Page 50 of Property of BamBam
“He’s gonna let you do it for him, darlin’,” Abyss teases.
Already finished with this conversation, I head to the front to pay and come to a standstill when I see the tiny sprite behind the desk. “You’re new,” I say as I hand her my card.
“Just started this week,” she replies, running my card through the reader before she hands it back to me along with the receipt.
“I see you’re classing up the place, Abyss,” I shout, referring to the woman whose name I don’t know.
“Shelly’s from up north a ways,” Abyss replies, walking toward where I’m standing. “Her uncle taught her how to tattoo and she’ll be in her own chair soon.”
I catch her face pinkening and realize there might be more to the story, but until my brother decides to share, I won’t probe.
“Hi, Shelly, I’m Livy,” my ol’ lady says, holding out her hand.
“Nice to meet you,” Shelly replies. I see a tattoo on her wrist of a semicolon and glance at Abyss, my gaze questioning.
He slowly shakes his head at me, so I decide not to push the issue. “Need to bring her out to the clubhouse for the barbecue this weekend, brother,” I say.
“I don’t want to impose,” Shelly protests.
“No, you really should come!” Livy exclaims. “It’s out at the Triple R ranch and they’ve got horses and everything. Plus, you’ll get to meet my little boy, Theo.”
Sorrow covers Shelly’s face before it becomes a blank mask as she nods. “I’d like that,” she quietly says.
“We’ll leave you to it, Abyss. Pleasure to meet you, Shelly,” I state. Looking down at Livy, I ask, “Do you think we should bring food back for Marge?”
“She’s already texted and asked if we would,” Livy replies, giggling.
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
EPILOGUE
Olivia
“This is beautiful, BamBam!” I exclaim as I walk through each room of the house he built for us. “I can’t believe you kept it a secret.”
“It wasn’t easy, especially when Marge asked about the apartment in front of you,” he replies.
“I mean, I figured we’d eventually be under the same roof, but there’s too much at the clubhouse to have Theo running around full time. Plus, I don’t want to impose on the brothers who are single if that makes sense.”
All it took was one overnight visit where I slipped down to the kitchen and caught one of the brothers and the club girls going at it over the pool table for me to decide that living in the clubhouse long term wouldn’t work for me. No shade to the women who make themselves available to every single brother, but it’s not something I could personally do.
“Should’ve been done about three weeks ago, but the contractor hit a snag with one of his suppliers,” he says. “Now that we’ve got this, Marge can move into the apartment over the laundromat.”
“She’ll like having her own space,” I murmur.
Life hasn’t been kind to my friend, but thanks to Hope House, as well as Beth, who I still see for individual therapy, I’ve watched her come out of her shell. She’s still a bit brusque and bossy at times, but underneath it all is a woman who wants to be accepted and loved. At the end of the day, I think that’s what everyone wants.
“Yeah, I think so too. Now, before she gets here with Theo, there was something I wanted to check out,” he says, moving toward me. I shriek when he throws me over his shoulder and heads into the kitchen, fully onboard with where his thoughts have strayed when he positions me in front of the massive island and bends me forward.
“What’s wrong with Abyss?” I ask Shelly after watching him storm off, his face like a thundercloud.
She’s become another confidant. Maybe it’s because a lot of her past mirrors some of my own experiences, who knows? While I get along with Issy, she’s got her hands full as the president’s ol’ lady, plus she’s still active on the rodeo circuit and seems to be gone a lot.
“I told him I wouldn’t go out with him,” Shelly mumbles.
“But why? He’s a great guy,” I argue. “I mean, he’s a biker with the Kings, so he’s definitely not lily white by any means, but he’s always been nice to me.”
“Because of this,” she replies, her index finger going to the tattoo on her wrist. “He deserves better than me, Livy, and I told him that. Again. He just won’t listen.”
