Page 56 of Irons

I shrugged one shoulder. “If I wanted to be a businessman I would have become one. Of course, I’m a good mechanic and would love to work on that end, but I haven’t worked on bikes in a long time. Its why we are on the hunt for more executives. I’ve told Creed several times that the shop could be ran by a civilian, but he doesn’t agree. He thinks they will become suspicious of the way money flows. Don’t get me wrong, the shop doesn’t fund Creed’s Lake, it’s a front and all that, but it’s the payroll he thinks will be suspicious. I have voiced my opinion about separating all outside ventures from Creed’s Lake, but he likes keeping them incorporated. Plus,we would have to explain the salesmen needing time off for missions.”

“Creed says you travel a lot. Do you have any trips coming soon?” She asked.

“I just returned from Australia. We are working on a prototype for a movie production company, so I’ll have to go back sooner or later. All the salesmen travel, mostly for custom bikes for private buyers, but most of the time they come here to have a look around the showroom. I have to travel for the big sales. They’re mainly for movies, so we will build look alike bikes, but if it’s a biker movie or television show we would need to build several for each character. I take on the sales that are worth millions, the salesmen take care of the rest.” I explained.

“That’s too much for one person. You don’t even have an assistant. You run the whole place on top of that and you have work for Creed’s Lake. Once you do find the help you need, what will you do full time?”

I stopped the side by side and spoke as I put it in park. “I’ll command missions and finally have time to actually go on a few. I haven’t been able to take a mission in months. Of course, the Originals are all part owners, so we have to oversee the community and all the divisions. Right now, it’s Axton overseeing all the Government and Military contracts, with Creed looking over the rest, so all that will be divided up. Creed and Granger don’t take on quite as much because they have families, but don’t get me wrong, they’re still busy.” I glanced at her, and she was giving me a soft smile.

“You’re all working hard now to help establish things so someday you can have the same as Creed and Granger?”

I chuckled. “Not all the Originals want what those guys have, but we would all like to focus more on our personal lives.Well, our personal lives, but also the jobs we enjoy. I’d like to get back to missions and also work at the bike shop. I haven’t worked on a bike in a long time. I haven’t designed one in a few years now either.”

She sighed. “All three of you did the work you do by yourself for the bike shop now?”

I nodded. “Yep, and since Morgan came along, our movie contracts have tripled. I’m doing more than what we did before they met. We’re all like that, though. We’ve added divisions and Creed’s out there starting more businesses. Plus building the small school and more housing, buying up more land, and he still gets calls from the Pentagon about various situations he consults on. Baros is out there working on a very big undercover contract, so that makes one less of us. Bolton is commanding missions, helping run the medical center, seeing patients, and running our non-profits. She takes care of all the grants and donations to the DV division.”

The outside light to the house started flashing on and off so I chuckled. “The boss lady is getting impatient.”

She laughed. “She’s going to run this place someday.”

I chuckled. “Someday? She already runs it.”

We walked up to the house and Addie flung the door open and stood there with her hands on her hips. “You’re wate!” She then glared at Wrenly. “Oh, it’s da wady again.”

“Her name is Miss Carlson if you’re going to be mean, Addie.” I scooped her up into my arms then stepped out of the way to let Wrenly in, then shut the door behind her. Addie was holding on to me like a monkey, as usual.

“I your best girl.” Addie whispered into my ear.

I heard footsteps and looked over to see Morgan. She was all smiles as she waddled up to us. I could have sworn she got even bigger overnight.

“Come on in you two. Let me get you some hot cocoa to warm you up and some of the apple cobbler that’s almost ready. It’s freezing out there tonight, might as well get warmed up.” Morgan greeted Wrenly with a quick hug then tried to take her hand and pull her toward the kitchen.

“That’s okay, Morgan. You should really get off your feet.” Wrenly said as they walked away.

Addie pulled back to sit on my arm and I smiled. “Wrenly hasn’t learned not to tell your mom no yet.”

Addie giggled. “Daddy mad at mommy cause her feet are fat and ugly, but she still cook stuff. He call Zoey.”

I sighed. “I hope you help mommy because she should have her feet up and getting some rest.” I tapped her little nose, and she giggled as we walked into the kitchen where I found Wrenly making Morgan sit, while Creed was already making hot chocolate. He looked at me and I could tell he was annoyed.

With a spoon in his hand, he pointed. “That one is about to get her blood pressure checked because she refuses to take it easy.” He moved the spoon from Morgan to Addie. “And that one forced me to have to give her a bath because she thought she was big enough to wear makeup and nail polish. She had nail polish all over our bathroom. I used almost a whole bottle of remover cleaning it off her and the bathroom. While I’m doing that…” The spoon moved from Addie back to Morgan. “That one decided to make an apple cobbler. We agreed I would never do bathroom stuff with Addie, but no, I guess all agreements are off. Then I had to finish making the damn cobbler while she sat inthe chair and told me what to do, she is so damn particular …I swear this day can’t end fast enough.”

Morgan scoffed. “Particular? You tried making a double batch, but we don’t have enough apples. Yes, that matters. Then you tried doubling the cinnamon, and no, butter and margarine aren’t the same thing. Look, the filling you spilled is drying to the stovetop. You have to clean as you go, Creed. The magic fairy you think exists to clean up after you is me, not some magical creature. So, if you don’t clean it up soon and still don’t want me to do it, it’ll be hard to get off and you’ll scratch the glass top.” Morgan argued.

“Why did you even start making it anyway? Nobody in this entire community expects all your baked goods right now. You need to relax and take it easy.” Creed made a good point.

Addie and I watched them go back and forth as Wrenly walked over to the sink for a washcloth to help Creed.

“It’s my body and I know how to read it. If I didn’t think I should bake, I wouldn’t have started it.” Morgan also had a good point.

“You were told by your doctor to keep your feet up. They were swelling by the time you finished cooking the dinner I told you not to make. I can order food, not every meal has to be homemade.”

“Ugh, my family needs well rounded meals. I need well rounded meals too, and I’m trying to cut the salt out of my diet. I’m fine to make dinner for my family after work.” She was as annoyed as him.

As they continued to argue, Addie snickered like it was funny, while Niko laid down next to Morgan like she was bored. Wrenly helped Creed with the hot chocolate and also pulled the cobbler from the oven. Finally, we sat down to enjoy the hotchocolate and cobbler but then Zoey walked in, and I was ready to leave. Addie wouldn’t let go of me and had a fit to stay on my lap while we had dessert.

Addie about died laughing when Zoey made Morgan go up to bed and followed behind her with a plate for the cobbler and a cup of hot chocolate.

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