A Little Bit Wicked (The Wickeds

by Melissa Foster

  They played with the dog for a long time, talking about nothing in particular and laughing at silly things. Chloe took about a dozen pictures. He could have sat there all night and been perfectly content. He loved how easygoing she was. The longer they were there, the more he wanted to introduce her to his family. He decided to throw caution to the wind and said, “What do you think, blondie? Want to meet my family? My grandfather is a bit of a curmudgeon, but he’s a good guy.”

  “I would love to.”

  “Really? I thought you might hem and haw.”

  “Why? I want to meet the people who changed your life and helped you become the man you are.”

  He hooked an arm around her neck, drawing her into a kiss. The dog whined and stretched his paw across Chloe’s lap, touching Justin’s leg.

  Chloe smiled and said, “He wants all the attention.”

  Justin took the dog’s face in his hands and kissed him. “It’s okay to be a needy pooch, but you need to learn better timing.” He rose to his feet, holding the dog’s leash, as he reached for Chloe’s hand and helped her up.

  “Why doesn’t he have a name?” she asked, petting the dog again.

  “I don’t know. They usually pick up names along the way. A few have already been named. The pregnant one is Mama Bear, and the biggest of them all is Rambo. He’s solid. He took a beating, but he pulled through.”

  Justin held her hand as they crossed the yard toward the shelter.

  “Shadow,” Chloe said softly.

  “What?”

  “His name should be Shadow. On the drive over you said he follows you around when you’re here.” She crouched beside the dog and said, “What do you think? Do you like the name Shadow?”

  The dog licked her face, and she grinned up at Justin.

  Justin patted the dog’s head and said, “Looks like you’ve got a name, big guy. Shadow it is.”

  CHLOE HEARD DWAYNE’S laughter as they came around the side of the building. She was excited to meet Justin’s parents and his grandfather. She really did want to meet the people who had loved him through his broken, angry days, had helped him overcome so much, shown him a better way to live, and had given him a better life.

  Dwayne was sitting at a picnic table with a cheerful brunette who looked to be in her fifties. The woman was gazing adoringly at Justin. She had a kind smile, and there was a beauty mark near her left eye. She had to be Reba, and the handsome salt-and-pepper-haired man with tattoo sleeves rising to his feet beside her had to be Rob. An older man sat in a lawn chair with a tiny white kitten in his lap. Chloe assumed he was Justin’s grandfather. There were three pizza boxes on the table, along with a few beers, sodas, and water bottles.

  “Are you using my dogs to win chicks?” Dwayne called out to Justin as they approached.

  “Just one dog and one woman.” He squeezed Chloe’s hand, looking at her with that lopsided grin that made her belly tingle. “And the dog now has a name thanks to that very special woman. His name is Shadow.”

  “My boy doesn’t need a dog to charm a woman, but that’s a perfect name for the dog. He follows Justin around like Justin is his proud papa.” Reba came around the picnic table with her arms open and said, “Get in here and give me a hug, charmer.”

  Justin hugged her and said, “Mom, Preacher, Gramps, this is Chloe Mallery.”

  “Formerly known as Uptown Girl,” Dwayne chimed in.

  Justin glared at him and said, “Shut it, Gunner.”

  “It’s okay, Justin. I hear jealous cousins say all sorts of things,” Chloe teased.

  “Oh my goodness. You are fantastic,” Reba said. “We’ve been hearing about you for so long, I feel like you’re already part of the family.” She hugged Chloe, and in a hushed voice, she said, “He’s crazy about you.”

  “Mom, I’m pretty sure she knows that already,” Justin said with a shake of his head.

  “I do,” Chloe said. “Justin makes it hard not to.”

  Rob clapped a hand on Justin’s back. “That’s my boy. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Chloe.” He embraced her firmly, the way a father might hug a daughter. “Let me introduce you to Justin’s grandfather, Mike.”

  “I can introduce myself,” Mike grumbled as he rose to his feet, holding the kitten. Rob went to him. Mike handed him the kitten and said, “I can walk ten feet, boy.”

  Mike ambled over, looking tougher than any grandparent Chloe had ever known in his jeans and a denim shirt.

  “You’re a pretty woman,” Mike said in a serious tone. “What are your intentions with my grandson?”

  She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but it wasn’t that. Justin looked amused. She lifted one shoulder and said, “Well, he’s pretty cute, so I’m hoping to get a few kisses.”

  Reba chuckled.

  “Just a few?” Mike scoffed.

  “The truth is, I was hoping to use him for his body and his money,” Chloe teased. “But I figured that wouldn’t win me any favors with his family.”

  Laughter tumbled from Mike’s lips. “That’s more like it.” He gave her a gentle hug and said, “Sit down and have some pizza. You need some meat on those bones.”

  “Yes, join us,” Reba said. “We have plenty.”

  Chloe looked at Justin, worried about disappointing him if their plans were any further delayed.

  “Don’t tell me you’re one of those gals who only eats salad, or needs a man’s approval to put something in her mouth.” Mike pointed at Dwayne, who was smirking, and said, “Do not say what you’re thinking.”

  “Gramps, you set me up for that one.” Dwayne took a swig of his beer.

  “You’ve got a filthy mind, Gunner. A good mind, but filthy as can be.” Mike looked at Chloe and said, “Come on, now. What’s it going to be? Rabbit food or pizza?”

  Chloe lifted her chin, and Justin nodded almost imperceptibly, as if he were cheering her on. “Hand over a slice of that pizza,” she said as she sat down at the picnic table. “In fact, I’ll have two, please.”

  “Do you want to ask Sid if she wants some?” Justin asked.

  Dwayne shook his head. “She and Baz ate an entire pizza before he took off to meet Evie.”

  Justin sat beside Chloe and said, “In addition to being Baz’s assistant at the clinic, Evie is his best friend.” He lowered his voice and said, “Thanks for hanging with my family.”

  “Thanks for bringing me. This is fun.”

  They ate and talked, joking around so much Chloe felt like she’d known his family forever. Shadow slept at Justin’s feet, and every once in a while he’d put his chin on Justin’s leg for a little love, which Justin was happy to give. Chloe took pictures and explained that she enjoyed making keepsakes of fun times, which Reba seemed happy to hear. Reba asked if she could have copies of the pictures, because she said she was far too lax in the photo department. Dwayne made a few jokes about being careful not to accidentally forward dirty pictures to Reba, earning laughs from everyone, including Chloe, who answered with a sarcastic, Don’t worry. I keep those under lock and key.

  When Rob told her about their annual suicide-awareness rally and mentioned that Justin was making a sculpture to be auctioned off, she realized Justin never talked about his artwork. She was curious about that part of his life and made a mental note to ask him about it later.

  Reba asked Chloe about her family, and Chloe told her about Serena and a little bit about their mother. She didn’t go into much detail, but the look on Reba’s face when Chloe said her mother hadn’t always been around much told her that she understood the things Chloe wasn’t saying. Reba had a gentle, caring way about her, but her inner strength was apparent. Chloe could envision her herding a pack of wild sons and cousins who had probably run around creating havoc when they were younger, with Madigan and, she assumed, Ashley, trailing after them.

  Chloe loved getting to know his family and seeing how they teased each other as much as they built each other up. His family welcomed her into their inner circle so warml
y, it was easy to imagine them embracing eleven-year-old Justin and all his troubles. Justin’s parents were openly affectionate the whole evening, just as Justin was toward her, and it no longer felt weird to be close to him. It felt right and wonderful.

  “Seeing you and Justin sitting together like this reminds me of when our kids were little.” Reba rested her head on Preacher’s shoulder and looked at Justin as she said, “Do you remember the first night you were at our house, sweetheart?” Reba used endearments as often as Justin did, lavishing her son, nephew, and even Chloe with them. It was clear where Justin had picked up that habit. Reba was friendly and compassionate. She listened carefully to every word everyone said.

  Chloe would have given anything for a mother like her.

  “I remember being pissed off,” Justin said. “I was in a new place with an older kid who hated me and a younger boy who looked at me like I was full of secrets he wanted to hear—”

  “That’s got to be Zan,” Dwayne said as he took the kitten from Rob and sat down to feed it from a bottle.

  That was a sweet side of Dwayne Chloe had never seen.

  Justin said, “It was Zan. And then there was another boy who was probably thinking I was the perfect specimen to study and evaluate.”

  “Zeke,” Mike said. “That boy has always devoured facts like they were peanuts.”

  “That’s the truth. I’ve never met a smarter guy than Zeke. Then there was Mads.” Justin looked at Chloe and said, “I had no freaking clue what to do with her.”

  “She had just celebrated her fourth birthday a few weeks before this ornery young man came to live with us,” Reba explained. “I’ll never forget how she looked at me with those big blue eyes and said, ‘Mama, can he be my brother, too?’”

  Chloe thought about four-year-old Madigan with three older brothers who doted on her. She probably thought Justin would be the same way. Chloe wondered if he had been. “That’s a big question. What did you say to her?”

  “We’d fostered kids before, and they always went back to their birth parents,” Reba explained. “Justin didn’t have that option, so I told her the truth. I said his mama was up in heaven, his father had done some bad things and was going away for a very long time, and that it would be up to Justin if he stayed with us or not.” She looked at Justin with the love Chloe had always hoped to see in her own mother’s eyes and said, “From the time our kids could understand what it meant to be a friend, they were taught about the strength and loyalty of family and that our family extended to the Dark Knights’ families and other close friends. They grew up knowing all about the biker lifestyle, even the hard knocks, and our little Mads was distraught at the thought of Justin not having anyone looking out for him. You need to know a little something before I tell you what our baby girl did about it. Before Justin came to us, she’d spent months asking for a stuffed cow. And not just any cow. A certain brown and white one. Her daddy searched high and low and finally found a woman who made the cows out in Idaho.”

  “I take full responsibility for that,” Mike said. “We had gone to the county fair with the kids, and the boys wanted to go on the rides, but Mads wanted to see the farm animals. She and I spent hours looking at them. She was completely enamored with the cows, and one of the kids there had that particular colored cow. After the fair, Mads wrangled Zeke into reading her just about everything he could find on cows. That’s how she learned that unbranded cattle that weren’t part of a herd were called Mavericks.”

  “She named that stuffed cow Maverick and slept with the darn thing every night,” Preacher said as he put his arm around Reba. He kissed her head and said, “You tell her the rest, darlin’.”

  “After I told Mads about Justin’s family, she went into her bedroom and got her cow and her favorite blanket. Justin was sitting on the couch stewing about his world being upended yet again, as well he should have been.” Reba blinked several times and looked up at the sky. “Sorry. I always get a little choked up when I think of that day.”

  Preacher pulled her closer, the same way Justin had done to Chloe on the beach the other night.

  “Mads climbed up on the couch beside Justin and gave him her cow,” Reba explained. “She said—”

  “Now you’re not alone anymore,” Justin said, sounding emotional. “Now there are two Mavericks, you and him.”

  “Mads curled up with her favorite blanket and her head on Justin’s shoulder, and Justin sat stock-still, as if he was afraid if he moved she might break,” Reba said warmly. “In that moment I knew he was meant to find us. He might have wanted us to believe he was big trouble, and I think he even believed it himself. But I’d known enough kids to see that on the inside that boy was special. He was pure goodness.” She looked up at the sky and fanned her face. “Now I’m going to cry, so don’t mind me.”

  “Special is right,” Dwayne mumbled. “A special pain in the ass.”

  Justin flipped him off, and they both chuckled, but the emotions passing between them were as real as the tears in Reba’s eyes.

  “That’s the sweetest story.” Chloe gazed up at Justin and said, “So Mads gave you your road name?”

  “I had to earn my road name.” Justin looked at Preacher and said, “It was one of the greatest honors of my life.”

  Preacher gave a manly nod and said, “Madigan coined his nickname. The brotherhood gave him his road name. His road name is Maverick, but not because he wasn’t branded. By then Justin was a Wicked. He had a family who loved him. But it turned out that Mads knew what she was doing, because Maverick also means independent minded, which was the perfect description for the angry boy who fought us with everything he had, and became a good, strong man.”

  Sidney came out of the shelter, breaking the mood, and said, “Are you about ready to let me put your boy to bed?”

  “We’re calling him Shadow,” Justin said.

  “Can we go with you?” Chloe asked. “Is that okay? I’d love to see the other dogs, but I’d also like to keep visiting with everyone. Will you guys be here when we’re done?”

  “Yes, honey. Go give them some love,” Reba said. “We’re not going anywhere.”

  Chloe and Justin went with Sidney. They gave Shadow an abundance of kisses and pets before she put him in his kennel. He whined as they walked away so Chloe could meet the other dogs, but Chloe couldn’t take it and went back to give him more love. Justin ended up sitting with Shadow while Chloe went with Sidney to meet the other dogs. They were in even worse shape than they’d looked in the pictures. They had puncture wounds, areas of missing fur, old wounds that hadn’t fully healed. Some were more timid than others, but eventually even the shy ones gave Chloe kisses.

  After loving up Shadow one last time, Sidney headed home for the night, and Justin took Chloe into the other building to see the dogs and cats that were available for adoption.

  When they finally made their way back outside, she said, “If I had the space, I’d take them all home.”

  “Now you know why Dwayne has several dogs and cats. It’s easy to get attached to them.”

  “Like Shadow is to you,” she said. “Would you ever adopt a dog?”

  “Sure, when the time is right. Shadow’s not ready to be adopted, and a dog is like a kid. It needs stability, a life where its family is home every night. I was real close to carrying you into your bedroom last night, babe. I can’t leave a dog crossing its legs and lonely. That’s just not my style.”

  She loved knowing he didn’t take his responsibilities lightly.

  They found Reba, Rob, Mike, and Dwayne chatting by a bonfire pit, like a scene right out of her childhood dreams.

  “We saved you two the lovers’ seat,” Dwayne said, nodding to a glider chair built for two.

  “Thanks, man,” Justin said as they sat down. He put his arm around Chloe and pulled her closer.

  “I want to adopt all of your animals,” Chloe said to Dwayne.

  Dwayne raised his beer bottle and said, “Hear, hear. I wish
you could. I’m holding an adoption event a week from Saturday. You should come by and check it out.”

  “Do you accept volunteers to help with the event? If so, I’d love to be part of it. Anything to help them find homes.”

  “Hell yes, I take volunteers. Your boyfriend is one of my best,” Dwayne said.

  “You’re going?” she asked Justin.

  “I always do.”

  “Of course you do.” Chloe leaned in for a kiss without thinking.

  “You two are just too cute,” Reba said.

  Chloe realized that was the first time she’d initiated a kiss in public with Justin, and she liked that she’d earned his mother’s stamp of approval.

  “Damn right we are,” Justin said, kissing her again.

  “Okay, Casanova, let me talk to your pretty little gal,” Mike said with an air of seriousness. “Dwayne was telling us that you work at LOCAL.”

  “Yes. I’m the director of the assisted living facility. Are you familiar with it?”

  “Mildly,” Mike answered. “I’m losing my mind living with my son. A man needs his own space, you know what I mean?”

  “Pop, come on,” Rob said.

  “Don’t come on me. Do you think you’ll want your boys running your life when you’re my age?” Mike shook his head and said, “I didn’t think so. So tell me, Chloe, what’s this place got going for it?”

  Chloe looked at Rob, not wanting to get in the middle of a family discussion.

  “Go ahead, Chloe,” Rob said. “He’ll just keep asking until you give him what he wants.”

  “So that’s where Justin gets it from,” Dwayne said with a snicker.

  “Damn right,” Mike said. “Let’s hear what Chloe has to say.”

  “Well, let’s see. LOCAL has several wings designed to accommodate all levels of care. The Helper’s Hand division caters to people who prefer to live alone, and the Live-in Assistance wing is for people who have full-time, live-in care providers. We also offer Nursing Care and Hospice divisions, and of course we have a full medical staff. We have residents who move in as young as sixty-five who are looking for a safe place where they can make friends, and as they advance in age, they won’t have to worry about being a burden on their families. Not that they would be a burden on their families, but I think it’s easy to feel that way when you’re used to living on your own and you find yourself in need of assistance.”