Page 16 of Property of BamBam
“Okay, thanks,” I reply.
Since Briley’s calming herself, I go ahead and return to my original seat and wait for Beth to start the session. I’m completely at her mercy because I don’t know what to expect.
“Before we start, as you can see, we have a new lady here with us. This is Olivia, she prefers to go by either Livy or Ollie, and she has the cutest baby with her. His name is Theo and to answer the unspoken question, he was not the one harmed,” Beth says.
“Yeah, she introduced herself to us,” Marge says. She still sounds somewhat belligerent and combative, but she’s slightly calmer than she was, so that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned.
“Okay, so when I walked in, I felt multiple conflicting emotions in the room. Can you tell me what I can do, or what we can do as a whole to help y’all overcome what you’re feeling?” Beth asks.
“Briley is upset because she’s missing Serai,” Ashley states. “Marge feels that the foster care system is nothing more than a legal form of trafficking.”
Well, she pretty much summed it all up in a nutshell. Since I don’t have anything to add at this point, I stay quiet. I’m sure I’ll speak my piece but hopefully it’s not today. Things are still a bit raw, and I don’t have any trust in these women yet.
“Your parents are coming this weekend for a visit, Briley, remember? You’ll have two days to spend with Serai,” Beth says.
“It’s hard not having her with me right now,” Briley admits. “But I know it’s for the best so I can get my head straight. I’m no good to her the way I am right now.”
I happen to glance at her while she’s speaking, and I notice she has wide leather cuffs on both wrists. I can’t figure out why until it dawns on me; at some point in her past, she tried to end her suffering. That breaks my heart, even though the thought crossed my mind a time or two before Theo. Once he was born, my focus turned to somehow getting away, so we’d be safe.
“Marge, I understand why you would feel that way considering what happened with your brother’s kids,” Beth adds, addressing Marge’s outburst. “But in reality, he waived his parental rights just before the mother passed away.”
“And because my life was fucked all to hell, I couldn’t step in and gain custody. I just don’t understand why they wouldn’t give me a plan to follow so they would’ve still been with family, not adopted by strangers,” Marge grumbles.
“What was your living situation at the time?” Beth gently probes.
Marge huffs out something between a snort and a chuckle, but there’s no mirth behind it at all. “Yeah, they wouldn’t have been safe with me either. My own two suffered enough. Beth, is there any way possible for me to visit the cemetery this weekend?”
“It’s the anniversary, I remember,” Beth softly replies. “We’ll make arrangements to get you there, I promise.”
I don’t know Beth all that well, but I can hear the sincerity in her tone. While I’m still silent, I’m watching everyone closely so I can figure out the dynamics. I understand they’ll shift based on the residents who are here, but I can adjust. I’ve learned how to do that very well, after all.
Beth asks a few more open-ended questions before she turns to me and says, “Once lunch is done and Theo is down for his afternoon nap, we’ll do your individual session.”
“Okay.”
Guess it’s time to start facing my past.
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
BamBam
“He’s a beauty, Issy,” I say as I brush the quarter horse she wanted me to meet. “You planning to train him to barrel race?”
“Hell yeah,” she replies, grinning at me. “Moonlight’s Shadow, Shadow for short, has championship lines. In fact, I’ll start putting out feelers to stud him out since his sire is Moonlight’s Gaze.”
My hands stop what I’ve been doing as I look at her, shocked to my core. While I don’t keep up with the circuit as closely as Issy does, even I’ve heard of Moonlight’s Gaze. He’s sired countless champions in pretty much every category. “Are you fucking with me right now?”
She smirks while slowly shaking her head. “It was pure coincidence that I was able to buy Shadow. Seems another buyer fell through and didn’t meet the contract deadlines, and I was next on the waiting list. Since that’s one of the goals we have for the ranch, I didn’t hesitate to wire the money.”
“Can’t say as I blame you, Issy. Now, who are we taking out today?”
“Starlight and Stargazer, of course,” she teases. “Gotta keep my girls in top form.”
I snicker as I head back to the tack room to grab the saddle and other gear that I use when riding. Pancho and Luis keep it neat and organized, which isn’t too difficult since there are only a few of us who still ride. While most of the brothers grew up and around the club, the majority now prefer to ride their steel horses versus the living breathing animal.
Not me, though. The freedom isn’t quite the same as no horse has the ability to run as fast as my bike but being out in the open gives me the same dopamine hit without the worry of stupid distracted drivers trying to mow me down.
