Page 61 of Weatherman

“Kimmie was right. I was a club whore. I slept with so many men at the Dutchmen MC compound for money or gifts. I didn’t care if they were married or not. I’d let them do things to me, whatever they wanted, just so I might feel loved for a little while. I did drugs with them, whatever they fed me. My favorite was thewhite powder, and I got hooked on it. At that time, I thought that was where I belonged and the only life I had open to me.”

His heart skipped a few beats, but he held on to her, letting her set the pace as she let out all the poison in her mind.

“I have no idea where my mom is. I turned eighteen, and she was done. I came home after my high school graduation to find the apartment empty and cold. I had a part-time job at a local chicken place, but wasn’t enough to pay rent or much of anything else. The manager was aware I was alone.” She gave a harsh laugh. “My mom told me once that I had to learn how to suck cock and do it well to get and keep a man. He was my first one and paid me twenty bucks afterward. I got desperate one month for rent money, and he paid me fifty for my virginity. He only wanted to pay twenty, but I held out long enough to get more.”

It was hard to hear. The organ in his chest bled at each word. She tried to pull away from him, but he tightened his arms around her. No way would he let her loose while she broke herself down into pieces.

“One of my coworkers told me about the Dutchmen and how I could make some quick, desperately needed money from them. I went there one night and found a different world. I got high for the first time and liked it. It made the sex easier to get through. I was about to be evicted, and that night I earned my back rent.”

Her breath hitched, and fresh tears started dripping onto his leather. She tried again to move away, and he stopped her a second time. “Stay where you are, babe.”

“Why do you want to hear all this shit?”

“I just do. I also think you need to say it. Let me remind you, you’re safe. We’re good at listening. The Dragon, the woods, and me.”

For a moment, he thought she would stop, but she took a few breaths and spilled more secrets.

“The drugs made it simple. Get high, get drunk—or both—and take the money. After a while, it wasn’t so hard to do. There was a part of me that dreamed that one day one of them would love me and help get me out of that life. When I got pregnant with Pearl, I thought her father and I would be together and build the family I never had. His name was Rebel. At first, he was over the moon to be a dad, but it didn’t last long. I got clean when I found out I was going to be a mother, but he didn’t. The white powder was more important than me or her. He left us and died of an overdose before he ever met his daughter.”

His rage ramped up with every tear that fell. Rage at the life Opal had been forced by circumstance to live and the scars it had left behind. No wonder she was so wary of bikers and biker clubs.

“The night she was born, I vowed I would change my life and give her a better one than I ever had. They called me Peebles when I was in that club. I decided never to be Peebles again and to be Opal instead. It was the easiest and, at the same time, the hardest decision I’ve ever made. Mama J, I’ve mentioned her before, took me and Pearl in while I went to school to earn my cosmetology license. I don’t think I could have done it if I hadn’t had her help.”

“She’s the one with six kids, right?”

“Yes. She has a story herself of struggle as a single mom, but she made it on the other side and is happy with a thriving business and a good man at her side.”

His phone buzzed in his back pocket, and he had to let her loose to take a quick look at the screen. The message wasn’t about his mom but from Mute.

Mute: Tambre called. Betsey has been activated. Getting the boys together for their help. Got your woman covered here at the Lair.

He stifled the smile of relief as he slipped the phone back into its spot. Betsey’s biggest talent in this world was empathy and healing. She was good at it, and once she took someone to her heart, they stayed there.

He lifted Opal’s hand and pulled her over to the high fenced railing to lean against the cold metal. He could see her face now. “I imagine it was a big struggle at times.”

She barked a short laugh. “Only every single day. I attended Narcotics Anonymous meetings and fought the constant cravings. Still fight them sometimes. So many times, it would have been easy to give up and go back to the white powder, but what would happen to my little girl?” She definitively shook her head. “No. Not gonna happen. Ever.”

“So, this guy Rebel is—or rather was—Pearl’s father. Can you tell me who Camo is?”

She startled. “How do you know that name?”

He stroked a hand over her cheek and brushed away the wetness there. “You mentioned him the night you got so sick. You thought I was him a few times.”

Her face changed, eyes closing and her mouth pressing inward as if trying to keep from bursting apart. “He… he was my first real boyfriend. I used to ride behind him. Camo was his road name.” She brushed at her eyes and sniffed, then reached out to the wet spot on his chest. “Excuse me. I didn’t mean to make a mess on your cut. It just catches me off guard sometimes.”

“Did you love him?”

She nodded in the affirmative. “Yes. He was the only person who ever truly cared for me. He picked me up when I was at the lowest point and rescued me, and he loved me and my daughter when I was convinced no one would. Never judged me or put me down or made me feel like I was less because of some of the bad decisions I made. I thought we would have a great little lifetogether, all three of us, a house with a fenced yard, a dog and cat. But he… he….”

Fresh tears poured down her face. Weatherman let her cry for a moment as he shifted his arms around her in a loose hug from behind, and she leaned into him. “What happened?”

Opal’s voice broke. He heard the crack as she fragmented into a thousand pieces. Her words came out in a ragged gasp of air as if shards of glass tore through her throat. “He didn’t just die. He… he was… killed while trying to protect me! Shot in the heart.”

Weatherman inhaled, taking in the scent of the surrounding icy pine. He wasn’t expecting that answer, yet he wasn’t surprised. The level of pain radiating from this woman was off the scale; therefore, something tragic had to have happened. Losing someone you loved had to be the hardest situation any person dealt with. It didn’t matter if it was watching them slowly die of a nasty disease or go in a matter of seconds by a bullet. Grief was grief. Pain was pain.

He wrapped his arms as tightly as he could against her body. “I’m sorry. So sorry for all the shit you’ve been through, babe.” He had no other words of comfort or wisdom. He wished he had more to give, but all he could really do was hold her and check his reactions. Part of him wanted to get Pearl and wrap mother and daughter up in a protective bubble until they were completely insulated from the bad stuff in the world. The other part of him wanted to drive to Minnesota and throat-punch the assholes who’d hurt his woman.

Yeah,he told himself,she’smywoman now.

---