Page 22 of Reacher's Ride or Die

“We’re going to miss you guys,” Yonkers said, hugging Brandi and shaking Ryder’s hand. “We’ll check in soon, to make sure that you guys are settled down south.”

“Thanks, and tell Gloria how sorry I am that I’m abandoning her,” Brandi said, her voice catching on the last word out of her mouth.

“I’ll set her up on Facetime and you two can talk all you want,” Yonkers offered. Brandi nodded and walked over to the door to give Reacher time to say goodbye to his family. That’s what they were to him—family, and there was no way that he’d tell them goodbye. That was too final.

“I’ll see you later, man,” Hurricane said, shaking his hand. He pulled Reacher in for a quick man hug and released him.“Don’t worry, Reacher, this won’t be forever.” He just hoped that Hurricane wasn’t making him a promise he wouldn’t be able to keep.

He walked over to where Brandi was waiting for him and took her hand into his own. “Ready?” he asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” she assured. They walked out of the bar, not looking back at the guys—he’d see them soon enough. Right now, he was only looking forward to his future with his fiancée and baby—two things that he never thought he wanted but was so happy that he found.

Epilogue

Five Months Later

It had been almost five months since they moved to a safe house in Alabama. Reacher thought that they’d both end up hating the South, but it turned out that it didn’t matter where the two of them lived, as long as they were together, that was their home.

Brandi looked about ready to burst, and he knew that having the baby in New York was a pipe dream that they were going to have to give up on. Reacher had settled into the Royal Bastard’s Huntsville Chapter, and the guys at the club were great. They made him feel like he was one of them, and that felt pretty damn good. Some of the Royal Harlots, the sister club to the Bastards, had taken his new wife under their wings. They had even thrown her a baby shower.

Yonkers and Hurricane had kept them up to date on what was going on back in New York, which wasn’t much of anything. They were no closer to taking down the Vipers or shutting down their trafficking ring.

They had a little wedding at Savage Hell, and his club up north, along with Gloria, attended virtually. It wasn’t what eitherof them had envisioned, but they were making do with what they had. Brandi had agreed to stay home with the baby since she wasn’t a licensed nurse in Alabama. Since they had no idea how long they would be there, she decided that getting her nursing license down there wasn’t a good idea. Reacher supported her decision, but a part of him was glad that she wasn’t going to be out alone while working. He wouldn’t be able to take care of her if the Vipers found them, and that was his number one priority—her and the baby.

She walked into the family room and sat down on the sofa next to him. “Gloria is going to call any minute, and she said that she wants to talk to us both. I’m worried that something is wrong and she wants you to be here for me,” Brandi said.

“Why do you always go to the negative side of things?” Reacher asked. He palmed her belly, and she put her hand over his.

“I guess in my line of work, my patients usually don’t have good news, so I expect the worst.”

“Well, we’re going to have to work on that,” he insisted.

Her phone rang and she quickly answered it. When Gloria’s face popped up on the phone screen, Reacher couldn’t help his smile. He had to admit, she was the person he missed most from home—not that he’d tell the guys down at his club that.

“Hey there, you two,” she said.

“Well, you seem perky today,” Brandi assessed. “How are you feeling?”

“Pretty good,” Gloria said. “Listen, I don’t have long.”

“Oh, God,” Brandi whispered under her breath.

“What’s wrong?” Gloria said sliding closer to the screen. They could partially see up her nose, and Reacher wanted to laugh, but it wasn’t the time for that. They had tried to teach Gloria to hold the phone back from her face, but she was still new to face timing.

“Nothing’s wrong with me,” Brandi insisted, “it's you that I’m worried about.” Gloria paused and Reacher could tell when she realized what she had said to upset Brandi.

“Oh, I could have phrased that better,” Gloria said. “I meant, I’m going down to the senior center soon and I’m catching a ride with a friend. He’ll be here any minute, but I wanted to talk to you both first.”

There was no way that he had heard her correctly. “Wait, he will be there any minute?” Reacher asked. “Are you dating?”

“That’s not our business,” Brandi insisted.

“She’s right, it’s not your business, but since we are all family—yes, I’m dating,” Gloria said. “And why shouldn’t I start dating again? I’m in remission and have some extra time on my hands now that I won’t have to receive treatments every week.” She defiantly raised her chin as though daring either one of them to say otherwise.

“Wait—you’re in remission?” Brandi asked.

“I am,” Gloria said, wearing a huge smile. “I got the news yesterday, and couldn’t wait to tell you both.”

“That’s fantastic news,” Reacher said. He felt like he wanted to jump up and fist-bump the air.

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