Page 69 of Pigeon

Axel takes my advice and leaves. I finish my beer and am planning on leaving when the door opens, and Horse strolls in. A few minutes go by, and Pooh enters, sees us, and moves to the stool closest to Horse. As more people show up, the room fills with club brothers and club family. Seeing Cash and Livi, Vex and Taja together is making me miss Ivy. Toes enters and walks behind the bar, coming to a stop in front of me.

“Who was that woman, and what did she do to make Petey that mad?” Toes asks.

“What’s he talking about?” Pooh asks.

“A lady showed here, wanting to talk to Ava. Pigeon told me to send her to the clubhouse. Next thing I know, Petey’s outside ripping the lady a new ass. Never saw him that angry before,” Toes explains.

“Lady claimed to be Ava’s mom,” I add and watch everyone in the room go still.

Everyone knows Ava’s history about being abandoned. I personally think the lady was lucky it was Petey and not Trudy who had words for her. Trudy’s words would have been short before it escalated into a physical thing.

Axel enters the clubhouse, his daughter clinging to him, his other arm around Bailey, who has Prissy on her shoulder.

“Church is postponed until tomorrow. Gunner called and said Ava’s holding strong, but he wants to stick close to her and the kids. Trudy’s with them, and Pops hasn’t returned yet. I may have to bail him out tonight,” Axel says, then gives a small shrug, unconcerned about that possibility.

“Did the woman look like Ava?” Pooh asks.

“Yep. No doubt they’re related,” Axel states.

As nearly everyone in the club makes an appearance, Craig along with several of the pets, enters too. Mac immediately lands on a table and starts making cooing sounds, staring at Prissy. To her credit, Priscilla ignores him completely. When she leaves Bailey’s shoulder and lands on another table, Mac flies over to stand beside her.

“Pretty lady,” Mac says.

“Back off,” Prissy warns.

Craig crawls onto the stool next to me, gives Toes a chin lift and waits for his root beer. Receiving it, he takes a long drink before wiping the foam off his lip with the back of his hand. Turning to look at the birds, he nudges my arm.

“They need to work this out,” he says while watching the birds.

“Will it get worked out, or will one of them need a vet visit?” I ask with a laugh, then laugh again when Gee walks past wearing a shirt that reads, “Pig Phat.”

Looking toward Pooh, he grins and shrugs innocently at my look.

Mac starts strutting his stuff in a circle around the table while Prissy looks away from him. He fluffs his feathers, extends his neck, and then wiggles his tail before making another loop. Axel stops next to them, drops a handful of pecans in front of Prissy, and takes a seat on a couch with Bailey.

“Hey, Freddy!” I shout.

“What?” he answers from across the room.

“You still have a houseguest?” I ask and laugh at the look on his face.

“No, Gunner took him home a few days ago. Ava finally admitted that she knew about Little A all along. Apparently, everyone knew about the pig. Gunner didn’t realize that Ava raving about the little guy at the rescue was her way of getting him to notice the pig. He had a love at first sight moment, I guess. I think Ava just outsmarted him. Kind of quiet around my place now without the pig.”

“The pig’s got hair. Lots of it. How are we still calling it Little Axel?” Craig asks before laughing at his own joke.

Duffy strolls past Freddy’s feet on his way to Taja, and Freddy makes the mistake of absently reaching down and stroking the fat cat’s back while answering me. A hiss, growl, and then a swat, and Freddy’s pulling back a bloodied hand.

“Was thinking of getting a pet, but it sure as fuck won’t be a cat!” Freddy shouts while accepting a napkin from Bella to wrap his wound in.

When Taja bends to pick up the temperamental cat, Vex shakes his head no, risks life and limb, and does it for her. Setting Duffy in her lap, what’s left of it with her large belly anyway, Duffy starts purring and rubbing his face over the large baby bump. Vex scowls because he’s always got his hands on Taja’s pregnant belly, but he doesn’t push his luck.

“If you have time tomorrow, Freddy, I could use another driving lesson,” Tessie says in a hopeful voice.

I grin because Freddy’s face takes on a pallor usually reserved for a corpse, and we all watch him squirm.

“Yeah, Freddy. Didn’t you say you had tomorrow off and nothing to do? Weren’t you thinking of coming out to the ranch just to get out of town?” I ask, even though he’d never said any such thing.

“I could drive you there!” Tessie shouts, excited about the possibility.

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