by KJ Dahlen
“It’s comfortable and seats all the family in one room,” Hound told her.
“Well, not all of the MC, but close enough,” a woman said as she made her way closer to Sara. She had long red hair with sketches of gray at her temples and the prettiest blue eyes Sara had ever seen. She looked from the woman to Hound and knew this was where he got those eyes of his.
“I’m Molly Moore,” the smiling woman told her. “Welcome to our home and have a sit, ok?” She then took Sara’s hand and led her across the very large room into another room.
There sat maybe the largest and probably longest dining table ever made in America for just an average family of 25 or 30. It sat at least thirty, she guessed. Above it hung a chandelier that was all gold and glass.
“Wow!” Sara gasped.
“Yeah, our sons did all this last year. It was a surprise that almost made me faint dead away when they showed me what they’d been up to for six months.” She moved Sara along to a chair. “Have a sit. Do you drink coffee?”
Nodding, Sara stared around.
“And do you eat your own donuts?” Hound asked as he took a seat next to her.
She shook her head. “Not too much. They’re very fattening and sweet.”
“Damn right they are,” Bones took a bite of one.
The guys all did the same, chewing the pastries as they nodded in agreement.
Black Jack moaned as he swallowed. “I am telling you Miss Bassette, you are some kind of magician with treats.”
Sara could feel her cheeks heating up. She got the same compliments daily at the shop, but here in close quarters with Hound’s entire family, it was embarrassing.
“So, did you learn how to bake in school?” one of the other brothers asked.
“I’m sorry, did I get your name?”
“Raine.”
She nodded. “Um... no, family recipes.”
“So you just up and started your own bakery, eh?” Black Jack asked.
Sara picked up the coffee mug. “Um, yeah after... well after my granddad passed, he left me an inheritance. Then well, I figured it would be smart to employ myself and use my skills.”
“Smart choice,” Black Jack said. “And talented you are.”
“Thank you.” She dipped her head.
“You were closed today, I hear,” Bones said. “That’s unusual. I was there at 9 and people were impatient. They gotta have them sweets.” He smiled at her.
Her hand shook as she lowered the mug. “Um, yeah, I...”
“Ok,” Hound spoke up.
Sara swung her gaze over.
“This is why I called you all here,” he announced.
Sara sat up straighter in her chair. “Now, Mr. Moore...”
Black Jack laughed.
So did all the men at the table.
“Why young lady, I do not know anyone who calls him Mister.” Black Jack kept chuckling.
“She’s just shy, is all,” Hound said. “But never mind that. We have a real issue on our hands.”
“Our hands?” Gambler asked.
“Yes, well. See, it happened like this—”
Sara stood up from her chair. “Look. You all are kind people, but I do not belong here and I will just be going now.”
Hound stood up too. “The hell you will!”
“Duggan Moore,” his mother said as she stood up. “That is no way to talk to a woman.”
Gambler and Judge started to chuckle.
“Like he would know how to do that!” Judge stated with a laugh.
“Will all of you just shut the hell up!” Hound yelled.
They all swiveled their startled gazes over to him.
Sara lowered her head. Dammit, he was going to tell them. He was.
Chapter Five
Hound looked around. “This morning, I woke up hungover.”
His brothers chuckled.
“Shut it clowns,” he snapped.
“Duggan?” Molly asked. “What has gotten into you?”
“I’m sorry Ma. I just need to get this out, and without the peanut gallery interrupting.”
Molly looked over at her sons.
They ducked their heads.
Black Jack nodded. “Well, go on son. I need to hear this.” He raised a brow.
“Well, dad you know when I said it was personal earlier today and you said a woman?”
His dad nodded.
“Well it was, but see...” he faltered where did he start with this?
“Well, spit it out kid,” Bones urged.
“Dad...” Deke stared at him.
Bones shrugged.
Hound went on, “We were both hungover and out of sorts and in a room at the Motel Six.”
Molly gasped and looked over at Sara.
“No, Ma. She’s a good girl,” Hound said before anyone could think she wasn’t.
“Well, sure she is,” Black Jack added. “It doesn’t mean she isn’t.”
“I-I...” Sara looked flustered. “I don’t drink, I do not party. I work and go home.” She lowered her head.
“So let me get this straight. You both woke up there and didn’t know how you got there?” Gambler asked.
“Well, that isn’t a stretch. I mean used to happen to me all the time,” Bones piped in.
“Dad!” Deke now slapped his arm.
“So? I still don’t get what the issue is,” Sam grumbled. “They’re young and shit happens.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too. The issue is...” Hound started, “We um...You know.”
Black Jack, Bones and even Deke chuckled.
Gambler interjected over the chuckling, “Well, great for you little bro but I still don’t see why—”
“We got married!” Hound exclaimed.
The chuckling, guffaws and snickers halted.
Molly stood from her chair. “What?”
Hound nodded. He knew already that this would be the really hard part. “We found the certificate on the floor.”
“Signed?” Gator asked.
Nodding, Hound said, “Looks like our signatures, but we have no memory of it.”
“Not any?” Black Jack asked.
“Nothing.”
They all looked over at Sara.
The silence caused her to raise her head. She looked around at them. “I have no memory either and there are some very odd parts that make no sense.”
“Odd?” Judge asked. “Like having sex with the Hound?”
Gambler snickered.
Hound glared at them both. “If you both don’t quit, you are gonna leave this meeting.”
“He’s right,” Molly chimed in, “Will you all just let him finish?”
“Finish?” Bones stared at the young couple. “That’s all there is to it, right?”
“NO!” Sara stood up. “There’s more. First of all this...” She opened her sweater.
The men all leaned in to look at the skimpy little black dress.
Wiley let out a whistle, then raised his hands up in defense.
Hound growled and reached over to close her sweater.
“This dress is not mine. It was in the hotel room. I wore it home. I would never buy a dress like this.”
“Well, too bad,” Bones added.
Deke glared at him.
“Then my clutch....” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “It is a special item that my grandmother gave me to use— to...” She swallowed heavily. “...wear on my date with the man I was to marry. When we got engaged. It was a tradition for the women of my family. Her mother gave her a shawl. Her mother before her, earrings. So, I never would have been wearing this dress or that clutch.”
Hound realized now what she’d been going on about over that purse.
“So you ae saying some one set this up?” Deke wanted to know.
Sara turned her glare to Hound.
“Oh, no son! You did not accuse her of this did you?” Molly gasped.
Hound’s shoulders slumped.
“Well god da
mmit, Duggan. You woke to this news, then accused this poor innocent girl of doing it?” Black Jack asked.
A sob left Sara’s throat.
Molly rose up and came around the table, pushing Hound out of the way she grabbed her up. “You poor girl!”
Hound shook his head.
Black Jack stared hard at him.
All the men did.
He slowly nodded.
Black Jack stood. “You didn’t!”
“I am afraid I did, but I don’t remember the marrying or anything at all!”
“Holy shit!” Judge exclaimed.
“Yeah, what he said,” Gambler added with a scowl.
“So you are married and you took...you...” Wiley’s voice trailed away.
“I guess?” Hound said. “I mean I remember being at Bennigans and having one drink, then I was about to head home. That’s it.”
“Oh come on, there has to be more you remember?” Raine finally spoke up.
Hound shook his head and took a peek over at his mother.
Yep, she was glaring at him. Those blue eyes were now a really a deep blue, so he knew she was mad.
“I was out of it Ma. I was, I looked for any explanation...” Yeah, it sounded lame now even to him.
“Well, a least you stayed with her, that’s what counts,” Black Jack attempted to ease Molly’s anger.
Hound looked down at his hands.
“Boy?” Black Jack asked.
“I was confused and messed up, she was angry and—”
“Oh, I wonder why she was?” Moly finally spoke up in a sarcastic tone. “You deflowered her then accused her of setting it up?”
“Ma...” Hound whined a bit.
“Don’t ma, me. Then you drove her home right?”
“I stormed out,” Sara mumbled from Molly’s’ shoulder.
Molly released her.
“I never asked for a ride, or anything,” Sara went on. “I was mad too. Confused and... sorry about it all. So don’t blame that on him. I mean he did come to my house this morning to check on me.”
Hound groaned and kept his head down.
“What?” his father asked.
Hound sighed. “Nothing...”
“Wait...” Black Jack now stood up. “Why did you go to her house?”
“Ok...I went to the shop to get her and go to the courthouse to get this annulled.” Hound fessed up to the rest. It had all been painful, but at least it was out in the open. The fact that he had acted like an ass in a bad situation.
The men in the room all groaned.
“Oh, man,” Wiley spoke in a low tone.
“Well? I never remembered consenting and neither did she,” Hound defended. “She had brought the idea up when we argued even.”
“Boy!” Black Jack looked furious.
Hound stood up. “Alright. Ok. It is true. I was a real asshole about this when it first happened. I fucking admit it. Then when the shop was closed I worried about her wellbeing.”
“Bout time,” Gator muttered.
Hound knew they were all judging him and actually, he fucking deserved it. “Well, when I found her house, the cops were there.”
“What?” Deke asked. “Why?”
“Someone had broken into her house and destroyed everything. And I mean they absolutely fucking gutted it. So I stepped up.” He looked around and met each pair of eyes, even his mother’s. “I told her we would fix it. That we are married and she is now a Moore. That the Sin’s would probably help too. She needs her house cleaned up then remodeled and she needs her car running as they slashed her tires and messed with the engine she thinks.”
“Wow,” Gator spoke up. “Someone really went after you then?” He stared at Sara.
“Well, stealing a boyfriend is out right?” Bones asked.
Deke rolled his eyes. “Dad.”
“Well, if she never... I mean so that kind of thing wouldn’t be it.”
“Yes, they did go after her and no, she has no idea who would. Do you?” Hound looked directly at her as he made a point to say this, to see if she reacted. Before, when he’d asked, she did seem to have a thought of someone.
Sara shrugged. “I have no family really. I have one enemy though.”
Hound turned fully to stare at her. “But you said that—”
“I know but I cannot go around accusing him of this. I mean there is no evidence... yet.”
“Who?” Hound asked.
“Corey Black.”
He paused. “Where do I know that name from?”
“He owns the Fluffy Bakeries,” Wiley answered this.
“So, he’s your competitor?” Deke wanted to know.
“Yes, but why would he hate me that much? I mean we do not like each other and he has messed with my business, but this?” She shook her head. “It seemed a lot more personal than that.”
“Messed with your business?” Hound asked. “How?”
“Messing with things that made it harder on me and my business.”
“Well, he damn well won’t be doing that anymore!” Hound found himself shouting.
Everyone in the room stared at him.
“She’s my wife, so I will protect her,” he stated to the room in general.
“Now, wait a damn minute here.” Sara turned to face him.
He now grinned at her. “Husband, remember?”
Sara stomped her foot. “OH! You know that isn’t real! We never said I do!”
“How do you know we didn’t? We must have?”
Sara looked so angry. She stepped closer and poked his hard chest with her finger. “You are not my boss!”
The room full of people now said nothing as they watched this play out like theater.
“Maybe not, but I seem to recall marriage vows now that I think of it. Something about to honor and obey?”
“Oh no son, you did not just say that!” Molly exclaimed.
“I honor you and you obey me. You are under my protection and my family’s and...” He looked over at Deke and Gator. “My MC’s protection.”
Deke leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms over his chest and nodded at him, though he looked rather amused.
Bones chuckled and shook his head. “I never remembered it being quite that way, kid. You honor and she obeys? Nope, not familiar with that.”
Several of them chuckled as they all nodded.
“I can do it on my own!” Sara yelled.
“Well, maybe so, but you aren’t going to.” Hound moved closer. “Once I decided to embrace this, there is no going back.”
“Well hot damn, Molly. You seeing this?”
Molly nodded. “I see it but he needs to learn some tact and manners.”
Everyone in the room laughed.
Except for Sara and Hound as they still stood, facing each other off.
“Welcome to our world, brother!” Gambler laughed.
Chapter Six
The men went on to discuss what would be needed at her house. Then they all stood after getting the address and left. Hound stayed and his father stayed.
Molly was there to comfort Sara. “Ok, honey. I got clothes you can wear, as some of the girls of the MC have stayed here a few times. You know, Gambler, Judge and even Raine’s wife. We must have something that will fit you. They won’t mind. Come-on, let’s get you showered, dressed and maybe a nap.”
“But, my—my shop?”
“Well it’s already 1, so I called a friend and he went to put up a sign about a family emergency. Then you can open tomorrow,” Hound said.
Sara sighed.
Molly patted her hand. “Come on upstairs with me. Then we will leave you be, to rest.”
Sara looked over at Hound.
He shrugged. “I will be along later to talk.”
“No... we don’t need to talk.” Sara turned and marched up the stairs.
“We will see about that,” Hound muttered.
“Son.” Black Jack came over and slapped him on the back. “We need
to talk about this.”
Hound was pushed forward by the slap and groaned, as he really wanted to give his dad the same answer Sara had given to him. But he’d known all along the lecture would come. He was ready to take his lumps. “Ok, Dad.”
Black Jack went into the very large kitchen and motioned for Hound to sit on a stool at the huge island they’d all built together.
Sighing, Hound sat.
Black Jack went to the cabinet and brought down his good whiskey.
Hound shook his head. So, it was gonna be like that huh?
Bringing two shot glasses over, his father sat them down and poured the amber liquid into the glasses. “It ain’t every day when a son gets married. Well, we weren’t there like for our other sons...” he paused and raised the shot. “But neither were you!” He titled his large head back and laughed.
“Ha-ha, dad.” Hound grabbed his shot.
“Here’s to you being a good husband and learning when to keep your big rap shut!” Black Jack raised his glass.
Hound had raised his shot then paused. “What?”
“Son, you have made a mess of this from the get go. That poor girl has literally had her world turned upside down. You do need to learn tact, like my Molly said. But not only that, you need to learn how to handle a female.”
Hound almost regretted agreeing to this talk and the dammed toast.
Black Jack nodded. “Drink!”
Hound did like always, he did what his dad told him to do. It was just easier. He downed the shot.
“Ahh...” Black Jack smacked his lips, as he seemed to pause and enjoy the drink. “Listen good now. First, an old saying you know... honey versus vinegar.”
Hound shook his head. “Come on, Dad.”
“Now, just listen to me and your life might just get easier.”
“Ok.”
“First off, this obey stuff and you bossing her around. Can’t you see this is a strong woman you got here?”
Hound cocked his head. Yeah, he’d noticed this several times already.
“And she did all she has on her own. She’s got pride and backbone. This ain’t a woman that takes orders, son.”
“Ok. But I cannot allow her to—”
“See? There!” His dad pointed at him. “You cannot allow and you are her lord and master bullshit.”