it, bug."

She melted, trying to believe. "Yeah."

"Love you.

"I love you, too."

The call disconnected. She flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Being released wasn't a given. Anything could happen up to the moment he stepped out the door that would halt his release. Last phone call made on the burner phone, he'd told her not to get her hopes up. Apparently, there was a prison full of inmates that would try to stop him.

She couldn't understand the mentality behind something so cruel as to deliberately mess with a person's freedom. Over the last four years, her eyes were forced open to how low people could go.

Nene went out of her way to never speak to her—which at first, she thought was a blessing. She'd never liked Chief's relationship with her or the way Nene treated her like a second thought. Karla had loved her one minute, and the next disapproved of everything about her. She touched her chest, running her hand down until her fingers reached between her breasts where Chief's tag should be. Skidd, while she wasn't emotionally connected to him, upset her world.

For the last four months, she'd gone out of her way never to be alone. If she went to the clubhouse, she waited in her car until one of the members came outside and then ran inside. She never stayed out after dark. At night, she listened for the rumble of a motorcycle, afraid Skidd would try and approach her at home.

She'd seen him at parties and coming and going at the clubhouse. She'd even talked to Olin when Skidd stood there pretending nothing had happened. When he'd walked away, he'd practically violated her with his gaze leaving her shaken and knowing he hadn't forgotten his threats.

Her plan to wait and tell Chief about Skidd when he returned from prison to make sure nothing happened to delay his release had turned into not knowing if she should tell him at all. Afraid of losing him again after just getting him home, she had no doubt that Chief would go after Skidd.

But, she had no idea how to explain losing the necklace Chief gave her. He'd ask about it when his life settled down, and things got back to normal. It meant a lot, as much as a wedding ring.

The doorbell rang. She shot out of bed. Caught up in her own dilemma, she hadn't heard anyone pull into the driveway.

Grabbing her cell phone, she walked out to the living room and looked through the front window, spotting Keeffe and his wife, Deana. She stepped over and opened the door.

"Hey, guys." She moved back. "Come on in."

Deana, a petite curvy middle-aged woman who usually only came to the clubhouse on Family Day, entered the house first. "How are you doing?"

"Hanging in there." She stood by the couch. "Can I get you guys a drink?"

"No, we're good." Keeffe sat down on the loveseat next to his wife. "I talked with Chief earlier. At that time, everything is good to go."

She smiled and sat down across from them. "He called a few minutes ago. I can tell he's trying hard not to get his hopes up. I don't know how he's handling everything by himself. I can't even eat or sit down for more than five minutes because I'm a nervous wreck."

Keeffe stood. "I'm going outside for a smoke."

When the door shut, Deana laughed. "I asked him to bring me here."

"Oh." She tried to think why, since she and Deana hadn't had more than an exchange of how-are-you-doing conversations in the last thirteen years when Chief started bringing her around to the clubhouse. "Why?"

"I was a little older than you when I found myself alone with a one-year-old baby and my husband in prison for five years." Deana's gaze softened. "Looking back, I would've given anything to have someone explain to me what would happen when Keeffe returned home because I expected everything to go back to normal and it was anything but."

She scooted to the edge of the couch, hungry to hear what she could expect. "Is it that hard?"

"It's that hard, but it's also the most wonderful thing you can imagine." Deana smiled sadly.

"Tell me more. Please. I'm so afraid he's going to come back, and everything has changed between us." She inhaled deeply and patted her chest. "That I've lost him and he won't be able to feel the same way about me. Four years is a long time, and I don't know how much prison has changed him. What I hear on the phone is nothing compared to what he lives with every single minute."

"At first, you'll confidently believe everything is slipping back in place to where it was before he was incarcerated. I know with Keeffe, he was honestly happy to be home, to be with me, to be around our child—who he had to get to know all over again, and maybe even a little afraid of losing me that he gave me a lot of attention, which I snapped up." Deana paused and her brows wrinkled. "Looking back, I was very insecure. I guess I looked for signs that I was going to be okay and then to make things harder, I looked for signs that Keeffe didn't love me."

She found herself nodding her head. "That's what I do now with our phone conversations. I went from needing to hear from him to not able to face talking with him because I started to wonder if the feelings were one-sided. The last few months, I've forced myself to focus on when he gets home and not what is happening at that moment. I hate the feelings I'm going through because I want to be strong for him."

"I'll be honest, Johanna. You will have to be the strong one." She lowered her voice. "Once the newness of being home wears off on him, he'll be angry at everyone, and he'll retreat to protect himself from further hurt. In prison, everything is controlled. Their emotions, their physical release, their ability to handle the most basic problems. And, he's going to want that control back, and he'll become paranoid. Everyone is after him in prison, and he has to watch his back when he showers, when he goes in the yard, when he goes in the cafeteria, when he's in his cell, and when he's sleeping. That behavior will continue at home. He's going to be on guard."

She blew her breath out. "I never thought of any of that. It scares me."

"You will be scared of him. Chief will be a different man. One you don't recognize." Deana's eyes closed an extra beat and then she looked at Johanna. "Maybe I will take a coffee if you have some."

"Sure. I'll put some in the coffee maker." She went into the kitchen, still in view of the living room. Looking over her shoulder, she said, "Keeffe knew you were going to talk to me, didn't he?"

Deana walked into the kitchen. "I asked him to get Chief's permission to talk with you a few weeks ago."

"He said yes?" She filled the maker up with water, surprised at the length Deana went for her. "I guess he did since you're here."

"Chief loves you."

"I love him." She pushed the ON button and turned around. "You and Keeffe obviously made it through the hard times. You've said he became angry when he returned, but I'm wondering if you were angry? Is that okay to ask?"

"Are you?" Deana raised her brows and leaned her hip against the counter.

She swallowed and finally nodded. "It probably makes no sense, but I'm angry that he left me before I was ready to live life without him—I'm not sure I can live life without him." Embarrassed, she said, "While he's been gone, I realize that my problem is I have abandonment issues from before Chief came into my life. I'm caught between wanting to scream how angry I am at him for leaving me alone here, and never saying a word because I'm afraid he'll permanently leave my life like everyone else."

Deana opened her mouth and then closed it. Johanna reached out and rubbed her arm, understanding that Chief wouldn't allow anyone in Brikken to talk about her life before Chief took her away from the apartment. Despite Deana's offer of friendship and support, there were certain boundaries she wouldn't cross because of her husband's position in Brikken, and she respected that.

"Thank you for listening. I never realized that I'd been holding so much of this in and that it feels wonderful to get it out there and talk to someone who understands," she said.

The coffee maker gurgled to a stop. She filled two cups, pointed Deana to the sugar and cream, and then went back into the living room to sit when she spotted Keeffe squatted down beside his motorcycle in the driveway.

Both women watched Keeffe from the window. Overwhelmed with how fast life was moving and how many years had slipped away from her, Johanna said, "Chief's a good man like Keeffe."

Both men had spent time in prison, probably more than twice. They made their livelihood stealing motorcycles, chopping the parts, and making new bikes to sell in California. That was only one of the businesses Brikken had going. She chose not to know about any others.

"Yes, I believe that's true." Deana moved and sat down on the loveseat. "Now, sit, and tell me how you plan to celebrate tomorrow."

With Chief's pressure not to hope for the best and to be prepared for his release to be delayed, she clung to Deana's optimism and sat down beside her. The more she talked, the more excited she became.

She believed Chief would return to her tomorrow.