“What’s up?”
“Tomorrow, do you think you can send your son-in-law over to Birdee Calvert’s place and have him repair a door for me?” I asked.
“He’s busy tomorrow, but Koen just told me he can do it.” Major said. “But why?”
I sighed, then explained to him what had happened to her door.
“You left it broken like that for days?” he asked, sounding disappointed in me.
He couldn’t make me feel any worse, though.
I already felt like the lowest of lows.
“Yeah,” I said. “That’s another thing. Do you think you can send one of the prospects that are at the club tonight and have them watch her place?”
Major grunted. “I’ll send Timmy.”
“Thanks,” I said.
I liked Timmy.
He was on the verge of getting his own patch and didn’t complain when he had to do something he didn’t want to.
“Tell him to park at Boone’s place. He can back into Boone’s driveway and keep an eye on Birdee’s front door,” I suggested.
Major said he would, then hung up.
Meanwhile, I stared at the door of Birdee’s house for another solid twenty minutes, hoping that she would take pity on me and let me in, but no such luck.
The window treatment didn’t even flicker, as if she’d written me off.
That only made me angrier.
I didn’t want to be like her stupid fuckin’ dad or sisters.
I wanted to be there for her. I wanted to be someone she trusted. I wanted to be more…
And wasn’t that the kicker?
I wanted more, and that was the first time in my life that I did.
I’d had flings when I was younger before shit went down with my mom and sister. I’d had a few flings since I’d gotten out of prison. But never in my life did I become so obsessed with a girl that she was always on my mind.
The drive home had my mind going a hundred different ways.
When I walked inside, it was to find Bernice on my couch with two blankets wrapped around her and the fire blazing.
“Cold?” I chuckled.
“Freezing,” she confirmed. “You don’t have a heater.”
“I have a heater.” I rolled my eyes. “But the pilot light must’ve gone out. Let me go get it going.”
I came back a few minutes later, changed out of my clothes, then headed back to the living room to ask Bernice what she wanted for dinner.
“I already ate a girl dinner,” she admitted. “I figured you’d be busy tonight.”
I wrinkled my nose. “She wouldn’t let me in.”
