Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Alice

"Did she just say mayo?"

Nikki wrinkled her nose. "Maybe banana bread is something different where she's from."

"I'm from Rockton, Nikki, not Mars," Meg called.

"Maybe we should trust her?" I laughed. "I mean, she seems to know what she is talking about." I liked to bake and cook, but it wasn't something that I was obsessed with. If someone else offered to cook or bake me something, they could go right ahead. I loved to eat, and I loved it even more when someone else made it.

"I mean, I'm down for anything." Nikki pushed the cart and followed Meg down the aisle. "So, how does one go about thinking that adding mayo to their banana bread will be delicious?" she asked Meg.

Meg grabbed a small container of mayo and dropped it into the cart. "Uh, well, I use it in my chocolate cake to make it moist, so I figured it would do the trick in my banana bread."

"Mayo in your chocolate cake?" I asked. "Now you have to be pulling our leg."

Meg laughed and shook her head. "I am dead serious."

"I got the chocolate chips." Lennox held a bag of chocolate chips over her head and jogged down the aisle. "I got the dark chocolate ones."

"Do you know Meg puts mayo in her chocolate cake and banana bread?" I asked her.

Lennox shrugged. "Umm, no, but I really wouldn't know much about what goes in either. Since Jonas and I got together, Meg has been doing most of the cooking. I can't help but say I've gotten lazy in the kitchen because all I need to do is go to the clubhouse, and I've got a full meal waiting for me."

"Why don't we have a Meg at our clubhouse?" Nikki asked.

"We have a Carnie," I laughed.

"Oh, yeah," Nikki giggled. "She totally kicks ass in the kitchen."

"I think that's it." Meg looked in the cart and scrunched her nose. "Except we need something to bake the bread in. You guys head to the checkout, and I'll grab the tin pans."

Meg took off, and we headed to the checkout with Lennox. "So, was Snapper joking when he said you guys met when he was in prison?" I asked.

"Alice," Nikki scolded. "You can't just ask someone if their husband was in prison or not."

"Uh, why not?" I laughed. "I mean, it's not like I randomly asked. They mentioned it in front of us."

Lennox waved her hand at Nikki. "It's okay. We did bring it up. It's pretty normal to us, and we forget that most people haven't been in prison."

"Snapper seems pretty young. How long was he in prison for?"

We made it to the checkouts and got in line.

"A little less than six years. Involuntary manslaughter."

The words were out of Lennox's mouth like she was telling us about the weather.

"Oh, uh, nice." Nikki cringed. "I don't know what else to say."

Lennox smiled. "I don't think there is a right thing to say."

I knew Nikki wanted to know the same thing I did. Who did Snapper kill?

"Hey," Meg called. "You two look like you saw a ghost."

Lennox started unloading the cart onto the belt. "I told them about Jonas."

"Uh, what about Jonas?" Meg asked. She looked between Nikki and me. "His parents?"

I tipped my head to the side. "Uh, aren't you his parents?" What was going on in the world right now? It seemed like Snapper was brimming with secrets.

Lennox shook her head. "The whole prison thing. I'm sure they want to know what happened, but they're too nice to ask."

Ding, ding. Lennox was right.

"Bad dude who had it coming," Meg explained. "He ran down the woman Jonas was dating and killed her. Jonas repaid the favor." Meg held up two disposable tin loaf pans. "I got the pans. I figure two should be enough."

"So what about his parents?" Nikki asked.

I was still trying to digest what Meg had said about Snapper being in prison.

"They died in an accident when Jonas was six. Lo and I adopted him. Well, Turtle actually wanted us to adopt him, so we did. We've been his parents ever since." Meg set the pans on the conveyor belt. "I'm sure you guys have some crazy things that happened with your club."

"Uh, well," I drawled. "Some stuff has happened."

"Crazy stalkers, rival gangs, you know, the usual," Nikki shrugged. "Kidnappings."

The cashier gasped, and we all realized that we were in public where our lives weren't very normal.

"It was a really good book," I called loudly. "I never saw the kidnapping coming, but it did."

"Uh, yeah," Meg agreed. "Reading is my favorite."

Nikki busted out laughing, and even Lennox couldn't hide her smile.

We quickly checked out and beelined to the SUV.

"Reading is my favorite," Lennox mimicked. "It's a miracle you haven't been arrested more."

"I'm not good at lying on the spot, okay?" Meg laughed. "I'm much better when I have somewhat of a plan. Shooting from the hip doesn't always work for me."

"Obviously," Nikki laughed.

We finished loading the car and piled in.

"Now, where to?" I asked.

"Uh, well, I've got about two hours until I need to get back to the hotel." Meg fastened her seat belt.

I glanced at her in the rearview mirror. "We're seriously going to be back to the convention by two?" I asked.

Meg glanced at Lennox, who was sitting next to her in the backseat. "Just tell her," Lennox sighed. "They probably already know."

"You guys going to drop some other bomb on us?" I asked. I was still reeling from the whole involuntary manslaughter thing.

"I just need to be back for Lo," Meg replied simply.

"Tell them," Lennox prodded.

Nikki turned in her seat. "Girl, you know you can tell us anything."

Meg sighed. "Uh, fine. Lo had a stroke a couple of years back, and the whole pinstriping seminar is something he hasn't done before. Being in front of a room full of people while trying to do something he's been struggling with is a little nerve-wracking. I promised him I would be back to help him is he needed it."

Lennox held up her hand. "I'm going to give you the bullet points since I know what questions you guys are going to have since I had them, too." She held up one finger. "King should be dead. The percentage of people that survive the type of stroke he had is in the single digits." She added a finger. "He's ninety-five percent back to normal." She added one more finger. "He has some deficits, but they are minimal. Fine motor skills are sometimes hard for him, but honestly, if you wouldn't know that he had a stroke, you wouldn't know anything was wrong."

"Nothing is wrong," Meg insisted.

"There isn't anything wrong." Lennox patted Meg's leg. "He's going to be fine today."

"Every person Wrecker and Pipe talked to this weekend has mentioned King. They're all excited that he's here and willing to share some of his tips and tricks when it comes to pinstriping," Nikki replied.

"Wrecker mentioned that King had a stroke, but I honestly can't see any deficits that you're talking about." I smiled softly.

Meg laughed. "That's because you haven't watched him button his shirt or fix the screw on my sunglasses."

"Fine motor skills are hard but doable," Lennox explained. "He is going to be more than fine during the seminar."

"He gets brain fog, too, Lennox," Meg sighed and looked out the window.

"I thought that hadn't happened in a while." Lennox tipped her head to the side. "Is something happening, and you're not telling us?"

Meg shook her head. "No, no," she sighed. "I mean, it's not as bad as it was right after the stroke, but sometimes he forgets things and whatnot."

I raised my hand. "I forget things all of the time, and Wrecker says I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a hammer. So if teeny tiny screws and forgetting things now and then are King's deficits, I would say he's doing pretty damn good."

"I know." Meg plastered a smile on her face. "I know he's going to be fine, and I'm worrying over nothing, but I still would like to be there for the seminar in case he needs me."

I turned back in my seat and cranked up the SUV. "Say no more, girlfriend. I say we do a bonsai run to the outlet mall and then head back to the convention."

"I don't mean to ruin your guy's plans. You can just drop me back off at the hotel. I don't mean to be a downer."

Nikki scoffed. "As if. We watch King's seminar, head back to the room to make banana bread, and then maybe we can hit the pool before dinner. Sounds like a damn good day to me. And besides, Pipe will like it if I don't max out the credit card at the outlet mall."

I shifted the SUV into reverse and headed across the street to the mall. "Sounds like a good plan to me. Maybe we can pick up some lunch for the guys on the way back," I suggested.

"Honestly," Meg called. "Just take me ba–."

"Nope!" I shouted. "You aren't going anywhere, woman. You're stuck with Nikki and me for the rest of the weekend, so you should just accept it for what it is and stop fighting it." My eyes connected with Meg's in the mirror. "Okay?"

She nodded and smiled warmly. "Okay."