Page 186 of Heartbeats & Highways

“Oh,” I said, slowly sinking down on the edge of one of the beds. “I wasn’t sure if you knew.”

“The club is strange like that,” she said slowly. “They try and keep you in the dark. The women and children, I mean. But I’m not an Old Lady and I’m not really a child.”

I was silent as I waited for her to go on.

“Savage is basically my older brother,” she said. “He’s always looked out for me even when I haven’t wanted him to. And Iknowhim. The guilt must be eating him alive.”

“Yeah, I would say that’s an accurate assessment.”

She plowed on. “He’s different with you. Caring. Thoughtful. But he’s still Savage. He will always be Savage.”

“Yes,” I agreed.

Her blue eyes pinned me with a stare. “Duke and Willa . . . they’re wrapped up in their own life right now. That’s understandable. But I don’t think they see what this will do to Savage. But you know, don’t you?”

“I know,” I whispered.

“Do you think people can change?”

“Yes and no. I think we are who we are at our core. But I think, with enough life experiences, your lens shifts a bit.”

“You’ll never leave him, will you?” She looked scared, scared for the man she loved as a brother. “Not even if it gets hard? Not even if he tries to self-destruct because of the guilt? And God, I feel like an asshole even asking because you’ve been through your own shit. I can’t even imagine.”

“No. I won’t leave him. I don’t know what the future holds, Waverly. I just know that I’ll be by his side for whatever life throws at us. He came for me in a very dark hour. I’ll do the same for him.”

She smiled and in a show of affection, leaned over and hugged me. “Welcome to the family, Evie.”

Chapter 49

Sailor stoodnext to Waverly at the funeral but refused to look at the grave.

I stared at the bare winter trees. In a couple of months, the flowers would be in full bloom. Leaves would be green. Birds would be flirting and building their nests.

Life would change again with the seasons.

I placed a hand on my stomach.

Tears flowed like rivers, streaming down the cheeks of the Old Ladies. How many losses had this club, thisfamily,sustained? Quite a few, judging by the fresh headstones of the plots next to Acid’s grave.

The Jackson siblings, along with Cozy and Jazz, had come to pay their respects. Loss brought people together in a way that not even celebrations did. I hadn’t had enough merriments. I was only twenty years old, and my short life had been filled with so many deaths, so much darkness.

But I had something now I’d never had before; a family to lean on. A family that had showed up in my hour of need. A family that had been created by bond, not blood.

When the service was over, the Old Ladies gathered their children and ushered them to cars. Several of the brothers went with them, but Colt and Zip stayed behind to speak to the reverend.

Savage squeezed my hand as Roman approached us.

“Sorry for your loss, brother,” Roman said to Savage.

Savage inclined his head but said nothing.

Roman’s gaze slid to mine. “Evie, can I—we—talk to you?” He gestured to the crew that had come with him. They were standing by a cluster of trees. A gust of wind blew through the cemetery, and I shivered in my coat.

“Sure.” I looked at Savage.

“I’ll be here,” he assured me.

I followed Roman, my insides quaking.

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