“You got a few things you need to handle tonight,” he murmured and I glanced up at him.
“Like what?”
“I’m going out on a limb here, but does your mom know you found Lark?And you need to tell your buddy that tomorrow night is off.”
This man was entirely too smart.It wasn’t going to be easy telling Mom I’d found my biological dad.She’d been rather ambivalent about me seeking him out.In fact, that led to me trying to hide my trip to Memphis from her, but Chad goofed and let our side trip slip.When Mom asked why we’d go to Memphis, he’d fibbed about us wanting to see that place too.
“Yeah.Mom doesn’t know that I found him here in town, so you’re right.I need to let her know, but I’m not doing it tonight.That feels like something I should do in person.And that’s not me procrastinating,” I added when I saw the look on his face.“She’s probably going to be miffed that I didn’t tell her he was actually in the Jacksonville area.”
He nodded.“I can see that, but your man, Chad, needs to be reined in.”
I threw my head back and laughed.“Don’t ever let him hear you say that.”
Ryan’s eyes were bright and steady on me.“Fuck,” he whispered.
“What?”I whispered back.
“You’re a fucking stunner when you laugh, Ivy.”
I felt my cheeks heat.“Thanks,” I muttered.
“Can you text Chad, so he isn’t planning to bring other friends of yours to the bar.”
“Oh, my friend Kristen was going to come with him, but yeah.I can text him now.”I wagged a finger in the air.“It’s funny, Lark told me to make sure Chad doesn’t tell anyone about why I’ve been looking for him.He seems to think that would make me a target.Like the reason they took you had everything to do with him, but he can’t really know that yet, can he?”
He hesitated a moment.“We don’t really know what the motivation was for those assholes, but that’s the first I’ve heard of Lark saying he thinks they were really targeting him.Wish he’d have said something about that earlier.”
“You mean at your meeting?”I asked.
“Church, yeah.”
“Why is it called ‘church’?”
Our server came to the table and put down our drinks.“Two Gray Goose Gimlets.Are y’all ready to order?”
Ryan shot me a questioning look and I nodded.“You first, though.”
He ordered a crab cake sandwich, and I wound up ordering a Chicken Amontillado.
“Excellent choices,” our server said, taking our menus and scurrying away.
I pulled out my phone and asked, “Are you sure you don’t mind me texting right now?”
He nodded.“Yeah.Sooner is better than later, and this way if he’s going to call you, he can interrupt dinner, and not what’s happening afterward.”
I pressed my lips together to hold back my smirk.“Got it.”
Once I sent Chad a text, I set my phone on the table, face down.It vibrated seconds later.
Ryan held up a hand.“Check it.I may not know him well, but he damn sure cares about you.It’s been my experience that people like that can be hard to come by, and I’d rather you put him at ease.”
I didn’t expectthat, and I really wanted to dive into thatstatement from him because between his siblings and all the MC brothers he had, there were plenty of people who cared about him.
No sooner had I picked up my cell again, than it rang in my hand, Chad’s name on the screen.“Hi, there.I can’t talk for very long.”
“You cannot send me that text and then cut this convo short,” Chad said, his tone indignant.
“I’m sitting with Ryan at Poe’s Tavern and this is after he just took me to the indie bookstore at the beach and bought me like five books.My friend, I can’t talk for very long.”
