Page 70 of Choosing My Happiness
Horse held up his hands. “Alright, you’re right. That hag is not a mother,” He agreed, then huffed. “Do you need to spar?” he offered. “I can find a spare set of gloves.”
I shook my head. “I’ll hurt someone. Just leave me with the bag,” I told him
He stepped back and nodded. “Midwife, did Daisy say exactly what Molly said?” he asked carefully.
I spoke low and slow. “The words she said were ‘she told me I wasn’t allowed to be jealous of Dylan, because I couldn’t keep my baby alive.’” I glanced at Horse out of the side of my eyes. “Daisy had asked to handle this herself,” I warned him as his face pinched with anger. He turned around and punched a bag with his bare fist, then walked out.
“Bear! Make sure he doesn’t interfere,” I ordered our Sergeant at Arms. I trusted him to control our brother. The big man glared at me and grunted.
“Don’t you cause shit either, Bear. This is Daisy’s fight,” I bellowed after them, then muttered to myself, “I’m just the fucking army that’s backing her up.”
I took a centering breath and launched into the bag, imagining various faces of new enemies in the leather. Pouring my anger into the combinations.
50
Chapter 50: Blaze
I got a call midway through my shift to let me know that Dad was picking Dylan up. Mom needed him with her. It didn’t matter to me, one less stop I had to make tonight. It was a strange call. I guess something happened that made Dad so excited that he forgot he was angry with me. I gave an internal shrug. It was almost a relief after this morning. In fact, the past few weeks had been an absolute nightmare. From the day that Daisy came back, I’d felt like my life had just a series of bad shit happening, one after the other.
I was still feeling a little sick that I’d slipped one into my own cousin, and doubly grateful that the condom had stayed intact. It almost made me understand Matchstick getting the snip. I was also feeling a little spun out that she was Daisy’s sister. It made sense now why they looked alike. Somehow, I’d have to find Amber and let her know that this couldn’t happen again,ever. I just…Daisy hated the thought of the other women; I couldn’t include her sister in the lineup. A man had to have some boundaries.
I sat in the break room, trying to make sense of it all. Things weren’t falling into place like they should be. The day Daisy came back was supposed to be the restart of our life together. Instead, I felt like she was drifting further and further away from me. Take this divorce paperwork for instance. It was nuts. Why on earth did she want to divorce me? Where could she find anyone better than me? I mean, I was both an Ares Rider, and a firefighter. I had girls lining up to take me to bed. She didn’t realise the gold that she was passing up. She was obviously after something, but I couldn’t work out what. I’d have to work out a way to talk to her so she could tell me what it was that she wanted from me, then work out a way to give it to her.
I went home after my shift, to find Dylan tucked in bed with Mom. Dad had cooked dinner and sent a very emotional woman to bed with her grandson. He was also upset. It didn’t take me long to find out why.
Dad took out the plate of food that he’d cooked up for me, and sat it in front of me. Today was getting weirder and weirder. Dad hadn’t cooked for me since before Daisy left. Then he fetched both of us a beer and sat down at the table with me.
I looked at him suspiciously.
He caught my look and chuckled. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Son?”
“What’s wrong with Mom? I’m guessing it’s terminal, whatever it is…Cancer?” I asked. It was the only thing I could think of that would cause this reaction in both of them.
Dad drowned a mouthful and shook his head. “Your mom is healthy enough. She’ll be kicking along for another 50 years. Thank God,” he grunted, then drew a deep breath through his nostrils.
“You?” I forced through the lump growing in my throat. I knew he and I didn’t have the best relationship. But he was still my dad.
Dad chuckled again. “Nah, I’m good.” He drew in another deep breath as if he were steeling himself. “We had a visitor today,” he said ominously, staring at the tabletop.
“Oh? Who was it?”
“A girl called Amber.”
The blood drained from my face.
I was lucky Dad was in his own world and not facing me when he looked up. He stared at the photos on the wall in front of us. The knick-knacks and Dylan’s drawings shared equal space.
“Do you remember your mom’s sister, Lacey?”
“Vaguely,” I responded.
“She was your mom’s twin, almost identical. Even your grandparents had trouble telling them apart sometimes, though I have no idea how…it was pretty easy.” Dad’s voice changed into storyteller mode, which made it easy for me to switch off my brain and listen while I ate. Dad was a hit or miss cook, seeing as he couldn’t read, so recipes were useless to him. Tonight he’d done well.
“Lacey had this look in her eye, that crazy look that Molly gets sometimes around Matchstick.” Dad shivered and brought the bottle up to his lips to drown the thought. “Anyway, she disappeared about twenty years ago. Completely gone. Your mom thought someone had kidnapped her. I reckon she just ran away with some biker, but no one was missing or owning up. We spent months searching for her, putting up missing persons posters, checking in surrounding clubs. The President at the time even reached out as far as he could, until he got a response which said, “Give up, she’s safe, but doesn’t want to be found.” Dad paused, pain adding to his wrinkles. “I didn’t know what she’d gotten herself into, and it tore your mom up badly knowingthat her sister didn’t want our help.” Dad shook his head and let silence fill the room. I could only hear the ticking of the kitchen clock as it counted down the seconds.
Then Dad snorted. “Turns out she was pregnant by a married man. Amber is their daughter. The drop-kick of a father didn’t acknowledge her. He stayed out of her life, and she had no idea who he was. She says she’s found out who he is, but wouldn’t tell me,” Dad sneered. I clenched my jaw shut. Matchstick didn’t want people knowing. It was his secret.
Dad shook his head. “The Bastard sent checks every month, but never met his daughter. There were no photos exchanged. He didn’t even try to meet her. What sort of father is that? Fuckwit. I hope he dies a slow painful death,” Dad bit out.
