Colt still hadn’t shown up yet.
I wandered away from people, ambling toward a group of kids that were hanging out under a tree. I didn’t know who belonged to whom, but there were eight of them, with more girls than boys, age range varied.
Two of the older girls glanced at me with shy smiles. A young boy, maybe ten years old, was bolder. He got up off the ground and ran toward me, a mop of dark brown hair falling into his eyes. Brushing his hair away from his face, he peered up at me with a huge grin. He was missing his two front teeth, and it only made him cuter.
“Hi!” he said.
“Hi, there.”
“Who are you?”
“Mia. Who are you?”
“Cameron. You can call me Cam. Did you know asparagus makes your pee smell funny?”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing. As solemnly as I could, I answered, “I did know that.”
“He’s been telling everyone that fun little fact,” one of the older girls said, calling out from her spot under the tree.
“What happened to your arm?” Cam asked, gesturing to my cast.
“Oh, I tripped over a tree root.”
Cam’s brown eyes widened. “Really?”
I nodded. “I’m clumsy.”
The boy latched onto my uninjured hand and pulled me toward his friends. “Want to sit with us?”
“Sure,” I said, parking it on the grass and sitting on my haunches so my sundress hit my knees.
Because they were kids and naturally inquisitive, they asked me tons of questions without worrying if they were inappropriate. But they were adorable and full of energy, and before I knew it, we were all engaged in a game of tag and I was It.
Pretending to be out of breath and slow, I sank down to my knees. The youngest girl of the group—a little blond moppet named Lily who happened to be Cam’s sister—approached me.
“Help!” I panted. “I’m tired!”
The girl took another step toward me, coming within my reach. I attacked her with tickles, her shrieks of laughter loud and infectious.
“You’re It!” I teased, standing up, brushing the grass off my knees. My dress was dirty, but I didn’t care.
“I don’t want to be It,” she said. “I want a hotdog.”
“Me too,” I said. I held out my hand to her, and she clasped it. “Let’s go.” I looked at the other kids. “You guys hungry?”
There was a chorus of ‘yesses’ and then we were off for food. The gaggle of kids surrounded me. The older girls, who I learned were thirteen—Allison’s sister and her friend—were at that age where they thought adults weren’t cool. But they were excited to talk to me. Guess I didn’t scream adult to them. They asked me questions about clothes and makeup, and they brought me into their inner circle.
“Will you fix my hotdog for me?” Lily asked, scrambling up to take a seat on a picnic table bench.
Before I could answer, Darcy jumped in, “You don’t have to make her a hotdog. I can do that.”
“Ah, so Lily and Cam belong to you,” I said with a smile. Lily had Darcy’s nose, and their resemblance was easy to see once they were together.
“I claim them,” Darcy said, picking up a paper plate and filling it with a little bit of everything and a hotdog.
“Plain,” Lily reminded her.
Darcy set the plate down in front of Lily and then before the little girl could protest, Darcy had a paper napkin tucked into the front of Lily’s dress so she wouldn’t get food on herself. “I’m not a baby,” Lily muttered as Darcy moved on, fixing a plate for Cam.
I made my own paper bib and stuck it in the front of my dress. I winked at Lily who giggled. I procured myself a plate of food and was munching away, purposefully getting mustard all over my face to make Lily feel better.
“You’re messy!”
“Yes, I am,” I agreed, wiping the mustard off my cheeks.
She lost all interest in me when she looked across the lawn and bellowed, “Uncle Colt!” She climbed down from her seat and ran toward him.
I watched in amazement as the broody biker lifted the little girl high in the air above his head. His face was soft and open as he carried Lily back to her seat and plopped her down. She began eating again, a wide smile across her face as she chewed.
“What happened to your eye?” she asked Colt.
“I walked into a tree branch,” Colt said, not missing a stride.
“Really?” Cam piped up. “Mia tripped on a tree root. You guys are clumsy.”
“Yes, we really are,” I agreed. I bit my lip to stem a smile.
Colt grinned at me and reached up to wipe something off my cheek.
“Mustard?” I guessed.
“Yeah.”
“Did you stop off and get beer and chips?” I asked him, spearing a piece of watermelon and putting it in my mouth.
“Nope.” Colt piled his plate high with potato salad, a hotdog, and a cheeseburger.
“What? Oh man, now everyone will think I’m a bad party guest.”
Colt looked at me in amusement. “This party is for you, you know.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” he said, taking a bite of the cheeseburger. “The guys wanted to meet you.”
“Why?”
He grinned. “Why do you think?”
“Because I’m a novelty.”
Looking up from his food, he stared at me. “One of a kind.”
Happiness curled through me and I couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across my face.
Chapter 11
Afternoon sank into evening. Gray lit the bonfire and Darcy brought out the ingredients for S’mores. Lily and Cam sat on either side of me on a log, asking me to make them dessert. I looked to Darcy who told them they could have one each. They grumbled, but when I promised I’d only eat one too and then smeared melted chocolate on all of our faces, they giggled and didn’t care.
I caught Colt’s gaze, flickering and dark in the firelight. Looking relaxed, he sipped his beer, nodding every few beats to something Zip was saying. Throughout the barbecue, I’d sought him out. Even when I was talking to Joni or Rachel, and some of the other Old Ladies, my mind and gaze wandered to Colt. There were a few times that I’d caught him looking at me, too.
Studying him in his element with his club showed me a different side of him. Though he was always in control, this was Colt around his tribe. I gave myself the luxury of a fantasy of what my life would look like if I chose to stay.
Acceptance. Family. Home.
Was I knowingly going to walk away from that?
The more time I spent with Colt, the more I was beginning to think he was right. We did fit together, we did understand one another, we were both looking for something more out of life than to just get by after the deaths of loved ones.
My thoughts were heavy as the night wore on. Those with children were gearing up to leave. Cam and Lily hugged me goodnight and then Darcy took them home. The kids who were siblings of members or girlfriends had their mothers come get them and then it was just the adults. Conversations turned low, and people split off into couples. I watched Joni and Zip sit next to each other but not touch or talk.
Wanting to be just a little bit closer to the fire, I got up off the log to sit on the ground. I felt someone at my back, and then the sweep of my hair off my shoulder. Colt’s large, warm hand rested on my neck, his thumb stroking the curve. I leaned back against his knees and closed my eyes, the heat of the fire warm at my front. A slight spring breeze tickled my ear and I let out a sigh.