I pause, pretending to rearrange containers.
Ollie looks at me and smiles. “Get in line. I love her, too.”
My heart flips. I love him. And the way he looks at me tells me he feels it too.
We eat together, crowded around the mismatched tables and chairs, Owen in the middle, laughing too loudly and having a good time with the guys. It feels like a family dinner, the kind I always wanted.
When it’s time to go, Ollie walks us out. He pulls me in, arm snug around my shoulders, and kisses me.
“Thanks for this,” he says softly.
“Always,” I say.
“Yuck,” Owen adds immediately, wrinkling his nose up at me kissing him.
The whole place erupts in laughter.
Ollie grins and ruffles Owen’s hair. “Night, buddy.”
On the drive home, I watch the lights of Bridger Falls roll past and feel something settle deep in my chest.
This life we’re building,It’s not perfect. But it’s ours. Maybe those white picket fences aren’t what they’re supposed to be.
And for the first time, I have hope. But still, a slight uneasy feeling settles in my chest. I need to make sure my dad leaves us alone. I can’t keep living my life under his thumb. He contributes nothing to this business, and he’s stripped away any assets he brought to the table, which wasn’t much.
I have an idea, but I can’t take Owen with me.
I pull into the shop and park at the front, as I usually do. “If you take your shower now, you can play your game until bedtime.” I nod toward the direction of the bathroom.
He wastes no time and scrambles up the stairs and does just that. I pull out my phone and call Maggie. She picks up and says, “Hey, there, sugar.”
“Hey, Maggie. Are you busy?”
“That entirely depends on the rest of the information you’re about to give me.”
“Would you sit with Owen for an hour or so? I need to run an errand,” I say, hoping she won’t ask me too many details.
“Sure, let me get my shoes on, and I’ll head on over. See you in a bit.”
I close my eyes and lean my head back against my headrest. Either this is the dumbest idea I’ve ever had, or the best. Time will tell. Either way, Ollie is not going to be happy about this, and neither is my dad.
But sometimes when you fuck around, you find out. Andmy dad is about to find out. Or me. Probably both. I might be making a huge mistake, but here goes nothing.
Twenty minutes out of town. That’s how far my dad’s biker buddies like to be from town.I pull off the highway and keep driving until the road turns to dirt and bad decisions. Ollie’s probably going to be so pissed that I’m doing this.
I park down the road where my truck won’t be obvious and sit there for a second with my hands on the wheel. I reach down and grab the tire-iron creation I welded myself. It’s heavy and spiked. A thing of beauty, really. I tuck it into the side cargo pocket of my coveralls, where I can reach it fast if I need to. And hopefully I won’t need to.
My hair’s yanked up in a messy bun with a red bandana knotted across my forehead as a headband. No makeup. Clean face. When I catch my reflection in the rearview mirror, I look younger than I should. Like, I belong in a classroom, not walking toward a biker compound.
I could be walking into my death.But I need help.And calling my dad’s bluff feels like the only card I have left to play.
I move through the trees, keeping low, counting cameras, and checking out the fence. There’s a chain link fence around the compound, and I find a gap in it. Lazy maintenance. I climb it easily and drop down on the other side.
That’s when the dog comes out growling, hunched down, teeth flashing in a snarl.
Black and brown, looks like a pitbull mix. Before I can stop myself, I kneel slowly and whisper in a sweet voice, “Hey, baby. Come here.”
The dog freezes, looking confused. Then leans inand sniffs me once, sneezes, then starts wagging his tail like we’re old friends, his whole-body wiggling.
