“Better,” Meggie said.
Eyeing her, Tabitha sipped her drink. “You’re looking none the worse for wear.”
Meggie nodded at her daughter-in-law, unsure of what she meant and uninterested in finding out.
“Has things gotten back on track between you and Christopher?” Ophelia asked. She was Christopher’s youngest sister and only four years older than Meggie. She glanced at Tabitha. “Now that, er, you know…?”
Tabitha lifted a brow, a shark on the scent. Hopefully, Diesel had kept his mouth shut.
“I’m fine,” Meggie said serenely.
Roxy twirled the contents of her glass and smiled at Kendall. “How are you, sugar?”
“Adjusting.” She sighed. “Tired. Reeling.”
“I understand, baby,” Roxy said. “I know this isn’t easy for you, Kendall, but when I think back, I realize your resistance to Rory emulating Johnnie came from a place of fear. You knew the score, so you wanted to shield him. You could’ve went about it differently—”
“I don’t agree with you that only I knew the score,” Kendall responded. “So did Zoann, Ophelia, and Meggie. They knew it, too.”
“Because of your experiences with Spoon, you understood what was in store for your sons. Maybe, itwas subconscious. From what I heard, Ophelia barely came to the club at one time. Zoann…well…whether or not they ended up with bikers, their fate was inextricably tied to the Death Dwellers because of their grandfather, brother, and cousin.”
Meggie bumped Kendall’s shoulder with her own. “Roxy’s right. Accept your accolades.”
“I agree with Roxy too, Kendall,” Zoann said. “I got so angry with you because you always wanted to separate Rory from his cousins. Yes, you needed fucking up for some of your methods, but I understand why you wanted to raise him as a businessman rather than a biker.”
“I can’t tell you how much I regret my behavior,” Kendall confessed.
“We’ve all forgiven you,” Bunny told her. “We can’t change any of it, but you’ve learned.We’velearned. We made mistakes, too. We all love you. Truly, so Meggie’s right about Roxy being right. You saw the writing on the wall. We didn’t.”
“I regret my behavior too,” Meggie said.
They all looked at her and she raised her hand to forestall their arguments.
“The day we met, Kendall,” Meggie confessed. “I was nineteen. I couldn’t understand your resentment toward me. Now, that I’m older, I do. I wouldn’t appreciate some nineteen-year-old bouncing up to me thinking she knew everything about my man and blind to the reality of life.”
Kendall swallowed.
“You were right. I had a lot of growing up to do.”
“It only took you eighteen fucking years,” Kendall said, giggling.
Meggie elbowed her. “Shut up,” she said with a laugh.
“I was eaten up with jealousy, darling,” Kendall said. “I could’ve handled that situation better, too.” She heaved in a breath. “But I was wrong totry to change you. Wrong to try to make you be who I thought you should be. I was also wrong about your husband. He allowed you to be you more than any of us. And I was wrong about how much you two loved each other.”
“You both have grown up,” Roxy said proudly. “And that’s the important thing.”
Meggie glanced at Bailey, so lost and alone. She wasn’t sure how to include her in the conversation, given her father’s shocking death. Then, she thought of a perfect segue. “Digger and Mortician were the two with the least baggage.”
Bunny nodded. “I agree. They might’ve been emotionally unavailable for one reason or another, but they didn’t have women who Bailey and me had to compete with.”
“Exactly!” Meggie said. “Christopher, Johnnie, Val, and Cash—”
“You can add Stretch,” Ophelia said. “In the beginning, we were competing against each other for Cash.”
“And Val was the fucking worst,” Zoann grumbled. She smiled at Bailey’s profile. “The Banks Brothers were quite free in that regard.”
Instead of answering, Bailey sat stiffly.
