Page 135 of Ruin
From the corner of my eye, I see Rhino staring off into nothing, mindlessly tapping his finger on the table. He’s pissed. Probably hurt too.
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Coyote says. “Anything else?”
I give a quick update on the charity events and let everyone know that jobs will go out on Monday. I always assign people jobs so everyone is helping, and it’s fair. I give everyone tasks that they’re good at, this way it’s less work for me.
This is the last charity event we do before the spring because doing them in the winter doesn’t work out well since a lot of the older people don’t like to leave their houses.
When the guys leave, my brother and I hang back. I shut down and close my laptop, tucking it under my arm as I walk over to Coyote.
“You need to make amends with him,” I comment.
“I know,” he answers. “I’m just trying to figure out how.”
“Good thing you have all of tomorrow to figure it out.” Kaison pats him on the back and we head out of the room. I jerk my head toward the room when I lock eyes with Noah. He heads back in to clean up.
I spend the rest of the afternoon getting shit together for the charity and figure out how to get the most accurate maps of theborder. I go through a maps app for a while, browsing the street views, but unfortunately, it’s astreet viewand doesn’t let me see that far into the woods. So I have no idea if there are trails or makeshift roads. A trip will help with that, as long as they have good intentions. Some of these guys voted no, but I think they have enough respect for the club to do what was decided and not just what they want. Time will tell.
“You good, Snapper?” I blink and look up. Grizz is standing in front of me, concerned.
“Great. Why?”
He shrugs. “You look… sad.”
I roll my eyes. “Get the fuck out of here, Grizz.”
He chuckles and turns to head out. “Hey!” I call.
“What’s up?” he asks, turning to face me again.
“How’s the baby?”
His grin is wide as hell. “Fucking perfect, man. She’s fucking perfect.”
Sometimes, things just work out…
Chapter Fifty-Six
Kolton
It’s late Sunday morning. Kaison and Cora are out doing a couple things, and I’m grateful to have the house to myself for a little while. I’m not sure how much longer I can tolerate them being in my space, but I did say they could stay here, and I’m the one who screwed this up, not them. I hadn’t anticipated coming back; I thought I’d be with Lucian. So I can’t just kick them out, especially knowing she’s pregnant and they don’t have anywhere to go.
The house she grew up in, and lived in with her father, burned to the ground. Her father has dementia and he didn’t know what he was doing, orthoughthe knew what he was doing when he tried cooking something in the middle of the night. There was a big fire, and they both could have died. She’s since put him in a home, which is something she hasn’t forgiven herself for yet, but it’s safer for everyone.
I have to say, the good thing about them being here is getting to know them. It’s kind of… nice. I guess.
I’m standing in my living room, looking around the house and trying to figure out what I’m going to spend the day doing when there’s a knock on my door.
My heart does a flip, but I ignore it. Kaison probably forgot his key.
I pull the door open and all the air leaves my lungs.
“Beth—”
I see her there. I say her name. But my brain has… not caught up on what’s going on.
She gives me a bright but tired smile. “Hello, Kolton. May I please come in?”
I step to the side without hesitation, swallowing hard as I close the door.
