Page 57

Chapter Eighteen

Rowan

“They’re pulling into the gas station now,” Travis says into his phone laying on the desk, his fingers flying over the keyboard as he leans closer to the monitor, his complete focus on helping Blaze, Storm, and Chance complete the rescue they are doing right now. Apparently, the wife contacted the club and asked for their help but the issue is that they are only passing through Baton Rouge on their way to visit family so the club has to step in and rescue the wife and their two kids at a gas station along the interstate while this woman’s husband is in the bathroom. It honestly sounded insane when he told me about it earlier but this is what they do. As I watch him work, I can’t help but smile at the tiny little crease between his eyebrows and the way he bites his lip in concentration. Shaking my head, I turn back to the newspaper laid out on the bed in front of me, open to the help wanted pages.

Yesterday, Lincoln, Tate, and I drove the three hours to Grand Isle to sprinkle Mom’s ashes in the ocean just like she wanted and it was intense. We went to the same beach where Lincoln and Tate were married last year, the last place we were all together as a family because it seemed like the perfect spot to scatter her ashes and even though she has been gone for over a month now, actually watching her ashes sink below the water felt like I was truly letting her go. All of the pain I’ve been running from smacked right into me and I spent the night, sobbing into Travis’s chest while he rubbed my back and pressed kisses against the top of my head. When I woke up this morning, I was still sad but I also knew it was time to move on with my life and finally put some roots down here in Louisiana, starting with a job.

“Dad just went into the bathroom,” Travis says, distracting me from the paper and I lean back against the wall and cross my arms over my chest as I watch him. “Move now.”

“We’re fucking going,” Storm answers.

“Asshole,” Travis mutters, making a face at the phone that makes me laugh. It’s nice to see him like this since the last two days have been hard on all of us. After the wedding, the mood in the clubhouse was even darker before and it’s uncomfortable to be stuck here. Everyone wants to be jumping into action, doing something to find Warren and stop whatever evil plans he has but there is just nothing to do. But that doesn’t stop any of them from trying and when they can’t find answers, they come harass Travis. It weighs down on him so much and I’m just about ready to tell them to take a fucking hike the next time they barge in here demanding answers that no one has. Which I can freely do now since I told my brother all about Travis and me yesterday. To say he wasn’t pleased would be an understatement but after Tate and I talked him down a little, he agreed to let me run my own love life. He hated every second of it but I think it went as well as could be expected. I mean, Travis is still in one piece and there isn’t a single bruise or broken bone on his body so I consider it a win. Lincoln did make it very clear, though, that if he saw me crying even once and Travis was the cause, he would break every single one of his fingers. So, like I said, it went as well as expected.

“He’s on his way back to the van. Where are you?”

“Pulling out of the lot now,” Storm answers. “Let me know when he steps outside.”

Travis types a few things and I see the screen change from one security camera before he flicks back to another one. “You’re good. He can’t decide what fucking snack to get.”

“Priorities, man.” Chance laughs.

“Pulling onto the interstate now,” Blaze calls and Travis flicks through a few cameras again before nodding to himself.

“He’s paying now. I’ll keep an eye on him for a bit.”

They hang up but Travis remains focused on the screen and I climb out of bed before walking over to him and leaning on his shoulders as the man walks out of the gas station and sees his empty van.

“Is he going to call the cops?” I ask, wondering if they made it look like a kidnapping and Travis shakes his head.

“Naw. She left him a note that tells him not to come looking for her.”

I purse my lips as he stands outside his vehicle, raking his hands through his hair. “But the kids… wouldn’t that make y’all accessories to kidnapping the kids?”

“They aren’t his kids. He married Anne eighteen months ago and immediately started beating her so she never let him adopt them. She said she had to get out before he turned on her kids.”

“What happened to their real dad?”

He shrugs. “He’s dead but I don’t know what happened to him.”

“That’s so sad.”

“Yeah,” he answers with a nod. “But you can go back to whatever you were doing over there. I’ll just be another few minutes with this.”

I hold my hands up in surrender and back away from him. “Kicking me out, huh?”

“Never.” His gaze flicks to mine and the sincerity shining in his eyes almost knocks me off my feet. I wouldn’t say that we’ve both been clingy lately but we have definitely been leaning on each other to get through all of the shit going on around us and honestly, I don’t know what I would do without him. Somehow, he keeps me sane despite the chaos and I think I do the same for him. Or, at least, I hope I do. “What are you working on over there?”

“I’m looking for a job,” I say as I crawl back into bed with a sigh and scoop up my newspaper, scanning the help wanted section again. There are quite a few jobs listed but none of them have really caught my eye yet. Although, I suppose it would help if I had any idea what I wanted to do but for so long, I’ve been just surviving instead of living so I don’t even know where to start. Hell, I don’t even know what I like.

“I don’t like it.”

I glance up at him. “You don’t like what?”

“The idea of you getting a job right now. Until we catch Warren, I don’t really want you leaving the clubhouse alone,” he says, his gaze flicking between me and the computer screen with the same concern on his face. Sighing, I shake my head and set the newspaper in my lap.

“Are you really trying to tell me I can’t work?”

He nods. “For now.”