Page 7 of Holly's Christmas Biker

Call me a sappy marshmallow, but seeing the tall, muscular biker crouching in front of my girls has my belly filling with butterflies. He’s not making them stare up at him, rather, he’s bending down on their level, and that has my heart rate speeding up for some reason I’m unwilling to look at too closely.

“Yeah, that’s her,” he replies with a grin aimed at my daughter. “And that means you, Ruby, are a sparkling princess, right?”

The fact he remembers not only their names, but he’s identified them accurately raises him further in my estimation.

Ruby’s face has gold glitter as do her arms, but her hands are where this Jacki person showed her artistic skill the most. An intricate crown is on one hand, while the other has a swarm of butterflies, similar to Mina’s.

Ruby beams at him and says, “Uh huh. Thank you, Mr. Rebel.”

He stands to his full height which has me looking up at him and grins down at me. “So, Dorothy, did you leave Toto at home?”

“Since I’m heading to work shortly, I didn’t have much choice. I don’t think my boss would appreciate me bringing a dog to work,” I tease. It’s then I realize he doesn’t know my real name;he’s only ever heard the girls call me Mama. My cheeks redden when I realize if I heard him call me that in his deep, whiskey-soaked voice, I’d do whatever he wanted. “I never introduced myself. I’m Holly Barnes.”

“Jonah, but my road name is Rebel,” he replies, taking my hand in his. I can feel his calluses and understanding dawns on me that he doesn’t just spend his days riding his bike, he works for a living.

“Thank you again for telling us about this. The girls have plenty of candy, are enjoying themselves, and will talk about this for a long time to come,” I tell him. “We live so far out in the country, we don’t really get trick or treaters, you know? My grandparents plan to take them to the church’s trunk or treat, of course, but this is more than them just going around and getting candy. We already have two cakes, a dozen cupcakes, and three goldfish in the car waiting for my grandparents to take them off our hands. Oh, and several stuffed animals.”

He chuckles while looking down at my girls, and something in his gaze calls to my soul. “Glad you’re having a good time.”

“So am I. It’s been a rough year for them,” I confess. At his expression, I lean in and whisper, “Their father died earlier in the year during that ice storm we had.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he murmurs, his voice low so the girls don’t hear him. “That can’t have been easy for any of you.”

I shrug because I’m still not ready to examine where Devin and I were at the time he had his accident. Call it survival, call it cowardice, it doesn’t really matter. But the likelihood that we would’ve stayed together much longer is something I’m not willing to confess to a virtual stranger.

As I step into the now steamy shower, I sigh when the water hits my aching muscles. “Just a few more months, Holl,” I remind myself as I begin shampooing my hair. “You can do anything for a minute, remember?”

It’s something my pappy taught me when I was little and impatient for stuff to happen right then and there, or whenever I didn’t want to do something I was asked to do.“You can do anything for a minute, Holly. Some of those minutes last longer than others, but just keep telling yourself that you can do it and before you know it, whatever’s going on will have passed and you’ll be right as rain once again.”

Once I’ve washed my night off me, I step out of the shower and wrap a towel around myself. “Let’s go ahead and get some laundry started,” I mumble, gathering the hamper and heading to the laundry room.

I’m actually impressed with the size of it, to be honest. Pappy got my mobile home for a steal, according to him at least, and I have a legitimate laundry room, with shelves and cabinets over the washer and dryer and a table on the opposite wall that allows me to have an area to fold clothes. I peek into the girls’ bathroom and snag their laundry basket as well, then drag both of them through the house where I quickly sort the clothes and get the first load started.

It’s a never-ending battle around here, that’s for sure. Grammy often helps with it, but the girls play hard so they wear multiple outfits every day. Plus, Ruby occasionally has a bedwetting accident, so it’s not unusual to do sheets more than once a week. Since she’s not too far past the actual potty-training stage, I don’t make a fuss about it. We merely strip down the bed, she takes a bath, then we work together to remake the bed.

Once I have that going, I head into the kitchen, grab a diet soda and a poptart and make my way back into my room so I can brush and braid my hair before collapsing into bed for some much-needed rest.

“Hey, Holly,” Rebel says later the following week as he sits down at the bar. It’s the first time I’ve seen him since the Halloween festival and my memory didn’t do him justice. Salt and pepper hair, bulky but not fat, with muscles for days. Plus, his voice… mmhm, it definitely does something for me, that’s for sure!

“Hey, Rebel, what can I get for you?” I ask.

“Whiskey, neat, please,” he replies. I quickly get his drink then check on the rest of the patrons sitting at the bar, refilling several beers and making a few mixed drinks.

“Thanks, Charlie,” I say, as one of the older men who comes in pays his tab. He’s quite generous when it comes to giving the bartenders tips, even though he only has one or two beers during his visit.

“Did your girls enjoy last weekend?” Rebel asks when I make my way down to his end of the bar again.

I laugh as I wipe down the bar top. “They had so much fun, they’re still talking about it. Sadly, the three fish have gone on to fishie heaven so we’ve had three water funerals this week, but other than that, they’ve been okay. Thanks again for telling us about it because they enjoyed it more than the church’s trunk or treat. Of course, we have enough candy to last until next Easter.”

He joins me in laughing while shaking his head. “What will you do?”

“Well, my pappy meets up with his friends once a week to play cards, so with the girls’ help, we’ve gone through all the candy, and the stuff the girls don’t like will be donated to those men. I’ve already packed it all up so he can take it with him. Also, Grammy has a stash set to the side for her bridge ladies from the church, and the girls still have more than enough left over. I almost feel guilty about how much they ended up with, to be honest.”

“Why? It’s a fun thing for kids and heaven knows, the world will be shitty enough when they get older,” he replies.

“This is true. I dread when Mina starts school next year. She’s already five, but because of when her birthday falls on the calendar, she won’t start until then. Right now, she’s doing the pre-K program at daycare, which is a godsend. Funny thing is, Ruby is two years younger, but she loves to copy her sister, so she is a willing ‘student’ when they play school.”

“Sounds like they keep you busy,” he says, chuckling. “Are you taking your break soon?”

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