Page 12 of Dancin' with Demons

“Yay!” Savior’s arms appear in the mirror, swingin’ wildly as she does what I can only imagine is some kind of tiny human victory dance.

“Renegade,” Raylynn whispers. “I can’t afford going out to eat.”

“It’s on me, little love,” I say, reachin’ over and puttin’ my hand on top of hers and givin’ it a gentle squeeze.

She sighs loudly. “Renegade, I—”

“Don’t argue with me, woman. Not right now.” I glance at her several times as she glares at me. The third time my eyes briefly meet hers, she rolls ‘em and sits back in her seat with a huff. “Good girl.”

“I’m not a fucking Labrador, Renegade,” she snaps.

“Language, Mommy,” Savior says from the back, causin’ me to chuckle as Raylynn rolls her eyes yet again.

I turn around at the next cross street and head back to the diner where Raylynn works. I know she’s supposed to work tomorrow, but today, she can sit and just eat. Somethin’ tells me that even if Edna and Troy offered, she wouldn’t eat at work. Gettin’ her to accept help is gonna be like pullin’ teeth— I can already tell. She’s gonna realize that I have an iron will, though, and when it comes to her and her daughter, I’m gonna do what I want as far as takin’ care of ‘em. So, she’s welcome to argue because I’ll do what I want anyway.

Pullin’ into the diner parkin’ lot, there’s a space right by the steps. As soon as the truck’s in park, Raylynn tells Savior to stay put until she gets her. I, on the other hand, have a better idea. Openin’ the back door, I motion for Savior. “Come on, little one. Let’s go get some grub, yeah?”

Savior unhooks her seatbelt and crawls across the bench seat from Raylynn’s side to mine, and I lift from under her arms and hold her like I did at the house. It puts her chin at my cheek level, and her head swivels in every direction as I close the doors and slide the keys into my pocket. More than anythin’, I want to help Raylynn. She’s done this alone for three years, and single parentin’ is touch even under the best circumstances. I’d know, too, since I’m the oldest of five kids, and my mom was a single parent my entire life.

Raylynn walks next to me into the diner, and without makin’ a big show of it, I reach down and lace my fingers with hers. I expect her to try and pull away, but she doesn’t. Instead, I watch out of the corner of my eye as she takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out. Stoppin’ by the hostess stand, we only wait a moment before Edna comes walkin’ up. Her eyes dart to Savior and Raylynn, widenin’ a little as she grabs menus from the podium.

“Look at this bunch,” she says, turnin’ her eyes on Savior. “Miss Savior, what are you doin’ here this mornin’?”

“Ren-Ren’s gettin’ us breakfast,” she says happily. The girl puts one arm across my shoulders and tangles her little fingers in my ponytail.

“Savior,” Raylynn says in a stern tone. “It’s Renegade.”

“Sorry, Mommy,” Savior says with a little pout.

Lettin’ go of Raylynn’s hand, I use the tip of my finger to boop Savior on the nose. “Hush, woman. Little One gets to call me whatever she wants.”

Savior’s smile is so wide, she might split skin, and that makes me happier than I’ve been in a long time. Most of the guys have no clue that I like kids or want a family of my own. It’s not Somethin’ we discuss at the club. With Catacomb bein’ the first to settle down, we figure he’ll bring up kids when Sandra starts demandin’ ‘em, but until then, it’s a club full of single guys with too much time on their hands, and that leads to dicks goin’ wherever they get permission to.

“Well, why don’t you guys follow me, and we’ll get you a nice ol’ booth and some drinks,” Edna says in her usual perky tone. She turns and heads toward the left side of the diner where we sat last night and puts up at the same booth. Stoppin’ next to the table, I let Savior down, and she climbs into the seat across from me. Sittin’ down, I slide in and wait for Raylynn to sit next to her daughter across from me. Once she does, Edna sets a kid’s menu and crayons down for Savior and two regular menus between Raylynn and I. “What do y’all want to drink.”

“Water is fine, Edna,” Raylynn says with a tight smile.

My eyebrow shoots up just as Raylynn glances at me. “You gonna make this difficult, little love?”

“Ugh,” she grumbles, rollin’ her eyes again, and I don’t hide my chuckle. “Fine. Coffee for me, please. Savior, what do you want to drink, baby?”

“Chocolate milk, Mommy. Duh.”

Raylynn presses her lips together and looks down at Savior, and at the same time, I laugh again. As soon as Savior looks up at me with a smile, Raylynn pins me with a death glare.

Holdin’ my hands up in surrender, I try to wipe the smile off my face. “My bad.”

“You’re not helpin’, Renegade,” Raylynn says softly.

“My bad, little love. I’ll have a coffee, too, please,” I say, finally glancin’ at Edna.

Her eyes dart between Raylynn and I, but she smiles and nods, headin’ off to get those drinks.

Reachin’ across the table, I tap in front of Savior to get her attention. “You get whatever you want to eat, okay?”

“Really?” she says, drawin’ out the work with the most adorable little smirk on her face.

“Mmm-hmm. What do you want?”

---