I’m happy Nora has someone here she knows.
I follow behind and dish up, taking our plates to the common room, where we join everyone at the table.
“Fifteen minutes until Church,” Coal announces, looking at each of us. “Thea, Jeanie, Bee, and Nora need to attend. Mom, are you and Opal okay with the kids, or do you need to get to the cidery?”
“Opal and I will take the kids with us,” Mom replies. “They can play in the playground while we sort through the orders in the back. We’ll keep an eye on them.”
She gives Coal the look—the “don’t fuck with me” look that only mothers seem to be able to perfect. The look that tells us she means business. Coal may be the president of our chapter, but even he straightens and gives her his full attention.
“Son, you need to think about building a nursery. We’re getting busier, and the kids need stability. And we’ll have two more with us soon, what with Thea and Jeanie expecting.”
Nora’s shoulders shake beside me. I glance at her to see her biting her lip, trying not to laugh.
She pinches my leg when I grin at her and leans closer to mutter in my ear, “Don’t make me laugh. It’s disrespectful to laugh when your president is being berated by his mother.”
I snigger and cup her thigh, squeezing it. “It’s funny, though. Do you reckon moms go to schools to perfect that look, or does it comenaturally as soon as you push the first kid out?”
Nora snorts and slaps a hand over her mouth as she leans against me, laughing silently.
“Stop it,” she stutters, burying her head in my shoulder.
Her laughter is contagious, and I’m soon joining her. It’s only when I realise that the table is silent that I look up and find everyone watching us.
“Care to tell us what’s so funny?” Coal asks.
“Nope.” I shake my head. “Inside joke.”
“Huh.” Coal narrows his eyes before they slide to Nora.
She sits up and wipes the tears of laughter away with a finger under her eyes. She looks up at me, and I wink. Biting her lip, she shakes her head, averting her eyes as if she’s afraid I’m going to set her off again. I didn’t think my comment was that funny, but I like thatNora is amused. I have a feeling she hasn’t had much to laugh at in recent years.
“I’ll see if I can get the contractors out as soon as possible, Mom,” Coal assures our mother. “I’ll make it a priority.”
“Thank you, son,” Mom says, giving Coal a soft smile. “I know you have a lot on your plate, so if you need me to do more, I can. You have people to lean on. Dog and Maggie have offered to help too. Your dad and Dog are more than capable of supervising a build.”
“Out of interest, who are you using for the build?” Bee asks.
“Not sure yet,” Coal replies. “I was going to see if Reaper had a contact. I’d like Abby’s company to do the electrics, and whoever she has that helps with the plumbing.”
“Do you mind if I give someone a call?” Bee asks. “It’s the company Abby works with on builds. They’re trustworthy.”
“Go ahead,” Coal agrees. “Let me know the answer as soon as you can.”
“Give me a minute,” Bee says, standing and gathering empty plates. She walks them to the kitchen, her phone already at her ear.
I have a feeling that the small school we planned to build will get done sooner rather than later.
“Church,” Coal orders, standing.
We hastily finish our food and clear the table. We’ve got clean-up down to a fine art now. Mom and Opal do the bulk of it, but we try to make it as easy as possible for them.
“Come on, let me show you where Church is held,” I say to Nora.
A chair is waiting for Nora next to mine. As I seat her beside me, I feel like I belong for the first time in my life. I’m not sure what it is about Nora, but she settles me in a way that no one else ever has.
Copper and Bee are the last in, and Bee gives Coal a thumbs up, so I assume she’s organised a contractor.
“Right, settle down, fuckers and ladies. We’ve got a lot of shit to cover, so let’s get on with this,” Coal says, slamming the gavel on the table. “Church in session. Let’s go over the last few days and make a plan. We’ll hold another Church to go over the businesses and budgets in two days, once Nickel and Bee have time to go over everything with Tinman. We’ll start with the news that Nora extracted for us from that fuckhead, Eade. Then we’ll move on to what we could have done better.”
