Another brownie point for not only caring for their children but their elderly as well. It is getting harder and harder to dislike it here.
Carlson appears from one of the smaller houses and spots me. I give him a little wave, to which he blushes and runs into William’s home, almost colliding with Cheryl.
“I think someone has a little crush,” Hunter observes.
“He’s practically a child.”
“And while his hormones are going haywire, his idol walks into his world and blows his mind.”
I’m not sure how to address that. Luckily, Cheryl, wearing a big smile, reaches our truck and the thought slips away. She adds another bag to the bed. How much stuff do they need for two days? I travel lighter than this when I’m gone for weeks. “You got everything you need?” she asks Hunter.
Hunter glances at me. “Absolutely everything.”
Me? I’m everything he needs? Is that what he means?Go away, Cheryl, I want to interrogate him and possibly get naked with comments like that.
“Good. William has called church.”
He’s done what? Didn’t take them for the religious types, but what do I know.
Hunter leans down and gives me a quick peck on the lips. “I’ll be quick. Stay here with the women.”
Excuse me, what? “Stay with the women?” I parrot like an idiot. “While you pray?”
His brows furrow. “Church isn’t literal, Ellie. It’s where the leadership of the MC meet to discuss business, threats, finalizebig decisions, and in this case, solidify a chain of command while so many of us won’t be in town.”
“But no women allowed?”
He tilts his head. “They aren’t technically in the MC, not by patched in standards.”
“Hunter!” William shouts from the open door to his house. “Leave the girl alone. I want to get on the road soon.”
Hunter stares into my eyes for a long moment. “I won’t be long. He probably wants an update on everything we discussed at the bakery too.”
“Then I should be there.”
He sighs. “I’ll explain later.”
Then he spins and stalks away, leaving me gaping after him. The big burly strong men were off to discuss important business.Mybusiness.
Cheryl leans against the side of the truck, watching as Hunter meets William with Mark following behind them. The door slides closed as she turns to me. “It’s a tradition he wants to get rid of,” she says.
“Hunter?”
“Yes, but William too.”
“William makes the rules. If he wanted to get rid of something, he is the one in power to make it happen.”
She sighs and tips her face toward the sun. “When enacting change in a kingdom, you have to do it carefully. We still have a lot of legacy members who hold a lot of sway in the town. If William changed everything at once, it would cause a riot.”
“It’s funny how he’s left a tradition in place that keeps women underfoot, out of the decision making, and away from power.”
“My husband is not perfect, Eleanor. No one is. Could he have changed this tradition but left others in place? Sure. But he tackled the backbone of the Desert Reapers first, got us legal,wealthy, strong, and happy. That’s more important than having a seat at the table with men who bluster about things neither you nor I care for.”
“It seriously doesn’t bother you?”
She shrugs. “I wouldn’t say that, but Will doesn’t treat me, or any woman, as less than the men.”
Except he does. Otherwise, I would be in the room while they chat about my problems. It’s not ok. As if the female species doesn’t already have enough to fight against when we have been repressed by men for centuries. It’s a crime that it is happening so blatantly now. I climb into the passenger seat of the truck and close the door to await the man I have begun to trust with more than my body.
