Page 67 of Broken

Tanya slid a drink in front of her and Petal tookit, lifting it to her lips and blowing across the surface. Silence fell betweenthem but it wasn’t uncomfortable. She saw Tanya was thinking.

“I know. I’ve looked and there are not a lot ofjobs.”

“How come you’ve never pursued your wholeelectrician thing?” Petal asked.

“I don’t know. Well, I did do it forawhilebut the guys and the jobs, when I turned up, no onewas happy I was a woman. They had someone check my work, which was costing themdouble, and with Leanna it was just easier to get a steady job at the DIYstore, and now at the diner.”

Petal looked toward Tanya. “Do you like electronics?”

“Yes and no. I like being able to fix my stuff,and I also have this weird thing that when I learn something new, I want to bequalified to do it. Does that make sense?”

She smiled. “That sounds awesome.”

Tanya reached across the counter and pulled out abook that had notes sticking out from every angle. “And that is why I am alsoleaning to plumb. I got a leak underneath the sink, and the cost of some ofthese plumbers is outrageous, and they were taking too long. Some of them weremore interested in flirting, so I borrowed a book from the library, fixed itmyself, and now I am taking a course in plumbing.”

“This is cool,” Petal said, flicking through thebook, none of it making any sense. “My dad tends to fix everything.”

“Yeah, well, when you don’t have parents aroundand you’re tired of being ripped off, you go for the next best thing.”

Petal took a sip of her coffee. “I’m looking atgoing back to college.”

“Oh, yeah, have you picked your course or what youwant to learn?”

“Well, seeing as I’m part owner of the diner andhelp run it, I wanted to take some kind of business course, you know, to see.”

“Well, the local college has all kinds of short-runcourses where you can test your hand at different lessons. Hold on, let me grabthe catalogue for you.”

Tanya left the kitchen and was gone for a coupleof minutes. Petal watched as she came in carrying a booklet with the collegelogo on it.

“Here you go. Have a look at that. It has all thecourses, from tester courses to longer-run semester courses. It’s actually agood college. They also do evening classes, and the teachers are solid as well.They don’t make you feel dumb. You know, like back in high school.”

“Ah, yes, I had a few of those.”

“Did you have Miss Dawson for Math?” Tanya asked.

“Yes, I did, and because I couldn’t do simple mathin a short time, she made sure the whole class knew about it,” Petal said.

“I wonder if she is still teaching at the old highschool. I guess one day I’m going to find out when Leanna goes there. Justwatch her try and bad-mouth or say some nasty stuff. I will give her a piece ofmy mind.”

“Now, that I would pay to see.” She looked towardTanya and waited. “So, does this mean you’ll give us all another chance andcome to Kim’s party?”

Tanya rolled her eyes, then pursed her lips untilshe finally shrugged. “You know what, why not? Sure, whatever.”

Petal laughed. “You won’t regret it. They’re not abad bunch to know. Trust me, I say this from experience.”

“I just don’t want my daughter getting hurt. Thatis all that matters.”

“The club won’t hurt your daughter, or you.”

****

Dirty was not used to the Evil Fuckers MC being onthe run. He didn’t know if this was because Daemon had been a lunatic, orPredator was a coward. He knew he could insult them but the truth was, underDaemon, they had been crazy. There was nothing they wouldn’t do. They had norules, no boundaries, it was what made them one of their scariest enemies.

Running away, going into hiding made no sense toDirty.

They had checked out Predator’s home, and thepiece of shit had been a bad investment. The house was condemned, and there wasno point in even striking a match to see it go up in flames. One good windstormwould see the end of it, and if not, at least a good snowstorm.

Either way, they didn’t have anything there, otherthan some beds, along with used food wrappings. So the Evil Fuckers MC hadstayed there long enough to have found Raine.

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