Page 93 of Iron Hearts

“What?” her grandmother looked surprised, “No, you’re coming home with us,” she said and I tried not to snort and laugh at the look Rarity’s Mom and Granddad exchanged behind the woman’s back.

“I’ll be home tomorrow,” Rarity said and came back over to me.

“Today is afamilyday, Rarity Jane,” her grandmother said, tone dripping with disapproval, and she gave me a faint, brittle smile, that just plain pissed me off as she said to me, “You understand, of course.”

“I surely do,” I said. “Family day was fun, and it’s over now – so if you don’t mind, I’m going to take Rarity here for a walk on the beach and a meetup with some of our friends for dinner tonight.”

“But—”

“Oh, Mom, justlet it go!Rarity deserves some time off and to have some fun with people her own age!” Rarity’s mom glared at her mother as she turned around from buckling the last of the boys in.

“Except he’snother own age!” her grandmother said ruthlessly.

Ah, and there it was…

“Rarity?” I asked. “You happy?”

“Very,” she said, hugging into my side and giving her grandmother a worse than a withering look. She wore a sad and disappointed one.

“Well, the boys…” her grandmother tried to argue, but it was Granddad to the rescue with a firm, “Barbara.”

Her grandma looked pissed and Rarity stood up just a little straighter and said, “I’m twenty-four, and notfive. I’ll see you alltomorrow.”

I smiled and gave her a bit of a squeeze, but I could tell, the fight with Grandma was far from over. Grandma glared at me, a wintery look, but here was the thing – I ran my own life. She didn’t dictate what I did, what Rarity did, and I was damn sure looking forward to defiling her granddaughter every which way from Sunday tonight, just for the satisfaction of knowing how much it would pissBarbraoff if she knew just what we got up to.

“Get in the car, Mom,” Rarity’s mom snapped, and I had a feeling she was about to give her mom and maybe even her dad some hell on the way home. Didn’t matter how old they were – they deserved it as far as I was concerned. Barbara for being Barbara, and Gramps for, well, being such a fuckin’ pushover and letting his wife run roughshod over everybody. I mean, for fuck’s sake –be a man.

Rarity cast a grateful look to her mother and I steered her away toward my bike.

“Jesus Christ, that woman doesn’t know when to quit, does she?” I asked.

“I amsosorry,” Rarity said, stopping at my bike to set her backpack on the seat to open it up and put her prize snowy gator stuffy into it for the ride.

“Baby, you ain’t got nothing to be sorry for. I have a feeling ol’ granny’s met her match. I don’t give a fuck if she likes me or not. I’m in it to win it withyou, not her.”

“Yeah, but what about when she doubles down?” she asked. “It wears on you, and fast – believe me.”

“Shit, she wants to fuck around, she can find out,” I told her.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, shrugging back into her backpack.

“It means, whatever you want and need to do, that’s up to you and I’m here for it. If she wants to get so insufferable that you spend more time up here and less down there, I’d be happy to make that happen. It’s whatever’s good for you, baby girl.”

“You really mean that, don’t you?” she asked softly, staring up at me with no little wonder on her face.

“Damn straight. She can fuckin’ try me,” I said. “I mean, shit; she’s just like my mother; in fact, my mother is arguablyworse– so to be perfectly honest with you, better bitches than your grandmother have tried and look how that worked out. I’m here, Mom is back in Arkansas, and I don’t have fuck all to do with her.”

She snorted and covered her mouth with both of her hands in this adorable way to keep from laughing. I got on the bike; she settled on behind me and wrapped her arms around me and I fired it up.

“God, I love you!” she called over the chug of the motor and I wondered where that’d come from, even if I wasn’t complaining.

“What’s that for?” I asked.

She shook her head, and watched her family go by, waving at the boys who waved wildly at us as they went by, her grandmother stiff in the passenger seat and not looking in our direction. Her mom wore an annoyed look, but didn’t look our way, either – preferring to focus on driving.

We pulled out of the lot shortly after her family did, although I took us the opposite way they headed on purpose.

I took her to the beach for a walk and to let the breeze carry a bunch of the bad vibes off down the way, over the sand to swirl out over the water and drown.

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