Page 9 of Crewe
Chapter Eight
Crewe chuckled at the trash talk going around the table. By the time they’d gotten to Bluff Creek, they’d had an invitation to poker at the clubhouse. He was heartily glad that War, the President of Bluff Creek Brotherhood MC, had smoothed over the animosity between his family and the Franks sisters, from one of the sisters dating three of the cousins one after the other. A constant supply of Bluff Creek Brews at a discount for the bar went a long way to smooth hurt feelings.
Remi, War’s wife, walked in carrying their daughter. Seeing the big, tattooed man go soft for his wife and child had an ache in Crewe’s heart. Crewe wanted that feeling and to be able to show that with Ry, Freya, and Wyatt.
He hoped that Vivi’s idea would be the push Ry needed to see him in that light.
Remi handed War his daughter, then sat down on the chair near Crewe.
“So I hear we’re all heading to Mistletoe Canyon,” Remi said.
“Umm, I knew my family was. Are you all joining us?” Crewe asked.
“Well, I guess in the time you’ve been gone, Vivi got a phone call from Justice from the Saints Outlaws MC. He proposed and is marrying Adley on Friday, September 26, in Mistletoe Canyon,” Remi said.
“Okay?” Crewe said, not sure exactly what that meant.
“It’s now turned into a Bluff Creek Brotherhood MC, Saint’s Outlaws MC, and Nelson family get-together. I guess a large group canceled,and Vivi, along with Adley, Justice’s woman, reserved almost the whole resort. You should get some pointers from Cannon because honestly, if he could get Jesse to forgive him, then I’m sure he could come up with some great ideas for you,” Remi said, getting louder, Crewe guessed, so Cannon would hear.
“Oh, fuck me, am I never going to live that down? It’s been a friggin’ year and it’s always, ‘Oh, Cannon screwed up. How about that Cannon—he is the ultimate book boyfriend because he groveled so well?’” Cannon groused.
Crewe chuckled along with everyone else.
“Hmm, you sound a little cross. Could this be because Jesse claimed our most recent book club read as her book boyfriend?” Remi asked.
“What the fuck does Liam O’Shea do that’s better than me getting up with the kids and letting Jesse sleep in?” Cannon grumbled.
“You’ll have to read Michelle Dups’ book to find out,” Remi said, making a face at her brother-in-law.
“Instead of whining about the book boyfriends, you should learn to reap the benefits after your wife reads a spicy scene,” War said, in baby talk like he was telling Amelia, which was just too strange coming from a big, tattooed man wearing a cut.
“Just know we’re on your side and will do whatever is needed to help,” Remi said, patting his arm.
“Thank you,” Crewe said and watched War hand his daughter to Remi, dropping a kiss on Remi’s lips before she left. He so wanted that and hoped getting Ry away would help his case.
“Okay, let’s play. I’d like some extra cash to take Meg out,” Rascal said.
“Oh please, you’ve got plenty of money, and now you have the time off with the addition of the Stone Family at the tattoo studio,” Bear, his son, said.
“I can always use more. We spend a lot on our grandkids, you know,” Rascal said with a gleam. Crewe had to wonder why.
“Oh yeah, old man. I really appreciate all the slime buckets you got my kids. I’m thankful we have mostly hard surface floors because yourgrandson wanted to know what happened when he put slime on the rugs,” Bear said.
“He is a smart one and inquisitive,” Rascal said, chuckling.
“Fuck you. Do you know that was Winnie’s favorite rug, and she made me drive to Wichita to pick up another? And I didn’t get to ride my bike because I needed the truck. I think you should have had to get it,” Bear said.
“That’s the privilege of grandparents. All the fun and none of the hard stuff,” Rascal said.
Crewe chuckled and had to agree. He’d watched his dad and uncles spoil Whiskey and Hennessy’s kids. Now that he thought about it, his dad and uncles treated Ry’s kids the same way.
He couldn’t get a life with Ry out of his mind. Would she want to live in the apartment, which was his preference, or across the street in their apartment complex? He’d do whatever she wanted.
He enjoyed the apartment because he loved cooking for people. If he was hungry late at night, there was someone in the apartment to join himfor a late-night pizza or whatever other idea he had for food.
For as long as he could remember, he loved creating in the kitchen. His dad, Burt, had encouraged it because he and his brothers weren’t great in the kitchen. They’d grill food or bring up food their cook had made in the bar. Crewe had hated when the cook only knew how to make hamburgers. He’d gotten so tired of having hamburgers every night for supper that he’d tried his hand at cooking. At first, he'd done easy things like following directions on the back of a box of macaroni or making hot dogs. But with nine boys and three adults, the volume of food needed made boxed macaroni expensive. He’d started experimenting. Homemade pizza was one of the first things he’d made. He’d found a recipe for crust using yeast, flour, water, oil, and seasoning that made the crust inexpensive. His dad, along with everyone else, raved about it, and suddenly, pizza night was a weekly thing with Crewe changing up the toppings.
“Crewe, you’re up, man. Fold or raise,” Gaines said.
