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My dad was right, but I couldn’t help fearing what came next. I wanted York without giving up anything to keep him. I suspected he felt the same way about me. During our time together, he never hinted about moving to Little Memphis.
Maybe we could copy Lula and Exile’s setup by having a home in each city. Of course, Exile’s living situation was another reason York was unlikely to move to my town. The Black Rainbow already had a distracted president and a part-time VP. Did they really want their road captain going MIA, too?
YORK
Not long after I got up, Exile had the girls prepped to leave the house. He drove a black SUV while I followed on my motorcycle. I wasn’t sure what to expect with Goldie. If she were my girlfriend, I should have messaged her before coming over. Instead, I rolled up to the Sorority House unannounced.
Multiple contractor vans were parked along the rural road. Several men removed the broken security gate. Others patched bullet holes across the front of the white mansion. The pillars had taken a lot of damage. Several windows were boarded up, and a dumpster was filled with ruined furniture from the front porch.
After parking on the extended driveway, I noticed splotches of dried blood on the concrete and in the grass. I couldn’t imagine how things went down last night. All I knew was Goldie had been grabbed out on the road.
Before I could follow Exile and the girls, Blackjack stepped outside and gestured at me.
“Come over here, Skippy,” Blackjack said as if I were a kid.
He even snapped his fingers and pointed at the spot in front of him. I considered ignoring him. I wasn’t the obedient military drone anymore. Zodiac respected when I told him to fuck off.
But Blackjack was Goldie’s father, so I submitted to his act of domination. We stood eye to eye. Despite his age, Blackjack still held himself like a fighter. I noticed how his dark eyes hid his emotions, much like how Goldie often hid hers.
“Let’s get the obvious out of the way,” Blackjack said and stroked his dark beard. “We appreciate what you did for our daughter. Finding and protecting her as you did was impressive.”
“You’re welcome. If I’m a big hero, why do you look pissed?”
Adjusting his stance, Blackjack considered his words. “I get what kind of relationship you and Goldie have shared, but she wants more. We’ve spent the last few hours encouraging her to embrace change and give this thing between you two a chance. But then, it occurred to me that I didn’t know what you wanted. I’m not looking to set my daughter up to fail.”
Feeling on the spot, I muttered, “What are you asking exactly?”
“Do you want your relationship to stay the way it was?”
“I told Goldie at the hospital that I wanted more.”
Blackjack’s semi-hostile expression broke, allowing for a faint smile. “Well, that’s good. But Goldie was out of it earlier, so you’ll need to say everything again.”
“Is she out of it now?”
“Not as much, but we might need to say everything a third time tomorrow.”
Nodding, I glanced at the house. “How is she otherwise?”
“It hasn’t hit her yet that she won’t be able to move around easily for a while. I expect tears and bitching when that realization rises to the surface.”
“But she’s okay overall, right? I didn’t talk to anyone at the hospital about her condition.”
“If she rests and stays off her foot, she should be back to normal in six months. But Goldie’s stubborn and doesn’t like to be coddled. I’m hoping she’ll put that shit aside for the next few months and let people help her get better.”
Glancing back at the security gate, I asked, “And she’ll be staying here?”
“Our place in Rawlins is two stories, and she won’t be able to handle stairs for a while.”
“But there are stairs here.”
“Her room is on the first floor. She can access the important parts of the house.”
“Doesn’t she have a place in Rawlins?”
“It’s a split-level.”
Nodding, I rubbed my chin and considered how much I didn’t know about Goldie.
