“Mrs. Uppity has spoken. Really, Lil? Your man is not going to bar me. He likes what I can do with my mouth too much.” DaVine is way too drunk. She knows better than to mouth at me and to lie on Jethro. This will not go well for her. I know Jethro doesn’t cheat.
“You just made your worst mistake. Jethro will throw your drunk ass out for spewing lies about him.” DaVine may be drunk but she moves up beside Katie before I can stop her. What she does next shocks everyone. She grabs Katie by her hair and tries to hit her, but Katie surprises the hell out of me. She knocks DaVine’s hand down and pushes her back against the bar by her throat.
“I don’t know you or why you think you can bully me. I may be quiet and not good in crowds, but I have always had to take care of myself. If you touch me again I will kick your ass out of this clubhouse. Are we clear on that?”
Zig Zag has moved over by DaVine and is standing there in case it gets out of hand. “Shine has decided he wants me and I want to give it a try, so leave us alone.” With that Katie lets DaVine go. Zig Zag takes DaVine by the arm and I nod for him to take her out. Jethro will deal with her later. I am amazed Katie does not seem affected at all until she winces and I know those quick moves hurt her ribs.
“Are you okay, Katie?” She’s nodding her head, but I know it caused her pain. I smile at her. “I think you are going to fit in here just fine. You handled that in just the right way.” Katie smiles back.
“Are you sure? I didn’t want to make anyone mad. Shine asked me to be his and I agreed. I’m not going to let anyone interfere with us. I want to fit in here.” Katie doesn’t know just how happy she has made me.
“Thank you, Katie. DaVine overstepped and the brothers will take care of her. You are family now and I know Shine is over the moon happy. Never let a club girl run over you. I was worried you couldn’t handle this life, but you just showed me you can. Now, let’s get this finished so we can get home.” Yes, Katie is family now and that is the best Christmas present I could get.
Chapter 13
Shine
Katie has been here almost two weeks and she is a more than I could have ever hoped for in an old lady. It’s Christmas Eve and today we went ahead and moved all of Katie’s stuff in the apartment over the barn. I want her in my house but we are taking it one step at a time. As long as I know she is mine, that is all that matters. After the altercation between them at the clubhouse, Cap banned DaVine. That’s not a headache I have to worry about anymore. Katie starts work right after New Year’s. She’s already doing housework for a paycheck, but her farm duties start then. Not that she hasn’t been attached to the animals already. I picked up her two perfect Christmas presents this morning. It’s a big surprise. She gets one tonight at the clubhouse and one in the morning at Lil and Cap’s.
Katie finished her first semester of college and is already pre-enrolled for the next one. We got her fixed up with another old truck. She had her pick of the extra vehicles Cap and Lil had and she picked the oldest truck they had. She said it had character.
All the brothers are getting restless and our stomachs are growling with the smells coming out of the kitchen. The clubhouse is festive with nearly everyone here. Lil and Katie have been cooking for three days. Lil finally comes out of the kitchen and waves Cap in to get the bird out of the oven. All the brothers make their way to the table. Cap sets the turkey in the middle of the food table and makes his way back over to have his say at the head of the table.
“We have had a good year this year. Everyone is healthy and we haven’t lost any of our loved ones. We’ve added Katie, so everything is good. We are expanding our territory and our businesses are prosperous. All in all, a great year. Thank you ladies for doing a great job on our meal. Let’s eat.” Cap grabs a plate and everyone follows him. It was a great meal. The ladies cooked, so the prospects clean.
After everything is cleaned and put away we make our way over by the bar and the tree. It’s full of presents. Lil makes sure everyone has at least one for tonight and one for in the morning. She’s our own Santa. Katie’s present for here, I took care of.
Everyone has a gift wrapped present in front of them, so I take the envelope out of my pocket. I try to straighten it, but it really doesn’t matter. I hand it to her and she stares at it. I think she will love it, but now I have doubts. She is going first or my nerves will kill me. “Katie, you get to go first.” Katie is still kind of shy, so she looks to me and I nod my head. She rips the envelope open and she gets the biggest smile on her face.
“You got me a puppy. Thank you. I’ve never had a pet of my own before. I’ve never been in a situation that I could take care of one.” Katie has tears in her eyes.
“Katie Bug, are you okay? I didn’t mean to make you cry. I will get you something different if you want me to.” I just wanted to make her happy. She loves Lil’s pets.