Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

KELLAN

D oc pulled up in his truck out front as I closed down the work bays. The new shop had been bringing in a brisk business. I had three cars in for work right now. Two were waiting on parts, a third was parked out back because it wouldn’t be picked up until the following day.

Currently, I was doing all the work myself. I needed to bring in a new crew but I wasn’t ready for new people in here yet. Liam had popped around a couple of times recently to give me a hand and Jasper had started spending his Saturdays when he was in town helping out.

With Sparrow on the road so much, I liked keeping busy. We’d been working with the locals a lot over the past few months. More businesses were opening, and some of the local kids were volunteering to help clean up empty lots and repaint defaced buildings.

No one touched Rome’s art, but I’d noticed an aspiring artist starting to decorate some of the freshly painted buildings. That said, Liam and I had a bet on how long it would take Rome to track down the new creative.

I figured it would be three days tops once he was back. Liam said twenty-four hours from when Rome noticed. The funny part was if he didn’t notice until he’d been back two days, we both won.

“Hey,” Doc said as he strolled up. He had a light jacket on over his t-shirt and jeans.

His dress code had grown more and more relaxed since he retired from his clinic. While he helped out periodically, particularly on free immunization days, he devoted most of his time to the safe houses he was managing now. An endeavor we all supported.

“Hey,” I greeted him. “Give me ten more minutes, if you don’t mind. I got caught up working on that Mustang GT.”

“That’s an old one,” Doc said as he studied the black and red 1985 classic muscle car.

“Yeah,” I said on the exhale, not quite grinning. “The kid who brought her in said he got her for a song, but he wanted to make sure she would still run and his grandfather would pay for the assessment.”

“You’re in lust, aren’t you?” The soft laughter underscoring his words didn’t offend me in the slightest. I was in lust.

“Probably the second or third sexiest girl I’ve seen in a while,” I told him. The body was a classic, but it was what was under the hood that had me preoccupied.

Shaking his head, Doc chuckled and followed me inside as I closed the last bay. The office area was cleaner, it had new floors, new furniture, and a fresh paint. The kitchen in the back was also decked out in amenities, including an espresso machine.

Sparrow had purchased the property and finished knocking down the burnt out shell of the building that had been left after an explosion gutted it. The new shop resembled the old in size, and design but that was all on the surface.

The interior had been upgraded across the board. New equipment, new tools—we had to replace most of mine, and I’d brought some of my favorites from the clubhouse. Frankly, as brand new as the shop was and it had that “new” smell to it still, I couldn’t complain. We’d get to the lived in, worked in feel, eventually.

But it was ours. No one was taking it away again and I didn’t work for anyone that wasn’t us. As gifts went, I could still paddle her ass for spending money on me, but she’d just given me that impudent smile and said she was going to do what she wanted to do and I could do whatever I wanted to with the building.

She had a point.

Doc dragged a chair over and settled into it while I moved behind the desk. I had a handful of work orders to review. I was only charging the kid and his grandfather for any parts needed. Labor was totally on me.

Suddenly, Doc’s solo presence registered. “Wasn’t Theo supposed to be with you today?”

The arrival of the sullen, difficult fourteen-year-old had presented its own set of challenges. Milo had traveled with him. We’d met the kid in Prague, briefly. He’d returned to the States with Milo, Lainey and the rest of them. But his stay in New York proved exceptionally short.

The distance between Milo and the newly discovered younger brother couldn’t have been clearer. Nor could the animosity. The kid seemed to relax once he was here , but some tension resumed when he realized Sparrow was not actually here but on the road.

Doc’s arrival had settled him once more. Since then, Theo had been attached at the hip with Doc, which Doc didn’t seem to mind. If anything, he’d been even-tempered if firm with the kid, particularly when Theo’s belligerent attitude reared its head.

It was weird how alike, and at the same time wildly different, from Milo he was. Then again, the only commonality they had was their sperm donor, a man Milo despised and I had no idea how Theo felt about the guy. Then again, I didn’t think Theo had ever met him.

“He’s with Jasper,” Doc said, one corner of his mouth twitching upwards in the suggestion of a smile.

I straightened. “Is that a good idea?”

“Eh.” Doc shrugged. “Theo wanted some ‘freedom,’ or so he said and Jas had a run up to Pennington. He’ll be back by dinner, so it was an easy run.”

“Let’s hope he doesn’t try to test himself against Jas’ temper.” Theo had been testing all of us. Doc more than most, but he’d attempted pushing my buttons a few times. If we were younger, I’d have probably popped him more than once.

Jasper definitely would have. The only one who ever seemed utterly unbothered by him was Doc. Then again, he’d put up with all of us for how long?

“He’ll be fine,” Doc said with a kind of confidence I envied, but then in the great grand scheme of things, a reckless, and challenging fourteen year old punk was hardly the worst thing he’d ever had to deal with, and he certainly had way more patience now than he’d had back in the day.

“You know what,” I said, double-checking the invoices and making sure the inventory had all lined up. I was waiting on three more parts and the last time I checked, they were on their way but it would be Monday or Tuesday before they arrived. “I’m just going to go with it. I promised Sparrow and Milo we’d keep an eye on him and we’re doing that. Course, we still need to get him into school.”

“We will,” Doc said. “Liam’s got a tutor coming for a few weeks so we can do a full assessment and see what he needs before we drop him into a school. He doesn’t want private school, but he might have to suck that up for a while.”

It wasn’t like we couldn’t afford it. “Has anyone told Theo that yet?” The longer this conversation went on, the more amused I was by all of it.

“Nope. One battle at a time.” His half-sigh made me shake my head. “It’s a push and pull right now, he’ll grow out of it eventually.”

“You sure about that?” Cause I wasn’t. His history wasn’t quite the same as ours. It might be closer to Freddie’s… That was a thought I didn’t want to contemplate or pursue any further. We could only hope whatever had happened wasn’t that bad. Freddie’s past haunted him to this day and Theo might be a punk but no one deserved those experiences.

No one.

“You guys did.” Doc shrugged then glanced at his watch. “Finish wrapping up.”

“In a hurry?” I didn’t smirk but he just gave me a bland look. It wasn’t that late in the day. I liked shutting down around four unless I had a client coming in later. There was a dropbox for anyone leaving a car overnight for me to work on the next day.

“Hungry,” came his droll response. “I didn’t pause for lunch today since Theo was tied up with Jasper, I wanted to visit as many of the shelters and safe houses as I could.”

Made sense, he wasn’t all that comfortable with putting Theo into those situations when we were still trying to sort out his own history. I could almost hear Ms. Stephanie suggesting therapy but none of us had followed up on that idea at all.

I talked to my guys if I needed to work shit out and so did they. Sometimes, I worried about Freddie but the handful of times he’d been “forced” into therapy had just not gone well at all. The less said about Pinetree, the better. So, no, we’d pass, thanks.

At least for now.

“Right,” I said, and slid the last of the papers away into their files. I might be my only employee, but I wanted everything in its place before I shut down for the night. I turned the phones off so it would provide the general message and a place for customers to record a message and then I was ready. “Let’s go. I could use something that isn’t pizza.”

Doc chuckled as he rose. “The kid likes it.”

“I used to,” I admitted. “But I like other foods too.”

I headed for my car as Doc diverted to his truck. “Follow me,” he said, over his shoulder. “I know a good place.”

Sounded like a plan. We could always grab takeout for Jasper and Theo. Liam came and went on his own schedule. Running his family business took a lot of time and energy. Course, it also meant travel and he took time to see Sparrow as often as he could.

I wanted to go and see her too, but that meant leaving her after a couple of days and I hated that more than just making myself wait for her to come home. Sometimes, I worried we were all just a little too fucked up.

But I’d take on every single damn challenge for Sparrow and my guys. Doc waited for me to start the Charger before he pulled out and I was right behind him. Instead of heading toward the Clubhouse or even one of the places we liked over on fiftieth, he took us uptown.

There were a few restaurants here I liked. Most of them were overpriced with small portions and stuffy service, but the food was worth it— sometimes . I could go for straight bar food at the moment, my stomach had started grumbling the moment I got behind the wheel.

Doc wasn’t the only one who hadn’t eaten much today. I’d ignored it while I was working. We didn’t stop at any of those places. In fact, he took a turn that put us on the East Bay Road and heading toward the bridge.

It was almost forty-five minutes away from the shop, but the Hearthfire Grill, which opened up on the point, was not a location I thought about that often. We’d managed a few meals here over the years, special occasions mostly—like when Milo got accepted at law school.

Was that the last time we’d come up here? Doc had an excellent idea, definitely time to change that. The sun was gradually descending in the distance, when it was down, the lighthouse would raise it’s own glow and the restaurant overlooked the rocky shore below as well as the turbulent waters from the channel.

Across that channel on its own rocky outcropping was the lighthouse. We’d actually made it out there once with a paddle boat. Insane didn’t begin to cover it, but we’d all been what? Fifteen?

Maybe sixteen at the most.

It was the same year we’d also taken those jobs at the resort. No risk was too big to take and no dare too insane to try. The more I thought about those days, the more I considered that I should probably cut Theo a break.

The lot wasn’t full, which was fine. It wasn’t even five yet so barely even happy hour. I was fine with a quiet beer, some food, and excellent view. I slid into a spot right next to Doc’s and climbed out.

He led the way up the steps to the front of the building. It was a combination of coastal New England charm and Victorian aesthetics, but that was just the facade. The interior was almost cozy despite the upscale nature of the place.

Doc pulled the door open and waved me inside. I didn’t even make it three feet before a shout of “surprise” went up and there were so many familiar faces from Milo and Lainey to Jasper and Theo—so much for their run—to Freddie, Vaughn, Rome, and Liam. Where was…

Before I even finished forming the question she was skipping across the open space and I caught her as she threw herself at me.

“Happy Birthday, Kel!”