by Bijou Hunter
I also couldn’t have gotten the firehouse anywhere else. The interior is comfortable and homey. Yet, the exterior retains enough of the firehouse features to keep the little boy in me happy. One day when Rogue is older, I’ll show her pictures of what it used to look like and how those big fire trucks she loves were parked inside.
My daughter is what I think Violet would be like if she had different parents. Rogue is naturally smart and eager to please. But, without assholes twisting her into knots, my little girl is also rather laid-back. She has an easy smile and a natural curiosity.
To me, Rogue looks like a miniature Violet. Yet, Rogue has my habit of following people around. As a toddler, she goes wherever Violet does. They take walks, explore the park, share a donut, and play out back with Corky. Rogue even finds laundry better than toys as long as she’s tagging along with her mom.
I used to be the same way with my parents. When I got older, I learned to hold back, lurk in the shadows, and play the spy. So far, Rogue is terrible at sneaking around. I try to get her to tiptoe and stay very quiet. Instead, she just makes exaggerated versions of my hand and feet gestures before laughing.
“Daddy, you’re silly,” she’ll always say whenever I teach her to be sneakier.
One day, when we’re out on the large driveway, watching Rogue and Io roller-skate, Violet says, “She’s terrible at spying, but she definitely inherited your balance.”
As the years pass, Violet loves practicing for roller derby more than actually taking part in the bouts. Though she hates getting knocked around, she refuses to quit. Roller derby is something her parents would never have approved of, so the team is her way to stick it to them.
Once she’s old enough to stay upright, Rogue starts skating, too. My little girl loves to go fast, which she probably inherited from me. When problems weigh on my shoulders, I still take to the backroads and let my Harley loose. The faster I go, the easier those issues are to solve.
Violet and I think about another kid. First, when Rogue is three. Then again, when she’s five. Finally, once she’s a second grader, we admit we’re complete with our daughter. Violet doesn’t worry about Rogue suffering from the kind of loneliness she felt as an only child. Our daughter grows up with plenty of cousins and pseudo-cousins. No doubt, many of those girls will one day have their own roller derby team. I just hope they come up with a better name than The Cuntthroats.
Before Violet, I never felt like anything was missing. I was perfectly happy in Shasta. Yet, having her and then Rogue makes me a better man. I feel sharper, smarter, deeper. The old me wouldn’t have the patience to deal with Colton’s often rowdy behavior. For Violet, I forced myself to learn to be VP, and I’m a better person for it.
A few times a year, I’ll come home on a rainy or cold day to find Violet and Rogue cuddled up on the couch, watching “Best in Show.” When she was little, my daughter would rest on top of her mom, snuggling closer. When she gets older, she squeezes on the side of Violet and wraps an arm across her favorite person. They’ll look up at me from under their blanket and smile in unison.
Every single damn time, I flashback to the first time I knew I loved Violet. Back in the creepy house in Shasta with Shelby nearby and a horror movie playing, this woman owned my heart. The location and movie might have changed, but Violet will always be the only one for me.
Pema probably doesn’t seem like much to an outsider driving by, and it might not shine to many who call it home. But for Violet and me, this town offered a new beginning. If we stayed in Shasta, I believe her ghosts would have eventually killed her. A man like me gets one shot at finding the right woman. Losing Violet would have sentenced my life to a loneliness I had never considered before.
In Pema, though, Violet outran many of her demons. She’s happy to be the woman she sees in the mirror. Self-improvement no longer means scrubbing away the old Violet. There are days when I feel her slipping away, but she knows how to reach out to those who love her.
Violet can also be a bulldog when something strikes her fancy. Meaning sooner or later, I’m installing those mirrors over our bed.
No matter what the future offers my family, the Reapers, or Pema, I’ll remain the sentinel, doing whatever necessary to protect what’s mine.
THE END
“MOTH TO A FLAME” SNEAK PEEK
Release Date: May 23, 2021
Book 2 in the Reapers MC: Pema Chapter
Avery Majors owns her impulsive nature. Usually, her split-second decisions work out. She followed her brother to Pema, took on a hotel remodel, and threw herself at her fake biker boyfriend. That last one hasn’t quite panned out yet.
Kiefer Northam was raised to settle for whatever he could get. He’s never dreamed big. When Avery gets under his skin, he believes she’s out of his league. After all, she’s Reapers royalty, and her brother is his VP.
A favor changes everything, setting off Avery’s impulsive nature and tempting Kiefer to reach for what he doesn’t think is possible. Though easily drawn to each other, making a life together might prove deadly.
BIJOU READING ORDER
Note: These books are written to be read as standalones, but the list below is the preferred order regarding character introductions.
Books related to the Damaged series
❖ Damaged 1-7 (Sunday Morning is a prequel while In the Wind takes place a decade after book 7)
❖ Ramsey Security 1-3 (book 3 links the most to the other series and introduces Angus Hayes)
❖ Junkyard Dog
❖ Serrated Brotherhood MC 1-3
❖ Rawkfist MC 1-3
❖ Right Amount of Wrong (second generation Damaged novel)
❖ White Horse 2-4 (second generation)
❖ Reapers MC: Ellsberg Chapter 1-3 (second generation)
❖ Reapers MC: Conroe Chapter 1-3 (second generation) (bks 1 & 2 take place before Ellsberg bk3)
❖ Reapers MC: Shasta Chapter 1-3 (second generation) (bks 1 takes place before Ellsberg bk1)
❖ Elko Executioners MC (EEMC) 1-3 (bk1 takes place after Shasta Chapter bk3)
❖ Reapers MC: Pema Chapter 1-3 (second generation) (bk1 takes place after Shasta Chapter bk3 and Ellsberg Chapter bk3)
Books related to the Little Memphis series
❖ Little Memphis & Broken Memphis
❖ Rawlins Heretics MC 1-3
Books related to the Spent Shells series
❖ Gator
❖ Badlands & Shellshock
ABOUT BIJOU
Living in Indiana with my three sweet sons, three wacky cats, and one super mom, I love horror movies, Call of Duty, StitchedTogetherPics, and sitcoms canceled before their time.
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