Page 9 of Redemption

“I don’t know if she has much time to be involved with the club right now. Calla is sick, and I haven’t been home much-”

“We need her. Figure something out.”

Goddamn it.

Chapter 4

Griffin’s Beach

Colt

Exhausted, Colt steps into the clubhouse Monday evening after spending the entire weekend with the kids. Saying it was harder than he thought it would be is an understatement. Figuring out what they like and don’t like, and the words ‘that’s not how Mama does it’ came out of his son’s mouth so many times he could have started a drinking game and been blacked out by Saturday night.

Calla just started to warm up to him by the time Karmen came to pick them up. The house is a disaster, and his chest hurt more and more every time Noah asked where Mama was. Like usual, he lied. Clearly, Lex hadn’t told him about the separation enough for him to understand. Since she made this decision, she can explain it.

He got a taste of what she must’ve gone through with Noah asking for his other parent. Only, he never asked if she still loved him and his sister. It didn’t hit him until this weekend just how much he really missed out on, and the reasons for being gone all the time don’t hold as much merit now.

After Karmen left, he stood in the doorway and watched his kids leave. His heart broke as he watched the car drive away into the distance until he couldn’t see it anymore, but he refuses to accept this as his new normal. His wife will come home. He’ll make sure of it.

“Didn’t take the trip out to Black Valley?” Ky asks and sits next to him at the bar. “Finally decided it was time to spend the entire weekend alone with your wife, huh? Let me guess… brought the kids to Karmen’s and got reacquainted with Lex? All. Weekend. Long.”

Even his best friend saw he pulled away from his wife. How the hell did he not recognize it?

Because you’re a stubborn asshole.

Colt grits his teeth. The voice belongs to Casey this time, not Noah. It doesn’t stop him from wanting to punch the air.

“No, I spent the weekend with the kids,” he says, deciding not to lie. Not tell the whole truth, but not lying.

“That’s good, too,” he says with a smile. “That little girl must have you wrapped around her little finger. Gracie still does me.”

She does, but she has no idea because she doesn’t know him. “Yeah.”

“You okay?”

“I’m fine,” he says. “Just a long weekend. Calla is sick, and I need a drink.”

The prospect behind the bar, Jeff, gives him a smile. Definitely a newbie. “What’s your poison?”

“Vodka.”

“And?”

“Just vodka.”

“Ice?”

He shakes his head, closing his eyes. “It just makes my teeth cold when the ice hits them.”

The glass sets down in front of him, and a large hand slams down on top of it as he grabs it to take a drink. “What the fuck happened?”

“What are you doing?” he asks. “I’m trying to drink that.”

“You only drink this shit when things are fucked up. This also usually helps you fuck things up even more, and you’d stopped. I heard you were drinking in Black Valley, but I would have to, too, in order to get through out there. So, what happened?”

Knowing he won’t let him drink it, he sighs and looks towards the Chapel. “Not here.”

They walk towards the room before the others notice the scene Ky caused, and VP glares at him as they pass. Jesus Christ.

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