Bee nodded, and my heart warmed at the scene. He had played it perfectly. He wasn’t fussing her. He wasn’t making a big deal out of it and asking her a million questions. He was letting her come to him. All he wanted to know was that she was okay.
“I think this calls for a celebration. You’re feeling good, Rachel is back, and I’m on top of the world. What do you say, Bee?”
“BBQ?” she asked, a wide grin on her face.
“BBQ it is.”
Dante didn’t mess around.
When he said he was celebrating, he really threw a celebration.
Every member of the club gathered for the BBQ, each of them ecstatic to celebrate the news that our girl had found her voice again.
Bee said hello to the first person to arrive—which was of course Vienna, and he did a mock faint and then seized her in his arms, “flying” her around the room. After that, she understandably shut down again. And that was fine. She wasn’t quite ready to talk to everyone yet, and God help anyone foolish enough to try push her whilst I was around.
But word soon spread about why we were here and what we were celebrating, and just knowing she was talking again was enough for everyone. They didn’t need to hear it for themselves.
“Sweetheart,” Imogen giggled, balancing what appeared to be a dozen different items of food in her hands. I laughed as I saw her struggle, especially when Ant went to help himself to one of the plates and she tried to bite his hand. With the size of these men, if you weren’t first, you were last, and she was making sure she got her fair share.
“How are you doing?” she asked Bee, almost throwing one of the burgers at me. I caught it just in time and shook my head at her mumbled apology.
Bee put her thumbs up in response and Imogen bent down low to let her grab some of the food herself.
“You’re an amazing, wonderful little thing, did you know that?” she whispered to Bee. “Never let anyone tell you otherwise. Ever. There’s not a person in this world that doesn’t struggle, and you, my darling, are a goddamn warrior.”
She did her best to hug Bee, and Ant saw that as his moment to strike. He rushed over, grabbed four of the plates, and ran off again.
“Love you, Bee. Give them all hell for me,” he shouted over his shoulder as Imogen squealed in anger and went rushing after him.
“Are you okay?” I asked her, still signing the words, so she knew it was okay to retreat back to her other language if she needed to.
“Yeah,” she said quietly.
“I know this is a lot. And if you need a break, you just say the word and I’ll whisk you out of here, okay?”
She nodded again, and I took her hand to lead her to a quieter area.
We passed Vienna and Dante, who were shouting insults over to the prospects. Pivot had decided to start a revving contest, and his piece of shit bike had crapped out at the last minute. Notsomething a biker wanted to happen at the best of times, and definitely not in front of his president and vice.
“And you think you’re graduating in a few months?” Vienna mocked.
“His bike will last longer than he will,” Dante called back.
I shook my head and left them to it, wandering closer to the grill.
I focused on Bee, noticing that her face had grown pale and she was shaking ever so slightly.
“Bee, are you okay? Is this too much for you?”
“Rachel… am I allowed to be happy?” Bee asked, looking into the crowd, her little chin quivering.
“Of course you're allowed to be happy,” I breathed, leaning down and wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her close to me. “Why would you ask that?”
Fat tears pooled in her eyes, her mouth twisting as she sucked on her inner cheek to keep the tremors under control.
“People keep dying. If I love someone they…” she couldn't finish her words. The tears broke free, spilling down her cheeks. Her breath came in big, hiccuping gulps, her poor little body shaking uncontrollably.
“Hey, hey,” I said softly, turning her until she was looking at me. I crouched in front of her and held her hands in mine. “Whatever has happened, it's not your fault. You know that, right?”
