“Thank you,” I whispered and tried to keep my emotions under control. Kellan gently placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “I’ll go open the garage door and you can put the big stuff in there. I think there’s a tarp laying around somewhere to keep everything covered.”
I watched as they carried in present after present and placed them under the Christmas tree. Then, they filled a corner of my garage with two bicycles, twoPower Wheels, a dollhouse that was taller than Riley, and a train table with an intricate set of tracks already setup.
“We went ahead and put the bigger stuff together for you. We thought it might be difficult for you two since you’re both still recovering,” Copper explained.
I couldn’t help myself. I wrapped my arms as far around the big man as they would go and hugged him. “Thank you so very much.”
Every muscle in his body tensed and he kept his arms held straight out to each side. “Uh…”
“You can hug her back, Prez,” Kellan said from behind me.
With Kellan’s okay, Copper returned my embrace. “We were happy to help. The Old Ladies love organizing these kinds of events. Speaking of, I believe they have another surprise for you inside.”
I could tell he was uncomfortable with my gratitude. Even though I felt like I owed him more than a few simple words, I let it go and went back inside to see what else they had in store.
“Surprise!” all the women shouted in unison.
“What’s all this?” I asked as I glanced around my kitchen.
“We didn’t get a chance to give you a baby shower before you had the baby, so we’re doing it now,” Leigh said excitedly.
And that’s when I did cry. Because I had little to nothing ready for Sienna. I hadn’t planned on having any more children after Braxton, so I didn’t keep any of the baby gear I’d used with both him and Riley.
“If you keep crying, you can’t have any cake,” Layla joked.
I wiped my eyes and smiled. “Thank you. I can’t even begin to express how much this means to me.”
“That’s how this works. We’re a family, not by blood, but by choice. When one of us needs help, we step in and help,” Leigh stated as if it was law, and I guess it was in their world.
35
Savior
While the women were occupying the kitchen and dining room for Avery’s surprise baby shower, the brothers and I had an impromptu meeting in the living room. “Any updates on either accident?” I asked.
“Nothing solid,” Copper said and shook his head. “Spazz was able to match the vehicle description to footage from the drug store’s surveillance footage. He even got a clear shot of the license plate, but the tags were stolen. We couldn’t get a clear image of the driver, but the vehicle was a black Chevrolet Silverado.”
My eyes widened before I could mask it. “That mean something to you?” Bronze asked.
“I used to drive a black Chevrolet Silverado,” I mumbled as I fought to keep my mind from going back to the night of the wreck.
“Understood,” Copper said.
“What about the vehicle that hit me and the kids?” I asked.
Copper rubbed his chin. “Well, according to the police reports and witness statements, the only vehicle mentioned is a black Dodge Ram, and that’s your truck. Or was.”
“You’re telling me no one saw the other vehicle?” I asked in total disbelief. I was in the middle of school traffic when we were hit. There’s no way everyone around us missed the other car.”
“That’s what I thought, too. So, I called in a favor or two. It took a little longer than I would’ve liked, but I managed to get a list of the witnesses as well as the list of kids that were picked up right after you picked up Riley and Braxton. We’ll start working the list this evening and see if we can get some more information. Now, if you know how to keep Ranger from going door-to-door with his shotgun, I’m all ears.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “You’re on your own with that one, Prez.”
“Copper,” Layla called from the kitchen. “It’s time to pick up the kids.”
“Thanks, Locks,” he replied with a smile and turned to me. “You want to ride with me to get the munchkins?”
“Hell, yes. I haven’t been anywhere other than the hospital since I got out,” I said and quickly got to my feet. Avery and I were still on driving restrictions and I was starting to get a little cabin fever. I knew all I had to do was ask, and someone from the club would take me or her wherever we needed to go. But, they were already doing so much that neither one of us wanted to ask. Plus, between taking care of ourselves, the kids, her mom, and going to see Sienna, we were too tired to do much else.
