Page 99 of Through The Woods

Chapter Twenty- Eight

Six Months Later…

“Now, hold still, dear. I’ve almost got it.” Pearl knelt on the thick carpet behind me, straight pins sticking out of her mouth haphazardly.

I took another look in the mirror and resisted the urge to twirl around. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. The ivory wedding gown was sleeveless with a straight neckline that hit just above my collarbone. It tapered in at the waist with a small satin belt and then flared out into an A-line skirt that hit just below my knees. It was classic and modest—exactly what I’d been looking for.

Once Pearl found out that I was engaged to Charm, she’d insisted on finding me the perfect dress. We looked everywhere, and I’d almost given up and decided to get married in all leather, when she pulled her own gown out of storage. The first time I’d tried it on, she and I both knew that it was the one.

The bruises and cuts that marred my skin had faded away, along with the nightmares of my past. I’d slipped happily back into my role as ‘clubhouse caretaker,’ with the exception that I was now a college student again.

I’d had enough credits from some courses I took in high school to be considered a second semester freshman and, if I worked hard, I would be eligible to graduate in two short years. That included taking summer classes too, but it was definitely within the realm of possibility.

They still argued with me over wanting to cook and clean, but these bikers had saved my life—in more ways than one. They’d pulled me from a life of addiction and given me purpose. The least I could do was take care of the place we called home.

I found Amber not long after I got out of the hospital and verified that she was indeed pregnant with Axel’s baby—further proof that my odd experience in the hospital had been more than a dream.

Gunner had insisted that she have a place at the clubhouse—Gunner, of all people. I hadn’t complained; not only did I have help with housekeeping, but I now had my best friend under the same roof as well.

When Ali showed up, the three of us were unstoppable. Oh yes, PD had given up the act and fully committed to the bubbly yoga instructor.

And Charm?

Well, it turned out that the menacing biker was a complete softie when it came to me. I got a side of him that no one else did and I would never take it for granted.

“You know, you’re about the same size that I was when I married, so I didn’t have to take in much at all. I’d always wanted to have kids, especially a daughter, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

“Jerry was in the mining industry, like almost everyone else around here was. The price of oil dropped in the ‘80s and suddenly almost everyone we knew was out of a job.” She paused as she made some adjustments to my dress.

I watched her dark hair as she worked. “What happened?”

She looked up and met my eyes in the mirror. “Well, for better or worse, the Scarred Savages showed up. Luck was building an army and he took on any man who wanted in. Jerry was hesitant to join, but we were desperate—”

I interrupted. “Sorry—your husband was part of the MC? How has this not come up before now?”

She laughed as she placed another stitch, before pulling the bottom of her shirt up to reveal a small tattoo on her lower stomach. It was a skull with flames coming out of it—the same as the MC logo.

She pointed to it and smiled. “It didn’t always have this many wrinkles in it. Back then, Luck ran things much differently. He ruled over Kasselhessen like a tyrant; the town was prosperous, but people were terrified of him.”

I cleared my throat when she got quiet. “Um, Pearl? Did you know Charm when he was a kid?”

He’d mentioned wanting Miss Pearl to take Bones in; he had to have been referring to her. I knew that he was young when Luck moved them up to Colorado, and as much as he’d deny it, someone somewhere had nurtured his compassionate side.

Pearl’s entire face lit up. “Oh, yes. Kane and Raegan were like the grandchildren that Jerry and I never had. That boy would’ve done anything for her. Women,” she paused and rolled her eyes, “or ‘bitches’, as we were called back then, weren’t welcome at the clubhouse. I offered to keep the kids when the club held church.

“So, the kids were with me a lot. They didn’t know much about having a mother and I didn’t know much about having kids, but we made the best of it. It killed me to watch Raegan fall into drugs, and her daddy just let it happen. Never said a word.” Her voice shook as she spoke, indicating the anger she still held toward Luck.

I knew how the rest of this story went. By the time Rae got hooked on heroin, Jerry had gotten sick with cancer. Pearl was trying to run a business and care for her husband. She felt like things might’ve turned out differently had she been there for Rae.

Her voice startled me from my thoughts. “Jerry died within weeks of that poor girl. Once he heard the news, he just lost his will to fight anymore. I took comfort in the thought that at least she’d have someone to look after her up there.”

I nodded. Luck seemed to have no use for club members who were dying and the families who were left behind. Once Jerry was gone, Pearl had struggled to continue running the boutique without the club’s support.

Charm admitted to me that once he took over, his first order of business had been getting Pearl back to where she never had to worry about money again. It made me smile now, knowing that he’d done it because he saw her as the mother he never had.

He’d taken a run-down mining town and made it prosperous, while instilling a sense of family in the townspeople—something his father had never been able to achieve. Everything he’d accomplished was a testament to the love that this woman had for him as a boy.

“There. I think that about does it. Let me know what you think.” Pearl sat back and began sticking the straight pins back into the pincushion near her feet.

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