by Jamie Begley
CHAPTER 11
“Mom! Clint keeps smushing my lunchbox.”
“Clint, leave your brother’s things alone.” Lily ran a comb through her younger son’s hair. “I told you that I packed you the same things in your lunchbox that I did John’s.”
She smiled as the three-year-old fidgeted under her hand, attempting to reach for the dark blue lunch bag on the counter. He was always trying to outdo his big brother.
“He took the last banana,” Clint complained, standing on his toes to reach for it again.
Lily pushed the bag farther back, knowing it was bothering John. “He didn’t take it. I put in it his bag. You don’t like bananas.”
“I do, too,” he argued stubbornly.
“He can have the banana if he wants it, Mom. I can take the apple,” John amiably tried to put an end to Clint’s temper tantrum.
“You’ll both eat what your mother put in your bags.”
“Yes, sir,” John acknowledged their father’s order, going into the living room to get his things ready for school.
Lily watched with mirth-filled eyes as different emotions chased across Clint’s face as he debated obeying like John or trying to argue.
“Now, Clint.”
It was a short-lived battle.
“Yes, sir.”
Lily held Shade’s coffee as Clint ran into the living room, making a face when a second later she heard the beginning of another argument.
Her husband gave her a kiss before carrying his coffee out to stop the brewing fight.
Happy that he was dealing with the squabble, she finished zipping the lunch bags closed, including her own, before going into the other room when she saw a text message lighting the front of her phone.
“Beth is ready.” Handing John his lunch bag, she gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. “I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Holding the door open, she watched as John ran outside where Beth was waiting to drive him to school with Noah and Chance. She would drop off Clint at his preschool before going to work at the thrift store.
Closing the door, she turned to see Clint sitting on the couch, snuggled next to Shade. Both boys adored their father. She had no doubt of their love for her, but they were their father’s sons.
John was like a miniature replica of his father. He wasn’t as outgoing as Clint, who had more of his aunt Penni’s personality than either of his parents. He also shared the same features as Shade.
She worshiped her sons, but she ached for a little girl.
When she was pregnant with Clint, they expected a girl. They had even decorated the nursery in frilly pink. They were both surprised with another son instead.
“Can I stay home with you today?”
“Not today. I have to work at the factory. If Jessie gives me a good report for the rest of the week, you can stay home with me on Friday.”
“Yipee!” Clint jumped into his father’s lap to hug him tightly.
Lily put on her coat and buttoned it closed. “If you don’t want to go to daycare, you can spend the day with me at the store,” she offered, putting on her gloves. “You can help me unpack boxes.”
“That’s okay. I’ll go to school.” Clint hopped up to put on the jacket that she held out for him.
Lily tried to hide her disappointment. “You used to beg to spend the day with me.”
“It’s my turn to pick out which book Ms. Jessie will read before naptime.”
Resisting the urge to ask him again, she slid his stocking cap over his black hair.
Raising her eyes when she finished, she flushed at Shade’s perceptive stare that easily read how she wanted Clint to spend the day with her.
She gathered her and Clint’s things together as Clint waited by the door. She missed Shade when he was away from her, wanting to spend extra time with Clint because he couldn’t understand why his father had to be away. She had even been letting John stay up an extra hour at night to lay beside him on his bed, just talking to him about whatever he wanted.
With everything gathered in her hands, she went to give Shade a goodbye kiss. Bending over, she gave a quick kiss and was about to pull away when he brought his hand to her neck, holding her in place. The kiss he gave her was anything but quick.
He parted her lips with a sweep of his tongue, diving inside to swirl around provocatively. She was gasping when he released her.
“I have to train a new employee this morning, but how about I stop by and take you out to lunch?”
She happily stared down at him. “I would love that. Who did you hire?” she asked curiously as she walked to the door.
“Bubba Hayes.”
Lily stopped short of the door, stunned.
“You hired Bubba!” Her husband had just made her day. “I love Bubba!” Going back to her husband, she gave him a big hug. Shade, on the other hand, looked like she had ruined his.
“Love is a strong a word to use for a man you don’t know.”
Lily lovingly rolled her eyes at her husband’s jealous tone.
“I know Bubba quite well. I’ve been so upset since I found out he was fired. I think he was fired because he donated the bread for the Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets. The rolls he made weren’t stale either. He made hundreds of them. And you’ve met him several times.”
“I’ve seen him at the bread store,” he agreed.
Lily looked over her shoulder toward Clint before turning back to Shade. “He volunteers at Christmas to dress up for the kids.” She wagged her eyebrows to get her meaning across.
“He’s San—”
“Shh!” She happily hugged Shade again. “See? You love Bubba, too!”
“I wouldn’t say love.” Shade was beginning to look even more jealous.
“Oh, you will the more you get to know him.” She waved off his jealously then gave him a stern look. “Be nice to him.”
“I’m always nice.”
“You’re polite when you want, but I want you to be nice to Bubba. Please. You’ll hurt his feelings if you say something mean to him. He’s very sensitive.”
Feeling indecisive, she didn’t know if she should stay or go. “Perhaps I should take Clint to daycare and come back. I could introduce Bubba to everyone and make him feel more comfortable.”
“Lily, go to work. I’ll be nice.”
She looked at him skeptically.
“I promise.”
“All right, that makes me feel better.” Relieved, she went to open the door. “Make sure everyone else is nice to him, okay?”
Shade looked like he had eaten something sour, but he nodded.
The bright sunlight outside lightened her footsteps.
“It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” she chatted to Clint as they walked down the path toward the parking lot.
“It’s okay. Mama, do you love me as much as Bubba?”
Lily laid a hand on his shoulder. “I love you more than Bubba.”
There was one trait that Clint did inherit from his father. Her son was very possessive about her affections.
“I love Bubba like a friend or like a big brother. You’re my baby. You’ll always hold a special place in my heart.”
“I’m not a baby anymore.”
Lily opened the back door of the car for him to climb in, making sure his car seat was securely fastened. Then, after putting their lunch bags in the seat beside him, she got in the front seat.
“No, you’re not,” she continued the conversation after starting the car.
Waiting until she was on the road toward town, she darted a quick glance in the rearview mirror, still seeing a frown on his forehead.
“No matter how old you get, you’ll always be my baby. Just like John is. When I say baby, it doesn’t mean a little baby; it means, despite how old you get, I’ll always love you the same way I did the first time when the doctor handed you to me.”
Reassured, Clint began talking about which book he was going to pick for naptime. Lily
listened indulgently as she drove.
Reaching town, she came to a stop at a red light. Attentively, she glanced in the rearview mirror again at Clint as he talked, seeing two motorcycles come up behind her SUV as she waited for the light to change.
Recognizing the bikers, she waved at Wizard and Nickel. Neither men responded, their dark helmet guards concealing their features.
When the light turned green, she saw them following her until she reached Jessie’s daycare. Then they turned into the parking lot of the diner.
It only took a few minutes to take Clint inside, where Jessie was busy getting the rest of her students settled. When she came out, both Nickel and Wizard were still sitting outside. Wondering why they weren’t going inside the diner, she drove to the thrift store.
She juggled her lunch that she no longer needed since Shade was coming to take her out—she would save it until tomorrow—and a small bag of canned food she picked up on sale.
Turning the lights on as she walked through the door, she turned to close the door and saw Wizard and Nickel sitting at the end of the parking lot.
Confused as to why they would be sitting there, she was going to ask them, but the phone ringing had her rushing to the counter.
It was an hour before she had time to catch her breath, dealing with phone calls and three customers coming in who she fielded questions on how to qualify for their services.
She was hanging coats when she remembered Wizard and Nickel.
Looking out the window, she saw they were no longer there. Thinking she was making a big deal out of nothing, that the men seeming to be watching over her had been her imagination, she went back to work.
“The whole world doesn’t revolve around you, Lily,” she mocked herself out loud.
She was bagging clothes that were in too bad of shape to be of any use to anyone when the bell over the door rang.
Fear raced up her spine and her blood went cold like ice over a lake when she saw the man who came inside, walking toward the counter. She reached out for the phone to call Knox, but then her courage kicked in. If she could be brave enough to dance in front of Shade like she had never believed herself capable of and order him around, then she could handle Harvey.
“Out.”
He stopped in the middle of the store. “I just want to talk—”
“You have nothing to say that I want to hear. The services of this store are no longer available to you or Nicole. I no longer feel comfortable being in the store with you, and I requested to Nicole that she no longer send you. Since you are here, none of the church services will be accessible.” Prepared to defend herself physically and verbally, she was stunned when Harvey didn’t attempt to move closer.
“I can understand. I came to apologize for my behavior. Nicole has taken the baby and left me. She moved away, so you won’t be seeing us again. You don’t know how bad I feel about how I treated you. I’m sorry.”
Lily didn’t relax her guard, moving her hand within reach of an iron curtain rod. If he took one step nearer to her, she would brain him.
Mutely, she watched him leave, relieved she would never have to see him again. She only hoped that Nicole found a more loving environment to raise her son in.
Relieved that he was gone, she picked up the iron curtain rod to take it to the home section when she bumped into a hard body.
She gave a startled scream of terror, raising the rod to hit the man who had frightened her.
“It’s me, Lily!” Pastor Dean barely managed to catch the rod before she could hit him with the heavy metal.
“You scared the death out of me!” Shaking, she dropped the rod to the floor as she started shaking at how close she had come to hurting him. “When did you come down?”
Was that why Harvey apologized?
The feel-good moment when she had stood up to Harvey began to fade.
“I just got here.” Puzzled, Pastor Dean stared back at her sharp question. “Are you all right? I needed my old laptop that’s in the storeroom, but I can stay if something is wrong.”
At his innocent response, she shook her doubts off. “I’m fine. I’m just being ridiculous.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Nodding, Pastor Dean went to the storeroom as she finished bagging the over-worn clothes. She was tying the bag when he came back with the laptop.
“I’m going back to my office. If you need anything, just text me, okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m sorry I almost hit you.”
“I should have told you that I was here. Next time, I’ll be more careful about walking around you.” Winking, he went up the steps to the church.
Lily used the lull to straighten the racks and process new clothes. She had just finished when Shade arrived.
“You ready?” he asked when he saw her coming out between two large racks.
“Yes.” Going to him, she reached up to give him a kiss. “I just need to get my purse and put the sign out that I’ll be back in an hour.”
Taking the sign out from underneath the cash register, she remained unmoving as he expectantly waited.
“Harvey came in today.”
His piercing blue eyes settled on hers. “Why was he here? Did you call Knox or Lucky to stay with you?”
Lily observed his reaction carefully. “No. I didn’t have to. He apologized and left. It took two minutes.”
“He apologized? Good, then I don’t have to kill him.” He said it in a joking manner, but she wasn’t quite sure he was.
“Did he come in here to apologize to me because you made him?”
“Why would you think that?”
“Because his face was in bad shape. He looked like he had been in a fight. Did you get in a fight with him?”
“I did not get in a fight with him.”
“He looked beaten up.”
“I did not beat him up.”
“Are you sure?”
“Lily, I would know if I did or not.”
“Did you make him come in and apologize to me?”
Shade raised a brow. “You know me better than that. I don’t want him near you, whether apologizing or not.”
That she believed.
“I have to admit, I’m relieved. Maybe he’s turning over a new leaf because Nicole and the baby moved away.”
“She finally got a brain?”
“Apparently.” Taking his arm, she reached up to give him another kiss. “I’m glad you restrained yourself with Harvey.”
Locking the store behind them after she put the sign up, she remained holding his arm as they walked toward the diner.
“How is Bubba’s first day going?”
“His is going good. Mine, on the other hand, has been a disaster.”
“Why?”
“Because you made me be nice instead of firing him after he broke the popcorn machine.”
“You weren’t mean to him, were you?”
“Me? Mean? I don’t know how to be mean,” he joked, holding the door open for her.
“For having such a bad day, you seem like you’re in a good mood.”
His good humor was infectious. Smiling up at him, she thought again how much she loved her husband. He was so sweet and kind when he wanted to be.
“I look at it like this: it can’t get worse.”
CHAPTER 12
Two hours later, Shade was cursing himself for saying his day couldn’t get worse. It had gone to hell in a handbasket.
It had become apparent that he tempted fate when he returned from lunch to have Jewell waiting for him. Bubba had gotten into an argument with another worker who had stormed out, threatening to sue The Last Riders for hiring a maniac.
Looking up from the desk when he heard the door open, he saw Jewell come in, shutting the door, then furiously putting her hands on her hips.
“Bubba broke the lift on the delivery truck.”
“How in the fuck did he do that?”
“He overloaded it. Sev
eral of the packages were damaged and will have to be repacked. We’ll be lucky if we’re able to get them out today. It’ll also put us behind tomorrow. Fire him.”
“I can’t. I told you that Rider hired him as a favor for Greer.”
“The way he’s going, Bubba will send the factory in bankruptcy within a month.”
“I can’t fire him. Lily found out that Bubba started today. She loves him.”
“What fuckwad told her? I’ll kick—”
“I did.”
“We are so screwed!” she shrieked at him.
“Calm down. I’ll text Train and get the lift repaired. You call Nickel and Moon. Tell them, if they get those packages repacked, I’ll give them a bonus.”
Jewell cooled down. “That’s not going to solve the underlying problem. What are we going to do about Bubba?”
“I’ll find another job for him to do. One that doesn’t involve machinery.”
“Good luck, because if he breaks one more thing, I’m going to break him.” She picked up a stress ball that was sitting on her desk.
“Put that back,” he ordered her, knowing she wasn’t taking it to relieve herself of the frustration of dealing with Bubba’s mishaps.
“Come on. I won’t hurt him too bad. His talking about little green men is driving me nuts. I just wanted to shut him up until quitting time.”
“Put it back.”
“He won’t even let me put him on payroll. He wants cash.”
“Then give him cash. Lay it back down. If you hurt him, he’ll tell Lily. Then she’ll get upset, and then I’ll get upset. Do you want me to get upset?”
Jewell laid the ball back down.
“Whatever you find him to do, make sure it’s where I don’t hear about those fucking green men again.”
“I’ll have a talk with him.”
“The sooner, the better.”
He winced when she stormed out of the office, slamming the door.
Opening the drawer by his side, he took out a bottle of ibuprofen. He started to take two, then decided on taking three. Texting Train next, he asked for him to come fix the lift, then he texted Razer. Satisfied when both answers were yes, he settled back in the office chair and resumed working on the inventory that needed to be reordered.