"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.
"Daddy," MacKenzie said. "You promised me a toy, remember? I want a toy."
"Hey MacKenzie," I said. My chest was already tight, thinking about what I was about to do. "I need you and your daddy to look at something with me. Uncle Axe isn't good at picking out sparkly things all by himself. I need an expert girl opinion for this. Do you think you can help me pick out something shiny-and then we can get a toy after that?" I opened the door.
"Like something shiny for a princess?" MacKenzie asked.
"Exactly like that. Something for June," I said. "Do you think you can help me?"
"A jewelry shop?" Crunch asked. "Shit, dude, are you about to do what I think you're about to do?"
I nodded. Crunch looked at me, his eyes wide. "This wasn't what I expected when you said you needed to run an errand."
"Daddy, you said a bad word," MacKenzie said. "You said shit. You're not supposed to say that. Shit, shit, shit."
"Stop repeating it," Crunch said. "If you don't tell your mother what I just said, I'll buy you a toy when we get done."
MacKenzie sung it as we walked inside the store. "Shit, shit, shit."
Crunch swept her up in his arms. "Mac, why don't we play that little game where if you're quiet, you get a toy?" he asked.
I looked around at the clear cases. Was I really going to do this?
"Looking for anything in particular?" The salesperson eyed us, the expression on her face either fear or distaste, I wasn't sure. I was sure that, even without the leather cuts, two dirty tattooed guys weren't exactly her usual clientele. MacKenzie ran in front of us, pressed her face up against one of the cases.
"Look!" she squealed. "Look at all the sparkly things!"
"A ring," I said, nearly choking on the words. "An engagement ring."