Page 96 of Brother In Arms

“Which Rush told me he already has covered,” Shelly said.

“Wait, what?”

“He didn’t tell you about that part?” Shelly asked.

I pushed back from the table, “No… no he didn’t.”

“While Mel’s been on bedrest from having Chandler, she finally got around to uploading all the pictures she took of his furniture to a website so he could sell it. It’s been really well-received. He’s got way more than what is at the club,” Hayden said.

“The way it’s going,” Shelly said, “he says he can totally start funding your dream. That you guys would just need a little extra help getting it going sooner rather than later.”

“And you have that kind of money?” I asked Ashton. She smiled and nodded.

“What can I say? Shelly is really good with money. The twelve million I received when my ex-husband died has grown and what it would take to get your retreat going isn’t more than five hundred thousand or so.”

“That’s kind of a drop in the bucket for Ashton because I’m just that awesome.”

“So, what do you say?” Hayden asked. “Think you and Ashton could partner up for a bit?”

“I still don’t think I understand,” I said. “What’s in it for you?”

Ashton reached across the table and covered one of my hands with both of hers, “I get to watch someone’s dreams come true, help one of the club’s family, and help another one of the club do so much more with himself than work on cars. What do you mean what’s in it for me?”

“People just don’t work like that,” I said helplessly, tears springing to my eyes, I was just so overwhelmed by what they were saying, what they were proposing.

The girls laughed and Hayden leaned forward and said, “That’s just it, we’ve been trying to tell you all this time, that’s exactly how our people do.”

“But you don’t even know me!”

“We know Dragon and Dray, and we know Rush. Rush wouldn’t love you if you weren’t quality people, honey. It just wouldn’t happen,” Shelly said. Hayden got up and went into the kitchen and brought back some paper towels, handing them to me.

I laughed and dabbed at my eyes and blew my nose, “This is all happening so fast.”

“Tends to be how things work around these guys,” Hayden said smiling.

“Listen, real friends, people who genuinely love and care about you, they do everything in their power to make your life easier, not harder. That’s the way things are supposed to work, Bailey… that’s how you can tell when things are right. When things are real.” Ashton said.

“Do you need a decision right now?” I asked and Ashton smiled, lighting up her strange golden eyes.

“No, honey. There’s no expiration date on it either, you take your time. I was afraid that this may have been too early to really discuss, but it’s there if you want it.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“Let me get us some lemonade,” Hayden said and I nodded. I wanted to see Rush, to talk to him and get his take on things. To understand that yes, this really was for real…

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