Page 126 of Blade

I gasped, and King peered down at me.

“You’re a big softie, aren’t you? The big, bad, scary King really has a heart of gold,” I concluded, my hand on my chest for emphasis.

He pulled me to his side and kissed my head.

“Only with you, sweetheart, and don’t breathe a word of it. I have a rep to protect,” he said with a wink.

We sat together in the shop eating ice cream and talked about the club, my childhood with Micah, and my mother. He told me stories about him and my dad when they were growing up. He told me about my grandparents and what they were like.

Heading back to the clubhouse a few hours later, we found two very irate men waiting for us.

I scrambled off the bike and heard my father and Micah yelling.

“Did you just kidnap my daughter?”

“You took my girl on your bike?”

“You are both assholes. No, I did not kidnap your daughter. She got on the bike willingly,” King told my dad. Then to Micah he declared, “And no to you, too. I took my niece to get her first ice cream.”

“She’s twenty-five!” my dad announced.

“She’s had ice cream before,” Micah yelled.

“Shut the fuck up, both of you.” King dragged me back toward the clubhouse, and I laughed the whole way.

This was what had been missing. Not just Micah, but my dad and my uncle. I had a family. I loved Grams with everything in me, but for so long I was alone, because I couldn’t come back here and deal with the memories.

Now I was ready to live. Ready to make new memories. I would no longer just go through the motions. I never actually made it to the acceptance part of grief. I no longer had to accept Micah being dead. I had, however, accepted that every decision in life happened for a reason.

Losing Micah allowed me to leave Diamond Creek. That allowed him to come back here looking for me, which ultimately made him choose to let me go. Letting me go allowed him to meet the Silver Shadows. Suggesting Nebraska as the location of the new chapter allowed me to find him again.

Losing Grams brought my mother back to Diamond Creek. Which led to the sheriff discovering that he was my dad.

I could even contribute Grant’s attack on me, being the catalyst for Micah getting his head out of his ass and admitting we were meant to be together.

As Jeff Goldblum said in one of my favorite movies, ‘Life finds a way’.

Chapter Twenty- Eight

Beck

I’d been back home in Diamond Creek for a month now and things had changed so much. I had Micah in my life. We were living together in Grams’ house. Well, I guess it was our house now. My father was in my life. He started stopping by on his way to the station most mornings for coffee.

After a few days of entering unannounced, he quickly understood the importance of knocking first. Walking in on your daughter spread out on the kitchen table while her boyfriend was between her legs had a way of making the point for you.

I hadn’t heard from my mother since the reading of the will. Michael stuck around town for a while so we could catch up. I missed him terribly. I needed to talk him into moving here. He would always be a part of my growing family.

Tonight, I was going out with the girls. Grace was a bartender in town, so we were going to hang out with her while she worked. She didn’t get to come to the clubhouse as much because she was always working on the weekends.

I gave Micah strict instructions to stay out of the bar. Ignoring that decree would leave him sleeping at the club.

Alone.

He wasn’t thrilled, but he knew the prospects would be there watching over us.

Yup, I relented.

It was either a prospect or a patrol car following me around.

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