Page 31 of Rooster

With his fists clenched as this side, he stormed out of the clubhouse and into the parking lot. Words were exchanged between Grim and Preacher, and after a quick nod, Grim got up and went after Beckett. Once he’d stepped back out, Preacher continued his conversation with Prez and Savage.

“Damn.” Torch grimaced. “The kid’s a livewire.”

I’d only been with Maggie a couple of times, but I would’ve felt the same as Beckett if someone hurt her. Hell, I would want to burn the motherfuckers to the ground and more. It was that thought that led me to say, “Can’t really blame him. The whole thing is fucked up.”

“Yeah, it is. Preacher thought the time away would help him cool off, but I don’t see that happening.”

“Yeah, me either.” I could feel the tension building in my neck. “I hate it for him. I know Preacher’s in a tough spot, but we’ve already got our hands full with the renovations and this Bruton change of hands bullshit. We don’t have time to babysit some heartbroken kid.”

“Busy or not, he’s here to stay, so we’re gonna have to figure it out.”

The room fell silent when the back door swung open. I thought Beckett and Grimm were coming back, but it was Londyn, Savage’s ol’ lady, and their son. Londyn must’ve realized that they’d walked in on something because she stopped at the entrance and didn’t come in any further, waiting for Savage to come to them instead. He quickly excused himself from the table and rushed over to them. After a quick word with Londyn, he knelt to say something to his son.

Dalton was the spitting image of his father. He not only had the same eyes and hair, but he also had his father’s intense demeanor. He listened intently as Savage explained that he had things to tend to but promised that he would be home soon. He nodded with wide-eyed trust, then reached out and gave Savage a hug. Emotion marked Savage’s face as he hugged Dalton back.

After giving him a quick kiss on the temple, he rose to his feet and watched as Londyn and Dalton slipped back out the door. Savage stood there for a moment, letting their brief exchange sink in, and then, he headed back over to Prez and the rest of the group. It was clear they were going to be there awhile, so I stood and told Torch, “I’m gonna get going.”

“Where you running off to?” Torch cocked his brow. “Got another hot date?”

“Nah, I’ve just got some things to tend to, and while I’m out, I thought I’d go back and check in with Guardrail. I want to make sure they were able to get us back on track.”

“I’m sure they did, especially if Guardrail has anything to say about it.” Torch leaned back and crossed his arms. “So, you’re really not gonna tell me about last night.”

“It was good. We had dinner and talked. Nothing out of the norm.”

“Ah, come on. You gotta give me more than that,” he pushed. “Are you gonna see her again?”

“Planning on it.”

“So, you’re into this chick.”

“You could say that.”

“That’s awesome, brother. Look forward to meetin’ her.”

“Ah, I don’t know about all that. Wouldn’t wanna scare her off with your ugly mug.” I gave him a brotherly slap on the shoulder as I said, “I’m outta here. Call if anything comes up.”

Without giving him a chance to respond, I turned and left the bar. When I stepped outside, I was immediately hit with a rush of cold air and groaned. I didn’t exactly mind the winters in Port Angeles. The snow and ice were pretty and all, but it sucked not being able to ride my bike. I got in my truck and started the engine, quickly kicking up the heat. I let it warm up a minute before pulling out of the gate and heading towards town.

When I pulled up at the site, I wasn’t surprised to find Guardrail’s truck parked at the club’s trailer. I had no doubt that he was in the office hammering away at the plans for next week’s projects. I pulled up and parked next to him, then headed inside. And just as I expected, he was sitting at his desk with a pile of papers splayed out before him.

“Hey, brother.” I closed the door and sat down in the empty seat in front of his desk. “How’s it going?”

“It’s going.” He leaned back in his chair with a huff. “Might actually get this shit done if we didn’t have so much other shit going on.”

“Guess that means you heard about Preacher and his kid.”

“Yeah, Cotton called and told me all about it. Shame about the kid and his girl, but I'm not sure being here is gonna make things any better for him. If anything, it’ll only make it worse.”

“I hope, for his sake, that isn’t the case.”

“Guess time will tell. At least, it will give us another set of hands. We could certainly use it, especially with all the runs we got coming up.”

“Sounds like we got more than we were expecting.”

“Yeah, you could say that.” Guardrail shook his head. “Cotton’s been going through all the shit Grant gave him, and it looks like the next couple of months are gonna be rough.”

“You’d think Bruton would’ve given us some kind of heads up.”

---