~ Barbara ~
Something about that tired, silly joke shattered the strangely morose aura surrounding her day and catapulted her back to reality. Laughing, Barbara dropped down into the seat beside Tiffany. “You have no idea how much I needed that laugh.”
“I heard about the bodies. I have to say, even though I’m a nurse, stuff like that is hard to cope with.”
“You see dead bodies in a hospital or the morgue, not partially decomposed ones spilling out of—”
An older woman at the far end of the table interrupted. “We are trying to eat, dear, so maybe you save the gory details for after dinner or some other time entirely.”
Cringing, Barbara murmured, “I’m not usually so socially inept. I do apologize, ma’am.”
Tiffany spoke up again. “I was just getting ready to introduce you to everyone, when my mother chimed in. Barbara, this is my mother, Sarah. Mother, this is Barbra.”
“Now don’t go getting snippy with your mother, Tiff. She’s just trying to keep us straight.”
The woman smiled. “And this is Hickory. He’s the club’s Vice President. I’m unclear on why he’s here, instead of watching the sparring match out back with the rest of the brothers.”
Earnest put plates down for Tiffany and Barbara and shot the other man an annoyed look. “It’s because he haunts Ms. Sarah’s every step these days like an old vulture. It makes it damn hard for ladies to have girl time, with him always hovering around.”
“You’re one to talk,” Hickory spoke up. “Even though the poor woman’s got no love for the homeless, you just won’t go away.”
Sarah said, “Oh leave him alone, Hickory. I think Earnest is a real gentleman. He reminds me of my husband in a lot of ways, may he rest in peace.”
Grabbing her empty glass of tea, Earnest murmured shyly, “Why thank you, Ms. Sarah. I’ll just fetch you a nice fresh glass of tea with extra ice, just like you love.”
One of the other women was leaning on the palm of her upturned hand, taking it all in. “Why don’t you and Earnest settle your little ongoing vendetta the old-fashioned way. The winner gets Ms. Sarah, and the rest of us don’t have to listen to the two of you going at it constantly.”
The older woman looked positively mortified, but Tiffany just laughed. “Now, Alyssa, you’re just stirring up trouble today.”
Waggling her eyebrows, she quipped, “I’m just saying what everyone else is thinking.”
Hickory jumped to his feet and followed the other man. They were clearly arguing, but Barb couldn’t make out what they were saying.
A quiet, older woman spoke up. “I’m all kinds of interested in this story about bodies. That’s something that doesn’t happen around these parts. Just let me get my food down, and then I’ll be all ears.”
Tiffany grinned. “This is Ryder’s mother, Lily. Lilly’s really nice. You can talk to her about pretty much anything. She’s been involved with the club her whole life.” Turning to the woman who’d set the men off, Tiffany smiled warmly. Turning to the younger blonde, she said playfully, “The instigator is our friend, Alyssa. Everyone, this is Barbara Reynolds. She’ll be here with Ace and the new college kids for a few days. No embarrassing questions until she has a chance to settle in.” The playful tone of Tiffany’s voice helped her calm down.
Looking down at her plate, Barbara noticed that the food was fresh. Picking up a thin wafer that looked kind of like a homemade potato chip, she asked, “Do you mind if I ask what this is?”
“Earnest makes them from Idaho baking potatoes. They’re called potato flats. They’re really tasty, ‘cause he sprinkles hand-ground sea salt on them the minute they come out of the fryer.”
Alyssa chimed in, “He’s giving a class on cooking them the evening after next. You should come.”
Holding one up in front of her face, Barbara could see the fading sunlight showing through it and smell the delicious aroma. She began thinking the thing she always did when she was about to be bad.
Tiffany spoke up. “In case you’re wondering, it takes about sixty minutes of brisk walking or thirty minutes of running to burn off the four hundred calories in the portion sitting on your plate.”
Shifting her gaze from the chip to Tiffany, Barbara slowly nodded. “You nailed it. That’s exactly what was running through my mind. How’d you do that?”
Shrugging, she replied cheerfully, “It’s a high-calorie food and you look like someone who makes a real effort to stay in shape.” She shrugged. “It wasn’t a gigantic leap.”
“Somehow, talking about regular stuff instead of the extraordinary events of my day is helping me calm down.”
“Yeah, I thought it might. You’re looking at an expert on compartmentalizing. I used to simply toss the really scary shit in a little box in the back of my mind and shut the door. It was the only way to get through the day.”
“Didn’t it build up and cause a breakdown or an explosion?”
“Almost. I did an about-face and slammed into my problems head on. Strangely enough, after years of running and learning to survive on my own, I found out I was a lot tougher than I thought.”
“Yeah, about that. I’m a little soft around the edges,” Barbara admitted. “The most courageous thing I’ve ever done is divorce my ex.”
“Alyssa and I work for him,” Tiffany pointed out. “You know that, right?”
“I’ve never seen you there, but then again, I haven’t been hanging around his office much since the divorce.”
“His father’s a nice man and an amazing doctor. David’s just kind of there, bringing up the rear.”
Tossing a chip in to her mouth, Barbara realized her appetite had come back with a vengeance. “I must be a little slow on the uptake. It took me forever to see what a cheating fool he is.”
“He’s about as opposite from Ace as a person could be,” Tiffany said, confirming what Barbara had already been thinking.
“I noticed that. So these boys are honest to goodness outlaw bikers?”
“They don’t like to be called boys, but yes, they are. Lily could tell you more, but it seems to me that they’ve got more legitimate business interests going on than most clubs.”
A deep, rough voice cut through their conversation. “This is what always happens when bitches get together. My club gets dragged into their little conversations.”
Tiffany shot the man who just called them all bitches an indulgent smile. “As tight-lipped as the brothers are about club business, it’ll be a short conversation for lack of information.”
“Don’t do that to me, Tiff. I’m not susceptible to having my anger managed by any bitch, much less someone else’s old lady.”
“Have you been drinking caffeine again, Darkness?”
“What I drink or don’t drink is none of your fuckin’ business.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
For some godforsaken reason, and against her better judgment, Barbara found her lips moving. “Just to be clear, I’m not a bitch.”
The man’s head swiveled around in her direction. “Who the fuck are you?” A moment after the words flew out of his mouth, awareness clicked onto his face.
“My name’s Barbara Reynolds.”
“I can’t believe you kept the stupid fucker’s name after the divorce.”
Frowning at the large man, she realized where she’d seen him before. “You were with Ace when he was injured.”
“God, you’re fucking naïve.”
She scowled at the jackass. “What do you mean by that?”
“We get injured all the damn time. I’m usually front and center when one of us is down.”
“Who the heck are you?”
A dark smile curved up the corners of his mouth, making him look more malevolent than friendly. “I’m Darkness, and I kind of run the show around here.”
Tiffany chimed in, “Darkness is the Blind Jack’s club president. Unlike his father before him, he runs a tight ship.”
“I can speak for my fuckin’ self, Tiff. I don’t need you explaining my shit for me.”
“I’ll tell Earnest to switch the coffee to decaf for the rest of the evening,” she said, clearly suggesting that the coffee was to blame for his cantankerous attitude.
“Do not act like you know me,” Darkness barked. “You may be good people and Ryder’s old lady, but until he puts a ring on your finger, you ain’t family.”
Turning her back to the man, Tiffany held up her hand over her shoulder and wiggled her big, fat, new diamond at the man.
He huffed out an exasperated breath. “Fine, you are family. But you need to remember that bitches don’t speak for me.”
A hard, feminine voice said behind the man, “That’s enough mixing it up with old ladies for you today, Dark.”
Spinning around, he intoned seriously, “Do not tell me what to do, Savage.”
“That’s what sisters are for. If you’re in a foul mood and spoiling for a fight, go punch up a brother.”
“We don’t punch each other up. We spar,” he clarified.
Making the little go-away gesture with one hand, Barbara noticed she cradled a tiny baby in the other arm. “You’re being loud. Unless you want to wake your little one up, calm down for a blasted minute.”
The older lady that Tiffany had introduced as Ryder’s mother offered, “If you want me to take the baby inside, I will. That way, Darkness can stomp all around like a mad bull.”
Throwing up his hands, he grumbled bitterly, “Fine, gang the fuck up on me.”
Tiffany replied cheerfully as she stood, “Sorry about that, my friend.” Gesturing to the back, she explained smoothly, “On the upside, Ryder and Ace are sparring again out back. If you hurry, you might be able to catch the tail end of that action. And if you’re really nice, they might let you shoot coke cans off the fence.”
Stalking up to her, Darkness pointed his abnormally large finger in Tiffany’s face. “I can’t believe we traded in perfectly good club whores for a bunch of condescending bitches who don’t know their place.”
Tiffany grinned at him, proving once again that her perception of the disagreement they were having was miles away from his. “We can call them all back if you like. I hear Precious has been asking about you.”
“Even I can see that bitch is trouble. I don’t want her within yelling distance of my kid.”
“Good call. Want me to make you a plate?”
“Fuck no,” he sneered. “I’m gonna go put some cash down on Ace before the fight… sparring is over with.”
“If you think betting against my old man is hurting my feelings, you don’t know me very well.”
Tilting his head, Darkness’s expression morphed into one resembling happiness. “Bitch, don’t go there. I know you better than you know yourself.”
“Says you.”
Shaking his head, he mumbled, “Ryder’s right. I ain’t never gonna win an argument with you, am I?”
Shrugging, she dropped back into her seat. “Probably not, but it sure is fun trying, right?”
“Yeah, I guess. Catch you bitches later.” Doing an about-face, he strolled off behind the building.
The woman with the baby walked over. “Sorry about my brother. He’s always been a little high-strung.”
“We love Darkness around these parts,” Tiffany offered. “So you’re Savage. He talks about you all the time.”
Smothering back a smile, the woman with the baby in her arms sat down. “I don’t want to even think about the stories he probably tells.”
Laughing merrily, Tiffany replied, “There is one about you being terrified of a ferret, one about him beating up an attendant at a carnival to get him to let you ride the monster roller coaster, and—”
“That will about do for now. Thanks, Tiffany. It’s nice to know my brother’s not totally making stuff up.” The woman’s voice was wry but friendly.
Wrinkling her nose, Barbara mumbled, “This is so weird. I had to really work at feeling comfortable around my ex when we first got married, but I feel like I’ve known you all my whole life.”
That comment earned her the warm regard from the diverse group of women. Miss Lily spoke up timidly, “I think Ace did real good picking you, dear.”
“He seems like a man who’s been through a lot in life. He doesn’t deserve to have to deal with this situation I dragged him into. I’m sorry to bring trouble down on your MC,” Barbara apologized. “I know you must be protective of your men.”
The other older woman looked down the table at her. “From what I can see, these men thrive on complicated and dangerous situations. They’re probably better at this kind of thing than trained professionals. You just listen to them and don’t do anything stupid, and this will be behind you before you know it.”
“Wow, everyone is so supportive,” Barbara said, surprised. “I thought for sure you’d be in a mood to tar and feather me after hearing about what we stumbled upon today.”
Earnest showed up with a plate of food for the newcomer, Savage, and one of the other women took over holding the baby so she could eat.
All in all, Barbara hadto say, the women seemed like real decent kind of people to her. She could imagine them all becoming fast friends. Assuming she lived long enough…