Page 53 of Dancin' with Demons

Lookin’ at him, I finally crack a smile. Holdin’ my finger up, I get my cell out and call Sandra.

“Hey, Renegade,” she says loudly as Savior’s little voice booms in the background.

“Everythin’ okay?”

Sandra laughs. “Oh, yeah. Savior found the Sin’-a-Long version of Moana, and it’s an all-out concert in your livin’ room right now.”

Reaper and I both chuckle since Savior is loud enough through the phone that anyone within a five foot radius of me can probably hear her. “Do you think you can keep an eye on her for a little while longer? I wanna run to town and get some things for her and Raylynn before I come home for the night.”

“Of course,” Sandra says happily. “I love hangin’ with this princess so take however long you need. I’ll text Cat and let him know. Do you want him to pick Ray up tonight?”

“Actually, yeah,” I say, “that would be good. And I’ll text Ray and let her know he’ll be there.”

Sandra and I hang up, and as Reaper and I head for the door, out of the corner of my eye, I notice Hammer sittin’ at one of the table, sippin’ on a beer, his eyes watchin’ me the whole way. I don’t let him on that I notice him, but my stomach tightens with worry. I’ve never had a brother in this club I didn’t trust until him, and it fuckin’ bothers me a hell of a lot. Reaper gets on his bike and I hop in my SUV. It takes twenty minutes to get to town and I have to force myself to drive past Raylynn’s job without swingin’ in to check on her. I don’t want her to think I’m suffocatin’ her, but I can’t lie and say that every minute she isn’t with me, I’m constantly anxious.

The first place I pull into is the Disney store that opened about six months ago. It’s the size of a Walmart Supercenter, and since Savior’s room isn’t decorated at all, I plan to get everythin’ needed to make my little girl’s space special. I haven’t talked to Raylynn about it yet, but now that there in my house, I think it’d be a good idea to transform the second livin’ room I have into a playroom for Savior. That way, she has a big room for all her toys, so everythin’ won’t have to be in just her bedroom. She can have a television to herself. If Raylynn and I want to watch a movie in the main livin’ room, Savior can have a room to watch Disney and play that is literally right next to us. I don’t like the idea of Savior only bein’ able to play and shit in her bedroom.

It takes Reaper and I almost a full hour to pick out everythin’ and check out. The woman ringin’ us up couldn’t stop glancin’ at us with a confused expression on her face. Clearly, men that look like us don’t shop here often. This won’t be the last time they see my ass, though, because this store has ten times the stuff the one in Nags Head did, so I’ll be bringin’ her shoppin’ as soon as I can get away with it without Raylynn givin’ me shit.

After the Disney store, we hit Hobby Lobby, and I pretty much buy any cute or funny house shit that might make Raylynn laugh. I ain’t spent a lot of time at my house the last few years, and I know it’s stiff and has no family feel to it. I want to change that. We also hit up this new clothin’ boutique and Reaper shakes his head at the fact I not only know Raylynn’s sizes for everythin’, includin’ her shoes, but I easily drop over six hundred dollars in new shit for her. Some of it is stuff that I know she’ll like and some is stuff I just want to see her in. And of course, there’s a small selection of stuff no one better see her in except me.

On the way to my house, there’s so much shit in the back of my SUV, I can’t see out the damn rear view mirror.

Gettin’ everythin’ in the house, Reaper and I pretty much drop the bags in the foyer, and it’s less than a second before the slap of tiny feet get louder by the second. Takin’ off my jacket, I hang it on the coat rack just as Savior rounds the corner into the hallway.

“Ren-Ren!” Bendin’ down, I grunt as she slams into me with a jump, her little arms goin’ around my shoulders and neck in the biggest bear hug. “I missed you!”

Kissin’ her cheek as she sits up in my arms so I can look at her face, and the huge, cheesy grin on it, I tap her on the nose. “I missed you, too, little one. Guess what I got?”

Savior glances down at the bags, her eyes widenin’ in awe. “Disney.”

Noddin’, I set her on her feet. “Reaper and I are gonna start doin’ your room. Wanna help?”

“Yesssssssss,” she squeals before dartin’ around the bags to bear hug Reaper’s legs. He chuckles as he ruffles her hair.

“Well, that is my cue to head to the clubhouse,” Sandra says as she comes up behind me and puts her hand gently on my back. “Catacomb said he’s got Raylynn. You guys have fun.” Sandra steps over to the coat rack and grabs her jacket, slidin’ it on.

“Thanks for watchin’ me today, Aunt Sandra,” Savior says in a little sin’-song tone, makin’ Sandra giggle as she sinks to her knees and wraps the kiddo in a hug.

“I had a blast. Let’s do it again soon, okay, princess?”

Savior nods so aggressively, I think she might give herself whiplash. But a second after Sandra stands, that little girl grabs two bags and zooms to her room, screamin’ about Disney stuff. I open the front door for Sandra just as Catacomb pulls up in front of my house. Wavin’ to him, I kiss Sandra on the cheek and thank you again, waitin’ until she’s in the car with my president before shuttin’ the door.

By the time I get the last of the bags and join Savior and Reaper in her room, they’ve got several bags unpacked and Savior is starin’ at everythin’, bouncin’ excitedly in place with her hands clasped together in front of her mouth.

Droppin’ my bags, I huff loudly. “Alright. Let’s get to work.”

Chapter 20

Raylynn

I think I love working at this diner already.

Renee and James are, without a doubt, the coolest people I’ve ever worked for. Even during the rush hour for dinner from six to seven, they were fun and joked with both customers and staff. Plenty of my tables joined in and the entire place was full of laughter. All the tables I waited on were extremely nice and understanding that it was my first shift, and for once, I didn’t find myself stressed out or anxious at all during my shift.

It’s almost nine forty-five, though, and I’m just now finishing up. I’m glad I can gauge this as being the typical time I’ll actually get finished and be able to leave, though. From now on, whoever is picking me up won’t have to sit outside for forty-five extra minutes waiting on me. Grabbing my tip stack from the counter, I fold the bills in half and slide them into my back pocket before dropping the loose change in the charity donation jar that Renee has on the counter next to the register.

“Here’s my stuff, Renee,” I say as I stop in front of the register where she’s counting the till.

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