Prologue
Clay Morrow didn't have many friends outside the club and even then he barely spoke to any of them, the club always came first and it was hard to keep a balance between them. So imagine his surprise when managed to form a friendship with an old man who was visiting Charming. Joseph 'Jo' Richards was building a shop in the small town of charming for his granddaughter, Sophie Maize and somehow along the way they had grown into quite good friends. The shop had been finished a few weeks ago and the two men had said their goodbyes, so Clay couldn't deny that he was surprised when Jo asked to meet with him at the park in Charming.
Clay stood up as he saw Jo approach; the man looked older each day. After greeting each other they sat down in silence, Clay waiting for the man to speak, and Jo trying to find the best way to approach the subject that was bugging him so deeply.
"Jean's been taken to hospital" Jo spoke sadly, "She took a bad fall and while in the hospital she caught something. The doctors don't think she's got long, her body is just too weak to fight the virus off." Even though his voice was chocked and his eyes were full of tears, he still managed sound strong. "When she dies, I know I won't be too far behind her"
Clay just sat listening to him, knowing better than interrupt the old man's heart to heart. "The old tickers not to healthy anyway, and the doctors had told me they want watch me closely, don't think I'll make it through the heart break, but I know I won't. It's always been me and Jean, living without her just won't be right. I always said if she went first I'd do my hardest to be right behind her. I don't know how to live without her, I know it's selfish." He sighed, rubbing his hands over his eyes. "The shop's ready for Sophie go straight into, I've put a deposit down on a house for her and I'm in the process of dotting the I's and crossing the t's. The only thing left is to make sure my grandbaby's got someone to look out for her." Jo told him, turning to face Clay.
"There's no doubt about it" Clay responded, "I'll watch out for her, I'll get the club behind it"
Jo smiled, "I knew I could count on you" He pulled a thick envelope out his pocket, "Consider it a thank you" He told Clay, pressing the envelope in his hands.
Clay opened the envelope and suppressed a gasp at the stack of $100 bills. "Jo…"
"It's the least I could do" Jo responded, standing up. That was the last time Clay Morrow saw Joseph Richards. The news of his wife's death hit him first; the women's body was just too weak and gave up while she was asleep. Two weeks after Jean Richards passed away, Joseph Richards passed away, his granddaughter found him dead in his chair on the deck. The doctors said he died from broken heart syndrome.
After hearing of Jo's death, Clay Morrow entered the clubhouse with a heavy heart. He looked at all the members, making sure none of them were missing. "Church" he ordered, walking straight to the doors, "You too Gemma" He told her on the way past, it was rare the women was allowed in Church, but Clay thought that she'd be best at getting close to the girl. When everyone was sitting at their place at the table, Clay started lighting up a cigar, before telling the club about Jo Richards, and his granddaughter and how he promised to keep an eye on her without her knowing. The club all agreed to look out for the girl.
Two Years Later
Looking around her house, she smiled softly to herself. It wasn't much, many would consider it to be small, but to her it was home - her sanctuary where she could let loose and be herself.
Her house sat in Charming, away from the hustle and bustle of the town, but only a fifteen minute walk from her shop. It was a small log cabin type house that from the outside looked small single story cabin with a large pointed roof, there was a porch on the front and a small wooden picket fence surrounding the house with a small latch gate by the mail box on the front.
On the inside, it was all open-plan, the living room had a white two seated sofa, with two matching chairs, an open fire with a small pile of wood next to it. There was a small television tucked away in the corner of the room, hardly used. The kitchen had all wooden cupboards, with a complete country look there was a small round table that seated four comfortably sitting in the middle of the kitchen. There were stairs against the far left wall; leading up to a bedroom with en suit bathroom, there was no wall, only a small wooden barrier that let her over-look the front door and living room, whilst the kitchen sat underneath the bedroom
She had paid for it all herself, apart from the deposit which her Pop's had put down for her, an amazing feat for the 17 year old, and even though people would think it could pass as a garden shed, she was proud of it.
Sophie Maize was a very pretty girl, with her long dark blonde hair and bright blue eyes that sparkled with excitement and curiosity, she had a small heart shaped face, which was partially covered by her curly main that went to below her bust. Her eyes were surrounded by thick black eyelashes, thanks to the eyelash tint and perm she had done recently. She was a medium height, standing at about 5'6 and slim but curvy.
Sophie lived alone in her house, and had done for nearly two years now. She had moved as far from her "family" as she could after her Pop's had died. She came from a rich background; her parents had married purely for money and social status. Her dad passed away when she was 6, which hurt her deeply as she was purely a daddy's girl, in his will she was the sole heir to his businesses and money, as he had though he would live a long life - as did most people. Her mother was enraged by this, but, the will was clear, the money was all hers. After this, her mother went distant, and two years later married a man by the name of Josh Kempt. In her opinion, he was a monster. He only married her mother in hopes of getting something, and she was put on the back burner. Luckily, her grandparents from her mum's side had stepped in.
Her grandparents were friends, and had been for a long time, that's how her parents had met, her Nana Jean and Pop Jo, and Gramps and Grana had been friends since high school and had stayed very close friends. Her Grana died when she was 7, and her Gramps had died when she was 9. Leaving their businesses and money in savings accounts for her Nana and Pop's to deal with. However her grandparents realised the mistake they'd made with their children, leaving them spoilt and rotten in her mother's case, and had sworn to make sure their only grandchild wouldn't end up like that and would grow up knowing the value of hard work.
So when she went to live with her grandparents, they decided to home schooled her and due to her eagerness to learn, finished high school at 14, learned to cook, clean, and even got a job at a local store, putting her earnings in a savings account set up for her by her Pop's. She helped out a lot at home; her grandparents weren't getting any younger, and she got paid for her troubles, the money going straight into her saving's account.
But not all good things could last; as her Nana took a bad fall, and had to go into hospital, where she had caught a nasty virus that her body was too weak to fight off, leaving her to pass away in her sleep when Sophie was only 15. Her Pop's was devastated, and a week after the funeral, sat her down and told her he didn't think he would last longer himself, her nana had always said they were soul mates, and that they wouldn't be able to survive without the other, so he set about getting all his affairs in orders leaving everything in her name and helped her become emancipated, so she could live on her own. Something she was very thankful for.
He kept her accounts separate, knowing how much it meant to her to have worked to earn her money. But he knew she wouldn't want to touch her inheritance unless it was an emergency, so he had doubled the amount that was already in there with her consent, saying it was so he knew she'd be okay. And two weeks after her nanas death, her pops passed away in his sleep, the doctors said his heart just gave out. And she had never felt more alone.
Her Mother immediately started spending vast amounts of money, so sure she was getting the inheritance, and maxed out all her credit cards, buying things she couldn't afford. Her Pop's had put a deposit on a small house and bought a medium sized store in Charming, and had it done up as a beauty salon (as that was her secret passion and was qualified to do all the treatments) for her before his passing, saying that he knew she would hate to be in the big house on her own, but would protest been given one and needed a steady income to support herself. So she packed up and moved to what is now, her sanctuary. Away from her mother, step farther and the step siblings she had never gotten on with.
Sophie heard through the grapevine her mother was trying to contact her, but Sophie didn't want anything to do with her and ignored her mother's desperate pleas.
Sophie stretched, reaching out to gently click off her alarm, before slipping out of bed to start her morning routine. She flicked on the stereo as she started to do her morning yoga; she loved mornings as it gave her time to think and she found yoga to be so relaxing. After an hour she finished her yoga and flicked the switch to turn on her rollers as she headed to the shower. She washed her hair with her apple shampoo and conditioner. When she stepped out the shower she used her coco butter body cream and sprayed her hair with heat defence spray, something she'd gotten in the habit of doing religiously when she started using her heated rollers daily.
She stepped out into her bedroom in her towel, rubbing her hair with another towel before brushing it through and putting the rollers in. She got dressed into her uniform for the day, black flared trousers with a light purple tunic with a square neckline that had a black band under the bust. She descended down the stairs and slipped two pieces of bread into the toaster and set about making herself a cup of tea. After she had eaten and drank her brew, she slipped her phone and purse into her bag and grabbed the house keys from the kitchen side and stepped on a pair of black doll shoes as she left the house. After locking up she began the hour walk to work. She didn't mind the long walk as she loved her house too much to move closer. It was on the outskirts of Charming near the forest, it would be more beneficial to her if she had a car, but she had no interest in learning to drive.
She reached work at half eight and saw that her secretary, Penny was already at work. Fran and Anna didn't start until nine and she didn't expect to see them until then, having been told of the party the Son's had thrown the night before. She wasn't surprised; they used any excuse to get drunk. She set her bag in her office and went out front to get her client list. Today was going to be very busy.
When her scheduled lunch break finally arrived Sophie was dead on her feet, Fran and Anna had turned into work still drunk so she had no choice but send them home without pay, there was no way in hell she'd let a bunch of party girls ruin her salons reputation, which meant that the clients lists had to be juggled and Penny had to abandon post as secretary and cover some clients, it was a good thing Penny was funny qualified but as the age of 45, she much preferred to cover the behind the scenes work than be on her feet all day dealing with clients.
She had just managed to grab a quick bite to eat at the local diner, idly noticing that quite a few shops on the street where her shop was located. It seemed that somebody had their sights set on running charming. Sophie shook her head, not wanting to involve herself in the small town drama. She reached her shop and entered through the back door, glancing at the client list to see what clients were in for the afternoon and making sure to set up the correct areas before moving on to the clients.
Sophie couldn't wait to be finished with her last client of the day, even though she loved her work she found herself getting depressed at the fact it was all she did, she didn't have any friends or family which is why she worked so hard in the first place, but it was starting to take a toll on her. She looked at the name of the client who was booked in, Mrs Gemma Teller-Morrow. She was usually Fran or Anna's client but since she had to send them home she'd took over. She looked on the previous consultation cards to see what finish Mrs Morrow usually had and saw she mainly stuck with a simple French design.
She set the room up before heading into the waiting area to see Mrs Morrow sitting casually on the sofa with two sons standing next to her. "Mrs Morrow?" She questioned pleasantly. "If you'd like to follow me" She carried on when they turned to look at her. Mrs Morrow got up and headed through the beaded curtain, the sons following. Sophie couldn't help but admire Mrs Morrow slightly, despite her age she was a beautiful women who had aged gracefully, she always had an air of power around her which just demanded respect.
"Hope you don't mind, the club would prefer it if I had someone with me" Mrs Morrow told her as she passed. Sophie just nodded, as she led them to the work area. She pulled two chairs up near the workstation for the men to sit on. After listening to Fran and Anna gossip about the sons on their breaks, Sophie was able to conclude that the sons with Mrs Morrow were Jax, Gemma's son and Chibs, a Scotsman who use to live in Ireland.
"If you'd please take a seatt" She told them. "Would you like a drink? Coffee, Tea, Water, Hot Chocolate?" She asked them, waiting for a reply.
"Coffee for me and call me Gemma"
"Coffee for me too darling" Jax asked with a charming grin on his face.
"Tea if you don't mind" Chibs requested.
After the drinks were made and she set to work on the treatment, she worked in silence for a moment until Gemma broke the silence.
"So where's Fran or Anna, they usually do my nails" Gemma asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"They were unavailable I'm afraid" Sophie responded, trying her hardest to keep a professional air around her.
"They seemed fine when they left the clubhouse earlier" Jax cut in, "Said they were coming straight into work"
"Oh they did, but turning into work drunk isn't acceptable." Sophie responded sharply, Gemma snorted a laugh.
"Dumb bitches" she muttered. Sophie didn't want to further the line of conversation and decided to not respond. She finished the set of nails quickly.
"Hey, so you're the owner right?" Jax asked, he'd been studying her the whole time and it was starting to freak her out a bit.
"Yeah" She replied, unable to keep the pride out of her voice.
"You mind coming round the garage later? Clay wants speak to you" Even though it seemed like a question Sophie knew it wasn't, it was a demand.
"Erm, sure. I'll swing round on my way home from here" She told them, wondering why the King of Charming would want to speak to her.