“Wrangler reached out, told me what you were up to today. I thought you could use some help.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “Your husband is gone because of me, and you want to—”
“Let me stop you right there. My husband is on a mission, tracking down a problem that needs to be solved. He’s done it before, he’ll do it again, and you’re not to blame. Anyway, in this case, I’m not the least bit worried.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but I couldn’t get a word out before someone called, “Who’s the tea drinker?”
Turning to find the owner of the voice, I found a petite woman with beautiful, long, thick, wavy-curly red hair she wore loose. She had on sunglasses and was dressed in cut-off shorts and a Guns-N-Roses tee—or what once might have been a tee before she cut off the sleeves and made it a crop-top. Simply put, she was every bit the biker babe that Winnie was—only closer to my age.
“Tea’s for Alexia,” answered Winnie.
“That’s you, huh?”
Even with her sunglasses on, I could tell she was eyeing me up and down.
“Yeah. I can see it. Wrangler definitely got himself an upgrade. Good for him,” she said, handing over a hot to-go cup. “Chai latte. I hope you’re okay with regular milk.”
“Uh, thank you?” I muttered, feeling a mixture of amusement, confusion, and gratitude.
“This is Phoenix, the bar manager at Steel Mustang,” introduced Winnie. “She’s here to help out today, too.”
The look on my face must have showcased what I was thinking, because Phoenix explained, “I heard what happened. When a man attacks a woman, it really pisses me off. When he does it with agun, I kind of want to castrate him myself. Seeing as I doubt boss-man will offer me the chance, I figured I’d lean in where I could.
“With Mustang out, I can only stay until two, but as soon as I down this coffee, I’ll be ready to tackle whatever.” She smiled then yelled, “Shep! Got you a dark roast if you want it.”
Hank did, indeed, want the dark roast. There was caffe latte for Winnie, too.
My first impression of Phoenix was that I kind of liked her.
A couple hours later, after she packed up my entire kitchen, labeling each box very meticulously, I decided Ireallyliked her.
Once we started, it didn’t take me long to decide I wanted to pack the entire apartment. While the place had good memories attached to it—most notably my time with Jed—I couldn’t deny how the apartment felt tainted by what happened. I wanted a fresh start. After I got rid of my couch and dining room set, which both now sported bullet holes, I didn’t want to bring in new furniture to an old space.
No matter where I went, I was never going to forget that day. But moving away from the scene of the crime would at least earn me a little peace.
When it became clear I was going to need more boxes, Hank made a call. Less than thirty minutes later, a couple of Stallions were at my door to deliver what we needed. It was kind of remarkable the way the Wild Stallions took care of each other—took care ofme. I was beginning to understand their loyalty knew no bounds. There was nothing too big or small they wouldn’t do.
By two o’clock, when Phoenix had to leave for the bar, the majority of the packing was completed. All that was left were odds and ends that could be saved for another day, seeing as I didn’t yet know where I was going. We piled the boxes out of the way, while loading a few into my car so I could take them with me to Jed’s. They were mostly clothes. I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d stay with him, but I was careful to remind myself it was a temporary arrangement.
“Are you sure you don’t want to load anything else into my trunk to take with you?” offered Winnie.
“No, thank you. You’ve done more than enough. Everything else can stay until I know where I’m going to go. I’ll spend the afternoon looking for my next place and shopping for a new living room set.”
“Okay. I should go check on my boys. But if you need anything, you know to—”
“Call you, yes,” I interjected. “Thank you. For everything. Your friendship has been invaluable to me.”
“You’re one of us, now. Get used to it,” she replied, pulling me in for a hug.
I returned her embrace, and we said our goodbyes, Hank following me back to Jed’s place. He helped me unload the few boxes I brought into an empty spot in the garage, then made himself comfortable in front of the television. He offered to pick out a movie both of us might like to watch, but I told him to go ahead and watch whatever he wanted. He’d done enough for me for one day.
Like I told Winnie I would, I spent the rest of the afternoon on my laptop, at the dining room table, perusing housing options and shopping for furniture. There were a couple places that looked promising I thought I’d check out soon—when Jed and I had a free weekend.
As promised, Jed was home shortly after five. Rather than rush off, I told Hank he should stay and join us for dinner. Jed agreed, offering him a beer, and Hank couldn’t say no. For the first time all day, he had the extended company of one of his brothers, and I was happy to let them steer the conversation.
At Jed’s request, I made my twice-baked potatoes to go with the pork chops he smoked for our meal. In spite of the fact that things were far fromnormal, we managed to enjoy the night just the same. It was nearly eight when Jed walked Hank to the door, and I busied myself loading our plates into the dishwasher.
“Hey, I forgot to ask,” I started to say, drying my hands as Jed retuned to the kitchen. “How was lunch with Lowe?”
