Freedom Ride, page 4
Silence.
“Jonas?” I called.
“So that is what it sounds like when you ramble.”
I opened my mouth but didn’t say anything.
“I gotta admit, it’s even cuter than on paper.”
“Cute?” I croaked.
“Adorable, babe.”
“Oh, ah, well, you know. It just kind of happens.” I slapped my hand to my forehead, and Marty stirred next to me. “Not like I try to be adorable. I mean, the rambling happens. The fact you think it’s adorable is odd. I mean, it’s odd, not you are odd. You’re, uh, well, anything but odd.” Holy hell. What in the world was I doing? He tells me my rambling is adorable, so I just kick it into high gear and go full-on ramble. I was going to need to take a sedative before I talked to Jonas.
“Yes?”
“Did I ask a question?” I didn’t think I had, but the thing with my rambling was I never could really remember what I said because I was just all over the place.
“I’m sure somewhere in that rambling you did, but I couldn’t get my answer in.”
“Jonas,” I laughed. “I don’t think I asked a question. I think I called you odd.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, “you did do that, but that was still adorable.”
“I think I’m just going to have to write you letters even though you’re out of prison. That seems to be the only way I can talk to you.”
“Babe, you ramble in your letters, remember?” he chuckled. “I like to hear the ramble instead of reading it.”
“Jonas,” I whispered, suddenly afraid.
“What is it, babe?”
I chewed on my bottom lip and tried to figure out how to tell him I was scared of, well, the future. “Uh, well, this is... I’m scared, and I don’t really know why, but I feel it. But...”
“But what?” he asked softly.
“But it’s not a bad scared. I mean, it’s giving me butterflies, and it kind of feels like when you’re on a roller coaster, going up a huge incline, and you’re scared of the drop, but you know it’s going to be amazing.”
“I’ve been through a lot, Lennox, and not much scares me anymore. Hell, nothing scares me. You and I? Nothing to be scared of.”
“But we’ve never seen each other before, and this is the first time we’ve ever talked.”
“No, it’s not,” Jonas laughed.
“What?” I blinked rapidly. “Yes, it is.”
“No, it’s not. You don’t remember when Nolan was really sick two years ago, and I called you? Told you what was going on, and then I called you two more times after that with updates about him because the prison actually calling you to let you know Nolan was sick wasn’t going to happen until two weeks after he got better or died.”
My mouth slowly opened. “You’re right,” I whispered.
“See, this shouldn’t be something scary because we’ve talked on the phone before. Hell, we’re old acquaintances.”
I giggled and laid back on my pillow. “I think we’re more than acquaintances, Jonas.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right since you are only one of three people I let call me Jonas.”
“And we’ve been talking for three years.”
“Yeah,” he sighed. “Your letters were the only thing I took with me, by the way. Everything else I just left for Nolan.”
My heart fluttered, knowing he had kept my letters. “You kept my letters?” I whispered.
“Every last one of them, babe. Filled up a box.”
“Jonas,” I laughed, “some of those were pretty cringy.”
“Nah,” he disagreed. “They’re all you, Lennox. There were days I didn’t think I would make it in there, and then I would get a letter from you. It would change everything. I knew if I just held on, one day I would get to hear you tell me about your day, hear you ramble out loud, and just be with you.”
My heart fluttered again. “This is that roller coaster I was talking about, Jonas.”
“We’re still climbing that hill, babe.”
“When do we know when we’re at the top?” I asked.
“When I finally get my ass to Iowa and see you with my own eyes,” he grunted. “That will make you and me real.”
“You’ve seen me before. You should have a few pictures mixed in with all of those letters.” I hated taking pictures, but I did it for Jonas. They were mostly selfies I took that I stuffed in with his letters, but they were me. I didn’t hide who I was. I mean, I really couldn’t since his cellmate was my brother. If I hadn’t sent pictures, I’m sure Nolan would have somehow gotten his hands on some. I had even sent him a few pictures of Doc and Marty. I had shown Jonas my whole world, and now he was going to be a part of it, too.
And, of course, Jonas had sent me pictures of himself. Granted, he was in his prison clothes in them, but I still liked what I saw. Tattoos covered his arms, hands, and part of his chest. And he also had a tattoo that covered his neck and the bottom of his chin. His hair was cut pretty short, and the thing that mesmerized me the second I saw his picture was his eyes. They were an enchanting shade of emerald, that I felt an immediate comfort and connection. I know it’s crazy to say I connected with a picture, but I did. I had been sending letters to Jonas for a few months until he sent me his picture, and when I got it, it was like the missing piece.
“Nah, pictures are good and all, but I want to have you in front of me. Be able to touch you. Hear you ramble on about your day,” he mused.
A shiver ran through me. Be able to touch you. Yeah, I had wanted that, too. For three years, I had grown to know Jonas. What he liked, what he didn’t like. Even in his letters, I could tell when he was having a hard day or if things were looking up. Sure, it was going to be different actually being able to see each other, but I had to think that was going to be a good different. We did this all backward, thanks to prison, but now we were going to do it the right way. “Uh, my days are pretty boring.”
“You don’t know the true meaning of boring, babe. Most people don’t.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. I didn’t want him to think I was downplaying him being in prison for six years.
“Nothing to be sorry about. I just know what real boredom is, babe, and I’m glad you don’t.”
I lazily petted Marty, and he grumbled as he rolled over to give me access to rub his belly. “Okay.”
“You think you can get a few days off when I visit?”
“Uh, yeah, but you might have to wait a week or so. The schedule for next week is already out, and Mindy does not change it for anyone.” Even when I ask ahead to not have late shifts.
“Well, I guess I can wait a little bit longer to see you.”
“I’ll request a few days off today. Mindy will give days off as long as you ask off before she writes the schedule.”
“Then you better get your request in today, babe, because I’m not going to be able to wait much longer than a week,” he growled.
“I’ll ask for the whole week off,” I blurted. Hell, I would take the rest of the month off if he asked me. Who needed money to pay bills when you had a hot biker eagerly wanting to see you? “I have a bunch of vacation time I haven’t used. Mindy is just going to have to figure out how to run the store without me.”
Jonas chuckled. “I am not going to argue with you, babe. I’ll take all the time you can give me.”
My heart fluttered, and the roller coaster in my stomach moved closer to the top of the hill. “Okay.”
Doc barked from beside the bed, and I floated back to reality.
“Is that Doc or Marty?” Jonas asked.
“Uh, that was Doc. I’m sure he’s wondering why we haven’t taken our walk yet.” I didn’t have kids, but Doc and Marty were just as demanding as kids. “I’ll call you on my way to work?” I asked. My ride to work was only ten minutes, but I would love to spend those ten minutes talking to Jonas.
“I’ll be waiting, babe. Talk to you soon.” He ended the call, and I closed my eyes.
“Ahhh!” I screamed as I kicked my legs. I managed to talk to Jonas, and he didn’t run for the hills. Hell, he was ready to come running to me.
Marty jumped up and pounced on top of me. My eyes popped open, and I dropped my phone. “Marty,” I groaned. I lifted him off my chest, and he snuggled down in the blanket with me. Doc hopped up on the bed and curled himself around my head. “You’re smothering me,” I laughed. Doc didn’t care. He just loved being next to me, same with Marty.
Doc moved down and laid his head on my chest and sighed. “You think we have room in this bed for one more?” I wondered aloud.
Doc’s tail thumped on the bed, and he turned to lick my face. “Yeah?” I laughed. I sighed and stared up at the ceiling. “I think so, too, Doc. I think there is just enough room for Jonas.”
Right now, it was just Doc and Marty in bed with me, but in just over a week, Jonas was going to be here, too.
Wow.
Chapter Eleven
Snapper
“Can you stop staring at me?”
Meg shook her head and popped a grape into her mouth. “No. I haven’t been able to see you for six years, so I have a lot of catching up to do.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “So that means for the next six years, you are just going to stare at me?”
She shrugged. “It doesn’t seem unreasonable to me. You’re my baby, Jonas, and I lost you for a while.”
I raised my coffee cup to my lips. “Remind me to call Remy later and tell him I’m your baby.”
Meg rolled her eyes. “You’re both my babies. Remy was my first baby, and you were the unexpected baby I chose.”
“Even better,” I laughed. “You chose me. You didn’t have a choice when it came to Remy.”
“Jesus,” Meg muttered.
“I am the chosen one.”
Meg slapped my arm but smiled. “I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have given me any other choice than to choose you. I was your Mama Meg from the day you were born. Thankfully, your mom was more than cool with you calling me that.”
I finished the rest of my coffee. “That’s because my mom and dad were cool as shit.”
Meg laughed and nodded her head. “They most definitely were, Jonas. They were cool and loved you more than anything.”
“Which is why they wanted you to choose me as your baby because they knew you would love me as much as they would have.”
“Jonas,” Meg cried. “How did you get so smart?” She reached out and squeezed my hand. “You were so angry when you were younger. I’ve always worried that you resented Lo and me.”
“I had a few years to sit around and figure shit out.” For so many years growing up, I had been so mad at, well, everything. I couldn’t figure out why my parents were taken from me while other kids got to keep theirs. Hell, kids with shitty parents got to keep them, while my parents were amazing, and they were gone in an instant. There had even been a time when I hated Meg and King because I didn’t want them to be my parents, I wanted my real mom and dad.
Looking back, I knew it was horrible my parents had died, but I had been the luckiest kid in the world to be given a second chance with Meg and King. They easily could have refused to take care of me, and I would have landed in foster care.
Foster care was never even an option because I became Meg’s baby before the courts could even sign the papers to make it legal.
And I still was. After all of these years, I knew Meg loved me as much as Remy. Hell, maybe even a little bit more since I had chosen to stay in Rockton while Remy was off building racecars.
“What is that smirk on your lips for?” Meg asked.
I shrugged and grabbed her empty coffee cup. “Just thinking about Remy’s dumbass. You talk to the knucklehead lately?”
“I talk to Harlyn more than I do him, but I know he's doing good.”
I set our cups on the counter and refilled them. “You still like a little coffee with your creamer?” I asked.
“Yes,” Meg laughed. “Though I have switched to sugar-free creamer. My hips were getting a little too wide.”
“Right,” I drawled. “I think I’ll leave it up to King to convince you that you’re full of shit.”
“Who’s full of shit?” King called. He walked into the common room, stretching his arms over his head and grimacing. “I can’t remember the last time we slept at the clubhouse,” he grumbled. “I think we need to get a new mattress, babe.”
Meg rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure. I’ll get right on that. I love to buy things we are only going to use once or twice a year.”
King pointed to the front door. “You wanna talk about that fucking RV sitting behind the shop?” he growled. “We’ve used the damn thing four times in the past seven years. Pretty sure you were the one who said we needed it.”
Meg flitted her hand at King. “We’re going to use it more once the grandkids get older.”
“Remy’s kids are close to graduating high school, Meg. I think they are old enough to go camping or whatever the hell you want to do in that RV.” King ambled into the kitchen area and grabbed a coffee cup. “Maybe you should call Remy and tell him we need to see him more than four times a year.”
“Quarterly visits,” I laughed.
“He can’t help it that he is busy working, Lo,” Meg grumbled.
“Pretty sure race season is not year-round, babe.”
I filled King’s cup and set the coffee pot down. “You into that sugar-free creamer shit?”
King curled his lip. “Hell no. Some things have changed in six years, but my coffee has not. Black.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “Same. Though it probably wouldn’t have changed in prison because black coffee is what you get, it’s pretty shitty.” I grabbed my cup and held it up. “This is one million times better than prison.”
I walked back over to Meg and set her cup in front of her. “Jonas,” she whispered.
“What?” I laughed. “You look like you’re about to cry.”
“Probably because she is five seconds away from crying.” King sipped his coffee and leaned against the door frame. “Five, four, three...”
“Stop!” Meg wailed. “I can’t help it that it makes me sad to know you were in prison for six years, barely living.”
“Oh, I was living, it just was pretty shitty.” I sat down next to her and sighed. “Which is how it should be in prison, Meg. I did something I shouldn’t have, and I needed to pay my time.”
“Aaron Gibbs was a piece of shit who killed Layla and deserved to die.” Meg wiped her nose with the back of her hand and slumped in her chair. “Fucker.”
I wasn’t even sure Meg had even met Layla before she died.
Hell, I barely knew Layla, but I had been working on getting to know her. Aaron Gibbs had stopped all of that. I saw spending the rest of my life with Layla, and like most good things I ever had, it had been taken away from me.
My parents, and then Layla.
Gone way too fucking soon.
“Babe,” King chuckled. “You can’t be sad and then call someone a fucker.”
“I can, and just did,” she sniffled. “I’m sad Layla is gone, and Aaron Gibbs is a fucker who then took Snapper away from us.”
I shook my head. “I’m responsible for my own actions, Meg. I beat the shit out of Aaron, and it’s debatable that I was the reason he died.”
“I think a fucking concrete pillar is the reason he died, but the DA is an asshole who needed to pin his death on someone so the hospital didn’t look bad for hiring some psycho.” King pushed off the doorframe and grabbed a banana.
“We all know Aaron was going to die from his injuries from the accident. Snapper just made sure he did.” Meg sighed and wiped her tear-stained cheeks. “But that’s all over now. Snapper is back home, and Aaron Gibbs is very much dead.”
“Thank fuck,” King muttered.
Meg stood and grabbed her coffee. “I’m going to make breakfast. I was thinking pancakes, sausage, eggs, toast, and cinnamon rolls.” She held her finger in the air. “And loaded hashbrowns.”
“Oh, god,” I groaned. “I’m going to gain twenty pounds, and I haven’t even been out of prison for a week.”
Meg smiled proudly. “Good. You’re skin and bones. I need to fatten you up for your future wife.”
King choked on his coffee and sputtered. “Future wife? You know something I don’t know?”
Meg shrugged. “Not really, though I have to assume something is up since all Jonas came home with was a box full of letters, and I heard him talking on the phone this morning.”
I let out a loud, booming laugh.
“Jesus, babe. The kid just lived the past six years being watched and spied on. He doesn’t need you listening at his door and going through his things.”
Meg wagged her finger at King. “I will have you know you are the one who told me about the letters, and I can’t help it that I have to walk past his room to get to the kitchen, okay? He talks loud, and I heard something.”
“The only way you could hear something is if you stopped in front of his door and pressed your ear to it.”
Meg shrugged and opened the fridge. “I got a cramp and had to stop for a second.”
I shook my head and sighed. “A cramp that just so happened in front of my door while I was on the phone with Lennox?”
Meg’s eyes bugged out, and she clapped her hands together like a happy seal. “Lennox? I absolutely love that name,” she cheered.
“Now you’ve done it,” King drawled. “You’ve given her a name, and now she is going to run with it.”
I shrugged. “Not like I’m trying to hide her or anything. You guys would have found out about her when I left to visit her.”
“You’re leaving?” Meg gasped. “You just got here. Where is she from?” She grabbed the milk from the fridge and hugged it to her chest. “Do you think I will like her? What does she look like? I hope she can cook, but if she can’t, I can teach her. Let’s just hope she isn’t like Marley.” Meg signed the cross in front of her. “Even god can’t help her cooking. It’s been years, and nothing seems to stick when I tell her anything.”
