Chapter Nine

S prite held her stomach and wiped the tears from her eyes. She'd laughed more this morning with Regina and Clara than she had in forever.

Regina had taken them all around the club's compound. She showed them a lot of the things Roam had already showed Sprite, but she was happy to go by them again. She wanted to know the layout, so she'd always know where her kids were.

Sprite couldn't wait to get fresh vegetables from the MC's farm and fresh fruit from the trees in the orchard. She kept waiting for that certain something that was the catch but all she'd experienced so far was that the MC was exactly how Roam had promised. Clara had adored the little apartment over the quilt shop but was torn being so far away from the kids. Regina had told her to take the time to think about where she wanted but there wasn't any rush. She could stay in the compound as long as she wanted. They had plenty of the houses on the compound open too.

Sprite was trying to get herself under control, but Regina had a wicked sense of humor, and she obviously didn't like the deputy who had come in the diner. As soon as he'd walked in, she'd whispered to Sprite and Clara to watch out because the waste of space was here. Sprite wasn't sure what was wrong with him, but she believed Regina. She'd been open about everything, including some of the things that had gone on with the MC in the last year. And honestly, the hairs on Sprite's arms stood up when he'd brushed close to her. Did he not respect personal space?

"Regina, is Beth with you all? I'm meeting her for lunch."

Sprite caught the tightening of Regina's mouth before her face became expressionless.

"No, I'm showing Sprite and Clara around town. They've joined our Bluff Creek family."

"Oh, well welcome. I hope you bring something good to our town. We always welcome individuals who know how to act."

Sprite so wanted to ask exactly what he meant by know how to act , but she wasn't rocking the boat in her new town.

"Well, deputy..." Regina said but was interrupted as Beth walked up and asked, "Sprite, how's the tour?"

"It's going really great. For a small town, there's so much going on."

Beth grabbed her hands and bounced on her feet. "So I think we need to let you get to know all of us. So how about a girls' night this weekend?"

"I'd love that but what about the kids?"

"Oh, Rascal, Baron and Locks can watch them all, or we have a couple women from the daycare that like to earn extra money in the evenings. Beth, is this all women with us older ones coming too?"

Beth chuckled, then answered Regina. "Of course, we want you, Regina, Clara, Stella and Meg. The more, the merrier. Let's do it at my house since no kids will have to be relocated."

Sprite nodded but kept an eye on the deputy as he led Beth away. She was positive she'd heard him whisper something about indoor voice but for the life of her, she couldn't believe that was right. Beth had just been exuberant. She hadn't been yelling.

Sprite followed Regina to the counter to place their order. She'd glanced over the menu and agreed with Roam. They were getting a sampler of items but she was positive the chicken fingers, French fries and mac ‘n' cheese would be the kids' favorites.

"Let's head over here to the store while they get our food ready," Regina said, leading them through a cased opening into an area with gift items and clothing.

"So Sprite, let's see if they have your size in the Bluff Creek Ink shirts. If they don't or you want a different style, then we can order what you want. Roam and Rascal don't require them but they are nice to have."

Sprite didn't want to tell Regina that she didn't want to spend any money but didn't know how to say no. Regina had led them over to shirts for Bluff Creek Ink along with Bluff Creek Brotherhood MC shirts and diner shirts.

"Feel free to grab some different shirts for you too, Clara, if you want them. Also for the kids. Bear and I have so much allotted a month as promotional items. They are the ones we give to family and friends to promote the businesses. We haven't even come close to the allotment, so please help me spend it."

Sprite wasn't positive that Regina wasn't just telling them that, but she did want to look good and wearing the shop's logo shirts would be easy.

"Oh, what about this one, Sprite?"

Regina was holding up a tank top with the shop's logo. Sprite loved tank tops or camis, and this was black with the logo on it. She hoped they had it in her size.

"I love that."

"Well, get to shopping. You too, Clara."

"Oh, I don't need any shirts."

Regina pulled a shirt out, and Sprite giggled. "Come on, Clara, this would be perfect for you since you'll be staying in the clubhouse."

"Umm, oh, well my..."

Clara stumbling over her words had Regina joining the laughter.

"So I have to ask. Are your men okay with you selling shirts like that?" Clara asked.

Sprite was wondering the same thing. She couldn't imagine Roam would appreciate it if his name was the one on the shirt. The Bluff Creek Brotherhood MC logo was large across the front and at the bottom, the words Property of Cannon were printed.

"Well, I know that Scoop had a little bit of a problem when we had keychains with property of on them, but they sell really well. The shirts have been flying off the shelves since we got them two days ago. I'm not sure any of the guys, besides Bear, know that they're here."

Sprite decided she was staying out of it. She picked a couple shirts for herself and then found a cute Bluff Creek Brotherhood MC shirt and a Bluff Creek Ink shirt each for Blake and Oakley. She'd noticed Roam's kids had them along with Phoebe. She didn't want her kids to ever feel like she'd felt growing up. She didn't believe the kids here would tease her kids but wanted to make Blake and Oakley feel a part of their little community.

When she got to where Regina was writing down the items, Clara had picked a Property of Cannon shirt along with a cute shirt for Regina's Roadside Refuge. Regina glanced at the two shirts Sprite had for herself.

"Sprite, I still have a huge amount of promo money left for this month. If you plan on wearing those to work, I'd get enough so you can make it through the week without doing laundry. Plus, why don't you grab a couple more duplicates for the kids. I can't tell you how many times one of my grandkids gets something on the one they're wearing and wants the exact shirt replaced."

Regina's kind eyes and words had her turning and getting a couple more. She had a great point. Laundry wasn't one of her favorites and not having to wash work shirts during the week would be nice. By the time they'd finished, their food was ready.

Once they were in the car, Sprite had a hard time not opening the containers and tasting because the smell had her stomach rumbling. Now if she could enjoy lunch without drooling all over Roam.

ROAM HAD GOTTEN OAKLEY , Georgia and Casper buckled into booster seats. His mom was getting plates out while Sprite was having Phoebe show her and Blake where the silverware was in the clubhouse.

They'd decided to eat there because Regina had picked up enough for the guys in the garage and a couple others.

He had a little chuckle when he saw one of the T-shirts Clara had from the diner. He was one of the few brothers who didn't have a problem with the property of items. As a businessman, he considered it a brilliant marketing move. It brought extra cash in for the club, which allowed them to do a lot of good things. Who cares if someone had Property of Roam on their shirt? Unless he was the one who gave it to his woman, it didn't have meaning.

He'd never given Shanna his property cut. He realized now that he should have clued in that she wasn't for him, and having kids together didn't mean they needed to be married. She'd never been that kind and loving mom that he'd grown up with. He regretted that he hadn't pulled his kids out of the situation, but he hadn't wanted to fail. He'd allowed his need to succeed to cloud his reasoning. He and Shanna would have never had what he could see having with Sprite.

All the adults worked together to get plates in front of the kids, then filled their own plates.

Grant was sitting on one side of Blake and was pointing out what he liked for Blake to try. Blake was taking a bite of each and giving him her opinion.

"Mama Sprite, no offense because I love your mac ‘n' cheese but I think you need to get the recipe for this one. It is de-li-cious."

Sprite smiled. "No offense taken. Regina will have to let us know if they share the recipe."

"Yes, we do. I'll get it to you. I'm glad you like it, Blake. My boys loved it growing up. Roam would even get up during the night and have a midnight snack with it cold between two pieces of bread."

Blake looked at him, scrunching up her nose. "That sounds yuck."

"Don't knock it until you've tried it," Roam smiled at her staring at him to see if he was telling the truth.

"It's good. Dad made me one last week when I was hungwy," Grant said around a mouthful of mac ‘n' cheese.

"No see food," Georgia shook her finger at her brother.

Grant turned toward Georgia, opened his mouth and stuck his mac ‘n' cheese covered tongue out at his sister. Roam declined to say anything. There were so many battles to fight with the kids. Today, he was enjoying this time and not going to police him over a little thing.

Roam also enjoyed watching Sprite helping Georgia. Sprite was sitting between Georgia and Oakley's booster seats. Both were eating French fries and chicken strips. Sprite had cut the chicken strips into bite-sized pieces. Georgia was dipping hers in honey mustard, then stuffing a cut up French fry in her mouth with the chicken. She and Casper couldn't be more different. Georgia mixed all different foods together while Casper ate all of one thing on his plate before he ate another. And never should the foods touch. He didn't need that headache. He'd cut up Casper's food and had it in a special divided plate that his almost two-year-old demanded. Casper also didn't like sticky fingers, so he'd wipe his hands on his bib while eating. He'd never understood the fascination with kids until he'd had his own and they'd crawled inside his heart. He'd do anything for his kids, even protect them from their mother.

He needed to figure out a plan to convince Sprite that they could all work together. Seeing the kids together just cemented that he could have the dream he wanted if he could get Shanna to sign the papers. He knew he needed to discuss it with Sprite but wasn't sure how to bring it up. Maybe he'd ask his mom when they had time.