Page 15 of Spice's Halloween

“Hey, darlin’,” Lindy drawled as her shop assistant, Mary, blushed.

I happily kept Lindy locked against my body as I greeted Mary.

“Hi, Spice,” the young woman said shyly and turned her back to tidy the shelves.

Lindy smacked my stomach as she twisted in my embrace.

“Stop embarrassing poor Mary,” Lindy scolded, and I winked.

“Mary’s not embarrassed; she’s giving us privacy,” I retorted, and Lindy snorted and pulled herself out of my arms.

“How did church go?” she asked, and I laughed. Lindy never usually asked about church, but I knew why she had today.

“Warden guessed I was hiding something, that damn gut instinct of his. The little fuck tried to get Romeo to read me.”

“No!” Lindy gasped and laughed. “Warden was like that at Christmas, if you remember. Berserker used to hide Warden’s presents at our place once he figured out Warden was opening and re-wrapping them.”

The bittersweet memory bit deep. It was something I’d forgotten until Lindy just mentioned it now.

“Warden was a fucker then, too,” I admitted. “When did we lose our holiday traditions, Lindy? We used to go big on them.”

“Ten years ago, when Pearl turned her back on Warden. That shit occurred near Christmas, and we didn’t celebrate. Then we fell into the habit of not doing stuff,” Lindy replied.

Trust Lindy to remember when and why it happened.

“Maybe it’s time to move forward. We seem to be stuck in the past, and we can’t let that rule us,” I mused.

“Did you bring Pipes and Fists into this mayhem you’re organising?” Lindy asked.

“Sure as hell did.”

“I better ensure Iona has a date planner. There are a lot of holidays, and they take a ton of planning,” Lindy said, laughing.

“That girl will never compare to you. Iona will never meet your standard.”

“Maybe not. But Iona will set her own standards and expectations as Queen Bee. I’ll gently guide her down the correctpath. Iona will become a head old lady that Warden will be proud of,” Lindy mused as a finger tapped her chin.

“In other words, you’ll put your size seven boot right up Iona’s backside should she step out of line.” I chuckled.

“Iona is fully capable of being Queen Bee. But at the moment, she’s riddled with self-doubts. She knows three-quarters of the club are dubious about her. And Iona understands she’s only accepted because of Warden. That makes the girl cautious. She doesn’t want to upset anyone any further. But Iona needs to find her backbone and step up.”

“Someone else had to learn that,” I teased.

Lindy smiled. “Why do you think I’m so hard on her now? Because I foresee what Iona can become. Don’t you remember how I was?”

Spice – The past.

I was sitting on my porch drinking a beer, watching the drama still unfold down the street. Several families had broken up, and David hadn’t shown his face once. But the paternity question had come into play, and those stuck-up suburban bitches were now showing their true colours.

A taxi pulled up outside Lindy’s, and I got to my feet as she stepped out. Lindy was hunched over, and I could tell she was in pain as I strode down my path.

“Lindy. What the hell are you doing out of the hospital?”

Lindy turned towards me, and I drew in a hiss. Her entire face was black, purple, and green. I’d seen her a couple of times during visiting hours, but I’d not been for two days as I’d been on a run.

“You’re home!” Lindy exclaimed and tried to smile with her poor split lips.

“Got back an hour ago. Thought I’d have a beer and come and visit soon.”

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