Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 90607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“Wouldn’t you be?”
“Nah, because I’m not getting married, nor am I leaving Mom.”
“You’re twenty-nine years old, Violet.”
“So?”
“You can still find someone and get married.”
“Yeah, well, it is going to be impossible to find a guy that doesn’t cheat. No offense, but it would seem you, Maddie, and that other woman, Aria, have found good men. It’s just a shock that they’re part of a motorcycle gang.” Violet sighed. “Don’t worry about me. I’m happy.”
She knew her sister was happy, but she had a feeling her sister wasn’t quite whole. Growing up, they had a couple of things in common. The primary one being they both loved to sew. They both dreamed of having large families. They both loved it in those Christmas movies where there was a large dining room table, and they had to prepare two turkeys just to feed everyone, and not know a moment’s peace. It sounded amazing to both of them.
Ava didn’t pursue it any further, and instead got back to cleaning the shelves, which didn’t help to take her mind off what was going on. What was Pat doing? Was he safe? Was the club safe? She felt a little sick to her stomach. Each time the door opened, she turned to wonder if he was going to come to her. Time slowly ticked on by.
Ava forced herself to stop thinking about it and to just focus on work.
It was around two in the afternoon when she had stopped listening to the door’s every sound, and Pat eventually turned up. She didn’t even realize he had, until Violet threw a ball of fabric at her face as she was securing a customer’s order.
“Hey, what did you do that for?” she asked, feeling like nine years old again.
“Ava,” Pat said.
She turned toward him and behind her she could hear her sister mumbling something like, “You’re welcome.”
“You’re here,” Ava said.
“Have you had lunch?”
“Yes,” she said.
Pat looked disappointed.
“But I didn’t drink any coffee ... did I, Violet?” Ava said, without looking at her sister.
“No, I can imagine she is parched. No drink for the sis, she has been working her ass off. It would probably be best if you take her for a drink.”
Ava looked toward her sister this time, and mouthed the words, thank you.
Their mother was out in the back again, and she didn’t want to leave Violet on the main floor, but she also knew her sister could handle everything.
Stepping out of the shop into the freezing cold, she became aware of two things. First, Pat had brought his car, not his bike. Second, not too far from the fabric shop, there were two bikers. She didn’t recognize who they were, but the leather cut was unmistakable.
“What’s going on?”
“They’re here for your and your family’s protection,” Pat said.
“Oh.”
“Look, I’ve got one of the guys getting us some coffee. It’s cold as fuck. Do you want to get into my car?”
Ava frowned. He was asking her.
“Of course.”
He looked relieved.
“Pat,” she said, reaching for his arm. “What’s going on?”
“In the car.”
Ava nodded and then moved toward his vehicle and climbed inside. She didn’t bother to reach for the seat belt, instead just sat and waited as Pat climbed inside. They didn’t have to wait long before a guy came toward them carrying four large Styrofoam mugs of coffee. What did surprise her was, two were for her and Pat, and the other two went inside the fabric shop.
The guy who carried them had the word Prospect written in bold letters on the back of his jacket.
“That’s Jake. He’s one of the guys earning his patch.”
“Is that what Prospect means?” she asked.
“Are you wanting to learn club politics, or do you want to talk about this morning?”
“Why did you ask if I wanted to step into the car?” Ava asked. The truth was, she didn’t care about club politics. Not right now. She did, in a small way, as it was part of Pat’s life, and she wanted to be part of his life. But she didn’t want him to feel forced into sharing it with her. When he was ready, she was more than happy to wait.
She watched as Pat ran a hand down his face. “Look, I know this morning couldn’t have been easy for you.”
“The club is under threat, right?” Ava asked. “That’s why your bike got attacked, and the animal shelter. Everyone in town knows you took over after the original owner disappeared.” There were also rumors that the original owner had been using the animal shelter to fund his gambling habit, and sending the dogs to fight.
Ava had never met the man, couldn’t even remember his name, but the fact he was gone was a good thing. After this morning, though, she couldn’t help but wonder if the disappeared owner was in fact a very dead owner.