Page 2 of Lost in Yonkers

“Merry Christmas,” Wren whispered as she wrapped her arms and legs around his body, holding him close.

“Merry Christmas, baby,” he breathed against her neck.

Four Months Later

Wren cried out and woke from the nightmare that plagued her almost every time she closed her eyes. She wasn’t with her fiancé, Lee when he died in a crash on Interstate 65, but she saw the aftermath. She even had to identify his mangled body and that was usually how her nightmares ended, looking at her fiancé’s body lying in the morgue.

She had met Lee in high school. They were high school sweethearts and she planned on spending her life with him. The day of their graduation, when he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him, was the happiest day of her life. They were beginning a life together and she couldn’t imagine her life turning out any other way, but it had.

Lee was taking courses at the local community college and working nights. He was burning the candle at both ends and she knew it, but she didn’t stop him. He said that he was doing it for them, for their future, but she didn’t want him running himself to death. That was what happened though. Lee had fallen asleep behind the wheel of his old pickup truck on the way home from his shift at the factory early one morning. The cops told her that he probably never woke up once he hit the tractor-trailer that ripped the roof off his truck. They meant to give her some peace of mind, but it didn’t. In fact, it only made her ask more questions—ones that she really didn’t want to know the answers to, but she got them, nonetheless.

With Lee gone, she had nothing really holding her to the little town that they had grown up in. Athens, Alabama wasn’t a place she wanted to be in anymore, so she left. Her parents passed away when she was just a kid and her brother agreed to move to Huntsville with her. Her best friend, Trixie, promised to visit her whenever she was in town, and for Wren, that was enough to have her packing her bags and moving to the big city.

She worked a few odd jobs around town and finally got up the nerve to admit to her brother that she wanted to go to college to major in accounting. She had taken a full year off to mourn Lee and it was time for her to figure out her next move. She had always loved numbers and becoming an accountant just felt right for her. Blade agreed to help her pay for her college courses and that was all she needed. Three and a half years later, she graduated with honors, a semester early, ready to conquer the accounting world. She got a job at a local firm and worked her way up quickly. She loved her job, and she had her brother to thank for helping her achieve her goals. That didn’t mean that she wasn’t capable of finding a little bit of trouble every once in a while—especially when she hung out with Trixie. The two of them had a knack of finding trouble together. But their club nights were officially over now that Trixie was married to her brother.

Now, she was left to her own defenses when it came to going out and having a good time. It usually led to her giving up, putting on her pajamas, and sitting on her sofa to binge-watch reality television. Wren was sure that she was destitute to spend the rest of her life alone, after losing Lee, but then, she met Yonkers.

They had practically lived together for the better part of a month when Trixie’s stalker came after her. Blade had shipped Wren off to live with one of his club buddies, Yonkers, over Christmas, but by New Year, he had dropped her back off at her townhome and took off. She hadn’t heard from him since and that had her both worried and pissed. They had connected over the holidays, or so she thought, but now, she worried that it was all in her head. Yonkers had just used her for sex, and usually, that wouldn’t have been a problem for her, but it was quickly becoming an issue. Sooner or later, she was going to start to show and then, she’d have to explain to her brother that she was reckless and jumped into bed with the big, bad biker—no strings attached, and no questions asked. But now, there was a tiny string growing inside of her and there were probably going to be a whole lot of questions asked if she didn’t find Yonkers.

Every time she hung out with Trixie and Blade, she’d ask them both a million questions about Yonkers and they’d tell her that they hadn’t heard from him. A part of her wondered if her brother was just trying to keep them apart. He never really approved of any of the men that she liked, but she thought that he’d have to approve of Yonkers since he and Blade were in the Royal Bastards together.

There was a knock at her front door, and she thought about not answering it. She had spent most of the morning puking up her guts and the last thing she wanted to do was get out of bed and answer the door. Wren wasn’t expecting anyone, so what would it matter if she ignored the persistent banging on her front door?

“Fine,” she shouted, throwing her comforter back, “I’m coming.” She made her way down the hallway and to the front door. Her condo was tiny but perfect for her. Wren worried about what she’d do once the baby came, but first thing was first—she needed to find the father to tell him that his life was about to change. Then, she’d consider alternative living arrangements.

Wren pulled open her door to find her brother standing on the other side of it. “I should have known,” she mumbled. “What can I do for you, Blade?” she asked.

Her brother looked her up and down, “You look like crap, Sis,” he assessed.

“Thanks for that,” she grumbled. “I feel like crap too.”

“Are you sick?” he asked.

“I think I must just have a stomach bug,” she lied.

“Trixie said you were sick last week when she saw you too. Have you been to see a doctor?” Blade asked. She had been to see a doctor, but she wasn’t diagnosed with a stomach bug. No, she was definitely pregnant, not that she was about to tell her brother that.

“Yes, it’s just got to run its course,” she said. That was partially the truth. Pregnancy usually ran its course and ended up with a baby showing up at some point.

“Okay, well, I won’t keep you. I just wanted to let you know that I heard where Yonkers went,” he said. “Some of the guys were talking down at Savage Hell and he had to go back up to New York for a while. I think his mom is sick or something and he went up there to take care of her. He won’t be back for a while.”

“I see,” she said. That really didn’t work out with her time frame since she wasn’t sure how long it would end up being. “Thanks for letting me know.”

“Why is this so important to you, Wren?” he asked. She wasn’t about to spell it out for him. He’d figure that all out soon enough.

“No reason,” she lied. “We kind of became friends while he watched out for me during Trixie’s stalker incident. He was nice to talk to and I just wanted to make sure that he was okay since I hadn’t heard from him for a while.”

“Yeah, he’s a good guy,” Blade said.

“Thanks for the update,” she said, effectively dismissing him. “I appreciate it.”

“Not a problem,” Blade said, taking the hint. “Feel better, Wren.” She nodded and shut the front door, locking the deadbolt for good measure. She had a feeling that the only way she was going to feel any better was to find Yonkers and tell him about the baby. If he didn’t want anything to do with her or his child, she’d find a way to deal with that, but he deserved to know.

There was only one thing she could do now—pack her suitcases and drive up to New York. She’d find Yonkers, tell him about their baby, and then Wren would figure out her next move. As far as plans went, she felt that it was a solid one.

Yonkers

Yonkers knew that he had to go back home as soon as he heard that his mother’s cancer had come back. She had fought and beat breast cancer once when he was just a teenager, and now that it was back, he could be there to help take care of her—even if she insisted that it wasn’t necessary. His mother had taken care of him through his good and bad years. When most people had given up on him, his mother did her best to keep him on the straight and narrow.

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