Page 29 of Jigsaw
Not wanting to spook Willow, I held my hand up and explained, “I’ll tell her my idea and let her decide.”
The ol’ ladies smiled at me as Willow walked back to my side and took my hand into hers. It was the first time she initiated contact, and I took that as a positive sign. Kissing the back of her hand, I guided her away from the table as she waved to her new friends. Walking around the building, I moved us to my bike and helped her get seated on the back.
After making sure she was secured behind me, I cranked the motor and put the bike into gear, pulling out of the parking space and around the side of the building. The brothers standing around parted for us to drive through, and as I turned the bike onto the road, I felt Willow place her face against my back as we drove off into the darkened South Dakota night.
If this was a sign of our future, I couldn’t wait to make it official.
Chapter 14
Willow
Sunday morning
“Are you sure this is okay to wear?” I asked as I turned from side to side, inspecting myself in the mirror behind Dean’s bedroom door.
He walked into the room and was rolling up the sleeves of his dress shirt as he looked at me and smiled. “You look beautiful, but I promise, you’re putting more pressure on yourself than necessary.”
I wasn’t sure but had to trust his word. Yesterday, we spent the day at the clubhouse with the Sinners, and it was during my time with the ladies in the kitchen, making brunch for the club, that I learned about Dean’s Sunday schedule.
Paige and I were cutting fruit for a large tray when she asked if I was going to church with Jigsaw, and I nearly cut myself from the shock. It was only after he explained that he took his Pappy every Sunday and he wanted me to meet him that I began to relax. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe or have faith, but having not been raised around the church, I wasn’t sure what to expect.
“Do I need a sweater or something to cover my tattoos?” I asked as he adjusted the collar of his shirt before tucking it into his blue jeans.
“Not at all. Pappy’s church is accepting of everyone, and quite a few people have piercings, tattoos, and there’s every race and orientation represented,” he explained as he walked up behind me and placed his hands on my hips.
Seeing us in the mirror, both dressed nicer than we’d ever been in front of the other and knowing this was going to be a part of our lives, was reassuring. Which was confusing, but I’d decided on the ride out to his house last night that I wasn’t going to question everything. Life was meant to be lived, and I was tired of watching it pass me by.
Dean placed a soft kiss against the side of my neck, and I exhaled the last bit of worry I’d been holding onto. He’d reassured me that his Pappy was going to love me, so I wasn’t worried about that, but I didn’t want to be judged on appearances.
“Are you almost ready?” he asked from behind me, and I nodded before turning to face him.
When we got here the night before last, he’d carried me into the house and straight to the bedroom. I laughed as he explained that was what a groom did for his bride when he brought her home the first time, and he spent the rest of the night showing me how much he’d missed me. Waking up in his arms was amazing, and the fear we were rushing into this was swept away.
Dean took my hand, and we walked out of the master bedroom and down the hallway. There were three other bedrooms, two additional bathrooms besides the one attached to our room, a large living room, a separate dining room, and a kitchen that blew me away.
I could spend hours in there baking and cooking, but all that had to wait. As he guided me into the kitchen, the smell of coffee filled my nostrils. I’d had one cup before taking a shower, but I was tired from the last few days.
“I’ll make us each a cup to go then we can get moving. We don’t have to be there until ten, but it takes a few minutes to get him out of his retirement community,” Dean explained.
He told me last night as we lay naked in each other’s arms how his Pappy took him in when he was a kid and raised him,making sure Dean finished high school and learned a skilled trade. He was a licensed electrician but didn’t have to work unless he wanted to. His parents died a few years ago, and he used their life insurance to pay for the house and do the amazing upgrades.
Comet had invested Dean’s money, as well as most of the brothers’ money, so they were all financially secure. Dean explained that when he wanted to buy something or needed to make a big purchase, he would work a few weeks of long hours to pay for it. He hated debt, refused to owe anyone, and would pay his own way. His words, not mine.
After handing me a cup of coffee in a travel mug, I followed Dean out the side door and into the garage. He’d already explained that an extra vehicle was needed here for winter, just like back in Minnesota and Chicago, and he used it to make sure Pappy was safe when he took him somewhere. He opened the passenger door to the SUV, and I climbed inside before he closed the door. Walking around the front, he got behind the wheel and cranked the engine as he pressed a button to raise the garage door behind us.
Dean smiled over at me before putting the SUV into reverse and pulling out of the garage. The door lowered after he pressed the button again, and I sat beside him, watching the landscape pass by. If this was going to become my home, I needed to start learning my way around, but there would be time for that. With the tens of thousands of bikers here for the Rally, I was getting turned around, so Dean suggested we wait until the roads weren’t so congested before I learned Rapid City.
“Did your mom go to church?” he asked me as he stopped at a red light and turned his blinker on.
I shook my head and tried to explain without making my mother look bad. “My mom was flighty, and even though she tried her hardest, she didn’t exactly have faith in anything.”
He reached over and took my hand into his, kissing the back as he said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up a sensitive subject.”
Not wanting him to think he’d upset me, I asked, “Do you remember that night, we told each other the worst parts of ourselves?” He nodded, so I exhaled and explained. “Most of the things I told you about, the things I’d witnessed, were from my mom.” He cut his eyes at me before he turned the truck and continued driving. “She did the best she could with me, but I always resented that she was the other woman and that Popeye wasn’t around when I needed him. The drugs, the bad choices with men, were all hers, and my rebelling was a result of me trying to be enough for a father who already had a family.”
He kissed my hand again before he asked, “And she passed when you were fourteen?” I nodded. “And that’s when you moved in with Popeye and his wife?”
“Ms. Marna.”
