Page 5 of Flick

“Maybe because I didn’t know what would be going on in your life at that time. You know, the way you can’t keep your eyes off a certain bartender,” Quinton teased.

“Okay, let’s get this started. Fifty-dollar buy-in. If you get knocked out and want to play more, you can re-buy-in but only play at the losers’ table,” Dex said, staring at Slice.

“Just because I lost to you at freaking Mario Kart doesn’t mean you’re going to win at poker. In fact, I don’t care if I win against anyone else. But fucker, I’m going to make sure you lose,” Slice said.

Chuckles filled the room as everyone handed in their money. It was good to laugh. His last shift had been hard. They’d had a wellness check and found the older gentleman had passed a couple days ago at least. Coming back and hanging here with everyone helped him get through the tough times.

“Okay, gentlemen. Texas Hold’em. Flick, you’re little blind. Halligan, you’re big blind. Let’s play some poker,” Cruise said.

Flick looked at his cards and kept his face blank. He had a good hand. He was going to relax and enjoy the evening. He’d worry about how to help his best friend some other time.

Chapter Four

Beth pulled a tray of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. She breathed in the smell of her favorite cookies. She laid them on top of the stove, set her timer, and slid the next tray in. It was ladies’ night, and Beth had been looking forward to it. She was home until at least after Thanksgiving, which was in two weeks.

After Ariel Shields, her co-worker and one of her dearest friends, got married to the president of the Saint’s Outlaws MC, Beth had been on a surveillance gig in Dallas. Remi had her plan out four different disguises to spend time around the police station where Rose worked before she was taken.

You would think police officers would be more aware of their surroundings, or maybe they just didn’t care who saw them exchange money in the parking lot. She’d set up a camera so she could get pictures of the ones she thought were dirty.

She’d rented an apartment in the building across the street from the police substation and rented three different motelrooms—two in the same motel she’d noticed Rose’s previous partner frequented.

She’d set up surveillance across the street from the bar where Rose had been rescued for Scoop and Sarah to get more information. Hopefully, her time spent setting up the equipment would help them gather information to formulate some type of plan.

The dogs ran toward the door before anyone had even knocked. Her four-legged friends were a fantastic alarm system.

Remi, Sarah, Winnie, and Jesse walked in. Beth had wondered if they’d come early to have some time to check how she was doing.

Beth smiled as Remi grabbed a cookie off the sheet to eat. Remi had mentioned she was craving sweets. Remi and Sarah were both pregnant and due within weeks of each other. It was great to see her sisters so happy. Jesse was looking a little better since she and Cannon’s twin girls were sleeping a little longer, and their son, Hank, had settled in. A year ago, Winnie and Bear had been blessed with three kids.

Beth was thrilled for her sisters, but she was also a tad jealous. Not of the kids, because she didn’t want kids right away, but she was jealous of the men that they could lean on and who loved them unconditionally.

Sarah placed her contribution to the evening on the counter. Beth adored Sarah’s pumpkin bread.

“I was hoping you’d had time to cook. I missed this while I was in Dallas,” Beth said, taking a slice of the bread and slathering it with the honey butter Sarah had brought.

“I did, but I had to fight to get these out of the house. Scoop was heading over to the guys’ get-together at Baron and Regina’s and wanted to take them,” Sarah said.

“Way to take care of us,” Jesse said, putting a couple of cookies and three pieces of pumpkin bread on her plate. “I’m starving.The twins were cranky and took forever breastfeeding, then Hank needed something, and Cannon was running late due to an issue. I have never run so fast out of that house as when he walked in. I didn’t even eat a sandwich, just ran over here.”

Beth chuckled, then opened her refrigerator. “I’ve got a lot of leftovers from the diner because I’ve grabbed meals twice since I got back. I have sweet n’ sour chicken with rice or gravy steak with mashed potatoes and rolls.”

Jesse’s eyes widened. “You’re my favorite sister if you heat up the steak with mashed potatoes. It seems like even if the girls have just been fed, they need to be held at supper time. I am going to relish this time where I’m only in charge of feeding myself,” Jesse said.

Winnie chuckled. “Whine to me when your kids are the age of mine and I can’t even remember what it’s like to pee without someone knocking on the door. Or my favorite was Phoebe, after I’d said,do not knock on the door, she slid a note under it with the question,can we have ice cream? Seriously, you had to ask me that when I was on the toilet? It couldn’t have waited the three minutes it would take me to be finished?”

Beth laughed along with her sisters. She’d missed them while she was out of town. She slid the gravy steak and potatoes in the microwave and heated them up. With everyone having families or significant others, they hadn’t been able to get together as much as they did before. But Beth was happy for her sisters, and she adored all the little ones who had come into the family in the last year.

The microwave beeped, and she pulled out Jesse’s food. Grabbing a fork, she handed it to Jesse and watched her dig in. She couldn’t imagine how many calories Jesse needed to consume to feed her two little ones and herself. Beth loved those babies, but she was not in any way, shape, or form ready for kids. When she finally found her man, she wanted some time alonewith him, just enjoying each other before they added kids to the mix. Her dogs were her children, and they were all she wanted right now.

“Now, spill it. How are you? It’s been two months. Where are you at in the grieving process?” Jesse asked.

Beth shook her head. She’d thought Remi, as the oldest, would be the one to ask first.

“Well, I know that I could slip back into the earlier stages at any point, but I spent a lot of the first month going back and forth between anger and depression. Angry at myself for not seeing it and depressed for all the time I wasted. But Flick took me for a ride to the lake after the wedding, and what he said finally penetrated. How it wasn’t my fault and I needed to forgive myself just like I’d advise any of the people coming through Kathryn’s Wings to do,” Beth said.

Sarah smiled and nodded. “Flick’s a bright man. I think it says something that although we all didn’t like Kerwin, we didn’t identify him as an abuser. He hid it very well,” Sarah said, then paused, staring off into space.

“Sarah?” Remi asked.

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