Page 31 of Property of Baffle
“Oh!You must be Roxy!”
Brady choked on an awkward laugh as I spat out, “What the fuck?What do you know about Roxy?”And at the same time, Nell shook her head adamantly and said, “No, I’m not.My name’s Nell and I’m Rick’s wife.”Her tone was more than a little defensive, not that I could blame her.It wasn’t a good start to introductions between the sister I never knew I had and my brand new wife.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.I sent a private investigator ahead of me to make sure it would be safe,” she hesitated a minute before finishing.“Apparently my dad is in prison for killing a woman and my mom said he was part of some outlaw gang.”
“My mother was the woman he killed and it’s not a gang.It’s a motorcycle club with plenty of legitimate businesses.”
Angel nodded her head.“Yes, your mother.I’m sorry you lost her.”She seemed genuine but I notice she didn’t address my corrections about her assumptions concerning my club.
“How does Roxy fit into this?”I asked.Nell came to stand beside me and I wrapped my arm around her because it had to be another blow that the woman who had caused her so much grief, since I brought her to my club, was once again in the mix even without being there in person.
“My P.I.said he met a woman who claimed she was Patrick Mendoza’s wife, but he couldn’t find any documentation to support that.He also didn’t think to get pictures of her, so I just assumed that,” she pointed toward Nell, “she was Roxy.I’m sorry, that must have seemed very rude or insensitive of me.I feel like I’m fumbling this right from the start.Then again, I came here to look for my brother and didn’t expect for him to drive right up a few minutes after I got to the campground.”
“There isn’t any information to support Roxy’s claims because she’s never been anything more than a childhood friend to me.”That was the first bit of bullshit I needed to clear up because there was no way I’d have a potential sister giving Nell any shit.Granted, she apologized immediately for the mistaken identity, so there clearly wasn’t any malice behind it.Roxy had left damage behind, though.That was something that I finally was able to admit to myself.
“Considering you got that information secondhand, and originating from Roxy, it was an honest mistake on your part.”Nell told Angel.My wife was a better person than I was.
“I hate to step in, but I think Nell was right before.I’m going to be all over the place for a while putting a plan together for the upcoming overhaul.If you need to send a body over to keep an eye on Nell while she gets reacquainted with her things in the new space, you should call for someone.I’ll be here, but can’t guarantee I won’t get caught up in something that pulls my focus.”Brady flipped his attention from me to Angel then and tipped his head toward the RV spots across the street.“Go pick whichever spot you want.They all have 30 and 50 amp hookups as well as water and sewage.You’re welcome to park here as long as you need.Just let me know ahead of time when you plan to pull your trailer back out.We’re going to resurface the road and I don’t want to have you stuck here because there’s no way to get by.We’ll have space to get the UTVs and motorcycles through, but that’s about it.”He then turned to Nell.“Same goes for you.If your project needs to go out in the next two to three weeks, let me know when.”
“Nope, I’m good.Still about a month or so out for me to finish up depending on how much time I get to put in.”
Brady nodded his head.“Alright, let me show you your space while Baffle takes Angel to find a spot and get her trailer hooked up.They can figure out their family dynamics without us in the way.”
17Secrets
Baffle
Squeak was stillin Flagstaff feeding us information, so I had to call in a club brother to go sit with Nell.Since he had questions for her, I figured Grease might enjoy being able to sit in and watch her work.
Baffle: Something came up.Need eyes on Nell over at Morton’s where we have her new studio set up.
Grease: Be there in five.Assuming you asked me first.Knuckles and Grunt can suck my big dick!They’re going to be so jealous when they find out I got to watch the master at work.
I couldn’t hide the grin on my face if I wanted to.I’d have to show that text to Nell later.Though, knowing Grease, he’d probably tell her himself.
“What made you smile like that?”
“One of my club brothers is coming to hang out with my wife while she works.She’s an artist and they’re all big fans of what she’s working on.”
“That’s really cool to have that kind of support.Why does she need one of your club brothers to sit with her, though?Do you not trust her by herself?”I could see that my new little sister was wary of me and probably my whole lifestyle.
“Nope, not the issue.She had a run-in with a bad man recently, before we got married, and having someone sit with her is for her protection.It’s a precaution just in case the asshole is stupid enough to try some shit.”
“Can you elaborate at all?I need to know if I’m safe here.”
“You’ll be safe.I’ll put a man over here on lookout as long as you’re staying here.If you decide to move closer and be on clubhouse property, that won’t be an issue either.As far as my wife, her former best friend and roommate was marrying an asshole.When they went to Vegas for their wedding, a few friends, including Nell, went along.The asshole fiance assaulted and tried to rape her.I stepped in and handled him and got her out of there.”
“Wait, is that how you met?”I nodded my head.“And when was this?”
“About a week ago.”
Angel’s eyebrows shot straight into her hairline.“You met and married your wife in the same week, right after someone tried to assault her?”
“Yep.I knew from the moment I saw her that she was going to be my woman.Getting to know her since then has just reaffirmed that.”
“That’s really wild while also kinda cool and scary at the same time.”
I shrugged my shoulders.There was no justifying my actions to someone who wasn’t living my life.They’d never understand and I saw no point in trying to make them, not even for a woman who might be my sister.
