Page 20 of Scotch: Unraveled

“Hey, sweetheart. You’re okay,” I coo at her as I pick her up to cuddle and give top-of-the-head kisses. We bounce and she quiets. Then I pull her sweatshirt over her head and top her with her beanie, too.

When I leave the daycare’s parking lot, I turn out onto the main road on my way to get dinner when I notice a police cruiser turn onto the street and follow me closely. I’m not speeding or anything, so I turn on the radio and sing along to the music for the girls. I click the blinker and turn into the restaurant’s parking.

It’s not too cold out, only chilly, and I’m not going to be inside very long, but I don’t know what to do. I can’t carry two carriers and pizza and a bag with other food in it. Decision made, I leave the girls in the car with the doors locked, but use my remote start to keep it comfortable for them. I run in to pay and Benny tells me how much longer my wait will be. Instead of waiting inside, I go back out to the car with the girls.

On any normal day, I’d stay and chat. It smells deliciously of baking crust and oregano, but the babies have to be my priority. Once the ten minutes have passed, I keep the car running with remote start like before and run inside to grab our food. I’m not even inside for two minutes and when I walk back out, Deputy Rodrick, the one who’d arrested Rory, has his hands cupped around his eyes, bent forward, while he tries to look inside my backseat through the tinted windows.

“Can I help you?” I ask, and he startles, but I need him to move so I can get into my car to place the hot pizza box on the front seat.

He stands straight, turning to me. “Not real responsible leaving them babies alone in a running automobile.” But he puts an extra dose of Kentucky twang to the word, making it sound like “auto-MO-beel.”

“I couldn’t carry them both in, but I left the car running to keep them warm. Remote start. Can’t shift without pressing the brake, but you press the brake, the engine cuts.”

“Still,” he says threateningly. “I’d hate to have to get CPS involved.”

“I assure you, deputy, they were never in harm’s way.” I refuse to let him know how much his presence rattles me. The man drew his weapon at me and the girls the last time we were around him, and he’s threatening me? For running into a pizza joint? He steps back when I move in front of him to open the door, using the fob to unlock it. I set the box and bag down on the front seat, then scramble around to the driver’s side. “But thank you for your concern,” I finish before sliding in and shutting, then locking my doors.

He places a hand to the top of my car, leaving it there, to let me know he’s the one in control. I can’t back out of the space without risking driving over his foot or something, which means I’m stuck here for an extra few minutes until he decides to head back to his cruiser.

Rory wouldn’t lose his girls for my actions; he’d at most be told I wouldn’t be allowed to care for them any longer. The issue would be mine, well, my career. I work at a daycare with children and am about to be promoted to director when our current director retires. A visit from CPS could ruin me.

The jackass waits for me to withdraw from my parking spot and follows close behind again. This time, I am nervous, making double sure to use my blinker when I turn out onto the street and come to complete full stops at lights and signs. He continues to follow me to the edge of town and even up the mountain, only speeding past me when I turn onto the Lords’ lot at the compound.

I’m shaking by the time I turn off the engine in front of Rory’s place. Because of the extra time waisted having to deal with that dipshit deputy, he beat me home. When he walks outside to greet us, I settle myself. A dinner with Rory and the girls is the perfect way to forget my encounter.

He opens my door first to bend in and kiss me. I sigh. It can’t be helped. I challenge any woman to be kissed by this man and not sigh. “How’d I beat ya home?” he asks.

I point to the passenger side. “Stopped at Benny’s for dinner.”

His eyes widen at the sight of the Benny’s pizza box. “Yar the perfect woman, do ya know that?” Then he drops one more kiss to my forehead and backs out of the way so I can get out. We each grab one of the girls. He takes the pizza and I take the diaper bag and the Benny’s bag, then we head inside.

He gives each girl separate daddy time, loving on them while I wash my hands and throw together the salad. “They were good today?” he asks, Macie in his arms.

“Angels, like always.” I move to set the table while he sets Macie back in her carrier in order to prepare their bottles. “Need help?” I ask him. Two hands are better than one when feeding twins. “Everything’s set here.”

“Sure.” He pats the seat on the old sofa right next to him. I walk around the table and snatch up Mollie. He hands me off a bottle, then scoops back up Macie and we each take to feeding a girl. “How was your day?” he asks. “You look tired. They still giving you shite about the expansion plans?”

“Yeah. Big time.” As I’m about to take over as director of the center, our current director has me collaborating on all the non-child related business to make the transition easier, which means double the work for me. “And the state has changed some of their regulations, including how much they’ll cover low-income childcare, which affects more than a third of our families. My brain is about to melt from all the paperwork. So if you come to call one day and all I’m able to do is drool and stare blankly at the wall, you’ll know why.”

Rory pops out a laugh that I don’t expect, startling Macie, who’d started to doze off in his arms. She begins to fuss and he props her up against his shoulder to pat her back. She lets go a giant baby burp and spits up a little. He cleans her up and moves her back to finish eating. When both girls are asleep, we carry them to their room, execute a double diaper change and lay them in their beds. Each girl gets a kiss on the head from each of us, then Rory and I head back out to eat our dinner.

Before he sits down, he pours himself a scotch over ice and then mixes me up a 7 and 7, bringing them both to the table. He kisses my temple and slides onto his seat kitty-corner from me. “How’s work going for you?” I ask around a mouthful of cheesy, pizza goodness.

“Better now that we got that big shipping order taken care of.” Rory mostly works with the man they call ‘Chaos.’ His real name is Gage, but only his woman is allowed to call him that. It’s a biker respect thing, I guess. All I know is that I’m the only one who ever calls Rory ‘Rory.’ “Things should start to sl—” His phone rings midsentence and he pulls it from his pocket to answer. “It’s Duke,” he says. “Gotta take this.” Then he stands, presses the answer button, and walks down the hallway.

“Guess things won’t start to slow,” I mumble as I continue to eat alone.

About ten minutes pass before he slips back to the table with me. I’m pretty much finished with my meal and I’m tired. “Sorry about that,” he says, and he does sound sorry.

“No worries. But I’m tired, so I’m gonna head home, I think.” I stand to clear my plate and his face falls.

“Not yet,” he says, tugging me forward by the finger he’s hooked into my jeans pocket. I fall onto his lap and Rory bends in, pressing his lips to mine. He keeps it slow and torturously lingering until he moves his mouth, pressing kisses up my chin until he reaches my ear. “I have to talk with ya.”

“Talk,” I answer dreamily because his kisses have always brought out that response in me.

“That was Duke on the phone. I have to go out of town—club business, so don’t ask.”

Yeah, I learned that quickly enough. There are parts of the club the women are privy to and then there’s whatever this is that we aren’t. Especially not me, since I’m not an old lady or anything. I’m not exactly sure what my role is right now.

---