Dearest Biker MC The Complete Series Box Set
Page 20
“I was,” he nodded. “But I was never really big on charity things, so I ducked out pretty fast when it was over. I know some hung around to talk to the kids, but I wanted to get the hell out of there.”
“I suppose that’s understandable,” I admitted.
“I’m glad that it did benefit our daughter. Or, like, you know what I mean,” he replied. I smiled. I knew what he was trying to say, and it was nice to know that he would make sacrifices like that for the sake of our little girl.
“It really wasn’t that great when the ride was over. I mean, I liked it, but I didn’t really stick around myself. I had to get a sitter for Allegra for the day, and she was hot and tired by the time I finished the ride,” I said. “So I just snapped a few photos with a couple kids, then she and I took a selfie before I left. I wanted her to remember the day, too.”
“That was the photo I saw, but I didn’t know she was yours,” he said.
“That one on my profile was the one I took with her before we left. Her sitter dropped her off when we got back from the ride, so much of the visiting I did I had to do with her on my hip. She gets heavy after a while,” I replied.
Another silence fell over us. I was flattered that he’d come looking for me. If he didn’t know Allegra was mine in the photo, then he clearly just wanted to see me. I wasn’t sure what that meant for us, but it had to mean something. I must not have been as big of a one-night stand as I thought at the time.
“So you were looking for me? What did you think was going to happen when you found me?” I asked.
“I was going to see how you were doing. I’ve thought about you a lot over the past couple years, and I see now, with good reason,” he said as he shrugged once more. “I didn’t know that we had a kid together, but that didn’t change the fact that the weekend we spent together before I left really had an impact on me.”
“You just wanted to talk to me?” I asked in surprise. “Seems like a long way to come for the sake of just seeing me.”
“I’ve been back for several months,” he said. “I’m trying to cope with a lot of shit that’s going on right now, and when I saw you, I felt something that I haven’t felt in a long time.”
“What’s that?” I inquired.
“Alive, I guess. I wasn’t thinking about my missing arm like I do so much of the time. I was willing to deal with the ride on my bike down here to see you in spite of the fact that the thing is a pain in the ass to work with,” he replied.
I could hear the defensiveness in his voice, and I tried to ignore the pang of guilt that ran through me. I didn’t ask him to come. I wasn’t the one who cost him his arm, but I still felt for him.
For as hard as it had been for me over the past couple of years, I still had all my fingers and toes. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose a limb. I’d have to relearn how to do practically everything. And with my daughter, that would be even harder than if I was living on my own.
I had the sudden impulse to put my hand over his. I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea or think that I was trying too hard to flirt with him, but I did feel for him. I had a lot of compassion for what he went through, but still, the idea of touching him scared me.
There were so many emotions running through me. Things that I never thought I’d feel around him. Not only did I want to smack him for everything I’d gone through, I wanted to throw him to the ground and have my way with him.
Well, maybe not right there in the middle of the park, but I would be happy to hook up with him again. I would even be willing to get a sitter for Allegra to make it happen. But then, I wasn’t sure how Khloe would take it to hear that I wanted her to watch my daughter so I could have sex.
She knew how hard things had been for me the past two years, and though she didn’t hold it against Nathan, she wasn’t exactly thrilled with the situation, either. She knew how hard it would be for me to be with someone like him – someone I wasn’t supposed to even talk to.
How was I going to throw that in on top of everything else I was dealing with in life? I thought. But, Nathan and I were both adults, and I didn’t consider myself to be part of the MC like my brother did. I didn’t think that it would be so weird if we didn’t make a big deal over it.
“Thank you for meeting me,” Nathan said, bringing me back to the present. “I’m really that you did – I can’t say I’d have blamed you if you didn’t.”
“I want you to be in her life, so of course I came,” I said. Another bit of silence before he continued.
“I want to be in her life, as well, so I think I’m going to get a lawyer, just for us to get this all sorted out.” He spoke quickly, as though he didn’t want to bring up the legal aspect of being involved with his own daughter.
“That’s not a bad idea. My friends are recommending that I do the same. I just don’t want to fight with you over this. We can be civil while we work this out,” I said. It made me sick to think of fighting over my own daughter, but if he was going to get a lawyer, then I would, too.
“We can be more than civil. I’d like to be friendly,” Nathan replied. “There’s nothing between us that makes me think that wouldn’t be possible.”
“I agree,” I said with a warm smile. I hoped we could both keep it civil with each other, even if we didn’t take it so far as to be friendly. But, those were things that we’d have to deal with as the time came. This was going to be a learning process for both of us, and we’d have to talk to the lawyers about how we could make it work.
“Enough about that for now. We can figure it out as we go,” Nathan said. He bent down and held his hands out to Allegra. She was clearly interested in him, but didn’t know how to respond. She was often so sassy, but there was something about Nathan that seemed to make her nervous.
She waddled over to him and put her hand on his prosthetic, clearly confused over the fact that he didn’t have a hand. But, she looked up at him and smiled, and I could see by the look on his face he was happier than words could say. He put his hand on her back and gave her a light hug, then I felt it was time to go.
We’d talked, and I didn’t want the conversation to drift into uncharted territory. We made it through the small talk, now it was time for us to leave. I rose with a smile, thanking him once more for inviting us to visit.
“Hopefully, we can do it again soon,” he said with a smile.
“I’d like that,” I replied with another smile in return. But then, another thought swept through my mind and my brow furrowed. “But we’re going to have to be careful. My brother is going to be pissed when he finds out about all this, and I don’t want there to be any trouble between the two of you.”
His eyes widened. Clearly, he wasn’t thrilled with the news. But then, they were the ones who had joined – and stood by – their MCs, and there were consequences that came with that.
I considered hugging him for a moment, but then, I merely waved. “We’ll get this figured out.”
He nodded. “We will.”
11
Nathan
I felt a lot better about things as I headed back home. There was still a lot for me to work out, but I had a more optimistic outlook that they were going to happen. I stopped by Zach’s diner on my way into town, hoping to find him almost done with his shift.
The place was so familiar to me, it was almost as though I worked there msyelf. Zach’s grandfather had given it to him when he passed, and though Zach wasn’t entirely thrilled with working there, he had taken it on and was doing a fine job of running the place.
I walked through the kitchen, catching Meagan’s eye as I did. She flashed me a smile, and though I smiled in return, I was careful not to give her too much attention. She had been the one girl I enjoyed watching ever since I got back, but since Jenna was back in my life, I had suddenly lost my taste for Meagan.
It wasn’t anything that she’d done, but I was glad now that we hadn’t ever done anything more than flirting. She’d get over it, and I wasn’
t going to feel guilty about it in the meantime.
“Hey, man, how’d it go?” Zach asked when I walked in.
“Good,” I said. “Better than I thought.”
I quickly filled him in on the details. I even let him know that I was going to get a lawyer, right along with Jenna. “She wants to be civil and not fight about anything, and I agree with that. We can make this work.”
Zach nodded. “You’re really doing the right thing there, but how are you going to make this work with your overnight schedule?”
“It’s not going to be easy,” I admitted. I had taken a job working late nights into the early morning at the convenience store on the edge of town, but I wanted out of it now. I knew I was going to have to find some sort of income if I was going to make all this work, but I didn’t want to have a schedule that conflicted with Jenna’s.
“Well, you’re going to have to find something,” Zach replied. “That disability is good pay, but if you want to impress a lawyer, you’re going to need more than that.”
I nodded. He was right, and I knew it. “I’ll go see Carl after all this.”
Zach winced, and I knew why. Carl, his father, had not taken the news well when Zach started dating someone from the rival MC. We both knew that it wasn’t going to go over well if I were to go to him with the same thing. But then, things had been better between the two clubs since Zach had gotten with Vanessa, so maybe things were different now.
“I can’t keep it from him,” I said.
“No, you can’t. Not if you want there to be a prayer that this is going to work,” Zach said quickly. “I just feel for you. You know how things went last time.”
Now it was my turn to wince. I had been the one to come yell at Zach over what he was doing with Vanessa. Since then, things had been getting better between us, but there was still that bit of weirdness in the air. I hoped that working with him through this would help get him back on my side again.
At least a little.
“I’m going to talk to a lawyer first. I want to have all my shit together when I go to your dad,” I assured him.
“I’ll throw in a good word for you if he says anything to me,” Zach shrugged. “Not that he will. We’re getting closer to being like we used to be, but you know how it is with Carl.”
“I know,” I said dryly. “But he’s not my dad; he’s just the leader of the MC.”
Zach chuckled. He had been like a brother to me for so long, but I was right. Carl wasn’t my dad, and even if he was, I couldn’t say that I wouldn’t be like Zach and do what I wanted anyway. He’d always been strong willed and did what he wanted, and I looked up to him for that.
I wasn’t as rebellious myself, but I did still envy him in a way. I wanted that. I wanted Jenna. More than anything, I wanted my daughter. And, I wasn’t going to let the leader of my MC tell me that I couldn’t have her in my life. But still, it would be a hell of a lot easier if he was on my side throughout the process.
After grabbing a burger, I headed out to the lawyer’s office. I was nervous. I’d never had to deal with a lawyer before, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I especially didn’t know what to expect since we were going to be working out a custody battle.
Friendly terms or not, the idea of the whole thing made me uncomfortable, and I hoped it would all go well. I didn’t want to throw more stress in on Jenna’s already stressful life, that was for damn sure. But, I was also going to do what I had to do to get my daughter in my own.
“Miss Ferguson,” I held out my hand. “Nathan Springer. We spoke on the phone a little while ago?”
“Nice to meet you; please, have a seat,” she indicated the chair on the other side of her desk, and I sat down. The office was so clean, so professional, I felt a little better. It was much like a dentist’s office, and it didn’t seem so bad to be going through the process.
“I understand you are going to be looking for partial custody of your daughter?” she asked, and I nodded.
“Yes, I’m working with her mother to make this as painless of a process as possible. She’s on board for this, and we’re being civil,” I explained quickly. Not for one second did I want her to think that I was fighting with Jenna over the custody.
Miss Ferguson nodded. “Good, that’s going to make this whole process easier. Does she have a lawyer she’s working with?”
“Not that I know of yet, but she’s going to be getting one. I’m going to tell her about you when I leave and pass along your contact information if she wants to talk to you,” I said.
“I’d be willing to talk to her,” Miss Ferguson assured me. She pulled out a stack of papers and set them on the desk in front of me. “This is our contractual agreement. I’m going to need you to read through and sign at the bottom of all the forms. The dotted line indicates where you should.”
“Thanks,” I said. I read through the papers and couldn’t believe how many things I had to ask her to explain along the way. I had been in the military, but I didn’t know a lot when it came to legal jargon, and I wasn’t going to sign anything that I didn’t understand.
It took nearly an hour before we were done, but at last, she handed me her card with a smile. “Please, feel free to get a hold of me whenever you need to. This is going to be a process, and as you know, legal things tend to take time.”
“So don’t expect this to be fixed tomorrow?” I joked, and she laughed.
“Exactly. I’ll be in touch with you when I get more of the paperwork we’re going to need put together,” she assured me.
“I’ll let you know if Jenna wants to talk to you, too. I’m going to send her a pic of your card here,” I said. She nodded and shook my hand, and then I was on my way back to my bike. I didn’t want to waste any time getting Jenna the contact information. I didn’t know if she would want to talk to Miss Ferguson, but I wanted to keep her in the loop over what was going on.
At least this way she’d be able to see who I was working with, and I hoped she’d do the same for me when she got a lawyer. After texting her, I put my phone in the pocket of my jacket and sped off, on my way to Carl’s place.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to breach the subject, but I knew it was going to have to come out eventually. He also needed to know that I wasn’t going to work for the convenience store any longer, and I had to find something that was a little more flexible.
Carl was in the garage working on his bike, and he looked up when I walked in. “Zach said that you wanted to talk to me,” he said as a greeting.
“He’s right,” I said. “I’m just not sure where to start.”
“The beginning would be great,” he said.
“I’m a dad?” I tried. He looked up at me with raised eyebrows, clearly trying to determine if I was serious or not.
“How did that happen?”
“I’m sure if anyone is aware of how that all works, it’s you,” I said with a nervous laugh.
“I didn’t know you were seeing anyone,” he said.
“I’m not, not really,” I replied. “But I hooked up with a girl a couple years back, and I guess my swimmers are more determined than I thought.”
“Who’s the mom?” he asked. I hesitated, and he looked up.
“You’re not going to be thrilled,” I said. He crossed his arms and looked at me, and I sighed. “You wouldn’t know her personally, but she’s one of The Enemies.”
I expected Carl to let loose on me and tell me how stupid I was, but he didn’t. He merely nodded and went back to working on the bike in front of him. I wished he’d say something, but I wasn’t going to push. He could take his time and let me know what he was thinking when it came to him.
“That’s not going to be easy for you,” he said at last. “Is she going to let you see the kid?”
“I just left a lawyer’s office on my way here,” I told him. “She’s more than willing to cooperate to make this happen, but I’m going to need a job.”
“I thought you had one?”
He looked at my arm and I wished he wouldn’t, but then he shook his head. “I’ll keep my ear out for you, but I’m not aware of anything right off the top of my head.”
“Thanks. I’m not too picky on what it is so long as the hours are decent and I can do it with my arm,” I told him.
“I’ll keep an eye out,” he promised. “And Nathan?”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“I want you to be careful,” he said.
“Thank you, Sir,” I replied. I left with a smile on my face and feeling proud to be part of this MC. These people were my family, and I didn’t regret a thing.
12
Jenna
“It’s so nice to finally get to meet you,” I said as I shook Mr. Shawshank’s hand.
“I’m sorry it took so long to get this together, but I’m happy to meet you, too,” he replied with a warm smile. “I’ve been working on the Lindley case for the past several months, so when you told me that you wanted me to handle something like this, it was a welcome relief.”
“Ah, yes,” I said. I was aware of the case: a nasty murder that was quickly going cold. I could only imagine how hard it must have been for Mr. Shawshank to deal with that, and for a brief moment, I was happy that I wasn’t dealing with such things myself.
“Anyway, what are we looking for in an outcome for this?” he asked. “What is your end goal here?”
“I want us to work out something agreeable,” I said. “Something that works for all of us – for the sake of my daughter. The main reason why I’m doing this is for her, though I’m not opposed to him having her in his life, as well.”
“And, how does he feel about this? Are you on speaking terms right now, or are we going to have to negotiate that for the two of you? I can provide the means for you to not have to see him if things are tense,” Mr. Shawshank offered.