“What’s an MC?” Lillith asked.
“It means motorcycle club. We’re bikers, and most of us are bikers’ Ol’ladies. This church will be where we meet, if we can get it all fixed up.” Ember looked around the room, and Lillith did the same.
“You have your work cut out for you,” she said. Lillith cleared her throat, garnering Ember’s attention. “Sorry, but I have to tell you something, and I need to just say it before I chicken out again.”
“Again,” Ember repeated.
“Yeah, I’ve been here six times now. Tonight was the first time that I’ve gotten up the nerve to actually come in to talk toyou.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “I think that I’m your sister,” she admitted.
Ember smiled at the young woman and shook her head. “That’s not possible. My mother and father only had one kid—me. Honestly, it’s a good thing because neither was very well equipped to be parents.” Lillith handed Ember a photo of their father and the note that had his name and number on it and said, “Just call me when you’re ready.”
“Oh,” Ember breathed. “How did you get this photo?” she asked.
“Our father gave it to me, along with his information. I tracked you down first. You were pretty easy to find after they did a news article on you about your stalker. You're kind of famous,” Lillith teased.
“How’s good old Ben doing?” Ember asked, not seeming to care to know the answer.
Lillith shrugged, “I’m not really sure. He tracked me down at the diner where I worked and told me that he got the letter that I sent him. Once I found your name in my mother’s box of things she left for me, I started searching for you and found an address for him. All I had to go on was his last name and address, but that was enough to be able to send him a letter. He told me that he and my mom hooked up at a concert, and that he didn’t know about me. Then, he handed me an envelope full of cash, and well, that’s how I got here.”
“And why did you want to come here?” Ember asked.
“To meet you,” Lillith said. “My mother never told me about my father,” Lillith almost whispered. “When she died, I thought that I had no family left. But then, I found your name in her things, saying that you could possibly be my sister, and well, here I am.”
“Consider yourself fortunate that you never knew Ben,” Ember grumbled. “Growing up with a drunk wasn’t the easiest of childhoods.”
“I always thought that she was just selfish for not wanting to share me with my father. Then, she told me that he was dead, and I thought that was the end of it,” she admitted. “I mean, I couldn’t beg for a relationship with a dead man, right?”
“Well, no,” Ember said, “that would be difficult, and I won’t tell you that you shouldn’t have a relationship with him now, either. I don’t really have a relationship with Ben,” Ember admitted.
Lillith started fidgeting, “Would you want a relationship with me?” Lillith almost whispered. “I know that I just sprang myself on you, and you don’t owe me anything, but I think that it would kind of be nice to have a sister.”
“How long will you be in town?” Ember asked.
“A few days for now. I lived in California, but I have no reason to go back there since my mother died. I’m staying at the cheap little motel on the other side of town,” Lillith said.
“Hold on a second,” Ember left Lillith sitting in the corner and made her way over to a man who was pretending not to watch her like a hawk. They seemed to be having a heated debate, and Lillith was sure that it had to do with her. When Ember returned, she was all smiles, and Lillith wasn’t sure how to take that.
“How about you come home with me?” she asked. “Well, me and Jack.” She nodded to the man she had just been talking to in the corner of the church. “Just until you can get on your feet. It will give us a chance to get to know each other—you know, sister to sister.” Lillith could tell that Ember still wasn’t one hundred percent sure that she was telling the truth, but she was giving her an in, and she’d take it. Hell, she’d take just about any crumb that Ember wanted to throw her way because heading back toCalifornia now, with her tail tucked between her legs, wasn’t going to happen.
“I’d like that,” Lillith breathed. “Thank you.” She wasn’t sure what she had just agreed to, exactly, but she was sure of one thing. Ember was her sister, and she wanted to get to know her more than anything now that she was all alone in the world.
TANK
Tank walked into the little church and was surprised to find it full of women. What the hell kind of church had he just stumbled into? “Um, am I late for the service?” he asked. The women turned to look back at him, and when they broke out into a chorus of laughter, he knew that he had misread the room.
“This isn’t a church,” a woman with bright red hair said from the front of the room. The rest of the women surrounded her, and he was pretty sure that she was their “leader”.
“It’s not?” he asked, looking around. There were no pews—well, except one that sat against the back wall. It was lined with motorcycle helmets, and he wondered what that was about.
“It used to be, but now it’s our club,” the woman explained.
“You mean club like in the Little Rascals?” he asked. God, he loved that show when he was a kid. He and his grandpa would watch it in reruns on Sundays after church. They all stared blankly back at him. “You know, the Heman Woman Hater’s Club?” he asked. Still, crickets until one dark-haired woman cleared her throat and stood, turning to face the redhead.
“How about I talk to him so that you can get on with church?” she asked.
“Thanks, Lillith,” the redhead said.
The dark-haired beauty almost skipped back to him, and he thought for sure that he was seeing an angel. God, she was gorgeous. Maybe it had been too long since he had last been with a woman, but there was something about this one that made his mouth gape open, and if he wasn’t mistaken, a little drool escaped.
