“Do you think they can tell?” I whisper back.
“Of course not,” he reassures me. Though I think that he’s wrong. I’m more attuned to my family than he is.
“This is you.” Dad comes to a halt. “You’ve got both suites to yourself. Choose whichever you want.” He hands keys over to Xander, making me smile. Yup, that’s Dad, thinking a mere female can’t open a door.
I hadn’t told Dad about bringing Xander until just a few days ago. He’s clearly giving us options for different sleeping arrangements, we can use both rooms or just the one. I appreciate his thoughtfulness. I’d been vague about exactly who the man I was bringing with me was, and hadn’t given details about our relationship.
“When you’ve gotten settled come back down,” Marc tells me, eagerly. “We’ll be eating in about an hour.”
“Tell me it’s one of Ma’s recipes?” I beg.
“Of course.” She smiles at me. “Would we ever use anything else?”
Life moves on. I might now be twenty-seven, but some things remain exactly the same. I suppose it’s what makes the place home, everything’s more familiar than not. It’s just me who, this time, is different.
I swear Dad winks at Xander as he walks back down to the clubhouse, the second love of his life by his side.
Yeah right. Got that wrong Dad. And we’ve been given two suites. Suddenly I worry about the sleeping arrangements tonight.
Gentlemanly, Xander opens the main door, then indicates the two leading off to the left and the right. “Any preference?”
When I shake my head, knowing they’ll both be identical, he opens one, and carries both bags inside. Putting them down by the door, he continues over to the patio doors that open onto a balcony with views over the mountain ranges surrounding the Tucson basin. He turns with bemusement in his eyes.
“Christmas at a biker compound, you said. You didn’t think it was my thing, you told me. Hell, Amy. This could be a vacation resort.”
Now we’re alone, I can relax, enough to smile. “That’s exactly what it was. It burned out, what, thirty-five years ago? The club bought it up and rebuilt. There’s even a swimming pool though it’s not warm enough to use now.”
“This was where you grew up?” He knows full well it is, so I don’t answer the rhetorical question. “Does everyone live in a suite like this?”
“The men without old ladies, yes. But there are several houses at the top of the compound built for families and couples. I lived in Heart’s house up there. I expect Eli and Olivia will be building one for themselves now.” The corners of my mouth turn down, and I place my hand to my forehead.
Proving how well he knows me, Xander steps closer, but keeping free of my personal space, keeping a comfortable distance between us. “Hey, there’s someone out there for you, Amy. I promise you that.”
I turn away before he can see the tear forming in my eye. But I should have known better. He never misses a thing.
“You will get through this. You will come out the other side.” Using gentle fingers with a light pressure, he turns my chin so I face him again, and his dark brown eyes stare into mine. It’s hard to break my gaze.
Of course he knows exactly when to push and when to retreat, as he lets his hand drop and his lips curve into a smile. “Why do you and Heart call her Marc, when the others call her Marcia?”
“There’s a story about that.” I smile, remembering how Dad and Marc met. He literally wouldn’t be alive if he hadn’t met her, she’d saved his life more than once. “Marc needed a place to stay after her house was destroyed. Dad was out in California and rang Drummer, who was the prez then, asking to put Marc up in his old house. That’s all the club knew. Can you imagine their surprise when a woman turned up, and a cop at that?” Now I chuckle. “They’d stocked Dad’s house up with beer and condoms, thinking they were expecting a man.”
He chuckles loudly. “What does she prefer to be called?”
“Marcia by the women, but she won’t mind whichever name you use.”
“Her house was destroyed, you say? What happened?”
I either never knew all the details or hadn’t been told. Not unusual if it came under the heading of club business, so I give him the little I knew, while not admitting there’s probably more to it. “There was a fire, it burned.”
My answer satisfies him. Then he purses his lips for a moment, a sign he’s thinking. “Is there anything I should or shouldn’t do or say while I’m here? Any protocols? First time I’ve ever been near a one-percenter motorcycle club.”
I give him the only instruction I’ve heard a thousand times during my life. “Just don’t ask questions if you’re told something comes under the heading of ‘club business’. Oh and don’t touch anyone’s cut or bike without their permission. They’re sacrosanct.”
Chapter Two
Heart
“Well she’s home, Heart.” Marc’s hand finds mine as we walk back down to the clubhouse. “You can stop worrying now.”
“Can I?” I ask her, my eyes looking unseeing into the distance. “She’s not been home for months, and now she turns up with a guy we only heard of a few days ago.”
“A guy with a good job and a great reputation. You know Wizard checked him out. An impeccable record, no trouble with the cops…”
I can’t help it, I laugh. “You think that would worry us if he’d been arrested? Come on, babe.”
She chuckles loudly. “I suppose it might even be a recommendation in your eyes.” I get a hard nudge to my arm. “Look, you should be proud of how she’s turned out. She’s done so well for herself, going to college and becoming a registered nurse, studying hard for all her qualifications and has gotten a great job in Phoenix.”
I’d rather she’d taken a position closer, but can’t criticise her for wanting to live her own life. While I’d had misgivings when she stepped out on her own, she’s thrived, and yes, I do have immense pride for her. As for how much she’d achieved, Marc deserves much of the credit. “You should be proud too, babe. You encouraged her.” Not to move away, of course, but to follow her dreams and become a nurse.
“Not as much as Mariana.”
Yeah, Mouse’s wife, also in the same profession, hadn’t hesitated to share her knowledge when she’d found my daughter was interested. Amy had become exactly what she wanted to be, and as I remember, something she’d shown an aptitude in from the start. “Huh, do you remember Amy playing doctors and nurses with the kids in the clubhouse?”
Marc giggles. “I remember having to undo bandages when she’d tied too tight a knot. It was the only time I saw her bossy with the kids.”
Amy had been the oldest. Well there was Wizard of course, but he didn’t really count. He was always too mature to be called a kid. But then, he’d lived a hard life until he came to us.
My lips thin. “I suppose she’s playing doctors and nurses for real now with this Xander.”
Another thump to my arm. “She’s a grown woman now, Heart. Put that damn shotgun back in the cupboard.”
“He hurts her, I’ll still get it out,” I warn as we near the clubhouse. I put my hand on her arm and stop her forward progress. “You know I’ve been worried, Amy hasn’t been home for months. And there was something, a light in her eyes missing. It was more like she was putting on an act when she entered the club. Do you think everything’s right between them?”
“If it’s not, she’s a big girl. She needs anything from us, all she has to do is ask. You can’t keep fixing her life for her, Heart, she’s not your little girl anymore. She’s an adult, and has to be allowed to make her own mistakes, and rectify them when she does.”
Marc’s right. But it’s hard. I suppose guilt drives some of my concern for her, unable to ever forget the time when I walked out and abandoned her when she was just three years old. Since then I’ve done everything I can for her. She might not need her dad anymore, but until the day I die, I’ll be there for her.
She’s an adult, th
ough, and can make her own choices. I grin, I’d noticed she’d come back with yet another tattoo. Nothing wrong with that, just another sign she’s not my little Amy anymore.
“Heart?” Now Marc stops me when I start walking again. “See how she is later. No pressure, but maybe you can have a word with her if she still doesn’t seem right? She may just be tired. She said she’d come off shift and then had that journey.”
I nod. “I’ll be having a word with that boyfriend of hers too.”
“Really, Heart?” Her eyebrows go to her hairline and back down. “Asking what his intentions are?”
I shrug, unrepentant, as I open the door and step back to let Marc proceed me. “Of course.”
“Hey, Heart. Good to see Amy.”
Inside the clubhouse, Drummer’s standing with Hawk and Zane. I envy him. His oldest son’s become the VP of the club, his younger is studying at the university in Tucson and still makes the compound his base. Of all the children of the surviving members, Amy’s the only one who’s moved away. So far, anyway.
“Yeah. Great to have her back,” I answer him.
Drummer’s eyes narrow. “She good?”
As always I value my ex-prez’s opinion, same as I did when he was in charge of the gavel in church. “What do you think?”
“She wasn’t her normal self.” It bothers me he’d also seen it. “Think it’s got anything to do with this Xander?”
If it has, he won’t be leaving the club. I’ve got a nice piece of ground with his name already on it up in the forest under Road’s trial bike racing track. Road might have transferred out long ago, but that’s how we still refer to our burial plot.
“Did it surprise you?”
“What? That he’s a big, black fucker?” I shrug. “Don’t give a damn as long as he treats Amy right.” My eyes narrow. “And the jury’s still out on that.”
Wraith walks over to join us. He nods at Drummer and his sons. “Nothing much changes, does it? All my kids are helping out in the kitchen.”
“Just like all good women should.” Peg joins us, a subtle dig that despite trying for a son, Wraith ended up with four girls. “You running along to join them, Marcia?”
Drum and I bark joint laughs at the look on my woman’s face.
Marc just winks at him. “Still can beat you on my rat bike, Peg. Don’t go forgetting that when you want to prove who’s got the bigger balls.”
Now I’m chortling at Peg’s expression. He’s always hated anything that wasn’t a Harley, but nowadays has to bite his tongue a lot more. Most of us have moved onto electric models and even mine’s a foreign-made bike.
“Hey, men are wanted.” I point out to the others. Joker and Lady, Rock, and Bullet have rolled up their shirt sleeves and are moving furniture around. It looks like they could do with some help.
As Marc does indeed disappear in the direction of the kitchen, I step up and stand by a table. “Where do you want this, Sam?”
As Drummer’s old lady organises tables being pulled together to try and fit everyone in sitting down, a marathon task of organisation if there ever was one, the men all step in to help lift and move while Sam sorts the logistics out. It’s going to be a big affair tonight, everyone is here for Christmas, brothers, old ladies and all the children.
Amy and Xander appear when we’re still in the midst of making some sort of order out of the confusion, and despite my misgivings I’m impressed when Xander immediately too sees what needs doing and starts to pitch in without being asked.
Having done my part, I raise my chin at Drummer and take a moment to have Amy by myself.
“Let’s sit down for a minute.” I lead her to a couch. “Seems ages since we’ve chewed the fat. How’s life in Phoenix? Everything okay, sweetheart?”
I sit, but Amy doesn’t. “Yeah, Dad. Peachy. Look, I better go help, I’m sure Sophie could do with extra hands in the kitchen…”
“With her own four daughters and everyone else, sweetie, there won’t be any room in there. Come and talk to your old dad for a moment. It’s been months since you’ve been home.”
At last she does. “You’re not old, you’re only fifty.”
I shrug off her observation. There’s something in the way she wants to evade a conversation that’s making me worried, and I want to get to the bottom of what it is. “Now, how’s work going? Your apartment okay? You’re not having any more trouble with your landlord?” It had taken ages for her to get some broken plumbing sorted, not so long after I’d had a word. “Has Xander moved in with you, or are you going to move in with him? Or getting somewhere new together?”
“Dad,” her eyes roll, “it’s early days as yet with Xander.”
But she must be serious about him. “You’ve never brought a boyfriend home for Christmas before.”
“He had nowhere else to go, I couldn’t leave him alone.”
But her eyes shift sideways in a—I’m not telling the whole truth—tell. I decide to leave that alone, for now, anyway. Especially when she goes on the offensive.
“You don’t have a problem with him, do you, Dad?”
Not pretending to misunderstand her, I cringe at her accusing words, throwing back, “Fuck no. Red, brown, yellow, or fucking purple as long as he treats you right, sweetie. And does he?”
Now there’s no looking away. “He does, Dad.”
Perhaps their relationship is more significant than she’s admitting, and that’s the reason she’s brought him here. To get my blessing? Is she nervous I won’t approve? Well, let’s see what the next couple of days hold. Apart from that lack of sparkle in her eyes, he’s ticked every box so far. I hadn’t missed how gentlemanly he’s been to her.
I watch closely, carefully, as the evening continues. Tables set up, buffet style food is brought out. Tomorrow will be our Christmas dinner when we’ll eat far too much and probably suffer for it after, so tonight it’s tasty but fairly light.
With the whole MC family here, conversation doesn’t falter, and the evening becomes raucous as everyone jokes and laughs. I notice Amy start to relax more as her head bows closer, and she giggles at something Maya’s telling her.
Joker puts down a slice of pizza he was just about to bite into. “If you’re telling her…” he starts warningly.
Lady puts his hand on his husband’s arm. “Hey, your fault for leaving my Christmas present where she could find it.”
Of course there’s a lull in the conversation at that point. “What the fuck was it, Maya? Don’t keep it to yourself,” barks Marvel.
“A pack…” she starts, then breaks off seeing her two fathers’ eyes narrowed at her. She collapses in laughter.
Amy, showing a spirit that she hasn’t up to now, giggles loudly. Maya’s probably already told her.
Maya tries again, “A pack, a pack of assorted flavoured lubes.”
“What the fuck’s wrong with that?” Blade calls out, pulling Tash to him. “Where’d you get it, Joker?”
“Dad!” Mason and Sabrina, Blade and Tash’s kids deride as one.
Wraith and Sophie’s youngest at thirteen pipes up, her head shaking in confusion, “Flavoured lube? Doesn’t lube go on a bike?”
Her question has the result of making Sophie go bright red. Wraith makes a show of covering Hilda’s ears while everyone else cracks up.
Jeez. Just another night in the clubhouse. Not that we often have one where everyone’s here together at the same time. I risk a sideways glance at Xander to see how the heart surgeon’s taking it, but he’s leaning casually back on his chair, grinning widely, his hand lazily draped over the back of Amy’s seat. Not her, I notice. He seems to be acting politely, not touching her too personally in front of her parents.
Marc notices me watching the pair and leans in. “I suppose soon we’ll have a third generation, when the kids start having kids of their own.”
I look from Amy back to her. “Fuck no. I’m not ready to be a grandpa.”
But I wasn’t quiet enough. “Don�
��t worry about me on that score, Dad.” Amy’s fast, too fast? to reassure me.
Has she and Xander decided not to have children? A pity if so, Amy would make a great mom. In time, I add quickly to myself. She’s not even thirty. But I look again at her carefully, Crystal and I were both younger than her when she’d come along. Another puzzle piece to ponder. Why’s she so adamant she won’t have kids?
Christmases have changed, I muse, looking around, regretting how time has passed. Now all our children are at least teenagers, no more stockings are placed under the tree, and the presents are no longer toys which need assembling when the kids are asleep. I knew better how to deal with Amy back then. I smile to myself, remembering her glee and delight when it was time to open stockings and find out what Santa had left.
Once all the food has been eaten, tables are cleared with everyone trying to lend a hand, making me think if less of us helped it would be done in half the time, but hey, tripping over each other is all part of Christmas in the clubhouse.
One of the kids, Peg’s son, Noah, hell, he’s Throttle now and the enforcer so kid isn’t perhaps an appropriate term, but anyway, he puts on some music and the youngsters get up to dance. When a slow song comes on, Joker and Lady sway gently with Maya sandwiched between them, I dance with Amy, while Marc is in Jacob’s arms, and Isabel and Alexis make fools of themselves. I notice Xander doesn’t take the opportunity to have Amy in his arms, in fact when Wizard approaches her she turns him down, even Zane gets turned away. It slowly dawns on me as the evening progresses, the only man she’s danced with has been me, her father.
There are other little things I notice, as the night goes on. Amy goes to the bar but Xander follows her over, a word to her and the prospect, and then she’s turning with a glass of water in her hand which I’m certain she hadn’t intended to order.
Once again I wonder if I’m reading too much into it, but have to speculate whether Xander is too controlling and taking over her life?
Don’t like that thought. Not my independent and have-at-the-world little girl who left at eighteen to move alone to Phoenix.
Amy's Santa: Satan's Devils MC Second Generation #1 Page 3