Cricket opened the back door of the truck and dropped my overnight bag into the backseat.
“Ah, where’d you get that,Christina?” Iasked.
“From your closet.” She grinned.
Minus opened the opposite door. “Groceries. From the Saints.”
Mom leaned in and kissed my cheek, grinning like she’d just won the lottery. “Love you, baby.”
“What about your chemo?”
“Flea and Grace have me under their watchful eye, sweetie. I’m good,” she assured me. “Go. Take the time with your man. I will call you if anything comes up.”
“Love you too, Mama.”
“Everything’s in there,” Cricket said. “All your skincare, haircare, and a week’s worth of clothes. If you need anything, wash it or buy it. Don’t come back untillateSunday night. I mean it. I’ll check on your house and make sure everything’s locked up and things are shut off. Gina said if you come back any sooner, she’ll maim you.”
“I have patients,” I hissed, as she moved to the front door and leaned in to hug me.
“And she will see them,” Cricket said. “Go. Have lots of sex. Make a baby. But don’t come back for six days, bestie. Got it?”
“Are there underwear in that bag?” I sassed.
Cricket gave a sly shrug. “Maybe.”
I squeezed her hand and smiled. “Love you, Cricket.”
“Love you too, honey.” She looked over atRooster. “Take care of her.”
“I will, sweetheart,” he avowed.
Cricket closed my door, and Rooster started the truck, pulling away from the curb as our family hooted and hollered, waving us onto our new life.
Rooster linked his fingers with mine and lifted my hand to his lips. “How ya doin’ there, Mrs. Cahill?” He grinned. “Or do you prefer, ‘wifey’?”
“I’ll take it all.” I chuckled. “And I’m doing well, hubby.”
“You are so beautiful, Kate.”
“Thanks, honey. You clean up nice, too.”
He’d completely ditched his Primal Howlers’ garb, replacing it with black fitted jeans, a pair of dressy cowboy boots, a dark blue button up, and a leather jacket completing his ensemble.
Hatch had given the order that no one wore their colors for the time being, and the fact that none of them were wearing their cuts, Dogs nor Howlers, broke my heart, but unless they were traveling in groups of four or more, they had to cover up.
Rooster grinned. “Can’t wait to peel you out of that dress.”
“Well, how long is this drive, husband of mine?” I asked in a sing-song voice. “You know, the sooner we get where we’re going, the sooner you can do that.”
“Not telling you.”
“What?” I gasped. “Why not?”
“Because then you’d guess where we’re going and I want it to be a surprise.”
“You know how much I hate surprises, right?”
“Yeah, but I also know how much you love the coast.”
