Page 37 of Tex's Angel

“Don’t like to dip into that hefty savings account, do you?”

“Nope. That’s all earmarked for Levi’s college fees, and money to get him started in life. It’s what my wife would have wanted.”

It dawns on me at some point that they must be referring to an inheritance or insurance policy that belonged to his deceased wife. I agree that saving that for Levi would be outstanding behavior on Tex’s part. The more I got to know this man, the more I respect him in every conceivable way.

Rigs suddenly slides his phone back into his back pocket. “Mattie’s put us on the schedule for eight in the morning. We’re her first appointment of the day. She knew which kids you were referring to and plans to pull and review the files before you arrive. If there’s nothing else to go over, I’d like to head home now, and I can fill her in.”

“Yeah, go on and tell Mattie I said hello. You bagged a good one there, Rigs,” Siege says.

He chuckles, “Yeah. I know my Mattie is something special. But hey, you ended up with the second-best social worker in the state.”

Siege frowns at his longtime friend. “I’m not playing this game with you again, Rigs. Cleo did a stint as a teacher beforegoing into social work. It makes sense that Mattie would be a supervisor because she’s been there years longer that Cleo.”

Excitement rises in my chest. “Your wife used to be a teacher? I’d love to talk to her sometime.”

Siege grins, clearly happy that I identify so strongly with his wife. “She’s gonna be at the meeting in the morning. Maybe you could arrange to have lunch together later in the week.”

“I’ll be sure to do that,” I tell him.

“My wife has two sets of twins at home. Don’t get me wrong, she loves our kids, but she really likes to take a break and have girl time. I know she misses teaching, so the two of you might have a lot to talk about.”

Rigs walks over to have a private conversation with Siege, and Tex uses that moment for us to make our departure.

Wade follows us out. If I’d thought he was going to sit with us and drink, I would have been mistaken. The minute he hits the bar area, Brittany comes running over to him, all smiles. Wade welcomes her with one open arm, and she quickly slides onto his lap. He pulls something out of his pocket and hands it to her. “I know it’s nothing special, but I saw those chocolates you like and bought a box for you.”

She presses the small box to her chest. “Thank you, babe. I love these so much and they’re getting hard to find.”

“Good thing I’m excellent at finding obscure things that put a smile on your face.”

She gazes up at him like he hung the moon. “Lucky me.”

I sit down and the guys walk to the bar to get us drinks. I can’t resist pointing out the obvious. “You know Wade’s only a prospect, right?”

The smile doesn’t ever leave her face. “Yeah, I used to care about shit like that. Now I don’t, not since I met the right guy.”

My eyebrows shoot up and I can’t help but smile back at her. “So, it’s like that is it?”

Brittany giggles. “Yes. Just like that.”

“Don’t you worry about being his rebound?” I ask a bit more seriously.

She looks at me curiously, “He wasn’t the only one cheated on. Is Tex your rebound?”

I glance over at the two of them standing at the bar and reply, “No. I’d have to give a crap about my soon-to-be-ex in order to be rebounding from him, right?”

She nervously glances at Wade. “Do you think I have a chance with him, you know, because I’m a club girl.”

“I don’t think Wade cares about stuff like that. He’s brand new to biker culture. I’ll bet you were the first club girl he got with.”

She takes a deep breath and says, “Yeah, I was. His wife is your sister, right?”

“Yeah. I don’t talk to her unless I have to nowadays.”

“I’ve been around for a while and seen lots of things, but I still can’t believe that your sister stole your husband. That’s all kinds of messed up.”

“You don’t have to tell me. I lived it.”

She asks, “What’s your sister like? Do you think he’s ever going to take her back?”

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