“Hi back.”
She did the same to me, boosting my ego a little bit. Now the shaving effort felt all the more important. “Good day?” I cranked the engine and rolled us on toward Wheelz.
“Yep. Even better now.” A tender glow touched her eyes as she paid me the slight compliment.
“That’s good.” I smiled. I didn’t talk about our daughter and the incident. I needed to keep that to myself until I found out who it was. I wanted the night for us, just this night to see her relax.
When we got to Wheelz, the vibe was as I wanted it to be. Chilled and low-key. ‘Sweet Home Alabama’blasted out through the speakers, giving Wheelz a down home Mississippi feel. I felt grateful for the way the night was kicking off.
Mia and Numbers approached us not long after we walked in.
“Hey, Numbers, I haven’t seen you in a while. Mia, hey,” I said.
Lucy stood beside me, casually looking around.
Dread crept up on me because she would soon cross paths with Angie. I should have diffused that situation already. I never even dated the woman but I never admitted this to Lucy either. Kicking myself for being a chicken shit.
Mia smiled back as she sipped her clear drink in hand. “Hey Chalk,” she replied kindly, waiting a beat for an introduction.
“This is Lucy, Sarah’s mother. She’s living here now, and I’ve brought her down to meet the ladies.” An awkwardness seemed to flow in my introduction and I felt the heat in my cheeks. I wanted to say, ‘This is Lucy, the love of my life,’ but we definitely weren’t back there yet.
“Ah! Wow, I was so sorry to hear about everything you went through. You look like you’re doing well now.” Mia smiled.
“It’s been a long road of recovery, but I’m back on level ground now,” Lucy explained.
Mia put her at ease, I could tell. Now hopefully, she knew Wheelz wasn’t some dark, dangerous dungeon with weirdo bikers. We were just normal, everyday people having a good time. I let some of the angst inside of me go.
“Great to hear. You want a drink?” Numbers asked. “I’ll grab a round for us all, then you can meet Harper and Jaz. She’s here, right?”
Mia put her head on Numbers’ shoulder. “Yep, she’s here tonight.”
“A beer would go down fine,” Lucy answered, taking in the surroundings of the bar.
“Great, be back soon.” Numbers moved off to the bar.
Two other ladies came over to greet Lucy. I saw Bear and Angie talking in the corner, and I wanted an update on the story. I felt torn to leave Lucy until Jaz and Harper walked in. She would be okay with them. I touched her elbow to get her attention. “Hey, I’m just going to talk to Angie about the story. I have to check on a few things. Settle in and the girls will answer anything you wanna know.”
A cloud traveled over her face when I mentioned Angie’s name.
“It’s for the story,” I repeated quickly, not knowing if she was irritated by it. I hadn’t seen Angie so much. I’d tried to avoid being around her due to the confusion rattling my brain.
Her sweet brown eyes shone back at me. “Okay. Do what you have to do.”
“Good.” I winked at both Harper and Jaz as they waved, then I moved over to Angie and Bear. Bones, Smoke and Coyote had joined her and were talking with such animation I knew in the pit of my stomach drama was brewing. “Hey everyone, what’s shaking over here?” I asked.
Bones lips were pressed into a grim line as Bear listened on.
I mouthed hello to Angie.
She slunk over to me and ran her finger down my arm. She tilted her head in a ‘don’t-you-want-me’ way?
My smile was weak as I forced myself to step to the side.
“The Road Warriors and the Devils are teaming up to try and purchase the casino,” Bones replied. “Angie utilized her digging skills to find out for us.”
“We’re having a hard time catching a break. Insanity. How’d you find out, Angie?” I inquired, trying to keep it professional with her.
“I have a street source in Biloxi that told me the Road Warriors were upset about casino dealings and there was some sort of payback needed? I know they own that casino over there already.”