Page 24 of Romania
“Thank you for coming,” I said.
“Nothing would have stopped us from coming,” she said.
With a sniffle, I held her tighter. I really did have the best people in my life.
“I think this calls for a drink,” Mum announced.
I moved out of Maya’s arms to stand beside her and hold her hand, smiling. My body felt light from seeing my family here with me.
Country chuckled. “Sounds good to me.” He turned to the bar and called, “Prospects, take orders.” Three guys, who looked a little younger than me, went into action at Country’s words.
We were led to a seating area away from the benches where they all sat for dinner. I stood behind the couch and rested my hands on my brother’s shoulders where he sat on the sofa with Maya and Mum. Dad was in his own chair and so were Country, Saint, and Wreck.
I saw Mum eyeing Wreck. “Jesus, you’re a big one.”
Wreck stared at her while I laughed before telling her, “You should see Blaze. He’s Henri’s guy and ginormous. Henri, who is French, along with their boy Sawyer, but he’s not French, just Henri, got kidnapped and taken to the ship too. You’ll get to meet them before we leave hopefully. I really like them. I like everyone here. No one’s been a dick, so it’s good.”
Dad grinned. “Hell, kid, you’ve been missed.”
Lifting my hand, I blew him a kiss.
“Rommy was tellin’ us she’s a mechanic,” Saint said. “She’s given me some ideas for my ride, and I’m hopin’ she’ll be stickin’ around long enough to show me.”
I’d confessed to Saint that I wished I could stay longer to take in the town and make a family holiday of it. However, I knew Mum and Dad were busy with the club and businesses. Texas also owned a tattoo shop in Ballarat. I couldn’t keep them away from their responsibilities.
Not unless it wasn’t my idea in the beginning.
Dad shared a look with Mum before he said, “We were hopin’ to stick around for a while.”
“Really?” I asked loudly while shaking my brother’s shoulders.
Dad chuckled. “Not sure about Texas and Maya, though. Low and I are covered for the garage and compound. Texas?”
“My clients understand why I’m not there and that I shut the tattoo shop for at least a week.”
Gasping, I shook my brother again. “So, we can all stay for a week, at least?”
“Jesus, Rommy,” Texas complained, tapping my hand.
“Oh my God, we can do so much. I’ve already asked about the places we can go. There’re shops, a museum, and nature walks. Mum, I already know you won’t be doing those. But there’s so much more to do, and we have to try all the food we can while we’re here. And then Vegas isn’t far away, and we so have to check that out. This is gonna be epic.”
“Kid, I think we’ll need a little longer than a week to get everythin’ in,” Dad said.
“What do you mean? What does that mean? Are we staying longer? But Texas?—”
“Rom, Maya and I have to head back in a week, but Dodge and Low want to hang longer.”
I was already nodding. “Yes. Please. Me too. I’ll stay longer. Where are we gonna stay? Is there a hotel close by?”
“We have enough rooms here,” Country offered.
Mum and Dad shared a look before Dad said, “Yeah, that’d be cool. It’ll give us a chance to get to know each other, and I can help the kid go over some of the rides for whoever is interested.”
Mum groaned before she asked Country, “Please tell me your old lady loves to shop?”
Country chuckled. “I’m sure she’d love to take you, and no doubt there’ll be more partners willing to go too.”
“Do you have them go on their own?” Dad asked.
