“Completely,” I nodded. Willow understood exactly where I was coming from.
“You ride up here?” Lout asked. “I want to see your bike.”
“No,” I told him. “They’ll be here to do the photo shoot for it in about a week. I’m going to keep her pristine until then. The Sportster I’m working on is coming along, though.”
“And now I’m headed off to something that won’t make me yawn,” Willow said as she moved out from under Lout’s arm. “I’m going to find Terra - will you check on the girls? They’re somewhere with Dot and Clem.”
“On it,” Lout nodded. He turned to start moving through the yard as he continued our conversation. Naturally, I moved with him since I was answering his questions.
“There’s my girl,” Lout interrupted me. We were standing in front of Daughtry and he had a toddler sitting on the table in front of him. The little girl was playing with his beard while he made funny faces at her and my heart stuttered just a little at the sight. “This is one of mine, Jamie - meet Di.”
When Lout spoke, Di and Daughtry turned their heads in unison. I saw now that the little girl’s face was covered in icing and she was actually trying to get crumbs out of Daughtry’s beard.
“You fed her shit, didn’t you?” Lout asked as he reached for his little girl. “Daughtry, you’re a sucker. Her mama is going to kick both of our asses.”
“I was hungry and she wanted a bite,” Daughtry defended himself, then leaned toward the little girl and rubbed noses with her before he said, “I share, huh? That’s why you love your Uncle Dot.”
The girl was totally smitten and giggled as she puckered her lips for a kiss. Daughtry gave her a peck and then nuzzled her neck with a growl and got her giggling all over again.
“I’m going to go and hide the evidence,” Lout grumbled.
“You are good at it,” the man across the table from us laughed.
“Willow knows it was you, Clem,” Lout growled. “Watch yourself. She’s on a mission. It might not be today, but it’s gonna happen.”
Clem laughed and took a sip of his beer, “I’m not done yet, buddy.”
“Fucking children,” Lout said with a shake of his head. “I’m out. Gotta find my other baby. I thought you had her.”
“Nope. Gave her up to Rowdy’s girls.”
“Rowdy and his old lady are here?”
“Nope,” Clem shook his head. “Rowdy took his old lady on a trip to celebrate after yesterday and his girls are staying with your brother.”
“Gotcha.” Lout walked off talking to his baby girl and she smiled up into his face like he was speaking gospel. It made my heart melt.
“Sit down, pretty lady - join us with your beer,” the man across the table said.
“Jamie, this is my brother, Clem,” Daughtry told me. I realized that the man’s name was on his vest, the leather cut that many of the men in the yard were wearing. “Be warned. He’s kind of an asshole.”
“Only to you, Polka Dot. Only to you,” Clem laughed.
“If you ever call me Polka Dot, we’ll have words,” Daughtry warned me and I couldn’t hold back a laugh.
“You have a little…” I gestured to his beard. He reached up, but missed the crumbs, so I put my hand out and brushed them away. We stared into each other’s eyes for a long second until I heard Daughtry’s brother clear his throat.
I said the first thing that came to mind.
“Do you guys ever try and kick the other one’s legs out from under him so he’ll fall?”
“Yeah,” Clem shrugged. “Why?”
“Just wondering,” I told him. “My boys were doing that earlier and it worried me a little.”
“Nah, tripping your brother up is half the fun of having one,” Clem explained. “So, you’re Jamie. The neighbor.”
“I am,” I told him. “I work at Kings Customs, too.”
“Yep,” Clem nodded. “I’ve seen you up there.”
“Your turn to fetch beer,” Daughtry told Clem, and I was glad because it finally pulled his brother’s keen eyes away from me. “I’ve got a powerful thirst.”
“Alright, alright,” Clem stood up and grabbed our empties. “You want another?”
“I’ll take one, I’m not driving.”
“Sounds good. Be back,” Clem said as he walked away. I knew it would take a while because he was already engrossed in conversation with another group of men before he’d even gotten 10 feet away.
“So, Daughtry,” I started. “Tell me who all these people are. I didn’t realize that the camera crew would be here filming.”
“Yeah, they want some stuff outside the shop. More of the club guys’ family stuff. As far as who everyone is, well, where do I start?” Daughtry laughed as he leaned back in his seat.
Daughtry started pointing to people and I looked at each group as he told me about them, glad I never forgot a name or a face.
“Those two over there,” he pointed to a big, sandy haired man who was crazy good looking standing next to an equally good looking man with black hair. “The guy with dark hair is Bird, the bigger one is Kale. Those are my two oldest brothers. You just met Clem - he and I are the youngest set.”
“Set?”
“Yeah, not twins really, but Clem and I are almost exactly the same age. We’re the younger two and they’re the older two.” Daughtry explained.
“Got it,” I told him, understanding that he had a blended family. “How long have your parents been divorced?”
“My parents were never divorced,” Daughtry said, completely matter-of-fact. I started to say something, but then he continued by pointing toward the other men in the group talking to his brothers. “The two that look alike, those guys are Sam and Zeke Duke. They own Duke’s Garage. Grew up with us along with their brother Jace that’s sitting with them. Their sister Kari is around here somewhere, probably bossing people around.”
I laughed at his explanation and realized that I had seen that man, Jace, at the junkyard the other day with Neva.
“Okay, so you know Sonny and Lout. We all grew up together and I mean like together every day, constantly. We’re all brothers from childhood,” Daughtry pointed to another group. This one had older men. They were sitting at a table laughing about something and I could tell by their body language that they were all comfortable together. “Those men are some of the guys that moved on with my dad when he founded the club. That one with the silver hair is Grunt, the other one with a little less silver is Hank, and then the big guy is Tink. He belongs to the original group, the Texas Knights, that my dad started with Bill Duke, Sam and Zeke’s dad.”
“Okay,” I thought it through in my head and nodded. “Got it. One group, they split, all still friends.”
“All still family, just different sections who do things a little differently. Like two brothers who grew up together, still thick as thieves, but one is a vegetarian and the other one is a hunter.”
I nodded, wondering which category Daughtry and my brother’s club belonged in. I was guessing that none of them liked their vegetables unless it was with a side of steak.