Everyone laughed and a few slapped their thighs, saying, “Good one.” Jester lifted one side of his mouth as he peered at me out of the corner of his vision. “Hey, at least I have a wife. When are you going to settle down…brother?”
I shrugged. “I’m not in a hurry.”
Cass, a.k.a “Casanova,” caught my eye. He had hair as black as midnight and a smile that won over the ladies. “That’s right, you tell em’, Rev. We have plenty of time before we get stuck with an ole’ ball and chain.”
“Hey, now,” Moose said, looking offended. “My wife is no ball and chain.” He pointed his finger at Cass. “You’d better remember that and mind your p’s and q’s when you’re around her.” A few of the others mumbled their agreement, laughing quietly.
Cass threw up his hands and smiled. “I meant no offense. Your wife is lovely.”
Tank walked out the back door just then and joined us at the fire pit. “What’s so funny?”
Jester shrugged. “Ah…we were only razzin’ Rev here about needing to find himself a woman.”
Tank rubbed a hand over his salt and pepper beard and turned his piercing blue eyes to me, smirking. “Is that right? Who’s the lucky lady?”
While scooting my chair back, I threw my hands up and glared at Jester. “Hey, now, let’s not go spreadin’ any rumors. Never said anything about a lucky lady. I’m just fine on my own.”
“That won’t last long,” Jester quipped.
“No doubt,” Moose said, rolling his thick neck. “Half the young ladies at church have been givin’ you googly eyes, while the other half flutter their lashes at Casanova over there.” He glanced at Cass and they both laughed.
“Whatever,” I said. “I’m not interested in settling down.” At times, love felt like an illusion, and I had enough on my plate as it was.
“Why not?” Jester asked. “Marriage is a wonderful thing. In fact, God created it to be one of the best things a man will ever experience.”
“And the apostle Paul said it’s better to remain single.” I gave Jester a look knowing he wouldn’t dispute the Bible. “Besides, Tank here seems all right without a woman. He does just fine on his own.”
“Don’t use me as an excuse to dodge eligible females,” Tank said. “I’d be married if it were up to me.”
I wondered what he meant by that, but I didn’t want to call him out in front of everyone. Tank was probably the most transparent out of the bunch of us, but he was also private in other ways. I had a feeling there was heartbreak behind those piercing blue eyes.
Tank clapped his hands together, and when his expression grew serious, the mood shifted. “So…I’m going to change the subject here, and I need all of you to listen.”
Everyone quieted and directed their gazes to him. Tank knew how to command attention—he was like the silverback alpha among us who only had to look our way once in order to gain respect. “Most of you know my story,” he said. “How I got my girlfriend pregnant in high school, and we gave the baby up for adoption.” He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Well, I’ve been in contact with my daughter. She’s never wanted much to do with me, and I don’t blame her for that, but she needs my help now, and I plan to give it to her.”
“Hey, whatever you need,” Moose said, “we got your back.”
“That’s right,” I said. “Name it, and I’m there.” I would do just about anything Tank asked of me. He was the father figure I never had.
“Thank you,” Tank said, nodding his head. “I’m going to take you up on that because my daughter, Miriam…” He cleared his throat. “Well, her daughter, Tirzah, appears to be in some trouble. Seems the family got mixed up with a loan shark, and he’s been threatening to harm Tirzah. She’s coming to stay with me for a while, and I’ll need you guys to help keep an eye on things.” His gaze swept over us and landed on me. “Rev, I know you have military experience so, I might depend on you a little more.”
I leaned forward and caught his eye. “You can count on me.”
He nodded. “Good.” There was a sound of a vehicle pulling in the driveway at the front of the house. Tank glanced over his shoulder with a curious expression on his face. “We’re not expecting anyone else, are we?”
A few of us shook our heads as he stood. “I’ll be right back,” he said, warily.
Moose and I both caught the uneasiness in his voice, so we followed him through the house to the front driveway where a black limousine waited. My heart took a nosedive into my stomach, and I blew out a harsh breath. “It better not be…”
Moose glanced at me sharply as if fearing I’d gotten involved with the wrong people. “You know who this is?”
The back passenger-side window lowered, and a man with white hair smiled at me grimly. “Hello, Dexter.” It was my father’s assistant, George, and he was the last person I expected to see on a Friday evening.
“It’s Dex.” A muscle in my jaw tightened as I widened my stance, thumbs at my belt loops, shaking my head. I didn’t have time for this today. “I stopped going by Dexter when I was six years old, not that you or my father would know that since he hasn’t been a part of my life the last twenty-six years.”
“Your father means to correct that,” he said in a voice full of upper-class snobbery. He lifted his chin. “If only you’ll…talk to him.”
“No need. He knows how I feel.”
I felt Tank and Moose’s eyes on me, but I didn’t look away from George. “I won’t ask how you knew I was here, but do me a favor and stop trailing me. If I wanted to talk to my father—I would. Since I don’t, this intrusion is unwelcome.” There was enough spite in my voice to scare a whole gang of stray dogs, but George was one of those strays who didn’t know what was good for him.
“It’s time you grow up…Dex.” He emphasized my name like it was a curse word and smiled as if enjoying my discomfort. “You’ve been playing in the sandbox long enough. Put away your biker boots, your second-hand Harley, that thrift store leather jacket—”
“Hey! Watch yourself,” I said, straightening my jacket with the club’s emblem on the back. “This is no thrift store item, and I worked on that Harley myself.”
George pressed his lips together in a tight line. “Your father has an important proposition for you, and it would be in your best interest to give him a call.” He held out a business card for me to take. “He wanted me to tell you,” he cleared his throat awkwardly, “that he loves you and wants to bring you into the fold.”
“Did he actually say that?” I asked, not believing one word of it.
George broke eye contact for a second and swallowed. “Yes.”
Liar. “You just made that up, didn’t you? He’s tasked you with bringing me in, so you ad-libbed that last part.”
The expression on his face told me I was right. “Your father does love you.”
“No, he loved his legitimate son, the one he raised.” The one who’d passed away years ago. My father didn’t even invite me to the funeral.
“He loves you too.” George softened his voice but the arrogance didn’t leave his eyes. “You should know that.” He wiggled the business card, waiting for me to take it. “Call him as soon as you’re ready, but don’t wait too long.”
I took the card and made a display of dropping it on the ground. “I don’t need anything from him. My brothers,” I glanced at Moose and Tank who were still standing next to me, “are my family.”
“Think about what I said.” The window went up and the limo crawled slowly out of the driveway and out to the street. I continued to watch until it was out of sight. When I turned to look at the guys, Moose put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “Man, that was intense. Who is your father? Is he some kind of bigwig?”
“You might say that. But I don’t want his interference in my life.”
Feeling Tank’s gaze, I glanced at him. There was disappointment in his eyes, but he didn’t say anything about the exchange with George. Instead, he picked up the card
and slipped it in his pocket. “I’ll hold on to this. If you ever want it, let me know.”
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked.
“Love covers a multitude of sins,” he said.
I didn’t respond because there was nothing I could say to that. He was right, but I wasn’t ready to get rid of the bitterness that had festered inside of me for years. That wouldn’t go away anytime soon.
Chapter 4
Tizzy
I walked down the jetway to the airport terminal at LAX, excitement curling in my stomach. The trip from Philadelphia to Los Angeles had been uneventful, which was good because it was the first time I’d ever flown, and I was almost as nervous about being in the air as I was about meeting Mom’s biological father. Almost.
This shouldn’t feel like an adventure. My life was in danger. That crazy man Dad owed money to had made threats, he’d gotten pictures of me inside my own home, wanted to hurt me. And yet, here I was, strolling along with a silly smile on my face as if something amazing was about to happen. What was wrong with me?
I already knew the answer to that. Mom and Dad had sheltered me for so long that I’d begun to feel the strain of their tight grip on my life. Whatever I was walking into right now, it tasted like freedom.
When I reached the terminal, I glanced this way and that, looking for a man with silver hair and a black leather jacket since that was what Carl told Dad he would be wearing today. The passengers from my flight fanned out in front of me, some reuniting with family, but, still, I didn’t see him. And then someone cleared his throat, and I whirled around.
“Tirzah?” A tall man with shoulders like bricks approached. He’d pulled his steel-colored hair into a low ponytail, and a black leather jacket hugged his muscular frame. He had a young face for hair that color, a tightly clipped beard, and the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. This man could not be my grandfather. Grandpa Miller had been pudgy and bald, with age spots on his head and arms. He’d lived to be eighty-five years old. Then again, the night before my flight, Mom revealed that her biological parents had her when they were only fifteen. Mom married at eighteen, and by nineteen, she was pregnant with me, so that would make Carl fifty-six. He looked much younger than that and had rather handsome features.
“Yes, I’m Tirzah. Are you…Carl Bailey?”
A hint of a smile played on his lips. “The one and only.”
I held my hand out. “Nice to make your acquaintance.” I nearly choked on my words. “I mean, nice to meet you. Hopefully, we won’t just be acquaintances.”
He chuckled and shook my hand. “I completely agree.” He smiled, and it warmed me to the core. “You sure are pretty. Remind me a lot of your grandma.” The smile slipped from his face at the realization of what he’d said. “I mean your biological grandma.”
“I figured that’s what you meant.”
He studied me for a moment longer and then patted me on the back. “I want you to know, you’ll be safe with me. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Thank you.” My gaze wandered down to his large black boots and my eyes widened.
“Everything okay?”
“Uh…yeah, sorry. You’re really different from my other grandpas.” I held up my hand in the air. “Not that it’s a problem. It’ll just take some getting used to.”
He nodded. “Suppose I am different. I get the feeling your mama was raised in a very conservative family.”
You have no idea. “Yes, she was…is. I mean, she is very conservative. We all are.”
“That’s not a bad thing,” he said. “There are all kinds of people in the world, and the Lord created us all.” He glanced at my carry-on bag. “How about if I help you with that?” He took the bag from my hands as we made our way to the baggage claim.
We walked in silence, and I finally broke the ice. “I’m really excited to be here. I know these are weird circumstances, but…thank you for taking me in.”
He tightened his lips and glanced up at the ceiling as if trying to hold back his emotions. “Sweetheart, being able to meet you…it’s an answer to prayer.”
Uncertainty crossed his features as he glanced at me and held my gaze. “I didn’t know you would be this pretty. I’ll have to lay down the law with the fellas. No one gets near you.”
My eyebrows flew up. “The fellas?”
“The club.” He paused, waiting for that to sink in. When I didn’t say anything, he cleared his throat. “Your Mama told you I lead a biker club, didn’t she?”
“Yes, yes of course. But I’m twenty-two years old. I can handle myself.” I didn’t plan on getting mixed up with any bikers—the thought was almost laughable—but I didn’t want him to feel he had to protect me from life as my parents had.
He laughed, and this time it came straight from his gut. “I remember your grandma saying the very same thing, and it didn’t stop the boys from beating down her door, or me from fighting them all away.”
“What was she like? I don’t even know her name.”
“Emilia,” he said, quietly, with reverence.
“Can I meet her too?”
He pressed his lips together and glanced to the side. “Sorry, pumpkin, but she and I lost touch. I don’t know where she is anymore.”
“Oh.” Well, that was disappointing. But as I glanced at Carl again, a happy, joyful sensation flooded through me. As different as we were, he felt like family. Never mind that we actually were. I had other relatives I didn’t feel that way about, but with Carl…there was something about him. He had an easy, personable manner that made me instantly comfortable.
After we picked up the rest of my luggage, we walked to his car and headed to his home in Acton. The scenery on the way kept my attention the whole time. The terrain looked different from what I was used to. There were large, rolling mountains and everything was brown, not at all like the vibrant green of Pennsylvania.
“I invited a few people over to meet you,” Carl said. “Hope you don’t mind.”
“I don’t.” I peered out my car window as we got off at Crown Valley Road about an hour and a half later. He continued to drive, and I blinked in surprise. “There aren’t a lot of residents out here.”
“Nope, and that’s just as I like it. I love the quiet.”
He pulled up to a modest ranch-style home and parked. We went inside and he showed me to my room. It was a nice sized bedroom with a double bed and light blue floral curtains. He didn’t seem like the kind of man who would have feminine curtains, so I made a note to ask him about it later. I unpacked my belongings and hung my skirts and dresses in the closet. I placed the rest of my things in a mahogany chest and then walked out to the kitchen where Carl was laying out deli sandwiches and a large Bundt cake with icing dripping all around it.
Carl glanced at me over his shoulder. “Settle in okay?”
“Yes, thank you. I love the room and the blue curtains.”
“Excellent.” He placed a tray of vegetables and dip next to the sandwiches. “I purchased them the other day, hoping you’d like them. The brown ones I used to have didn’t cut it anymore.”
“You did that for me? That was kind of you. You didn’t have to do that.”
He turned to face me. “Listen, I want you to feel at home while you’re here. Whatever you need, just tell me.”
“The fact that you’re taking me in—that’s enough.”
“I would never turn my granddaughter away. Despite the circumstances, you being here is a huge blessing from the Lord.”
My eyes teared up at the word granddaughter. I didn’t know what to say, so I glanced at the food he’d laid out. “Who made the cake?”
“That was all me. Love to bake in my spare time, not that I have a lot of that these days.”
“Really?” My voice must have sounded disbelieving.
He chuckled. “Why don’t you try a slice?”
I remembered that he told me on the drive over that he’d invited a few people over to meet me. “Ma
ybe we should wait until everyone gets here. I don’t want your beautiful cake to have a piece missing.”
He laughed, running a hand over the top of his mustache. “You’re the guest of honor. No one will say anything.”
“I can’t. That would be impolite of me and greedy.”
“Not if I insist. Now it will be impolite if you don’t.” He folded his arms over his chest and studied me with humor in his eyes.
“Well, I wouldn’t want to offend you or anything.”
He was already cutting an ample-sized portion of cake and putting it on a small saucer. “Please, tell me what you think.” He handed me a fork.
I took a bite and closed my eyes. The cake was moist and delicious, and the frosting had a touch of orange flavor. “This is so good,” I said with my mouth full. I finished chewing and swallowed. “I need the recipe. Mom would love this cake.”
He seemed pleased with my admission. “I’d be happy to give it to you.”
“Thank you.”
Just then the door opened and the sound of footsteps filtered through the room. “Hellooo,” a feminine voice said. “We’re here.”
A woman with curly red hair that was so full and bouncy, she reminded me of Merida from the Disney cartoon, walked in and lifted her arms to give me a hug. I wasn’t used to hugs from people outside my family. My community was much more reserved and frowned upon that kind of contact. I initially pulled back in surprise, but then forced myself to hug her since I didn’t want to be rude.
“Name’s Vera,” she said, “or Strawberry, whichever you prefer.”
“I’m Tirzah.”
She lifted a lock of my hair and smiled. “Aren’t you a pretty little thing?” She gave Carl a look. “You’re going to have to watch out for this one. Keep Cass away from her.”
Blind Date with a Billionaire Biker (Blind Date Disasters Book 3) Page 4