“Addison, what’s all this?” He slowly made his way to her side and frowned at the food. He scowled at Greaser. “Someone better tell me what the hell is going on.”
“Ad called me and asked me to pick up some food for her. She said you were finally sleeping deeply and didn’t want to disturb you. Lydia and I did a pick up and brought it over.” He picked up a pad of paper and looked at Lincoln with a grin. “In the last hour your wife has eaten two mozzarella sticks, two pizza logs, four onion rings, a combination of fifteen pieces of carrots and celery, ten things, I don’t know if they were fried cauliflower, corn, mac and cheese, or mushrooms, two four-ounce containers of bleu cheese, and that’s her fifth chicken wing.” Greaser grinned at the shock on Lincoln’s face.
“Is that beer?” He noted the two dark brown bottles before his wife.
“Root.” Addison grinned at him.
“Oh and she’s had one and a half bottles of root beer.” Greaser grinned at his friend as he finished reading off from the list he’d made.
Lincoln stared at his wife in shock. He walked up to her, took her face gently in his hands and kissed her. When he stepped back he licked his lips and grinned. “Mild?”
“Yep, I didn’t know if I could handle the medium.”
“Yet you’ve handled all that food? No cramps? No ill effects? No dizziness?”
“Nope, pull up a chair and join us. I can’t eat much more, and there’s plenty here.”
Lincoln did just that and for the first time in almost a year, he and his wife ate with friends and laughed and talked. At one point he looked at his wife, and said, “You know, you’re going to have to eat something healthy every now and then.”
“I did.” She grinned as she picked up a piece of celery, dredged it through bleu cheese dressing, making sure there was a thick chunk of the cheese on the celery stick, and took a bite of it. Then grinned at him. “See, veggies.”
Unable to be upset with her he threw his head back and laughed. It felt good to have his wife back.
*****
Eighteen months later
“You ready?” Lincoln asked his wife as he stood in the bedroom doorway.
“Um, I have this thing, can I meet you there? It should only take me an hour, hour and a half at most.”
“Are you sure?” Lincoln crossed his arms over his chest and studied Addison intently.
“I’m sure. I’ll be there in plenty of time. But I have to do this thing.”
“Okay, if you’re not there in two hours, we’reallcoming to look for you.”
“Deal,” she said as she kissed him. Once she heard his motorcycle start up and leave she did a happy dance and put her hand over her chest to control her breathing.
One hour and sixteen minutes later, with a grin on her face, she pulled up to the gate at the clubhouse. “Hey, Randy.”
“Hey, Addy. Good to see you. There’s a spot around back for you to park.” She parked and grabbed her purse and headed to the clubhouse. Inside she saw everyone and when they saw her they waved and pointed to the back door. Outside she looked around and the first person she saw was Lincoln. She made sure she was in his line of vision and when he looked up she grinned. He nodded at her because he was in the middle of helping the other guys lift the cooked pig out of the cooker.
Three hours later, Burt jumped up on the makeshift stage and grabbed the mike. “Welcome, welcome everyone! Thank you for coming today. As you all know, today’s pig roast is a benefit for cancer. All money raised today will be donated to the local Ronald McDonald house.” He paused when the cheers went up.
“What I’m about to do is normally private club business, but this club has some very long overdue old business to attend to. I need my men front and center please.” He watched as all his men and their women stepped forward. He jumped off the stage with the mic and walked the line and stopped in front of Lincoln. “Abe, two years ago, you were asked if you would accept the continued position of our Sargeant at Arms. Due to a family illness, you declined and took a leave from the club. I’m asking you today, would you accept the position of Sargeant at Arms to protect our bylaws and lives? Enforce our rules as they are written, and protect our own?” Burt asked, and reached behind him and held out the vest that Lincoln had given him two years ago.
“With pride,” Lincoln said, and turned as Burt put them on him. Everyone cheered and he looked over at Addison and winked.
“Okay, that concludes our old business. Now let’s start...”
“Wait,” Lincoln said, and lifted a brow and held out his hand for the mic. He took it and turned to the crowd. “Today is a very special day for me. If I could have Addison join me?” He watchedas she made her way forward and stood before him. He turned so that they faced each other but their sides were to the crowd. While looking into her eyes he spoke into the mic.
“Addison Murphy, today is our ninth wedding anniversary. In the past, I didn’t think much about your role here in the club, but I realized that I’ve missed both you and the club. Oh hell, I don’t know what I’m saying. Will you wear my vest?” He held up her vest and all she saw was ‘Property of Abe’.
“With pride.” She grinned and he put it on her. He kissed her thoroughly to the cheer of their club members. After he broke the kiss, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a small box. “I found the receipt for the pins you bought us years ago. I contacted the jeweler and put in a request. As you know, you commissioned hearts and keys for both of us. You told me you did it because we hold the key to each other’s hearts.” He used his thumb to wipe a tear from the corner of her eye.
“I sent the pins to him and had him fuse them and make them into necklaces.” He opened the box. “You still hold the key to my heart, however, now, nothing is getting to my heart but you.” He held up the necklace and she saw what he was talking about and automatically turned and pulled her long wavy hair to the side. She had lost it all during her treatments, but as soon as she’d gone into remission, she swore it grew about six inches a month. She knew that wasn’t accurate, but she now had hair longer then before she’d gotten sick. As he put it on her, he kissed her neck and said, “I love you, Addison Murphy.”
