Chapter 17

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

Three stops and sixteen hours later we were in grey and gloomy Spokane waiting for Wilson to pick us up from the airport.

“I already miss the sun,” Jane mumbled.

I spotted Wilson’s SUV thinking I would have to take her back to a beach soon.

“I missed out on seeing you in a bikini.”

Jane jolted next to me and her body starting shaking with soft laughter.

“Yeah, well, I missed out on seeing you in trunks. Though, maybe it’s a good thing you didn’t get a chance to show off your superior good looks while shirtless on the beach.”

“Superior good looks?”

Without looking at me she shook her head and said, “Please, like you don’t know you’re hot and have a great body.”

“Didn’t say that, just pleased you think so. This is us.” I unwrapped my arm from around her shoulders but found her hand to guide her to where Wilson had pulled over.

When I realized I was dragging her I stopped and looked over at her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Jane,” I warned.

“You know, sometimes you’re annoying,” she snapped. “I’m fine.”

“Baby, I’m dragging you to the car. That’s not fine.”

“I’m just nervous. Sheesh, do you have to know my every thought?”

Without hesitation and uncaring we had an audience, I cupped her face and brought it close to mine.

“When you’re nervous, scared, or unsure, yes I need to know your every thought. When you’re happy, excited, feeling good, yes I want to know that, too. The first so I can find a way to help you. The second so I can figure out how to keep doing whatever it is that’s making you feel those things so I can continue to do them.”

Jane’s features softened, those pretty green eyes gazing into mine like I’d handed her something special. I didn’t get to fully appreciate how good that felt before I heard a throat clear. My eyes sliced to the side and I saw Wilson’s lips twitch.

“Jane’s nervous so don’t be a dick.”

I felt rather than heard Jane’s swift inhale but I very much heard her hiss, “I can’t believe you said that.”

I glanced back at Jane and without a tinge of remorse declared, “Believe it.”

“Davis!”

I ignored Jane and went back to Wilson.

“Ready?”

“You tell me,” he returned.

“We’re ready.”

I followed Wilson to the curb, this time not bothering to question why Jane was still dragging her feet. I opened the door, stepped to the side, and tipped my head down.

“That wasn’t cool,” she chastised.

“Are you still nervous?”

“No.”

I lifted my brow in a silent you’re welcome.

Jane didn’t feel very appreciative.

“But now I’m embarrassed.”

“Why would you be embarrassed?”

Jane let out a sigh and glanced around. What she didn’t do was answer.

“Jane?”

“This is hard for me. Everyone knows who my brother is.”

Fuck.

“No one is going to judge you for his actions. Everyone knows you have nothing to do with his club.”

She gave me a look that stated clearly she thought I was full of shit.

So I did the only thing I could do—I leaned forward, gave her a quick, hard, closed mouth kiss, and helped her into the back of the SUV.

When I had her settled, I stayed bent close.

“This is something you’re gonna have to see for yourself to believe. But I promise you, everyone will be cool with you.”

I closed the door and got in.

Wilson immediately launched in. “Brace, brother. River’s taken a turn and has gone from crazy to certifiably insane.”

I smiled. “Letty’s getting close.”

“Right, but River’s acting like she’s birthing the next messiah.”

I couldn’t say for sure since I’d never had a pregnant wife, therefore I didn’t know how I would react, but I was thinking I’d probably be like River.

Crazy in the beginning and insane by the end.

“Letty’s his whole world.”

I didn’t say anymore because that said it all.

“What else has been going on?”

Wilson spent the next forty-five minutes filling me in on other cases we’d been working on and closed since I’d been gone. Throughout this I periodically checked on Jane. The first few times she’d given me small smiles that came nowhere near real. The last time I’d checked, her head was resting back and her eyes were closed.

We were off the freeway headed up 41 North through Post Falls when I asked, “How do you know Kai?”

“I don’t. He’s a friend of a friend I worked with at Homeland. Got lucky with that.”

Indeed we had.

Wilson lowered his voice and continued, “He called, told me what happened with his son. Wiped the bill for your stay and the car he was letting you use and said if we ever needed him again he was on standby.” There was a pause. “He lost his wife a few years ago, that’s why he moved from Maui to Lanai. I don’t know him, but I don’t need to, to know he’s grateful.”

“It was a right time, right place situation. The kid was fishing alone and got caught in his net when he got into the water to untangle it from some debris. And that was Jane, not me, who saw him.”

“Then it’s a damn good thing she was there.”

There was nothing to say to that so I didn’t reply. But I was thinking about life and how one decision can go on to impact someone else’s life. If Jane hadn’t insisted we leave the Four Seasons she wouldn’t have been on the porch to see Noah. If we’d stayed inside instead of going out to that porch a boy could’ve died less than five hundred yards away while we enjoyed our coffee.

“The butterfly effect,” I mumbled.

“Come again?”

“One seemingly meaningless decision had saved Noah.”

That was life; simple occurrences that rippled until they touched someone else.

“Cole’s rubbing off on you.”

“Fuck off.”

Wilson was still chuckling when he turned into my development. It was not my first choice of places to live. I much preferred to be out where Rhode and Brooklyn lived, surrounded by acres of nature. Or like Reese and his log cabin with fewer acres than Rhode, but still he had land. But when I was looking I couldn’t find anything I’d liked so I settled on a house in a development with neighbors so close we could hold a conversation standing on our back patios and not have to raise our voices.

I was saving to build a house.

Which reminded me, I still had to give Wilson the rest of the fifty K I owed him.

I didn’t get the chance to tell him I’d transfer the money before I saw a line of familiar cars.

“Jesus,” I grumbled.

“You’ve been gone a long time,” Wilson noted, “and you’ve come home with a wife. What did you expect?”

“What’s wrong?” Jane’s sleepy voice came from behind me.

“Nothing, baby, we have company but I’ll get rid of them.”

“Why would you get rid of your friends?”

Was she not there less than an hour ago when she told me she was nervous?

“We just spent half a day getting home. They can come visit after you’ve settled and you’re comfortable.”

There were a few beats of silence before she asked, “Will they be mean to me?”

“Fuck no.”

“They’re your friends. Why would you kick them out of your house?”

I glanced over my shoulder and held Jane’s sleepy gaze.

“Because this is now your home and I want you comfortable. But so I won’t be rude, they can stay for ten minutes, then I’m kicking them out so you can rest.”

“Good luck with that,” Wilson mumbled. “I think Rhode said something about smoking a brisket and Letty said she was craving baked beans so Mia jumped on that. Sadie was talking about you needing a proper wedding cake so there might be that, too.”

I glanced at my friend.

He was grinning like an idiot.

“You think maybe you should’ve mentioned all of this to me back at the airport?”

“Nope. I thought it would be fun to see the look on your face when you saw the cars. And I wasn’t wrong, it was amusing.”

I refrained from calling him a dick but just barely and only because Jane was now fully awake and I didn’t want her thinking something was wrong.

As soon as Wilson pulled into my driveaway the vultures descended to the front lawn.

“Um,” I heard Jane mutter. “That’s a lot of friends.”

Brooklyn, Remy, Mia, Cole, Asher, Sloane, and River had filed out.

“That’s not all of them. We’re missing Rhode and Letty and depending on who they invited Letty’s parents Michael and Tallulah and Mrs. Simpson could also be here.”

“Affirmative. Michael, Tally, and Mrs. S were all invited.”

“Christ,” I bit out.

* * *

“Jesus,”I muttered under my breath when I saw all the decorations.

Purple, silver, and white shiny streamers hung vertically. Blocking the back window. In front of it, a wooden sign that said Mr. & Mrs. was draped across the streamers. My dining room table had a purple tablecloth with vases of cream peonies and violet hydrangeas. There were balloons dotting the ceiling. The house smelled like candles were burning mixed with freshly baked cookies.

“Surprise,” Tally called as she came into the living room.

“Welcome home,” Letty said, trailing behind her mother.

“Jesus,” I repeated, this time getting a good look at a very, very pregnant Letty. “How many kids do you have in there?”

Letty flipped me off before she snapped, “Have you met my husband?”

My eyes sliced to the six-foot-three powerhouse that was River Kent then back to Letty.

“Fair enough,” I conceded.

“Now that you’ve pointed out I’m as big as a house will you please introduce me to your wife?”

Jane went stiff and I curled my arm tighter around her waist.

“Letty, this is Jane. Jane, Letty. She’s married to River, the big guy over there.” River gave a jerk of his chin then I went on. “Everyone else, this is Jane and you’re on your own explaining who belongs to who or this will take a year.”

“Oh for goodness sakes, boy, where are your manners?” Mrs. Simpson said from the couch. “Come here, child, and I’ll introduce you around.”

Jane made no attempt to leave my side. As a matter of fact she shoved closer as Reece’s wife Sadie made her way to us.

“Hey, Jane,” Sadie softly said. “I don’t know if you remember me. We went to Fernan together. Sadie Pierce. Well, it’s Sadie Turmel now but it was Pierce back then.”

“You remember me?”

Suddenly it hit me, something Jane had said the day I’d met her.

They paint me with the same brush, thinking they know me, then do exactly what you did, and judge me.

Surely sweet Sadie was not one of her classmates who judged her.

I pulled Jane tighter against my side.

“Um…” Sadie stopped and clasped her hands in front of her, seemingly unsure of herself and what to say.

What the fuck?

I’d never seen Sadie at a loss for words or unsure about anything.

“It’s okay,” Jane rushed to fill the silence.

“What’s okay?” I asked.

Jane’s head turned and her eyes tipped up to meet mine.

“That she remembers me. I mean, I remember her, too. We were only a few grades apart.”

“So we can get this out of the way,” Sadie said and both Jane and I looked back at her. “I remembered who you were when you first came into my bakery but you didn’t seem to remember me so I didn’t bring it up. I wouldn’t have said anything now except I think it’s uncool to start a friendship on a lie. And since we’re going to be friends I wanted you to know I remember you from elementary school.”

There was the sweet Sadie I knew. I loosened my arm and Jane relaxed.

“I remember you,” Jane admitted. “I actually didn’t think you recognized me when I went into your bakery and I was grateful because I didn’t want you to kick me out since your cinnamon rolls are the best in Coeur d’Alene.”

“Kick you out? Why in the world would I kick you out?”

“Because my brother’s—”

“So the hell what? My brother’s a member of the Horsemen. You’re not Zeus and I’m not Grinder.”

Jane turned to stone.

“Are you going to let your wife meet the rest of us or are you going to hog her?” Letty impatiently snapped.

I dropped my arm, found Jane’s hand, and tugged. I didn’t stop tugging until we were back out on my front porch.

“Your call,” I started. “I can go back in there and tell everyone we’re tired and we can do this tomorrow, or you can meet my team and their women. No pressure and it’s up to you. The only thing I’ll say is, Sadie said it true—you are not Zeus and she is not Grinder. No one in my house will disrespect or—”

I stopped talking when Jane’s hand came up and her knuckles brushed my jaw.

“Thank you.”

What the hell was she thanking me for? I’d unwittingly walked her into an ambush.

“I was nervous, now I’m not.”

“You’re not?” I stupidly asked.

“Nope. How can I be nervous when I know I have you to—”

I didn’t let her finish.

I bent down and kissed my wife.

Unfortunately this was interrupted by a very rambunctious, very loud six-year-old.

“They’re kissing,” Remy shouted.

“Get away from the window, Remington,” I heard Rhode yell.

“But I’m hungry.”

Slowly I broke the kiss and rested my forehead on Jane’s.

“Ready to go in?”

“Yeah.”

“They’re done!” Remy announced.

“Cockblocker,” I muttered.

Jane tried, she really did, and I knew it when she started to sputter. I also knew she’d lost the battle when she busted out laughing.

Beautiful.

Now she was ready to go back inside.

“Welcome home, baby.”