Page 68 of Rebel

Before I realized it, tears were streaming down my face as I continued to read the letter out loud. My aunt, Richie’s mother, apologized to him because she saw how much this hurt him.

My mother’s still-trembling hand came up to cover her mouth. She was shocked, and her emotions were churning. I could tell from looking at her that this was as hard for her as it was for me, and our emotions didn’t even cover half of everything Richie had been through.

When I finished reading the letter, I told her, “This is why Richie started acting out when he was twelve. He was worried that she got stuck somewhere really bad. He said that with no family checking on her, they might not be taking care of her.”

“But his stepfather knew,” she stammered. “He knew and let us all think Richie was just a bad person. He painted his stepson as troubled and made us all believe it.”

“Yeah, I also think his stepdad convinced him that he was a bad apple and deserved for all of us to turn our backs on him.”

She got to her feet and started pacing back and forth in front of the kitchen table. “You’re right, Lacey. We’ve got to find him and make this right. I’m going to call the police and say it was all a misunderstanding. Richie needs our support.”

“I already found him, and he’s been clean for a few days after an accidental overdose. I put him with Harvey to train, and he’s going to a local support group for addicts. We’re trying to get him into a treatment program.”

She stopped pacing, and I could see tears in her eyes. “We’ve got to find that sister of hers. What did you say her name was?”

“Debbie.”

My mother broke down, crying big, ugly tears. I ran and got her some tissues and put my arm around her. “Don’t worry, we’re fixing this. Rebel and his club are going to help Richie track her down.”

“And then what?” she asked while wiping her eyes. “If her father is still the guardian, he’s not going to let any of us take her out of that placement where she’s been living for years.”

I gave her a big hug. “Richie thought she might have learning difficulties, though he said she seemed okay when he visited her. Maybe she aged out of the system at eighteen and is living independently? Anyway, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” I assured her.

When I let my mom go, she kept wiping at her eyes and trying to blink away the tears. “I don’t know how something like this happened in our family.”

“Me neither, Mom. All I know is now that we know the truth, we can fix it.”

“Yes, we’ll do our best to fix it. You take this letter to Richie and you tell him he can come here and live if he wants to. Your father and I will welcome him with open arms. Tell him that whatever he needs, we’ll help him get it.”

“That’s really generous, but I think he’s been taken in by Rebel’s club. He’s in a good place right now, what with going to treatment and working a real job. His mother would be proud of him.”

“I’m really proud of him too, Lacey. Just tell him we’re here for him if he needs anything.”

Just then, the buzzer went off, alerting us that the cobbler was finished cooking. I pulled it out of the oven and placed it on a wire rack on the counter to cool. My mother and I kept talking, and at some point I realized that I had forgotten about how Richie had said he didn’t break into the office. I remembered when I first mentioned it Rebel thought that maybe he was just playing it safe—admitting to what we already knew—but I wasn’t so sure. Either way, this whole nightmare looked like it was about to go into our rearview mirror.

I had been expecting some raised eyebrows when I told my parents that I was going to live with Rebel, but they were remarkably okay about the whole thing. Normally, they might be cautious about their only daughter moving in with a big biker, but Rebel had proven himself to be a wonderful person in their eyes several times over already. Plus, they were seeing me as a fully functional adult, rather than their little girl, and they were better about trusting my judgment. Still, it was nice not to get any pushback from them on us living together.

Chapter 24

Lacey

The next morning after waking up at his place, I realized that Rebel had gotten up early and created an area for me in the spacious empty walk-in closet across from his bathroom. It was the room I had identified in my mind as being perfect for a nursery. Since we weren’t planning to have children anytime soon, I’d enjoy it while I could. I knew it was crazy thinking about having kids even in the future, when Rebel and I hadn’t been together for long, but they always say when you know you know. And Iknew.

Me and Rebel were in it for the long haul.

Thinking more clearly about children made me start to worry about all the sex Rebel and I had been having. We weren’t using condoms, and I was coming up on three years of having my implant in place. I knew that I was supposed to get it checked two months before it was due to be changed, just to be sure it was still effective, but between moving back to Griffinsford, taking over my parents’ business, the break-ins, and meeting Rebel, linking with a new doctor had completely slipped my mind.

I pushed away that little voice in the back of my mind that whispered I was possibly pregnant already. No, I told myself firmly. The implant was good for three years, probably longer. It didn’t suddenly stop working one day out of the blue. The little voice whispered back that I was three weeks shy of three years at the moment, and the doctor had explained how different bodies respond differently, which was why they liked to check hormonelevels. Damn, I had apparently turned into a woman who liked to live dangerously.

When I got dressed for the day and came downstairs, Rebel was all smiles. “I did good, right?” he asked before taking a sip of his coffee.

I walked over and gave him a hug. “Yeah, baby. You did more than good. Setting up that little space for me makes me feel like I belong.”

“You do belong here, ladybug,” he said warmly. I liked that he occasionally called me by my childhood nickname.

I also couldn’t stand to keep him in the dark about a possible birth control failure. He would consider that an unforgivable slight. And I didn’t want to hurt him just when we had worked all our relationship stuff out. I was going to make an appointment with my OB-GYN after the weekend and go and buy some condoms. But still I had to say something.

I wrapped my arms around him and laid my cheek against his chest before murmuring, “You know the problem with ladybugs is they tend to make more ladybugs.”

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