“Our Friday nights were full of a pussy parade.” Train remembered most of those nights fondly. “You really going to be up for getting a hummer on the couch while Jillian's at home waiting for you?”
“You're looking at it the wrong way. These days, I've got the hottest girl in the room on my arm, and if I want a hummer, I'll get a hummer. Won't be on the couch, though. I got more respect for her than that.” He chuckled. “I am going to miss the nights that we just grabbed a girl and took her up to your room, but my threesome days are over.”
“I could have gone my entire life without hearing you say those words,” Buster spoke. “You know what, I don't even want to know how this conversation came about. Just go back to it when I'm far far away.” Buster shook his head. “So, what do you think, Train?”
“I guess it's not the worst place. Gonna need to do a lot of work. From what I've seen there's water damage in all the ceilings. If the roof is fucked, it's going to be more trouble than it's worth, unless they're paying us to take the place.”
“Let's go up to the roof, check it out. I've already checked the basement, it smells like something died down there, but otherwise, it's good.” Buster seemed to already have his mind made up when it came to the restaurant.
<#<#<#
Train parked the pickup in front of his house. He checked the mailbox out of habit, nothing but bills and junk. Once inside the house, he tossed the stack on the table and realized that something was off. It took a minute for him to realize that he hadn't left the television on that morning and certainly hadn't left a bowl in the middle of the coffee table.
He reached for his gun, decided to clear the first floor first. There was nothing out of place. He heard the upstairs toilet flush and took the stairs two at a time. The bathroom door opened. “Don't fucking move.”
It was probably a good thing Leo had just used the facilities, otherwise he might have wet his pants. He held his small, and trembling, hands up. “Don't shoot. Don't shoot.” Train had never seen the boy's eyes quite so wide before. “Please!”
Train lowered the gun. “Jesus, Leo, I could have....” he didn't want to think about what he could have done. “What are you doing here? Why aren't you in school? Did something happen? Where's Meg?”
“I ditched,” the boy admitted. “You can't tell Meg. She'll be super pissed.” He swallowed hard. “It was trip day and I wasn't going, so I figured no one would miss me. If I went to school, I'd just have to sit in the office all day.”
“Wait, why weren't you going to field day?” Train shoved the gun into the back of his jeans when he realized that he was still holding it. Leo relaxed visibly once it was out of sight. “I asked you a question, kiddo.”
Leo looked down at his feet. “Because,” he replied. “Please, don't call Meg and tell her. I figured that I could just hang out here, clean up and go home like a regular day.”
“How'd you get in?”
“There was a key at the house, the one that you left for Meg, I grabbed it this morning when I left. She won't miss it. She's got a parenting seminar thing all day today.”
Train had to admire the way Leo had planned this all out. If he hadn't come home, he had no doubt that he would have never known the boy was at the house all day long. He wondered if Leo had done the same thing before. “Let's go downstairs.” Train laid his hand on Leo's shoulder. “I'll make us a snack and you can tell me what 'because' means in this particular case.”
He made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, with the crusts cut off, of course, and warmed up some packet hot chocolate. Leo ate like he'd been starved for the past week. Train didn't push the topic; they ate in comfortable silence for a while. “Meg's going to be mad at me if I tell you.”
“She's going to be mad, anyway, that you skipped school. It's not like you, Leo. So, talk to me and maybe I can help.” Train wasn't quite sure if this conversation was even the right thing. Probably he should have already called Meg.
“I didn't go on the trip because it cost seventy-five dollars. And Meg doesn't have the money because she doesn't have a job.” Leo slurped his hot chocolate. “Can't we just not tell her about any of this? I don't want to make her sad.”
Train didn't want that, either. “You ever skip school again, you're in seriously deep shit with me. Understand?”
“Yeah. I understand.” Leo kicked his feet beneath the table.
“You should have said something about the trip to me, I'd have figured something out with Meg. This the only trip this year?”
“No. There's one more, but it's alright, I don't really want to go anyway. It's stupid.”
Train knew the feeling of being the one to not go on trips. However, in his days it hadn't been seventy-five dollars, it had been ten or fifteen. His parents would rather have spent whatever money they had on things like bottles of booze, cigarettes and whatever else could alter them to the point of passing out.
“You're not going to tell Meg, right? I just want to be sure.” Leo's question snapped Train out of the thoughts he hadn't wanted to be thinking.
“I'm not going to tell her,” he answered. If she ever found out, it was going to be his ass. “Don't pull this again. And you're done with the television. Go ahead and find a book to read, that's what you're going to be doing with the rest of your afternoon.”
<#<#<#<#<#
Train knocked on the door a few hours after Leo had grabbed his book bag and gone home. Any thought he'd had that the boy had ditched school in this same way before were gone. When the time had come to head home, he'd been on the verge of tears.
Leo answered the door a moment later with a smile. “Hey, Train. Come in. Meg's in the kitchen. I was just going up to finish my homework.” He took off up the stairs with a relieved smile on his face. Honestly, Train was surprised the boy hadn't tripped himself up with his story and a little relieved because he wouldn't be dealing with a pissed off Meg.
She was at the sink with her back to him. He paused to appreciate the sight of her. She'd told him the pants were called yoga pants. Train loved yoga pants. He didn't love the long tee shirt she wore. First off, it was baggy enough that her curves didn't show, and second, it stopped him from getting a really good view of her ass. She didn't seem to even notice him. In fact, she jumped when his hands landed on her hips. “Relax, it's just me.”
“I didn't hear the door. I guess I was zoned out. I made some burritos. There's a plate in the microwave, I figured that you'd be by.”
“Smart girl.” Train pressed his lips to the back of her neck. “Come and eat with me. I don't feel like eating alone.”
“Just let me finish these dishes. They aren't going to wash themselves.”
“They could, you just need a dishwasher. Be pretty easy to put one in, just have to take out a cabinet or two. It'd only take a couple of hours, tops.” Train had been thinking about what Leo said earlier, that Meg didn't have the money. “I can do it for you.”
“I don't need a dishwasher. I like doing dishes. But thank you.”
“You're welcome.” He kissed her neck again. “Did you get to see Joshua today?”
“No. He was having a bad day, apparently. I hate the idea of him at that place, that I don't know when he's going to come home. Most of all, I hate that I really think he needs to be there. I should have done something, gotten him someone to talk to.”
“This isn't on you. You're the best thing in his life.” Train knew how lucky both boys were to have someone who loved them the way that Meg did.
“You keep saying that, but I don't know if it's true.” She washed the last dish and placed it in the drying rack. “Let me warm up your food. Do you want salad?”
“No. I definitely don't want any salad.” Train kissed her neck again and stepped back. “I know it's true that you're good for them. You're good for them like my sister was good for me.”
“You never talk about your family,” she observed as she turned to face him.
“Yeah, well there isn't real
ly much to say. My parents were like Josh, they didn't give a fuck about us, really. Left Brenda to raise herself and me. She never complained.” Train cleared his throat. He didn't talk to anyone about this, not ever, but Meg wasn't just anyone. She deserved to know who he was. “She died when I was eleven. My parents didn't die until many years later, too many years. Anyway, once she was gone, I realized just how lucky I'd been to have her. Like the boys are lucky to have you.”
Train could see the questions in her eyes; she watched him for a moment but didn't ask them. Instead she stretched up, brushed her lips against his. “You want a beer?”
“Absolutely,” he replied. “I'll grab it. Do you want one?”
“I shouldn't, in case the social worker shows up on a random visit.” She shook her head.
“It's a beer,” Train pointed out. “You're over twenty-one. It's perfectly legal. You're having a beer. Go on and sit, I'll get it, and I'll get the food. Go on, sit.” She looked amused as she did sit down. He found the plate that she'd mentioned in the microwave and set it to warm.
“How was your day?”
“It was alright. We went and looked at a new place for the club, used to be one of those all-you-can-eat places. We can close off some of the areas, make rooms for the guys, but I don't know what we're going to do with the kitchen. It's huge.” Train opened the beers and set one in front of her. He also put the first plate of food out of the microwave in front of her.
“What does a new place mean? You lived at the bar, right? Are you going to go back and live at the new place?”
“I thought that I would, it was the plan,” Train admitted. “But now, I like having the house and the privacy that comes with it. There will be bedrooms there, for guys to crash. Prospects lived at the bar, too. That will probably stay the same.” It would also give them a place to make their own, to replace the basement they'd lost, a place for Nightshade to consider as holy as a church. His living room worked alright, but it wasn't the same.
“That's good. It's crazy that the bar exploded. We saw it from here that night. Never seen anything like it before.” Meg took a sip of beer and began to eat. Something that had been clenched inside of Train relaxed when she took another sip of beer. He could almost see her relaxing.
“Ace said something about us coming over to dinner one night.” Train put his plate on the table and sat down. “Should be fun, I'm not sure that Jillian can cook. She certainly can't cook like Caroline or you.” It was a serious toss-up as to who was the better cook, in his mind.
“That's sweet, I know how highly you value Caroline's cooking skills. You know, if I didn't know better, I'd think that you had a thing for her.”
“What makes you think that?” Train took a bite of the burrito. He'd praised Meg's cooking just moments earlier; he'd have rethought it if he'd tasted this first. He didn't know what it was, but he knew that she hadn't made it. “Where'd you get this from?”
“I made it.” She frowned at him. “Why?”
“It's not good,” Train spoke as diplomatically as he could. He expected it to piss her off. Women didn't like when you criticized their food.
“It's frozen burritos, I just added the salsa and cheese. Stop eating if you don't like it. I'll make you something else.” She put down her fork and got up. “I need to get to the grocery store, but there's some eggs. I saw bacon, too.”
“Sit back down, I can eat this. It's fine.”
“You just said that it's not good,” she huffed. “I don't expect you to eat it if you don't like it. Bacon and eggs or something else?” She walked over to the fridge. “There's also some quick steaks in here. Do you want those instead of the bacon?”
“I said that I'll eat this, it just didn't taste like something that you'd normally make. I've sure as hell eaten worse. I can run you to the grocery store in the morning before I go to work, or I can have one of the prospects come and take you.”
“You don't have to do that. I'll manage, just like I always do.”
“You avoiding going to the grocery store for some reason, Meg? Maybe we should grab Leo and go right now, stop and get something for a late night snack.” Train strongly suspected that she was avoiding going to the grocery store because she was running low, or completely out of money.
“Leo's got to be in bed soon.”
“You are avoiding it,” Train informed her. “Tell me why. It's not a hard question.”
“Go to hell,” she replied.
“One day I will. Not today, hopefully.” He'd hoped to lighten the mood, but it didn't lighten. Meg's body language screamed defensive, and she didn't even crack a smile. “It's money, isn't it?” Train decided that there was no purpose in beating around the bush.
“What? No. Why would you say that?” She looked away but not fast enough. He saw that he was right in the shame that flashed through her eyes and the way her cheeks grew red and hot.
“It's not hard to figure out,” Train said gently. “You've only been working a few hours a week with Caroline, so you have to be burning through your savings. Why didn't you say something?”
“It's not a problem. I'm not broke. I just have to be careful.” She looked anywhere but at him. He understood pride, but it still pissed him off. She needed help, he was right there and she hadn't let him know.
“You know that I'd help you, right?” Train felt as if the silence that followed his question lasted forever. “For fuck's sake, Meg! How can you not know that?”
“You already do so much,” she sighed. “And I know all of this freaks you out. I see it sometimes. You wanted just fun and you got all this bullshit.”
“Yeah well, it's a good thing I like you and your bullshit.” Train struggled to speak calmly. “I'm here because here is where I want to be. If my mind wanders, it's not because I'm freaking out. I'm thinking, probably about Nightshade things. I'm not going to share that with you. You need to be good with that.” If she hadn't realized that he was all in, she needed to now.
The fear that she wouldn't be able to accept the club made his stomach clench and roll, but when she sat down across from him the feeling eased. “I'd say what I don't know can't hurt me, but I'm figuring that's not the case.” She stared at her hands. “I don't need details, I just need to know that we're going to be safe.”
“You've got my word on that. I'm going to take care of you and those boys. You can count on it.” Train reached across the table, took her hand and squeezed. “Let's get Leo and head over to Gino's. I'm starving.”
Chapter Ten
Meg watched as the caseworker drove away from the house. She'd been waiting the entire visit for the woman, a sour-puss named Nancy, to tell her what the court had decided. Nancy had kept her in suspense for nearly an hour, doing an inspection and asking a million questions before finally saying that the court had ruled in her favor.
Meg officially had temporary custody of both boys. They'd look for Josh to inform him, but there was already a long list of people who were looking for her brother. The home visits, scheduled and surprise, would continue. She'd also need to keep taking various parenting classes. Meg was willing to do whatever it took. The only reason the victory wasn't totally sweet was Joshua. It had been almost three weeks since he'd been committed to the hospital, and he wasn't making the progress the doctors had hoped. In fact, he'd become more violent. It had caused them to suspend any visits for him. It hurt to not see him, but she had to hope that this was going to make him better in the long run.
Her phone buzzed. She reached for it and saw simply a question mark from Train. He wanted to know how the home visit had gone. Meg felt herself smile as she dialed back his number. “What did they say?” He answered on the first ring, obviously as eager as she had been for the news.
“You could say hello first,” she teased. “And the court ruled for me to have official temporary custody of the boys.”
“That's great news, Meg. Great news. Is Leo back from school yet?”
“In about fifteen m
inutes,” Meg replied as she checked the clock.
“I'll be home in like a half an hour. Don't cook anything. We were all talking about getting together for dinner at Gino's, in the back room. How's that sound?”
“As long as I don't have to cook, it sounds good to me.” Meg couldn't remember the last time that she'd felt so complete. She had her boys back, and she had Train. The way he'd just said he was coming home had her insides quivering. “I guess I'll see you when you get home, then.”
“Won't be long.” He ended the call. She knew he would keep his word. He always kept his word. Maybe it wasn't healthy, the way that she'd fallen for Train. But she had fallen, and the feeling was something she'd never thought that she'd have. Meg didn't want the feeling to ever stop.
Sometimes she worried that it wouldn't work, that Train would remember the life he'd had before once the new and improved home base for Nightshade was up and running. What if he might realize that life with her and Leo was pretty boring? Where would that leave her? Two doors down from him, pining away for him while watching him come and go. Endless questions from Leo about why he'd left. Leo loved Train more than she did. He was the father figure that the boy had never been able to find in his own father.
All That Matters (Nightshade MC Book 3) Page 12