Everybody Falls (29 page)

"I'll let you choose three of Pete's old tools in exchange for the wheelchair, Sarge," she said finally. "He had a great collection of tools for the cars which I suspect would work on motorcycles."

Sarge reached and covered her tiny worn hands with one of his own well-callused paws. "Thanks, Edie."

"You're welcome, Sarge," she murmured, her eyes smiling as much as her mouth.

"What the hell was that?" Jax asked on a low note, leaning on the counter next to me as I began to sear the steaks.

"I don't know, honey. I think they just traded some stuff," I replied, just as lost as he was.

"It's called bartering up here," Trike replied, leaning on the counter on the other side of the stove. "It's pretty big and pretty cool, once you get into it. Let's say you need something or something done. You go to the person that has what you want, or you bring them something they need then you swap them for it."

"It's how we're putting shit…er, I mean,
things
…together for the band," Boots said, easing himself down into one of the chairs at the table.

"Is that how you got the soundboard this morning?" Turner asked the bald behemoth, taking a seat next to Boots.

"Oh, yeah," Sarge growled. "That old bastard has a primo conditioned board but I had to swap him for fifteen hours of labor on his Harley."

"Which reminds me," Turner started. "I called Ben and Tim to see if they wanted to hit it with us. Ben's in however Tim's already coasting with 'Taking Time'."

"Is that Reinhold's new band?" Jax asked. I already knew of Ben and Tim, the twins that provided the beats for Wynter's Vicious. Ben played drums while Tim was the awesome bassist which I'd originally crushed on in my early years.

But, I wasn't going to tell Jax that.

"I hate to break up all the love in the room but, how're we going to come up with ten large by Friday?" Jax asked slowly.

"Knock, knock," I heard Ricki call from the back door and saw the big bulk of Turner move quickly from his chair to greet her on the back porch.

I glanced at Jax and we shared a smile. The rest of the kitchen quieted as well, which I thought was so we could all hear what was going on for episode two of the 'Ricki and Turner' story.

I heard a soft, 'hey, baby' with a mumbled, 'oh, Turner,' before there wasn't any other sound except sweet moans and rumbles.

"I don't think we sound that awful, do we?" I whispered to Jax with a smile.

"Worse, Baby," he said, his eyes glowing, leaning in for a kiss.

"Okay, will
somebody
please turn off the love light?" Edie yelled. "I've told you folks before, if Grandma ain't gettin' none…"

"…Ain't nobody gettin' none," Boots and Sarge chorused.

After the laughter had died down Turner, with Ricki on his lap, had rejoined the group, the talk went back to Jax's earlier question of how to come up with the money Turner needed by Friday.

"I can kick in a thousand," Ricki announced into the quiet of the room. "I know it's not much, but it's yours, baby." Her hand was on Turner's cheek, yet it was the look on both their faces, a kind of gooey union. The kind of look which prompted songs to be written in an attempt to capture in both music and lyrics.

I saw Turner swallow thickly.

"Jax and I will do three," Edie said quickly.

"I'm in for three," Sarge growled.

"Me, too," Boots confirmed.

"I'll do the rest," I said firmly.

I saw Turner's eyes hit Jax as Ricki buried her head against her new man's chest.

"Fuck, Jax," the large rocker breathed, his eyes full of gratitude, his arms filled with girl.

"I know, Dude," Jax said, his eyes shining as he pulled me, elbow deep in potato peels, to him. "But watched the damn language, right?"

"I, ah, I don't know what to say…" Turner began.

"A 'thank you' would be a great place to start," Edie deadpanned.

"Well, yeah. Thanks," Turner said with a catch in his voice. He handed Ricki off to the empty chair beside him before he stood up slowly. "Think I'm gonna…ah. I just need a moment to, uhm…" I heard that busy back porch screen door slam behind him.

The only sounds in the kitchen, in that big old farmhouse kitchen, were the steaks simmering in the stewed tomatoes accompanied by the wet sniffles of me, Ricks and Grams. And I did see Boots reach for his handkerchief.

"Ricki? That's your cue, girl," Jax said gently. He didn't have to ask her twice as she swiftly followed Turner's trajectory.

Me? I'd rinsed my hands off before I did my own face planted against my man, feeling his warm arms holding me close.

"It's just magic, Lace. You, me, Grams and our friends creating magic for someone that needs some," he whispered in my ear.

Which, of course, only made me cry more.

Chapter 24

"I could do this myself, you know," I complained to Jax as we were standing at the backend of Sarge's old truck. "It's just groceries. It's almost the middle of the night for crikey's sake."

"I know, Baby," he said, rubbing his hands up and down my arms, creating little squirming shivers as he touched. "I just want you safe. Sarge'll take care of you since I can't."

I stuck my lower lip out in a pout which was quickly captured by his beautiful mouth and, of course, morphed into a kiss who's duration would have gone on if Sarge hadn't interrupted.

"Gotta go, Lace," Sarge called from the cab.

"Gotta go, honey," I echoed, breaking away from Jax.

"Come home safe, Baby," Jax advised as he opened the passenger door before he handed me up. "Take care of my girl, Sarge."

He got a chin lift in reply.

"This thing you've got going with Slugger," Sarge began as we were halfway down the hill to the twenty-four hour, huge chain store on the outskirts of Roseville. "Is it what you want?"

"Oh, yeah," I breathed. "I didn't know who he was at first. He looked kind of familiar, you know? But I didn't know that my Jack was
the
Jax."

"And?" he rumbled his question, drawing it out.

"And, I like my Jack," I answered, sure in my heart about what I felt. "Actually, I think I love him."

I got a quick worried glance at my reply.

"Uhm, Baby Girl? Rockers aren't like everyone else. Especially Jax, because he grew up in the business," Sarge warned.

"I get it," I said back. "I think, at least with what he's told me, he doesn't want that life anymore."

"It's a hard life to give up, Lace," Sarge said thoughtfully. "Like him, love him. Just be aware that this may all be new territory for him."

"That's kind of what he says. Jack says what we've got is new to him," I admitted. "I don't know what that means and, right now, I don't think I want to."

"So you guys talk about that stuff?" the older man asked.

"Yeah. Not often, but he does talk about it."

"Good," Sarge said firmly, shooting me another glance, grinning.

"Yeah, good," I agreed with a smile.

Actually, Sarge was a great companion for shopping, pointing out the differences in the prices and the brands, making jokes and singing the jingles for some of the stuff we saw throughout the store.

"You're cute. You remind me so much of Lilly at your age," he said at one point.

"What a nice thing to say! Thanks."

"No, really, Lace. She was something, your grandmother, back in the day. I probably should've married her and made all this legal," he rumbled from his elbowed-hunch over the push bar of the shopping cart.

"Made what legal?" I asked, distracted by the BOGO, the buy-one, get-one deal, on chicken breasts.

"Me and her. You and me," he replied as he gazed over the line of pork chops, set up like soldiers on a battlefield in the display case.

"You and me?" I asked, turning back towards him.

He just stared at me.

"Aw shit. You don't know," he said, with a frown. We were almost the only ones in the giant store, the sound of the intercom's music loud without any other customers.

I wasn't going to continue to echo him, however I wished I knew what he was talking about.

"Lacey," he started, before I saw him swallow. "Baby Girl, I'm your grandpa."

Wait…what?

He didn't say anything else. I didn't either as we stood in the meat aisle and simply stared at each other.

I found myself, ass to floor, with him kneeling in front of me snapping his fingers, calling my name.

Oh. My. God.

I raised a hand as I captured his bearded chin.

"Say it again," I demanded in a weak voice.

"I'm your grandfather, Lacey," he growled, strong and firm. "I never married Lilly, but we were always together, well off and on. Belinda is our daughter which makes you my granddaughter."

"That's why you've always been around," I mumbled, my mind going back to all the times I'd been with Grandma when things had gone bad with my mom. All those Christmases, those birthdays when he'd been a shadow, hovering just in the background.

"Yep," he admitted as he slowly eased me back up onto my feet and held me steady.

"But…" I started, trying to grab just one cohesive thought from the whirls of my mind. "I mean…"

"Slow down, sweetness," Sarge said, settling me in the driver's place of the cart, putting his hands next to mine on the handle. I could feel his large chest against my back as he began to push. "Take a breath, okay? I thought Lilly told you, so I never said nothing."

We walked a few paces. I was glad for the feel of his strength against me since my legs were wobbly.

"Do you want me to talk or just let you think?" he asked, as he walked us down another aisle in the empty supermarket.

"Talk," I replied.

"Lilly and I grew up together in Grass Valley," he started. "We were two of the town's first hippies. Into all of that peace, love, dove shit. Long hair, tie-dye and beads. And music. Oh, Christ, Lace. The music!"

He was quiet again. I wondered if he was lost in memories as much as I was.

"I got into the guitar while she did the pottery thing when we were in high school. By the time we graduated, I was playing in a band. She was hanging with the artsy-fartsy people that I couldn't stomach. We'd get together when I wasn't touring and the next thing I knew, she'd had a baby girl. Said it was mine. She'd named her 'Belinda' after my grandma Stevens."

I remained quiet, listening to the growl of his voice, feeling the vibrations of his rumbles against my back as we aimlessly meandered the aisles.

"We weren't together-together because she said she didn't want to be on the road. Her work was too important, too stationary to follow me where ever the 'Wastrels' were travelling, who were just an opening act for other, better known, bands. So she stayed home, yet every time I came back it was just Lilly and me. Connected, you know?" I heard him ask as his chin hit my shoulder.

I nodded mainly because I didn't want to interrupt. Grandma Lilly had never talked about the past. I wasn't going to do or say anything to stop this walk down memory lane.

"Well, time went by. I got out of rock and started doing motorcycles. Lilly took what her folks had left her and bought Billy Bob's. Turned it into a bakery. Named it after you, Lace. Did you know that was my mother's name?" he asked, the sound of his voice coming from directly over me.

I shook my head.

"It was when I came back home, got my shit together, I realized how much I loved her. And, she loved me, Lace. We just couldn't live together. We tried. Oh, Baby Girl, we tried so many times except Lil' liked her own space. Liked living life by her own rules and didn't want me screwing with it. I don't blame her," he said, a note of finality in his voice. "But, I miss her every fucking day of my life."

I stopped my feet, unable to move, dropped my head to my hands on the bar of the cart. This was almost too much for me to handle. I couldn't help the flow of my tears.

"Here's what you need to know, Lace, okay? Then I'll shut up about it," he said, leaning over me, still speaking tenderly. So freaking tender.

"For me and Lilly? The sun rose and set on you, darlin'. It still does."

That's the Lacey which the pictures in the papers showed.

Me with red, swollen, still wet eyes walking next to a huge, bald-headed man with multiple facial piercings and a braided beard through a supermarket parking lot in the middle of the night.

The headlines later read, "Jax Jilted - His New Love Steps Out".

Oh, rum balls.

*.*.*.*.*

He saw her face, the slope of her shoulders when she'd exited the truck from his place at the upstairs window.

Something was wrong even though he didn't know what it was.

Zooming down the stairs he flew through the house, straight off the porch to pull her to him.

"What's wrong?" he asked angrily. If Sarge hurt her, so help him, God…