Page 55 of Odin
“We’re outdoors anyway, and you wouldn’t be the first one to paint those bushes if you had to ralph.” Lark gives me two thumbs up.
“Oh my god!” someone cries out indignantly from the big room beyond the bathroom.
I guess that not all the spare rooms are small. Not that this is a spare room. It’s a room that isn’t being used right now, but it’s designated for a member who has a family to use it if they need to. It’s at least three times the size of the one I stayed overnight in, with a king sized bed, a couch that obviously pulls out into a bed, a table with a few chairs, a flat screen TV, and a long chest of drawers with a large rectangular mirror.
Most of the women are sitting on the end of the huge bed. Lynette—the club’s lawyer and Bullet’s partner—was in here earlier, but she has a young baby who was getting fussy, so she left to take him for a walk to hopefully get him settleddown. Her sister, Willa is here. Ginny and Bronte are sisters as well. Ginny has one hand resting on her baby bump, the other stuck out beside her like she needs it, or she’ll fall over. She’s eight months pregnant and she’s all belly. She looks so uncomfortable that I’m actually a little bit afraid for when I get that far along. Lark is pacing the room anxiously, but as soon as I exit the bathroom behind Tarynn, she stops. The whole room lets out a collective sigh.
Ella, Raiden’s old lady, jumps off the bed, tosses her mane of blonde hair over one shoulder, and wrenches down her tight leather dress. She could be a model. A badass, biker babe, one who wears stiletto boots, and a dress that laces up on both sides that hugs her bombshell curves. Hayley and Tarynn are also wearing black. Actually, almost everyone is, in some form, except for Lark. She has a flowy floral dress on with gladiator sandals, a knit sweater thrown over so she won’t freeze out there.
Over the past two weeks, I haven’t learned the meaning of winter or anything, but fall has moved along, and there’s no mistaking the fact that most breezes carry a chill now.
“For the record” Ginny says, struggling to her feet and smoothing a hand over her belly. “I had every right to throw up in those bushes.”
“I didn’t mean you,” Lark quickly amends. “You’re correct. You did have every right. I was talking about the guys who get drunk and step out the front door because they know they’re not going to make it down the hall or to a bathroom anywhere.”
“Thank goodness that doesn’t happen often, and the guys are great at cleaning up in the morning.” Ella winces. She teaches at one of the community colleges here, which kindof blows my mind. It would be incredible to be that smart and organized. “But yeah. It’s true. Those bushes have seen their fair share of the not so great kind of fertilization.”
“Are you sure this is okay? Everyone knows now that we’re getting married because I’m pregnant. Granted, they knew about it long before I barfed. When we picked a date for the wedding, I told Odin that it was okay to tell everyone. “It’s about as shotgun a wedding as can be. I know everyone here is very open-minded, but I… I don’t know.” I grasp the doorframe of the bathroom. “No one thinks that I’m… that this is silly, do they?”
“What? No! Liberal and open minded is absolutely right.” Lark hurries over and takes my hand. She’s so tiny, especially standing next to me. “Those men out there who are married or have an old lady, they know that when you find the right person, you don’t let them go. That might not mean marriage, or it might. We all have our stories and most of our roads weren’t easy ones that we travelled to love. It’s okay to have a road full of bumps. Just because it appears smooth, doesn’t mean it always is. And everyone knows that a wedding isn’t the end. It’s just the beginning of a love story, even if it’s years in the making.”
“Why does the world make a wedding the be all, end all of everything?” Willa asks. She has an awesome sense of humor. I appreciate her dry wit. She’s incredibly lovely, just like Lynette, though they look totally different from each other. Her man is Atlas, and he’s so Hollywood gorgeous that when they’re together, you’d swear they’re a famous couple straight from LA.
I’ve learned a lot about the club since Odin made it clear we were getting married. Lark immediately arranged a girl’s night, which she was going to do anyway, but she rushedto get everyone together. I appreciate that all the women came out to Patti’s on the edge of town. The diner is usually the guys’ hangout spot on weekends, but that night, we invaded it. It was a wonderful night of meeting everyone. I was nervous at first. I hate being the center of any sort of attention, but within half an hour, I relaxed completely. The women were all so open and kind. They talked like they’d known me for a lifetime, abandoning all cautiousness, welcoming me like an old friend they wanted to catch up with.
“I think that some people spend so long planning it and it’s something we’re all sold on the idea of since we’re little girls, that at the end of it all, it can feel like something is lost or that something monumental is just… over, and that’s hard for some people.” Ella answers Tarynn’s question.
She told me that she and Raiden were basically an arrangement so the club’s one-time rival would behave. She was a peace offering, given to Raiden by her father. I know that whole story now, about Tyrant’s dad being such an asshole, causing all sorts of problems for his kids and both his clubs. He’s currently in prison, and I don’t wish ill on anyone, but I guess some people might belong behind bars.
“I love that you’re doing this here with all of us. Shotgun wedding or not, there’s never more excitement than one of our own finding happiness.” Tarynn takes my hand and leads me over to the bed. The women all jump up and scramble around, grabbing makeup off the dresser at looming around me like they’re all going to try it apply it at once. “And Odin is happy. Happier than I’ve ever seen him, although I can’t say that anyone has ever seen him truly unhappy either.”
“He’s older, that’s true, but no matter what age you are, what you look like, or where you’ve come from, everyone deserves to be happy,” Lark says.
Ella dabs my face with a soft, dry cloth and kneels in front of me, fanning me with her hand.
“That’s what we’re celebrating. We’re here for you, every step, every hurdle, every bump. You’ll have so many people in your corner. Friends. Found and chosen family. All helping you grow as a person, as a couple, and as parents.”
“She’s already signed on, Lark. You don’t need to sell her on anything.” Willa passes Ella a handful of brushes and a big blue bottle.
Lark elbows her and Willow dissolves into laughter. She has one of those giggles that’s instantly contagious.
“No! I love that,” I assure everyone. “Thank you so much. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart, as cheesy as that is. From literally the first minute I stepped in the door of this clubhouse, my life changed for the better. I couldn’t have imagined ending up here, but now I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”
“That’s beautiful. That’s love in its infancy.” Bronte and her man didn’t have an easy time of their epic love story. She’s more serious, I think, because she’s been through the worst and come out the other side, but she’s more beautiful for it. The way she puts her hands to her chest and sighs is all swoony and dramatic without her even going for it.
“It’s a lovely evening for a lovely wedding,” Ginny agrees. She loops an arm around her sister, hugging her. “Hold me up, Bronte. I might pitch over otherwise.”
Bronte sets her hand on her sister’s bump. “Are you sure you don’t have twins in there?”
“Ugh, goodness. I’m more than sure.”
“Sorry. We were talking about the wedding.” Bronte leaves her hand on her sister’s belly for a second.
They obviously share a close bond, and it makes my throat ache. I never had a sister, and I’ve honestly never had a best friend either.
“Two lovely people choosing each other,” Ginny adds.
Shit.Suddenly, I’m seeing the world through a haze again.
