"Hey June!" April waved from the kitchen.
"Let me put you to work, June," Stan greeted me, handing me a stack of plates. "Go ahead and put these on the table for me." Then, as I was busying myself with the task, he called. "Oh, and it's good to see you."
The house was controlled chaos, and stayed that way throughout dinner and then afterward, until MacKenzie finally fell asleep in April's arms, sitting in the rocking chair on the front porch. We sat outside, mostly silent, and sitting there beside Cade, I felt content. Calm.
I watched as Crunch stood and kissed the top of his wife's head, and she gave him this look that was so...in love with him. I was filled with a sudden sense of longing, wanting that sense of family.
Cade noticed me watching them, and reached for my hand, squeezing it. "It's nice, huh?" he asked.
I nodded. I couldn't really put it into words. It was beyond nice.
A few minutes later, I was in the kitchen helping Stan clean up. The room was quiet, everyone momentarily gone doing other things.
"June," Stan said. "You and Cade..." He ran a dishtowel over the surface of a bowl he'd just washed.
"Yes." It still sounded foreign to my ears. Me and Cade.
"He's good with you," he said.
He was, wasn't he?
Stan stopped what he was doing, turned toward me. "Be careful with him," he said.
"What do you mean?" Was he trying to warn me off of him now?
"He's loves you. It's always been about you. Just..." Stan's voice trailed off. "Just promise me you'll take care with him."
"I wouldn't do anything to hurt him, Stan."
Stan nodded, his expression thoughtful. "I know you won't, June."
"Of course, Stan." I was about to say something else, but Cade walked into the kitchen, sliding his arm around my waist.
"What are the two of you whispering about?"
"Nothing," Stan said. "Now, you kids get out of here and leave me in peace to clean up. You're cluttering up my kitchen."
"I'm happy to help finish," I started, but Stan waved at me with his dish towel.
"Get on out of here," he said.
I kissed him on the cheek before we left. "I'll take care of him, Stan. I promise."
Axe
"Shit, man," Crunch said. "I've never seen you like this."
"What?" I asked. I whistled, scooping up his plate and setting it in the sink, then wiping the counters in my dad's kitchen. "I've got no idea what you're talking about. I might as well clean up in here, while dad's out feeding the horses."
"All this," Crunch said, gesturing. "All this happy shit. I'm not complaining, you know. It's nice to not see you moping around, looking like death."
"Thanks."
"Why are you over here, anyway?" Crunch asked. "Shouldn't you be over at June's?"
"She's going to help my dad out, ride up to the ridge on Missy, check the salt licks and fence line," I said. "It's a good excuse for you and me to go into town."
"What do we need to go in to town for?" Crunch asked, distracted by his laptop. He didn't wait for me to answer, but looked up from the computer right away. "Hey. I got an email from Blaze. They're flying out of Vietnam."
"Okay."
"Do you know what you're going to do?"
What was I going to do? I hadn't exactly thought through a plan when I'd told June I loved her. All I knew is that I wanted to be with her. But that didn't change any of the club shit.
"We talked about it before, Crunch." I sat down across from him at the table. "Leaving the club."
He nodded. "Is that what you want to do?"
"I don't know," I said. "I'd do it for her, though. We could finally give it a real go. They think we're dead, you know? Maybe this really could be a new start for us."
He nodded. "I've thought about it too, long and hard. I considered going back to Puerto Rico, taking April and MacKenzie back to April's family. Starting over again."
"But..." I said.
"But they killed Tank," Crunch said. "They need to pay for that."
Never leave a fallen man behind.
We had left Tank behind.
We had to fix it, make it right. June would understand. I'd come back for her when it was all over.
I nodded. "I know you're right."
She would understand. She had to understand.
"We'll need to go soon. This weekend at the latest, now that Blaze is on the way," he said. "We can talk to him and Benicio, figure out what needs to be done."
"What about April and Mac? We stashing them someplace safe in Cali?"
"I want them close, yeah," he said. "We need to be sure we have a line on your dad and June, too, leaving them here. If shit goes south with the club, families could get involved."
"After that, I'm out of the club," I said. It was only as the words came out of my mouth that I realized it's what I really wanted to do. "I can't do it anymore. I'm coming back here. A fresh start."
Crunch nodded. "That's good, Axe."
But first, there was something I needed to do.
"Tell me why you dragged me down here to go shopping?" Crunch asked.