“Sara’s here.”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that name. I take it she’s doing well,” she huffed as she placed her cup of coffee down on the table and crossed her arms. I could see she wasn’t happy Sara had returned. When she left for college, mom wanted me to go with her and hated the fact I had no interest in following her. She’d always wanted my brothers and me to go to college and start lives outside of the club, and even though she’s seen that we’ve had a good life, she’s always wanted more for us. Sara had gotten out, and a part of my mother resented her for it.
“She’s doing alright, I guess,” I answered, hoping she wouldn’t push for more.
Without skipping a beat, she smiled and asked, “Has she finally come back to claim her lost love?”
Shaking my head, I answered, “No. That ship sailed a long time ago.”
“Are you sure about that? You know, there was a time when you really loved that girl,” she asked with regret in her eyes. There was one thing I always knew for certain when it came to my mother, she loved us. She was hard on us, had to be with three boys, but she’d move mountains to make sure we were happy.
“I’m sure. It’s all good, so don’t worry.”
“I’ll always worry, Cotton,” she cried as she brought her hand up to her chest. “You know, I’m not getting any younger, and all this worrying isn’t good for my heart. It sure would make it easier on your old mother if you’d just settle down and have me some grandchildren. Just one or two—enough to keep me distracted.” And there it was. She always managed to get it in one way or another.
“You’ve already got two grandkids, mom,” I scolded.
“And they are precious, but they aren’t yours,” she smiled.
“Ok, I’m working on it,” I laughed. “I just came by to let you know we’re going out of town for a little while. Joe and Luke will be around if you need anything, and you can go back to the house whenever you’re ready.”
“Does this mean the trouble you were in is over?” she asked.
“Not exactly, but it’ll all be over soon enough.”
“Then I’m staying right here till you get back. Besides, I like being close to my boys whenever I can,” she smiled.
I stood to leave, but before I could get out the door, Joe came in, and when he saw me standing there, said “Hey, bro. When ya leaving?”
“Early tomorrow morning. Gonna need you to keep an eye on Mom and Cass while we’re gone.”
“You got it. You sure you don’t want me to go with you? Luke can watch over Mom and Cass,” he offered.
“No, need you here more. Luke will have his hands full with Katie and the kids,” I told him as I walked toward the door. “Guardrail’s in charge while we’re gone. Let him know if anything comes up.”
He nodded as I turned to leave. Before I walked out, I turned to Mom and said, “Joe’s got himself a new lady friend. Heard they were an item,” I taunted. “Bet he’d be more than happy to give you some grandbabies.”
When I shut the door, I heard Joe yell, “Thanks a lot, bro!”
Feeling the need to recharge, I was ready to lay my eyes on Cass, but it was getting late and I needed to let Sara know we were going to be leaving in the morning. I hated the thought of leaving Cass, but Derek had to be dealt with, the sooner the better.
When I knocked on her door, she called out, “The door’s open.”
When I walked in, she had her back propped up against the wall and a stack of papers resting in her lap. “Got a minute?”
“Sure. Come on in,” she answered and motioned for me to enter.
“Just wanted to let you know we’ll be leaving at five-thirty tomorrow morning.”
“Okay. I’ll be ready.” She quickly sifted through the stack of papers, and when she found the page she was looking for, she said, “I’ve been looking at all the stuff Seth sent over, and I wanted to show you something. Seth has been trying to locate the rest of Derek’s men. From security footage, we already knew Joe Delaney made it back, but other than him, we’ve only been able to locate two of the guys who left with Derek two weeks ago. That means most of the others were killed during their attack on your club.”
Typical Sara, she’d managed to put two and two together before I’d even started to explain everything that had happened with Derek. With the information she’d gathered, we’d have no problem locating Derek and putting an end to this whole thing once and for all. “Good. We’ll have less to contend with when we get to Anchorage.”
“I really appreciate you doing all this,” she said softly. “I didn’t know who else to turn to.”
“Glad you came to me,” I smiled. “You’ve helped us more than you realize.” I paused for a moment, thinking about what Doc had told me about her ex, then said, “I’m sorry about you and Ben.”