Ink

T he weeks after the court case were a blur. He was looking forward to a future that he never dreamed possible. One with both the woman he loved and her kid that he had somehow fallen in love with too. He considered Bethany his, even if she wasn’t his by blood. All he wanted to do was ask Charlie to marry him and make their little makeshift family permanent, but he worried that he might be moving too fast for her. Charlie had seemed a bit distant since winning the court case, and he worried that she might be considering leaving him. He just didn’t have the nerve to ask her point-blank if that was the case. Maybe it was all in his mind. Maybe he was worried about nothing, but he just couldn’t kick the feeling that he might be on the right track.

He found her in the kitchen, making a cup of coffee for herself, holding the baby. “Hey, let me do that for you,” he insisted. “Bethany is much too young to have coffee,” he teased.

“Well, she gets it second hand, so there’s that,” Charlie drawled. “I was wondering if we might be able to go to work with you today?” she asked. “Cynthia has been asking to see the baby, and well, I think it’s time for Bethany to see where you work.” They hadn’t discussed the possibility of her calling him “Dad” but a part of him secretly hoped that someday, they would, because he wanted to be her father more than anything.

“Sure, I’d love having my two favorite girls go to work with me today,” he said. He handed Charlie her coffee and took Bethany from her. “How about you enjoy your coffee, and I’ll get our girl dressed?” he asked.

“That would be wonderful. Then, we’ll leave for your shop?” she asked. wondered why she seemed so eager to go to work with him today, but he wasn’t going to question it. He really did like the idea of the two of them hanging out with him all day. It was going to be nice to show Bethany off.

“Sure,” he agreed, “then, we can go to my shop.”

They got to his tattoo shop about ten minutes late. Bethany had decided to have a diaper blowout on the drive in and they had to pull over and change her. just thanked his lucky stars that it was a warmer day and that they could crack a window to get rid of the smell. For such a little thing, Bethany sure did make some powerful smells.

Cynthia, of course, took the baby from Charlie as soon as they walked in. She didn’t miss a beat, telling that he was late for his first appointment, nodding over to the corner where his client sat waiting for him.

“Yeah, I’ll take care of it,” he assured. “He’s a friend from down at the Road Reapers. I’m sure he’ll understand that babies poop. He has three kids himself.”

“While you work, do you mind if I go back to your office to feed Bethany and put her down for a nap?” Charlie asked.

“Of course, I don’t mind,” he said. “I’ll come find you when I’m finished, but it could be a while.”

She nodded and took the baby from Cynthia. “I promise you can have her back after her nap,” Charlie said. She headed back to his office and wasn’t sure why he had a funny feeling in his gut, but he did. Usually, when that happened, he knew to stay alert—he just never imagined that he’d have to do that with Charlie. Still, he’d keep an eye on her because something was off; he just needed to figure out what.

The tattoo for his buddy took longer than he thought it would. He was sure that he’d find both Charlie and Bethany taking a nap, but that wasn’t the case. As he walked back to his office, he found Bethany sound asleep. He also found something that he wasn’t expecting—Charlie going through his desk. From the look of the rest of his office, she had ransacked that too. The question was—what the hell was she looking for?

wasn’t sure if he should be pissed or not about finding Charlie in his office, looking through his papers. He was going to go with pissed unless she had a good explanation for what she was doing.

“Do you want to explain what’s happening here?” he asked. She looked up from the desk drawer that she was rummaging through and gave a sheepish smile. Charlie was caught and she knew it.

“Um, I’m looking for a pen,” she lied.

He walked over to his desk, picked up a pen lying on a stack of papers, and handed it to her. “It was right on top,” he said.

“Oh,” she breathed, “I didn’t see it there.” She dropped the papers that she was holding back into the drawer and quickly shut it.

Charlie started for the door when he caught her arm, making her gasp. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m trying to figure out why you’re lying to me, Charlie,” he admitted.

“I’m not lying to you, ,” she insisted. “Thank you for finding me a pen, but I’m going to pack up Bethany’s stuff and we’re going home,” she insisted. “I’m sure that she’s getting hungry.”

“The baby is sleeping, and I’m sure that Cynthia can figure out how to give Bethany her bottle when she wakes up. How about you tell me what you were really looking for in my desk. You know that I’ll give you whatever I have, so why not just ask me?” he said.

“Because I can’t just come out and ask you what I want to ask you,” she insisted.

He crossed the room, standing in front of her, staring her down as if waiting for her to change her mind. “Why not just try me?” he asked. “I promise to give you an honest answer,” he assured. Charlie took a deep breath and let it out as though preparing herself for the absolute worst. It was all so dramatic; he worried that he had pushed her for something that she wasn’t willing to give yet.

“I overheard some of the women in the Road Reapers talking about you,” she almost whispered.

“Honey, the women that hang out at the bar are usually not worth listening to. They are barflies, trying to hook up with a biker. The only women around the bar that you should be talking to are the other Ol’ladies. They know better than to gossip about the bikers.”

“Um, they didn’t know that I had overheard them, so why would they lie?” she asked.

“Okay, what were they saying about me?” he asked. He really didn’t know many of the women at the bar—well, except Mace’s woman and he knew that she’d never gossip about him.

“They were saying that you’re loaded,” she breathed.

“Shit,” he grumbled. “How the fuck did they figure that out?” he asked. She looked up at him as though he had lost his ever-loving mind.

“Wait—it’s true?” she asked. “How could you never tell me?”

He shrugged, “It’s not really a big deal. My grandfather left me some money when he passed and that’s how I bought this place.”

“You didn’t think to tell me that?” she asked.

“I don’t tell anyone about my money, Charlie. And if you haven’t noticed, since I’ve met you, things have been a little chaotic,” he said.

She took a step back from him and he knew that he had hurt her feelings. He hated that he had accused her of bringing chaos into his life because it just wasn’t the way that he felt about her or the baby. He loved them both and losing them over his inheritance wasn’t part of the plan.

“I didn’t ask you to take care of me or Bethany,” Charlie said. “If we’re so much trouble, why not just kick us out?”

“Because I’m in love with you,” he admitted. Her gasp filled his small office and hoped that his admission was enough to keep her from walking out on him. “I love you Charlie, and I love Bethany. I want us to be a family, honey.”

She swiped at the tears that fell down her soft cheeks and he hoped like hell that he was getting through to her. “Then, why wouldn’t you tell me about your inheritance or your grandfather?” she asked.

“I don’t talk about my grandfather because it’s still too painful. He raised me and losing him felt like I lost my whole life. That’s why I ended up here, in this little town, trying to start over. I decided to buy this place and turn it into a tattoo parlor because that’s what I used to do for a living—I just had to work for other people. Owning my place felt like a dream, and I had my grandfather to thank for everything.”

“I can’t understand why you wouldn’t tell me about the money,” she said again. “Did you think that you couldn’t trust me?” she asked.

“No,” he almost shouted. “I’d never think that. You’re one of the most trustworthy people that I’ve ever met, honey. I didn’t tell you because I don’t like telling anyone that I have so much money that I never have to work another day in my life. I keep that secret to myself, so people don’t look at me differently. I didn’t want you to think differently about me, Charlie,” he admitted. He could tell by the way that she looked at him that she already did.

Bethany started crying from the front room and knew that detaining Charlie further, to convince her that he wasn’t trying to keep the truth from her, wasn’t going to happen. His time was up, and he just hoped that wasn’t the case for their relationship.

“I’m going to take Bethany home,” she whispered. “I just need some time to think.” He nodded and reached for her, but Charlie quickly pulled free from his grasp. “I just need time,” she repeated.

“Will I see you later?” he asked, worried that she’d go back to his place, pack her and the baby’s stuff, and take off.

“Yes,” she breathed, “I have nowhere else to go.” He let her go, knowing that there was nothing more that he could say to change her mind about leaving. Maybe some time was going to help her realize that he wasn’t intentionally trying to hide his money from her, but he was almost positive that it wouldn’t change the way that Charlie felt.