Page 15 of Devil

“Because he saw that boy loved you. And he knew you loved him. He was scared that when Lance left for Basic Training, then returned after he finished, he would take you with him when he left again. He knew you would go with him if he asked. And you were so young, both of you were.”

“Well, he worried for nothing.”

“I guess what I’m trying to say, Bailey. You might have been young, but the love you two shared was more than what some older couples share. That doesn’t just go away. I know I’ve asked you before if you were still in love with him. But what I’m going to ask this time, is the love you hold for him worth a second chance? Or are you going to let a little hurt leave you with a lifetime of regret?”

“I don’t know. I wish I did.”

“Do you think if I had known I would lose your dad before he turned forty-five I wouldn’t have married him? And do you think I regret having James because he died way too early in his life?”

“No, you couldn’t have known any of that was going to happen. You don’t regret it, do you, Mom?

“No. I would do it all again even knowing what was going to happen. Because I can’t imagine having even one day without your dad or James in it.” I felt the tears at the corner of my eyes ready to overflow when my mom finished.

“You are one smart woman, Mom.” I hugged her.

“I know, it is such a burden.” My mom always knew how to lighten up a mood.

“What do you say we go to a birthday party and cookout?”

“I would say ‘yes.’”

I taped the lid of the box so it would stay closed. We didn’t need to check the front shop because we already closed for the day and locked up. I grabbed the largecake,and my mom opened the back door, then locked it. After we hadsituatedthe cake to where it wouldn’t bounce around, we got in thecar,and I pulled out and headed to Black Hawk.

“Did I mention that before your dad and I got together, I dated Michael Browning?”

“You went out with Romeo, Flirt’s dad? Oh, my God, no you did not.” My mom seemed to be full of surprises today.

“Yep, then he left for themilitary,and I got with yourdad,and that was that.”

“You never know, Mom. He’ll be at the cookout,” I teased.

“Yeah, because most men would want a woman with hair that was just coming back and no breasts.” Mom touched the bandana she had on her head and looked down at the loose-fitted blouse she wore.

“Stop that. You have battlescars,but you won the war. I don’t want to hear you talk like that about yourself. You are still a beautiful woman inside and out.”

The rest of the drive to Black Hawk was quiet. I stayed focused on the road while Mom looked out the passenger window. When I turned off theroad,and the gate came into view, my mom broke the silence.

“Bailey, you have always been the best daughter a woman could have. I love you, honey.”

“I love you too, Mom. Now let’s go have some funlikethe single, eligible women we are!” Ilaughed,and so did my mom.

We were still laughing when I had to stop for the man at the gate.

Chapter Seven

Devil

The others and I were in the officeinthe clubhouse having a meeting when Crusher’s cell rang. While I sat listening to the one-sided conversation, I tilted my chair back on two legs and leaned my head against the wall. Last night had left me restless and tired. The text I received from my mother’s acquaintance, code for pimp/drug dealer, hadn’t helped either. It had only added to the restlessness because I couldn’t shut my brain down. Thoughts of how I was going to handle Bailey along with the ‘how the fuck did the dude get my damn number’ and ‘why I would be interested in anything thatbelongsto the woman who gave birth tome,'kept me chasing sleep. When I finally crashed, the sun was beginning to rise. I’d woken to Flirt banging on the door to tell me we were going to have a meeting before the cookout started. I got up, showered, and headed to the clubhouse. The only thing I had settled in my head was today I was going to tell Bailey everything since I planned to get her back, she deserved toknow,and we needed to start with a clean slate. When Crusher said goodbye, I sat the chair back down on all fours so we could get back to our meeting.

“Well, that was Creed.” Crusher sat his phone down and continued, “He wanted to set up apickupplace and time.They still havea few issues they need to cleanup,but with some developing newintel, Jas needs to be with them. He alsosaidthe other club may already know where she is or at the very least an idea of it, so we need to keep our eyes out for anyone or anything out of the ordinary in the area. I’ll inform the club tomorrow at Church.”

“Ops got a particular timeframe they want to do this?” Jagasked,and the rest of us waited for Crusher to answer.

“As soon as we can arrange it.Hedidn’t go into everything, buthesaid yesterday wasn’t soon enough.The onlything he added was things were getting ready to gethandled,and he wanted everyone in his club close because he was tired and over the psycho bitch andherpuppets. And then there was a woman’s voice yelling in the background something about ‘hell called and needed the motherfuckers back.’” Crusher chuckled.

“Damn, we have got to make sure their women never get near ours,” Speedsaid,and we all laughed at the expression on his and Crusher’s faces.

“No shit, Carly is bad enough. The woman doesn’t need anyone givingher moreideas.” Crusher leaned forward and placed his elbows on his desk. “So, I guess we need to decide who and when, so I can let Shakes and Dare know their house guest is moving on.”

---