Page 9 of Silk & Bones Reunion

At about 2 p.m. the door opened and Deke walked in.

Sam ignored him and that alone should have told Deke he didn’t want to talk.

“Dad,” Deke called out as he came over to where Sam was working.

“Hold it right there, kid,” Sam growled as he continued to work on the cycle. “I am gonna say this again...This is my business, not yours or anyone else’s. You hear what I’m saying?”

Deke paused then nodded. “Yeah, I hear ya, Bones. But Melora and those kids are also my business.”

Sam nodded but wouldn’t look at his oldest son. He was trying to hold his temper and not give any of the asswipes in the shop more gossip about his damn life. Finally, he looked up at his son and said, “Look, I don’t know why everyone and his brother thinks he can tell me what I should be doing but it’s fucking ridiculous. Never asked for anyone to stick their nose into my life and I never will. I take responsibility for my kids and their mamas. What I do is my own business. Melora and me will get through this or not but it ain’t up to you or anyone else to guide us through this. Now go away and leave me the hell alone.”

Deke stared at him with flinty eyes as he didn’t say another word. Instead, he walked out, leaving Sam the hell alone, just as he wished.

Sam watched him go and felt his heart begin to grow cold. The fuck with his life being a lifetime movie. He kept grumbling as he began putting his tools away. When he was done, he walked out the door and got into his truck. His tires spit gravel as he turned and sped off.

Watching his stubborn father leave the lot, Deke just stood there beside his bike and shook his head.

When Iceman joined him, he asked Deke, “What’s his problem now?”

Deke shrugged. “No fucking clue but he’s pissing people off.” Deke snorted. “He just told me to mind my own business, in fact. Having him for a dad isn’t always easy.”

Iceman nodded. “Yeah, he sometimes makes Leon look like a sweet puppy.”

They both laughed.

“But even the men are disgusted by his behavior,” Iceman went on. “And he more or less told Mountain the same thing this morning. But that man might end up doing what he’d promised years ago. Hanging Sam upside down and...” Iceman shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mountain that mad before.”

Deke shrugged. “Only Sam can piss a person off like that. And a pissed-off Mountain is something none of us wants to see. Like it would take six of us to stop him, even if we could.”

“And some of us won’t try,” Iceman scoffed.

Deke let out a heavy sigh. “Bones doesn’t think he owes anyone anything but he also doesn’t realize that Melora has a network of people here behind her. They will reach out to her if she lets them in. Sam might be burning bridges he’s gonna need soon.”

“You know anything about what’s going on between them?” Iceman asked.

Deke shook his head. “Neither of them will tell us anything. And both of them are stubborn enough that they won’t. It is their personal business, though. I mean I have to agree with Bones on that. I just hope this blows over. Dad doesn’t deal well with defeat and him being on his own?”

Iceman nodded. “A walking disaster.”

~*~

When he checked his rearview mirror, Sam growled he caught the two of them talking. Then he muttered under his breath, “Mind your own business, Junior.”

He headed back to his own house. Barreling in, he flopped down on the sofa and closed his eyes. Damn, suddenly he was tired. This off hours shit was getting to him.

When he opened them again, he found it was dark outside. Glancing at his watch, he saw it was past ten o’clock at night.

Sam groaned as he realized he’d missed his time with TBone and Shaw at dinner. Then the TV time with TBone. He didn’t tuck them into bed either. He got up and dug through his cabinets. There wasn’t much there, but he did find a can of stew. He microwaved that and ate it without even tasting it. He’d grown used to Melora’s cooking. Best there was.

He then washed his bowl out and went to get cleaned up.

A half hour later, he got back into his truck and drove over to Melora’s house. He moved to the back door and settled in on the patio. He just could not stand being alone anymore and even if they caught him here, it wasn’t being in the house now, was it?

Looking up through the glass patio door, he saw Melora on the phone again tonight. His brows furrowed as she seemed troubled and she looked worried. Sam moved closer to the door, hoping to overhear something that might help him understand this whole mess. What he did hear made his heart freeze and left him gasping for air.

“Danny, I’m so sorry. What can I do to help? If you need to, you can come here.” Melora paused to listen then she said, “No, my husband won’t care. He’s not here much anyway. Apparently, he’s got better things to do than be here with his family.”

Again, she paused as she shook her head and said, “No, you need to come here. You took care of me and now it's my time to return the favor.”

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