My face flushes, and we pull apart as Bailey runs into the kitchen looking cute in her new jeans and shirt. “I’m all ready now.” She's bouncing on the balls of her feet, making me laugh.
I grab my phone off the counter and head for the door with Joker following behind me. I turn and see Joker with his cut on and sunglasses, looking hot as hell. He gives me a knowing smirk as if he knows my thoughts. He opens the front door, letting Bailey and me out as we head towards his truck. Joker locks up and heads towards us.
He opens the passenger door, helping Bailey in as I get in. I practically have to do a running start. Joker watches with an amused expression on his face as he gets in. I narrow my eyes at him. “Not a word, Joker.”
He starts the truck, backing out. “I wouldn't dream of it, angel. Are you ready, Bailey Bee? I'd say we hit the mall, then go for some lunch at the diner. How does that sound?”
“Yay. I'm so excited.” Bailey yells from the back, making us laugh.
I side-eye Joker and lower my voice. “You just want to go to that diner to see if Hawk is there with Avianna.” I swear these guys are worse than a bunch of teenagers with their gossiping.
“You don’t know that I could just want to go and check the books since we own the diner.” Joker pulls out of the clubhouse and heads towards the highway.
I can’t help but snort. “Yeah, and I’m Santa. Admit it, you just want to see who he’s obsessed with.”
“I have no idea what you're talking about.” He turns up the radio, making me laugh.
I look out the window, watching the town pass by as we head to the mall. I listen to a very excited Bailey in the back talking to Joker about going to the mall and what she wants to buy. I sit back and listen to her laugh. A far cry from when she came into our lives just days ago. I know she still has a long way to go to heal, but just seeing the light in her eyes makes me happy, knowing we are doing the right thing with Bailey. Giving her the life she deserves. She is going to grow up with a lot of people in her corner, go to school and be a kid, and have fun. Before I know it, we pull up at the mall. Joker parks and helps Bailey down as I get out of the truck, though he narrows his eyes at me for not waiting for his help.
I walk over, and Bailey grabs my hand as she looks around the mall. “So, Bailey, do you know what colors you want to decorate your room in?” Joker holds the door open for us. The mall, thankfully, is not too crowded at this time as we head towards the department store.
She looks unsure as she looks at the both of us, shuffling her feet. “Is it okay if I do hot pink and black?”
Joker gets down to her eye level. “You can do whatever you want to. That’s your room now, and you can decorate it however you want. It’s your home, okay, Bailey Bee?”
She still looks unsure, and I hate that. I think it’s going to take her a while for her to get used to us and the fact that we are never getting rid of her. Which just honestly breaks my heart. But we will shower her with love so she knows we are in this for the long haul. She now has an entire town that’s willing to go to bat for her. “Okay.”
Joker stands back up, smiling at her. “Good, now that it is settled, let's start shopping.”
We head inside the department store as Joker and I grab a cart each because I have a feeling we are going to be getting a lot of things. We find the aisle with all the bedding, and Bailey looks at each one until she spots one she wants.
She picks up the bedding, and I can hardly see her face, which makes us laugh. “I think I want this one.”
Joker takes it from her and places it in the cart as I pick up some extra sheets and other essentials she might need. “That’s perfect, honey. Let’s head to the housewares section to see if there is anything you want there to decorate your room with. Then we can go and get a new wardrobe.” As we walk towards another aisle, a thought has been gnawing at me. “Bailey, did you go to school?” I know it’s summer break right now, but I never thought to ask her whether or not her mom even sent her.
She walks over to the pictures and starts looking. “Yeah, Momma sent me to school since she didn’t want them coming around asking questions.”
Well, at least she did something. Though I have a feeling it had a lot more to do with the school system not finding all the drugs in the trailer than anything else. “Did you like your school?”
“No, the kids there were mean to me. They made fun of me for not having the best clothes and because I didn’t have money for lunch. So I sat by myself.” Bailey looks down at the floor, breaking my heart. Ilook over at Joker, and he’s pissed off right now at the treatment Bailey got. I know he’s trying to control his temper so as not to scare her.
I lower myself until I’m at eye level with her and gently wipe the tears from her face. I pull her to me, hugging her as her small frame clings to me. “Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry you went through that. You never have to go to that school again. There is an amazing private school in town that we can send you to, where you will thrive and make so many friends. They are going to love you.”
She pulls back and looks at me as I push her hair behind her ear. “I never have to go back?”
“I promise you that you will never have to go back there again.”
“Thank you, Madison.” Her voice cracks as she throws her arms around me once more, crying into my shoulder. I look over at Joker to see him watching the both of us with a tender look on his face, and I know everything is going to be okay as long as we have each other.
Eleven
Madison
It’s been five hours since we came to the mall, and I’m absolutely exhausted, but Bailey is now the proud owner of an entire new wardrobe and everything she needs to decorate her bedroom. She has had so much fun. We walked around, pointing things out to her to gauge her reaction. Joker even got her her own leather jacket and helmet because she asked if she could go on a ride with him. I swear he floated around after that, happy that she was showing an interest. He even got me one as well, and I can’t wait to be on the back of his bike with him. Joker didn’t complain once as we shopped, though we did haveto call a prospect to come and pick up the bags as most of it wouldn’t fit in the truck. She even picked out things so she could draw because Scarlett told her she would teach her, along with a bookshelf, as she loves to read as well.
Little by little she came out of her shell the longer we were at the mall as she realized this is real and her new life. She was joking around, being a carefree child. We pull up to the diner, and my stomach lets out a growl, knowing a greasy burger is calling my name. It’s now closer to dinnertime, and I’m starved.
I can hear Joker chuckling beside me. “Come on, let's get you ladies fed.” Joker opens Bailey's door, helping her out, and before I can even move, he is at my door opening it. He grabs my hand and helps me down.
