“Well, hi there, Kinsey. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Posey.”
“Kins, how about you and Alfie help Posey?” Kinsey’s mom, Quinlan, suggested.
I knew Quinlan from high school. She was a senior as I came in as a freshman and she’d been my student mentor. She was the nicest person I’d ever met, but we’d lost touch when she’d married her first husband, so when I saw her name on the sign-up sheet, I was excited to see her again.
I grinned as the girls helped pass things out to people, and we almost ran out of mats. Luckily, one of Quin’s friends, Lyric I think her name was, had brought her own, so we squeaked by, but I made a mental note to order more to be safe.
“Welcome, everyone,” I said, doing my best not to yell too aggressively over the crowd. “Jane and I are so glad you’re here. We’re going to start the class with some stretches. I’ll come around and help your kiddos while Jane demonstrates on the dais. Ready?”
The group gave an affirmative ‘Yes,’ and Jane started her routine.
For the next hour, I got more of a workout than most of the class as I helped moms show their kids how to do the beginner poses while trying to wrangle the younger ones.
Particularly, the cutest pair of twins I’d ever seen.
“Jesus,” their mom hissed under her breath. “Chloe, Nix, come here.”
The twins squealed and ran the opposite way while I tried to bite back a smile.
“I’m so sorry. They’re terrorists,” she complained.
I chuckled, catching Phoenix as he ran past me, and lifting him high as he let out a howl of laughter. “Gotcha.”
Olivia caught Chloe and closed the distance between us. “I think we should call it a day.”
I shrugged. “I can carry him around for a bit if you want to try again.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely,” I said. “I love babies.”
“Your funeral.”
I chuckled and we worked on the next set of poses with Olivia holding Chloe. Phoenix was content being carried around the room for approximately six minutes, then he decided he was over it all. Luckily, the class was pretty much over, so I handed him back to his mom and we started cool down.
“Good job, everyone,” I called out once we were done. “Please make sure you get some water if you don’t already have some. Jane will be available for sign ups and has class schedules at the front desk.”
“Mama,” Kinsey said to Quin as she rolled up her mat. “Can we do Posey’s poses again?”
I nearly burst out laughing. How fucking cute was that?
“You bet, baby.” Quin grinned over to me and I smiled back as I took her props and put them away.
I had another class starting in twenty minutes, so I took a few minutes to spray everything down with disinfectant, leaving it to dry while I went back to the desk to say goodbye to everyone.
“Family night Saturday night,” Quin said, as she helped Kinsey with her coat.
“Congratulations?”
Quin chuckled. “My husband’s club. The Dogs of Fire. They have a family night once a month and you are welcome to come if you’d like some good old-fashioned BBQ.”
“And several hot bikers,” Jasmine piped in.
I’d rather BBQ with several hot fire fighters.
No… one.
One firefighter.
I sighed. “I’m not sure about Saturday, can I let you know?”
“Of course,” Quin said. “I’ll text you the details.”
“I appreciate that.”
She hugged me, then took her children and followed her friends out of the studio.
* * *
Shadow
“Do you remember what I told you?” I asked Ethan.
“Measure then cut.”
“Measure what,” I prompted.
I was currently on my knees, nailing the baseboard to the bottom of the walls now that the floor was in.
“Measure twice, cut once.”
I grinned. “Exactly.”
“Why?”
“Because if you cut the board too short, you’ve wasted supplies, and you don’t want to waste anything.” I nodded to my toolbox. “Hand me that hammer.”
“But you’re using the gun,” Ethan pointed out, even though he grabbed the hammer and handed it to me.
“Sometimes, the nail gun’s too big to get into tight spaces.”
His eyebrows drew inward, and he cocked his head. “Dad says he has to deal with Mom’s tight spaces. Do you think a hammer would help him?”
“You should ask him,” I said, turning away in case the kid saw me biting back a shout of laughter.
Jesus. When Caspar heard about this, he was gonna bust a gut.
“Ethan?” I heard Brooke call and I smiled over at him.
“Go see your mom, bud. I’m good here.”
“Do I have to?”
I chuckled, standing and dropping the hammer back in the box. “Yeah, bud, you have to. Come on, I’ll walk with you.”
He let out a sigh, but because his parents raised him right, he turned and walked out of the greenhouse. I followed.
“There you are,” Brooke breathed out as she grinned. “Did you have fun?”
“We nailed trim,” Ethan said, proudly.
“Good job.” She raised her head to me. “Thanks for everything, Shadow. I owe you one.”
“Anytime, sweetheart,” I said, and Brooke walked Ethan back into the barn.
I headed to my room, stepping into the shower before I had to crash, or I’d be in a shit state when I started my shift tomorrow.
CHAPTER THREE
Shadow
WEDNESDAY NIGHT, DOC had called an all-hands church meeting. This typically happened once a month, but he’d called a special session for an announcement that would affect the club. As ominous as that sounded, it didn’t worry me. There could be all manner of reasons as to why the meeting was called.
Traffic was light and I made it to the barn in record time. Since I was early, I thought I’d slip into the meeting room while it was empty to look at the club relics which adorned the walls. A biker’s clubhouse wasn’t unlike a firehouse. Both were filled with markers and memorials of brothers who’d gone before us, and I never missed an opportunity to give my attention and pay my respects. I opened the meeting room door and was surprised to find Doc, Doom, and Rabbit seated at the table. It was twenty minutes until church, but the three of them had clearly gathered for a private meeting of their own.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know anyone was in here,” I said.
“Don’t worry about it,” Doc said. “We’re almost done. Go ahead and grab a beer and we’ll be out in a few.”
I did as I was told, closing the door behind me before making my way to the kitchen.
“She wasn’t that ugly,” I heard Alamo say, followed by laughter. I entered the room to find our Sergeant at Arms, Alamo, resident crazy old guy, Gator, and new recruit, Dylan, shooting the shit and drinking.
“Yes, she was,” Gator challenged. “She was ugly as fucking sin, and you know it.”
“How dare you,” Alamo said.
“That bitch had bug eyes, crooked teeth, her hair was falling out, and she had the worst breath I’ve ever smelled.”