He opens the wooden door and stares at me, a look of indifference on his face. “Jax.” He nods, opening the door and letting me step through.
“Mr. Vogel, how are you doing, sir?”
Gerald looks like he has something he wants to say, and I brace myself for it. This is nothing like how it used to be, and I should have expected that. “Fine. Just didn’t realize you and City were working things out.”
I feel those nerves tick again, making my eyes twitch. “Well, sir?—”
“Jaxon!” Hannah Vogel comes into the front room, her arms open wide and a nice smile on her face. “I haven’t seen you in ages.”
I smile, feeling better with her warmth and familiarity than with City’s dad. I wish he didn’t feel that way toward me, but it is another relationship I am willing to work on. “It’s nice to see you, Mrs. Vogel.”
“Oh honey, call me Hannah. You’re an adult now,” she says, pulling back and squeezing my shoulders.
“What are you doing here?” Gerald asks, and I open my mouth just as soft footsteps sound from the stairs, and Felicity comes into view.
She’s barefoot with a long skirt tucked under an oversized sweater. Her hair is pulled into a long braid, and a glow covers her supple skin. She smiles at me when she sees me and rushes down the rest of the stairs. I brace myself, knowing how this used to go and feel my heart thump when she lands on the ground softly beside me instead of jumping into my arms like she used to.
It is a foreign feeling, us working into a new tradition of things, a new way of seeing each other. There would be no going back to how everything was before, not yet.
“He’s here for me, Dad. We’re going to go grab a bite.” Her simple explanation does nothing to soothe the nerves that seem to be holding me hostage, but I take her lead and relax.
“Can I speak to you for a minute first?” Gerald asks his daughter, giving her a pointed look, and I frown in confusion.
“Dad,” Felicity says, something of a warning in her tone. “It’s fine.”
“City,” he starts, but Hannah presses her hand to his arm. “Gerald, it’s okay. They’re two friends catching up.”
“Definitely,” I say, wishing they weren’t talking in code around me. “I haven’t had a chance before now to get time to catch up with City Girl.”
She smiles at me, and there’s this weird click that sounds in my chest at the thought of her eyes on me, her smile pointed in my direction again.
I have no idea what her folks’ reservations are with me, whether they somehow place blame on me for her leaving or something else, but I’ll work to restore the friendship and respect I had from them.
Felicity turns to me and smiles. “Shall we go?”
“Definitely,” I respond, heading to the door and holding it open, smiling when she slips on her shoes and grabs her bagfrom the same hook it used to hang from. It is a different bag, probably, but it is still the same routine.
“Be back later. Love you,” Felicity says, and I nod my head at her folks politely before shutting the door behind us.
I don’t say anything until we’re in my truck, Felicity safely tucked into the front seat, seat belt on. Then I pull out onto the street and start heading to my destination.
“That was interesting.” I start, waiting on her to take the lead.
“Sorry, Jax,” she responds, turning in her seat to face me, her bright eyes fixed on mine. “My dad’s been a little protective of me. He wants me to stay hunkered down so I don’t get in trouble with fans or anything.”
“I can understand that. I promise to keep you safe.”
Her voice softens. “I’ve never doubted my safety with you, Jax.”
Something about that statement makes my pulse thrum in my neck, something that says she has felt unsafe with others, and it makes me want to find them and make sure that they have to drink their meals through a straw for several months.
“Well, good,” I say instead, smiling over at her and taking the turn that will lead us to the place I know she hasn’t been in years. “I’m really glad you said yes, by the way.”
She smiles at me, her hand twitching, and I wish like everything she would reach over and clasp her hand in mine. “I’m glad I said yes too.”
We finally make it to the Fall Springs side of the town line, the side that housed the local motorcycle club, the large vet clinic, a small church, the Iron Horse Brewery—which was owned by said motorcycle club—and our favorite place.
Felicity lets out a little gasp. “Clyde’s Diner?”
