Page 173 of Patching Over

“I’ve pretty much lived in the clubhouse my whole fucking life, so I’ve never moved, but I’ve heard horror stories and don’t wanna do that to either one of us.”

“Then we’ll look at a bigger modular home,” I declare, going back to that page. “How about this one?”

It’s a bigger home, and has five bedrooms, but I figure one will be converted for use as a cat room. That way should children come along at some point, we can put a baby gate in front of the door so the cats can escape to safety once they start toddling around.

“I like it, I’ll send a message to Hawg. We’ll stay in my room in the clubhouse when we first get back home until we can buy some furniture and shit.”

I giggle because he sounds like such a man right now, causing him to lean in and quickly kiss me, just as the waitress brings our food.

“Y’all need anything else?” she asks after warning us that the plates are hot.

“Refills on the tea, please,” I tell her. “The salsa’s good but kind of spicy.”

She laughs while nodding her head. “Be right back, I’ll get y’all a pitcher of the salsa, as well as one of tea, because it’s good. Most customers can’t stop eating it.”

Our ride back isn’t as much fun because we do it under a deluge of rain. Right now, I’m grateful that Kracken got me leathers, as he calls them, and that he also bought a rain slicker which he leftin his saddlebags. After a few minutes underneath an overpass, where we put them on and he cleaned off our visors so we’d both be able to see, we get on the road and make our way back to the cabin.

By the time we pull up the drive, I’m chilled to the bone, and don’t complain when he hustles me into the house. Once we get our riding gear off and he puts it over the kitchen chairs to dry out, he coaxes me into the bathroom with instructions to ‘get warm’ now.

I manage to shiver my way through a warm shower, cognizant of the fact he’s going to need to get warm himself. Once I’ve gotten dressed in some of my own sweats, complete with fuzzy socks, I head back into the living room to see a roaring fire going and Kracken playing with the kittens.

“What on earth?” I ask as I move closer to the blazing flame. He has the fire itself blocked off with a wrought iron screen, so there’s no danger to the kittens, of course, but it’s the middle of the summer, for heaven’s sake!

“While you were in the shower, the caretaker for the place came by and told me there’s a big storm followed by a cold snap of some sort coming our way. He said we might lose power and even if it is summer, as I also pointed out to him, sometimes when that happens, it gets chilled up here. So, I brought more dry wood in and built a fire, just in case,” he replies.

Shivering at the prospect of no electricity and my toes being nippy, I suggest, “If we’re in danger of losing power, you should get in the shower while I make a few sandwiches. I also need to feed the kittens too.”

“Got that taken care of, Moira. You go ahead and relax in front of the fire. When I’m done, I’ll bring out the food, okay?” he asks.

“Sounds good to me.”

Right now, I’m glad this is a decent-sized place, even though there’s no ‘official’ bedroom, because it’s nice and toasty. I settle in on the couch, both Timmy and Sushi clambering up and onto my lap and watch the flames while I think about today. In short, it’s been wonderful, just like all the time I’ve spent with him has been. Minus, of course, that brief nightmare where my parents tried to abduct me.

I have questions, so many questions about why they tried to do that to me, and I’m hoping to be able to ask them when we get home. Maybe then I’ll understand why I was treated so horribly growing up. My mother did what she could, except now, that I know better, she truly didn’t protect me. Not like Selah does her daughters.Shetook off in search of Hannah, something I know beyond a shadow of a doubt I would do as well.

I’m so lost in thought, I don’t hear Kracken come out of the bathroom, steam billowing from behind him, his head freshly shaved, and his beard trimmed, wearing a pair of low-slung sweatpants. It’s not until I hear, “Moira, babe, take the drinks for me,” that I turn and see him standing there, his hands full.

“You wouldn’t need help if you had made two trips,” I tease, reaching out for our drinks.

“Yeah, not happening, babe,” he quips, sitting next to me and handing me a plate with a sandwich on it, tossing an unopened bag of chips between us. “Besides, you had me getting more than the sandwiches.”

I roll my eyes while taking a bite of mine, causing him to burst into laughter. The kittens, their sleep now disturbed, prance down off the couch and head to the bed.

“What happens if we lose power?” I ask once I swallow.

“Caretaker said there’s a generator that’ll kick on. It covers the refrigerator, the water heater, and the television.”

“Ofcourse,it powers the television!” I exclaim, laughing so hard I snort.

“Babe,” he replies, looking at me. “As long as it works, we can watch movies and shit until the power comes back. Remember, we’re in the mountains, it’s not always as quick as in bigger cities.”

“Fine, fine,” I murmur, still giggling. “So, it has nothing to do with the fact that the big, bad biker wants to watch his action movies?”

“Well, maybe? Hell if I know, I don’t know the owner of the cabin, Brick does, so I can’t really say. I think it has more to do with the fact there’s not much else that anyone can do if the power goes out.”

I shrug, ready to move on. “Thank you for the ride. Coulda lived without the pouring down rain, but outside of that, I had fun.”

“You’re a natural on the back of my bike,” he replies. “You felt good pressed against me.”

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