I was actually kind of stunned by it. I don’t think I’d ever been in that position before—I’d never been the person wanting more than the other was willing to give.

  Which really fucking sucked because I was pretty sure I was in love with her.

  Chapter 13

  Charlie

  “Maybe you should move the cart,” my dad said seriously, looking over the paperwork I’d brought over. “I know you talked about opening a new shop on Tommy’s property, but maybe the better move would be to move the existing cart.”

  “It would make things pretty awkward at club barbecues when I have to default on rent,” I said sarcastically.

  “Could be, you wouldn’t be defaulting on anything,” my dad said. “New customer base.”

  “But then I’d be losing all the regulars we have now,” I replied, playing devil’s advocate. “They’re all we have left at this point.”

  I got to my feet and started pacing my parents’ little camp trailer. I felt like I was going to come out of my skin, I had so much nervous energy. It had been three weeks since I’d put a pause on anything between Bishop and I—and I was feeling it. He was polite when we crossed paths. He was friendly. And I was dying. He didn’t look at me the way he used to. The affection was still there, the kindness, but the fire was gone. In the past I would have flirted, made a comment that I knew would bring it back—but I knew that was unfair. He was giving me the space I’d asked for and pulling him back in when literally nothing had been resolved would be a shitty thing to do. No matter how much I regretted the decision, I still knew it was the right thing.

  My mom had always told us kids that with the right one, things would work themselves out. It might take time and it might really suck, but in the end, it would all set itself right. I’d seen the truth of that. Poet and Amy had been separated for most of their adult lives. When my aunt gave birth to Will, my uncle had been in jail. Hell, even Draco and Kara had been apart for years while he was in prison and they’d still figured it out. I was counting on the fact that for better or worse, I’d figure out the work stuff soon and I could go back to Bishop with my proverbial hat in hand and beg him to be with me.

  I mean, maybe I wouldn’t beg. Maybe I’d just strip down and climb in the shower with him again and tell him that I was all in. He’d probably like that better than begging anyway. Though, if I was on my knees—

  “Charlotte,” my dad snapped. “Focus.”

  “What did you say?” I asked, coming to a stop by their little table.

  “I said that I think it’s the best move,” my dad said, leaning back in his seat. “You’ll be closer to the club and get that traffic. Plus, the traffic is thicker on that corner than the one you’re currently on. Baby girl, I think that you need to make a big move. If you don’t—”

  “I’m toast,” I said, dropping down across from him.

  “You’re gonna be in real trouble,” he confirmed.

  “I just can’t figure it out,” I said, throwing my hands in the air. “There was plenty of traffic before. How the fuck did things change so fast? I haven’t made any changes from when Mal owned the place beyond some new cups and one new drink on the menu!”

  “I don’t know, kid,” my dad said, shaking his head. “Your mom says you’re postin’ on social media and getting’ the word out. To be honest with ya—it’s not makin’ much sense.”

  “It probably didn’t help that you guys keep parking and watching me all damn day,” I muttered.

  My dad shot me a look. “We stopped last week,” he replied. “You get a sudden surge in sales?”

  “No,” I muttered.

  “That’s what I thought,” he replied. “He been back?”

  “Nope.”

  “Good,” he said. “Looks like he can take a hint. Which surprises the fuck outta me.”

  “He probably will,” I said honestly. “Just as he realizes you won’t be back.”

  “He stops by the shop, you—”

  “Call you,” I said, cutting him off. “I know.”

  “You ever see me overreact?” my dad asked seriously.

  “You’re one of the most logical people I know,” I replied with a sigh.

  “Probably true,” he said. “So, you see me overreact?”

  “No,” I replied. “Except if mom’s shaking her ass on top of a pool table.”

  Dad laughed. “Even that’s not an overreaction,” he said, shuffling the papers on the table in front of him. “Only reason she climbs up there is so I’ll come get her.”

  I made vomiting noises, dramatically bending at the waist and heaving.

  “We were young once, you know,” he said with a grin.

  “I prefer not to think about it,” I replied.

  “Here’s the thing, Charlie,” my dad said, his tone growing more serious. “You need to cut down on what you’re buyin’ and streamline the menu options. Cut costs there, first. Keep the prices the same, ’cause you don’t have the cash for a new sign. And you gotta get some more traffic comin’ through the shop. You don’t have that, none of the rest of it is gonna help you.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  God, I was so tired. When I wasn’t working, I was thinking about work. When I was asleep, I dreamed about it—waking up in the middle of the night so I could go over numbers again. I couldn’t believe that my big plan, the one I’d thought through for months, was failing.

  I didn’t fucking fail.

  “You head over and talk to Tommy right now,” my dad ordered. “He’s at the garage and I told him you’d be stoppin’ by.”

  “He’s gonna give me shit,” I complained, getting to my feet.

  “Probably,” my dad said, handing me the folder of papers. “But he’d give you the fuckin’ moon if you asked for it and you both know it, so take the shit and say thank you when he eventually tells you yes.”

  “Yes, father,” I said, leaning down to kiss his forehead.

  “Your ma might be there,” he said as he followed me out of the trailer. “Tell her I’ll be there soon.”

  “Why is she at the clubhouse?”

  “Bringin’ me lunch,” he said with a chuckle. “She didn’t know I was meetin’ you today.”

  “It wasn’t a secret,” I replied as he walked me to my car.

  “I know, I just didn’t want her here,” he said, shooting me a grin. “They’re deliverin’ that claw foot tub today that she saw at the vintage place up north a couple months ago.”

  “The one she kept talking about?” I asked, my jaw dropping. “I thought you told her it wouldn’t work.”

  “I lied,” he said easily. “It’s a surprise, so keep it to yourself.”

  “I will,” I promised. “She’s going to shit!”

  I couldn’t keep the smile off my face as I headed for the Aces compound. I wanted a relationship like my parents,’ even though they grossed me out on a regular basis. They were so good to each other.

  When I was growing up, it had been weird as one of the kids of the town’s notorious motorcycle club. There’d been talk—I was pretty sure all of us had dealt with it in one way or another. Parents didn’t want their kids playing at our houses. They called us worldly—as if that was a bad thing. Looked down their noses at us when they saw us at school events. But by the time I was a teenager, I realized that it was all bullshit. I’d had the most stable life out of any of my friends. Their parents cheated, split up, lost their jobs and houses. While mine, well, they just kept on loving each other and us kids. Outside forces may have made our lives harder in some ways, but our family unit was unshakeable. Most kids didn’t have that.

  You really can’t judge a book by its cover.

  My dad must have called him, because Tommy was waiting outside for me when I got to the club.

  “Your pop said you needed to talk to me,” he called out from his seat on one of the picnic tables. “You’ve got as long as it takes for me to finish this.” He held up a smoldering joint and waved it from side to side.

  “I better hurry, then,” I said dryly. I started talking as I walked toward him, and by the time I’d reached him, I’d lined out exactly what I wanted and how much I was willing to pay him. I was hoping that by laying it all out quickly, he wouldn’t have the opportunity to argue with every single word I said… maybe just the big points.

  “Sounds good,” he said easily.

  I jerked in surprise.

  “You’ll have to go fully organic and make sure you have vegan options,” he continued, making my jaw drop open.

  “I—what?”

  “Or just organic options,” he said, waving his joint around. “And vegan ones. Vegans are no animal products, right? You can do that. Coffee comes from beans.”

  “Back up,” I said, struggling not to laugh.

  “The main building is gonna be one of those hippie dippie health food stores,” he replied.

  “It’s tiny.”

  “I’m guessin’ they don’t have much variety,” he said dryly. “The price was right.”

  I stood there staring at him, this man I’d known my whole life, that I’d seen eat four fast-food cheeseburgers in less than ten minutes, who treated his body like anything but a temple.

  “Heather’s putting you up to this, isn’t she?” I asked finally.

  “Woman’s about to bankrupt me,” he said, shaking his head. “Whole house is filled with organic shit. I’m hopin’ they’ll give us a discount.”

  I couldn’t hold back the laughter any longer.

  “Just sayin,’ that off brand cereal she buys tastes nothin’ like the real stuff,” he said with a scoff. “It tastes like ass, Charlie.”

  I kept laughing. I couldn’t help it.

  “She’s sayin’ she might stop dyin’ her hair because of the chemicals.”

  I snorted.

  “I don’t even know what her real hair color is,” he continued.

  “Wait it out,” I said finally, gasping for air. “She won’t be able to maintain it.”

  “I fuckin’ hope not,” he replied, dropping the last bit of his joint on the ground and pressing the toe of his boot on it. “Send me the paperwork and we’ll get you all set up. There was a cart there a few years back, so you should be golden.”

  “Thank you,” I said, throwing my arms around him.

  “You’re welcome,” he said grudgingly, hugging me back. “I’ll expect free coffee.”

  “I’ll expect free rent,” I countered.

  “I’ll pay for the coffee.”

  “I thought you would,” I said, letting him go.

  He went back into the garage and I skipped over to the clubhouse door, swinging it open with a huge grin on my face.

  I mean, sure, going partially organic was going to cut into profit when I couldn’t really handle it—but if there was a new health food store going in where I thought was going to be a mini-mart—my prospects were looking a whole lot better. People were going to want coffee while they shopped and there was going to be way more traffic than I’d thought. I could totally make it work.

  “What are you so happy about?” my aunt Callie asked, grinning back at me from a table near the door.

  “Your son is going to rent me space for the cart,” I said excitedly, sitting down across from her and my uncle Grease.

  “Was that ever really in question?” Uncle Grease asked with a laugh.

  “I thought dealing with him would be a lot harder than it was,” I replied dryly, making them both chuckle. “Have you seen my mom?”

  “I told her that her bathroom looked nasty, so she’s in there cleaning it,” Aunt Callie said easily, waving her hand in the direction of my parents’ club room.

  “Dad told you about the tub,” I said quietly.

  “When she saw he wasn’t here, she was going to go home and find out what the holdup was,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I had to stop her somehow.”

  “Sneaky,” I replied.

  “It was that, or let this one start an argument,” she said, pointing at my uncle. “and I didn’t want to listen to them.” Aunt Callie shrugged. “Go tell her your news, I’m sure she’s almost done.”

  I found my mom scouring the sink wearing rubber gloves that went up to her elbows.

  “Whatcha doing?” I asked, making her shriek in surprise.

  “Cleaning this damn sink,” she replied. “I swear, I’m going to talk to the cleaning lady. We pay her really well to do this shit for us.”

  “Be nice,” I replied. “Sue is awesome.”

  “She is awesome,” my mom confirmed. “That’s why I don’t know why this sink looks so fucking nasty.” She sighed. “What are you doing here in the middle of the day?”

  “I had to come talk to Tommy,” I replied.

  “Your dad told you about his idea to move the cart?”

  “It’s a good idea,” I said, leaning my hips against the counter. “I should’ve thought of it.”

  “Hard to come up with good ideas when you’re drowning,” my mom said sympathetically. “What did Tommy say?”

  “He said I have to go organic,” I replied with a huff of laughter. “I guess they’re putting in a health food store.”

  “Heather,” my mom said, getting it right on the first guess.

  “Yep. But he agreed to the rental terms and told me to get him the paperwork.”

  “That’s good,” my mom said happily. “How do you feel about it?”

  “Excited,” I said, cautiously. “Optimistic for the first time in over a month.”

  “Good,” she said, peeling off the gloves. “You should be.”

  “I don’t know what the fuck is going on, mom,” I replied quietly. “Why can’t I make this place work? I’m doing everything right.”

  “I don’t know, kid,” she said, throwing her arm over my shoulder. “But don’t panic yet. We’ll figure it out. Moving is just going to be the first step—your new space is going to be so rad, you won’t know what to do with all those customers.”

  I spent almost an hour with my mom, thinking up new drinks and ways to stand out in the new spot, and by the time my dad got there for lunch we’d agreed to paint the outside of the cart and were still debating on changing the name to something a little more my style.

  “You talk to Tommy?” my dad said, stepping into the room.

  “Did you know he was putting in a health food store?” I asked.

  “He’d mentioned it,” he replied, going over to give my mom a kiss hello. “Should be even better for you.”

  “Than a mini-mart?” I asked with a smile. “Uh, yeah. You know the people around here love a good granola bar. We’ll have way more traffic.”

  “You bring lunch?” my dad said, still looking at my mom.

  “Subs,” she replied, smiling up at him. “I threw them in the mini-fridge.”

  “Good, I’m starvin.’”

  By the way he’d said the last few words, I knew that I needed to bail. Quickly.

  Gross.

  I said my goodbyes and left them smiling at each other like a couple of newlyweds. Since I’d already worked that morning, I had the rest of the day to get shit done—namely cleaning out my car and stopping by the pharmacy for a new bottle of lotion that Molly had recommended. I ran my hand down the new scar on my thigh as I drove back toward town.

  Bishop had been right to be concerned about the stupid thing. Less than a week after my graduation party, I’d woken up with it hot to the touch and red as a cherry. Thank God I hadn’t tried to get Molly to stitch it up, because they’d had to debride the nasty thing to clean it out. A heavy duty dose of antibiotics had kicked the infection, but by the time it started healing, I had a pretty gnarly scar to remember it—much worse than the original scratch. The lotion Molly had recommended was supposed to help the scar fade, but I wasn’t super worried about it. I just hoped it would help with the way it itched as the skin healed.

  After stopping at the pharmacy and the grocery store for a few things, I ran to the car wash and was in the middle of vacuuming out the back seat when my phone rang.

  “What’s up?” I asked, out of breath and still bent into a pretzel trying to reach the back floorboard.

  “Are you coming home soon?” Kara asked ominously.

  “I was just finishing up the car, why?” I asked, sitting up.

  “I’m at the school. I’ll be home in twenty. Meet you there?”

  “Is everything okay?” I asked, getting worried.

  “I’m fine. Draco’s fine,” she replied.

  “You’re freaking me out.”

  “Don’t be,” she said, sounding angry. “Meet me at home.”

  “Okay,” I said, surprised when she hung up abruptly.

  I didn’t bother finishing the car. If she would be home in twenty, I wanted to be there when she got there. I couldn’t think of any reason she’d be so fired up to meet me back at the house, and it drove me crazy. Did it have something to do with Bishop? I’d caught a glimpse of him when I’d gotten to my parents’ house that morning, and he’d seemed fine.

  Fine as hell, actually, wearing that fucking tool belt.

  I beat Kara home by ten minutes.

  “Charlie, where are you?” she yelled as she stormed in the front door.

  “I’m on this fancy ass couch you bought,” I replied, looking over the back of it. “What the hell is going on?”

  “I was in my last class and we were talking about our favorite coffee places, and I said yours of course—”

  “Obviously,” I replied.

  “And they started talking about how I shouldn’t go there because you had all of these health code violations.”

  “What?” I yelled.

  “Yeah,” she said, throwing her bag down. “I was like, I work there and we’ve never had a single violation.”

  “What the fuck?”

  “They said that someone at this other coffee shop is telling everyone about it and that it’s all over the community pages that when Mal sold to you it all started going downhill—”

  “That’s bullshit!”

  “I know that,” she yelled back. “I told them that! They were talking about rats and bugs and mold and—I was so pissed I wanted to scream. There’s all this bullshit going around and we had no fucking clue.”