“Believe it or not, Tyler Blackfoot is not all gloom and doom.” She smiled.
Travis gave her a half-grin back but stood and glanced out the office window. “I’m pretty sure right now, though, storm clouds are rollin’ in.”
She followed his gaze and realized that he was right. Her husband was so not happy.
Later on in the day, Liam had finally calmed down enough to try to approach Tyler. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy; hell, he knew Tyler would make it as difficult as he could, but he couldn’t take the distance between them. They’d been best friends for too long.
“Are you still pissed at me?” he asked, as he stood beside where Tyler was bent over, working on a car.
A grunt could be heard from under the hood.
“Was that a yes or a no? I don’t speak caveman.”
Tyler slowly levered himself up from where he was bent. “It’s an ‘I don’t know’. I understand exactly where you’re coming from, and to be honest, I may have done the same thing myself. But there’s another part of me that’s furious you could have put us all in danger.”
“I promise you, we’re watching Meredith. She’s not ever been in any danger. I wouldn’t do that to you. If something happened to her, we would lose you. You’re my best friend, I can’t lose you. That’s why I came over here to fix this. I don’t say I’m sorry for the most part, and you know that. I will, however, admit I could have gone about it a different way, and I could have been honest when you came back from Gatlinburg,” Liam admitted as he scratched his neck. It was a nervous tick that he’d never been able to get rid of.
“And I can tell you that I accept your apology, but the fact of the matter still stands. If Meredith or either one of my children get hurt because this information was withheld from me, I’m gonna kick some ass.” His tone was matter-of-fact. He made no apologies.
“We’ve been friends long enough that I can tell you, I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”
They stood in silence, both lost in their thoughts.
“A boy, huh?” Liam held out his hand, congratulating Tyler for the first time.
“Yeah.” The smile on the big man’s face was bright enough that it could be seen from the moon. “I’m terrified,” he admitted. “What the fuck am I gonna do with a boy?”
“You’re gonna treat him just like you treat Drew. Don’t think I don’t know what Drew talks to you about, how he looks up to you. I’m thankful as hell that Drew has you in his life. To be honest, it’s always been you who showed me how to be a dad.”
Tyler flinched, not sure he’d heard the words correctly. “What?”
“When Mandy and Drew came to live here with Denise, I was originally just gonna treat them like friends, but then I saw you with Drew, I saw how you buddied up with him and gently pushed him in the right direction. If it weren’t for you, he wouldn’t be getting up and workin’ out every morning. He’s not callin’ me to find out if I’m gonna be up at the ass crack of dawn with him. I took your example and used it in different ways. You’re gonna be an amazing dad. You’re a father figure to every single one of the men in this club. You may not know it, but everyone works for and wants your respect,” Liam told him. It didn’t feel weird to make the admission that he also did. “Hell, even me. I want to make you proud, just like the rest of ’em do. There’s somethin’ about you Blackfoot—you inspire people. You’re gonna be a great father. Don’t ever doubt that.”
Tyler was speechless, and emotion welled up in his chest. They were emotions that he hadn’t felt in a very long time. It was funny how both of them thought the same thing about the other. “Thank you.”
Liam hugged his best friend close. “Nah, thank you. If it wasn’t for you…none of us would be here. I know that for a fact.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Liam!”
He glanced up from where he sat at the head of the table in the clubhouse. He, along with Tyler, Jagger, and Layne, were working out the new protection runs for the month of December. They were about to get much busier than they’d been in a long time. The men had been in the middle of deep conversation when Denise came storming in.
“Hey, baby.” The smile he gave her was uncertain. He was completely unsure as why she would be so pissed off.
“Don’t baby me!”
“You pissed?” he asked, not because he was stupid, but because he was curious. He wasn’t ready to argue with anyone tonight, especially his wife.
“What was your first clue? I found this,” she reached into her jeans pocket and produced a ripped empty condom wrapper, “in the truck.”
“Oh damn.” Tyler chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. He sat back to watch whatever this was unfold. He had a very good idea of whose it was, but he wasn’t about to mention names.
“That ain’t mine! We don’t even use condoms, we’re married. Besides, I haven’t driven that damn truck in over a month,” he defended himself.
She crossed her arms over her chest and leveled him with a gaze. “Then who the fuck has? You’re the one at Wet Wanda’s every other night making sure those girls don’t get harassed when they leave. Which you know I’m not even comfortable with. I know you don’t go there as much as you used to, but it still seems like a shitty way to make money to me.”
The group as a whole was quiet for a few moments while they all tried to wrack their brains. Jagger snapped his fingers. “Wait, didn’t Drew take Charity home the night before last? Jasmine had to stay late and didn’t want Charity to have to wait on her. Drew jumped at the chance.”
“He did.” Liam winced as he heard the sharp intake of breath from his wife. He’d worked hard to keep this secret. Shit.
“What was my eighteen-year-old son doing at Wet Wanda’s? You and he both know I don’t want him there—even if Charity is there. I don’t care that he’s old enough to get in, I thought y’all respected me enough not to go behind my back.” She was shaking, she was so angry. Denise knew she shouldn’t be this angry, but she wanted more for her son than what she’d had for herself.
Liam ran a hand down his face and scratched the beard that covered his chin. “Baby, he’s a man, who’s been with Charity for a long time. I think we should be thankful he’s using protection.” Dear God, please don’t let her find out about Mandy.
“I can’t believe I’m hearing this bullshit from you. He just turned eighteen, and I had no idea he and Charity were this serious.” She thrust the condom wrapper on the table. “They should be thinkin’ about where they wanna go to college.”
Standing up, Liam grabbed his wife’s hands and brought them to his mouth, hoping to calm her down with sweet kisses. “Look, let me talk to our son, okay? I think he’ll be less embarrassed if it’s me.”
She thought for a moment, and then tears sprang to her eyes. “I can’t wrap my head around the fact that he’s having sex. He’s too young; he’s got too many things to do with his life.”
The group of men laughed at her distress. Pulling her into his arms, Liam nuzzled her neck. “Just calm down, okay. Things are going to be fine.”
“I’m too young to be a grandmother. A grandmother at 38. This can’t happen.”
He laughed and brushed a kiss along her neck. “You stay down here and hang out with the girls. I think Meredith and Bianca are in the kitchen. Meredith had a craving for cookies now that she can finally eat sweets again. Why don’t you go in there and talk with them for a bit?”
Nodding, she shuffled out of the room and walked towards the kitchen, sniffling as she did.
“Holy shit.” Liam breathed as he had a seat back down in his chair. “That boy almost got my nuts chopped off, or at the very least a night on the couch. Fuck. I’m too old for this shit.”
Tyler laughed, running a hand through his long hair. “Well, at least the cat’s outta the bag and he doesn’t have to be sneaking around anymore.”
“Oh, he’ll still be sneakin’ around.” Liam took a long drag from the cigar
ette he had sitting in the ash tray at his side. “He ain’t having sex in the house. I can’t deal with Denise if that happens. He’ll obviously find a way to get it taken care of. He’s a man now, and that’s just something you deal with. He’s not a little boy anymore, and that’s the problem.”
“Yeah, that’s the truth. We’re still working out every morning, and he can almost out lift me now,” Tyler conceded.
“Y’all do me a favor and finish the rest of this schedule. I gotta go talk to my son before Denise has a nervous breakdown.”
Liam checked the clock on his cell phone and saw that it was after four in the afternoon. He was almost positive that Drew didn’t have any kind of practice this particular day, or any kind of extracurricular activities at school. It was the Friday that began their Christmas break, so he knew Drew would be home. Deciding to forego the bike for once, he got into the truck Denise had driven and made his way to the house. When he crested the hill, he saw a cute little Honda sitting out in front, and he knew that car belonged to Charity.
“Damn,” he sighed. He really did not want to walk in on what he was almost positive he was going to walk in on.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Drew’s number. It rang a few times and then went straight to voice mail. Parking the truck, he dialed the number again and this time it didn’t ring before going to voicemail. As a last resort, he honked the horn twice before getting out of the truck and pounding up the stairs of the front porch.
Hesitantly, he opened the front door, and he breathed when he saw no one in the living room. Stopping for a moment, he listened, and that’s when heard shuffling on the back porch. “Drew!” he bellowed.
“Back here,” he called out.
Liam purposely took a few minutes to get out there, and when he did, Drew was busy buttoning his jeans, and Charity was pulling her shirt over her head. Both of them were red in the face, and they were breathing very heavily.
“Charity, I need to talk to Drew. I think it’d be best if you left, honey,” he told the young girl.
She nodded before walking over and kissing Drew on the cheek. “I’ll call you,” she whispered.
“As soon as I’m done here, I’ll just come get you,” he told her as he slowly ran a hand over her back, squeezing her around the waist.
“I’d rethink that if I was you,” Liam warned, his eyes burning a hole through his son.
Charity looked like she wanted to say something, but quickly made her way out of the house. Liam walked over to the other side of the screened-in porch, watching her as she left. It gave him time to collect his thoughts and think about how he wanted to play this. Hell, he had been this boy not too many years before. When he turned around, Drew had put a shirt over his body and was sitting on one of the couches. Liam had done enough interrogations to know that even though Drew sat with his legs spread and his hands between his knees in what appeared to be a relaxed pose, he was anything but.
“You’re lucky it was me that pulled up here and gave you all kinds of time to get your shit together and not your mom.” Liam pointed at him before having a seat across from him.
Drew at least had the decency to look down at his hands, properly reprimanded. “Sorry,” he whispered.
“Dude, not that I begrudge you doing what you’re doing. It’s normal and natural, but you have got to clean up after yourself.”
“I do, Dad, she’s been here lots of times while y’all weren’t here, and nobody knew until today,” he blurted.
“You sure as hell don’t do as well in the truck.” Liam pulled the condom wrapper from his pocket and passed it over to him.
“Fuck,” Drew cursed.
“Yeah, fuck. You’re mom found it and accused me of cheatin’ on her.”
Drew was shocked; he didn’t know what to say to his dad. That wasn’t what he had wanted to happen. “I’m sorry. I thought I’d cleaned up after myself better than that.”
“It’s okay, but we have to talk about some shit here. Neither your mom nor I want to be grandparents right now. Are you serious about Charity?” he asked, looking him square in the face.
“I care about her, yeah. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with her if that’s what you’re asking. I’m just havin’ a good time right now. You and I both know she’s going off to college in a few months. I’m trying not to get too attached.”
Liam had figured these would be the words out of Drew’s mouth. “Then you need to make sure you’ve got this under control. You don’t want any surprises.”
“I know,” he whispered.
It was then that Liam took note of how deep Drew’s voice had gotten, and for the first time, he looked at him like he hadn’t seen him in years. He was almost as tall as Liam now, a beard showed on his face, and Tyler had been correct, he was almost as big as him.
“Look, let’s just be honest with each other here. You’re a man, and we need to start treating you like it, but you’ve also gotta be honest with us. If you’re out with her, we want to know it. Don’t be sneaking her in here either. You want her over, you ask. Got it?”
“I got it.”
“Two more things,” Liam finished as Drew started to get up. “Don’t flaunt the fact that you’re having sex in front of your mom. She’s not having an easy time of it. You’re still her little man; she’s not used to you being old enough to do this.”
“I understand. It’s not like I wanted my mom to know I was bangin’ a chick…ya know? I’ve kept it quiet for a while; I hoped to keep it quiet until I moved out.”
Liam grinned. “And the last thing. Good job, Drew. Charity’s always been damn cute.”
Drew blushed and bent his head down. “I know. We’ve been friends for a very long time, and while there was always something there, it took a while for her to see me as anything more. Especially after the whole steroid issue, I thought I’d fucked up for good, but she gave me another chance. I had to prove to her that I have a brain.”
“Just remember to use it,” Liam reminded as he got up and patted him on the back.
“Do you mind if I use the truck tonight? We were going to go to the movies.”
Liam groaned and threw the keys to Drew. “Take me back to the clubhouse first, that way I can put your mom’s mind at ease. Remember what I said.”
“I know.” He walked over to where Liam stood and put his arms around him in a hug. “Thanks for caring enough about me to worry. I really did luck up when you came into my life, and I’m proud to call you my dad.”
Uncharacteristic tears clogged Liam’s throat. “I’m proud to call you my son,” he said as he hugged him back. Reaching over, he ruffled the hair on Drew’s head to cover up the emotion. The next words he spoke were gruff, but they were the honest truth. “We both got pretty damn lucky.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Are you ladies sure you’re gonna be okay here tonight?” Tyler asked the group of women who had gathered at his house.
The run Heaven Hill was about to go on would take most of the manpower they had, and since March was upon them and the newscasters were calling for snow, he hadn’t wanted to leave Meredith and Addie alone. March could sometimes be the worst when it came to snow in south-central Kentucky. When he’d called for backup, he was surprised when Mandy and Charity had readily agreed to stay with Meredith for him.
“We’re good,” Mandy told him. “And if anything should happen, Drew and Dalton are a phone call away.”
“And,” Meredith reminded him, “You know that Travis has eyes on this house all the time. He’s sticking behind, and no matter how irritated I get at him, I trust him.”
Tyler did too, but he really wished Rooster, Layne, or Jagger were also sticking around. He knew he could trust Drew and Dalton to take care of things too, didn’t mean he couldn’t shake the feeling he had. “I know, I’m just worried because of the snow in the forecast.”
“You act like I’m not.” She pinched his side. “Y’all a
re gonna be riding your bikes on 65; that makes me incredibly nervous.”
“We’ll be fine,” Tyler assured her. Glancing at his phone, he realized he had to go if he was going to meet the guys. “I gotta be going. You ladies be safe. If anything feels outta the ordinary, give Travis a call, and then call the guys.”
“Yes sir.” Mandy saluted him, giggling when he shot her a glare.
“Don’t be flippant, I’m serious.”
She couldn’t keep the grin off her face.
When he was finally out the door, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
“He’s a little high-strung,” Charity mentioned, pursing her lips.
“Yeah…” Meredith grimaced. “Addie’s taken to falling asleep with us on the couch at night, and I’m usually tired myself. Mr. Blackfoot is goin’ through a dry spell, the likes of which he hasn’t seen since we started dating.”
The girls giggled, and then Meredith wondered if she should have shared that with them, before deciding it was probably okay. She and Mandy were close, there was no reason she shouldn’t also be as accepting of Charity. She spread out on the couch, resting her hands on the round ball that her stomach had become. The two girls sat in chairs opposite her, both playing on their cell phones and quietly talking between the two of them. This is how her relationship would be with Addie when she was old enough.
“So, Mandy, did you ever get to use any of that info from Jess’ books?”
Mandy’s face burned a bright red.
“I knew it.” Charity pointed her finger at the other girl. “Drew’s been shooting Dalton dirty looks since Halloween, but I could never get you to confirm or deny, so neither one of us has been sure. Spill. It’s just us ladies here.”
Mandy hated being put on the spot, but she hadn’t gossiped about this to anyone. She’d kept it completely to herself while she’d taken the time to process it. There was a part of her that knew she needed to talk about it. It was only natural. “It did happen on Halloween, and we’ve done things a few times since then,” she admitted.
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