It was going on five o'clock when Kayleigh walked out of the bathroom. Chibs was already half dressed. He tossed her clothes across the room.
"Get dressed," he said pulling his shirt on.
"Why?" asked Kayleigh.
"Gemma's having a dinner and if we don't leave soon we're gonna be late," he said. "And no one is late to one of Gemma's dinners."
"I think it would be okay if I was late," she said. "Leave the address and I will come later. I have to shower and get ready."
"Not gonna happen. You either come with me now, or we are both late," he said walking across the room to the naked woman.
"I'm promise I'm not gonna run off," she said kissing him. "Here. Take this."
"What is it?" he asked.
"It was my great grandmother's locket. I don't go anywhere without it," said Kayleigh taking the necklace off. "Think of it as a security deposit. I'm going to show up at this dinner at the very least to get the necklace back."
She kissed him again and walked back in the bathroom. Chibs smiled slightly and put the necklace in his pocket. He grabbed his cut and walked out of the room. He put the cake back in the fridge and grabbed another piece of chicken as he walked out of the cabin. He climbed on his bike and made his way to Gemma's house. He hoped she was right about the necklace. He was going on blind trust right now.
Gemma, Tara, and Lyla were in the kitchen. It was a quarter to six. They were going to eat at six thirty. Occasionally Tara and Lyla would exchange glances. When they did it again Gemma said something.
"Okay, what's the secret conversation about?" she said.
"What?" said both girls.
"I've seen the sideways glances you've given each other all night. So spill it," she said.
Tara looked at Lyla and Lyla looked at the ground. Sometimes Tara wished she didn't have seniority over people sometimes.
"We're just trying to figure out what the dinner's for," said Tara.
"When was the last time we had a proper dinner with the club?" asked Gemma.
"When Abel came home," said Lyla.
It was the same day she had announced her engagement to Opie.
"So there. It's been at least six months or more since then," said Gemma. "So drop it."
Both women nodded and went back to what they were doing. Gemma looked at her watch again. It was six o'clock. Chibs should be here soon with the surprise. That would leave time for them to talk and then eat at six-thirty.
Chibs pulled up to the house. Everyone was here. He parked the bike and climbed off. He could still feel the necklace in his pocket as he walked up the driveway. He opened the door and walked in. He was greeted by the rest of the club and walked into the kitchen to grab a beer. As he turned the corner he was met by Gemma. Gemma didn't look happy.
"What'd I do?" he asked.
Gemma turned around and walked out the back door. Chibs grabbed the beer Tara had grabbed out of the fridge for him. He nodded his thanks and followed Gemma out the door. As soon as the door was closed she laid into him.
"Where is she!" asked Gemma in a whispered yell.
"Who?" asked Chibs.
"Kayleigh!" she said. "I know she is town. I read the letter, hence the dinner party. Where is she?"
"The cabin," said Chibs.
He knew better than to argue with Gemma about going through his things. He would lose that battle and then still have to deal with Clay about blowing up at his wife.
"She's coming later. And before you say anything I have something she will want if she leaves town," he said.
"What?" asked Gemma.
"Her great gran's necklace," he said.
"The ruby one she was wearing last time?" asked Gemma.
"Yup," said Chibs.
Gemma nodded her head and walked back into the house. Chibs waited a few minutes before he walked back in. He grabbed another beer on his way through to the living room. Chibs sat down next to Happy and joined the conversation.
Kayleigh walked out of the bathroom and pulled on a pair of dark skinny jeans. She grabbed a black tank top and her red over shirt. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Once her shoes were on she grabbed her purse and walked towards the front door. She grabbed the sticky note with Gemma's address and walked out the door. She climbed in the Lexus and turned it on. She typed the address into the Tom-Tom and hit enter. She took a deep breath and backed down the driveway.
It was six-thirty and Kayleigh hadn't shown up. Gemma and Tara had everything sitting on the table. Gemma called everyone to the table. Clay said grace and they started to dig in. Everyone started on different conversations about different things. Gemma would occasionally look down the table at Chibs, who would in turn look away. Gemma sighed and took a drink from her wine. She was about to say something when the door rang.
"I've got it," said Opie standing up.
Gemma nodded and went back to eating. The sound that came from the living room had everyone stopping eating and looking that way.
"Holy shit," said Opie when he opened the door.
Standing on the front porch was Kayleigh. She had dark black hair instead of the auburn they had grown accustomed to. She had a shy smile on her face.
"Hi, Opie," she said quietly.
"Um…hold on," he said.
Opie turned around and walked back into the dinning room. Everyone was staring at him.
"Um, Gemma. Door," he said.
Gemma frowned but stood up anyway. She walked around the corner and smiled. Kayleigh was looking at the floor. Gemma grabbed her arm and closed the door, all without saying a word.
"Come on," she said quietly.
Gemma took her hand and walked back towards the dinning room.
"Grab another chair," Gemma said walking around the corner with Kayleigh behind her.
Everyone looked up and about choked on their food. Juice jumped up and grabbed another chair. Everyone moved down the table so Kayleigh could sit beside Chibs. She smiled shyly and sat down. Food was passed around the table again. Gemma took her seat again and conversations went back to normal.
As Kayleigh she could tell everyone wanted to ask her something. The tension was there and she could cut it with her knife. She took a sip of her wine and said something.
"I know you all want to ask me questions, so you might as well get it out of the way," said Kayleigh.
It was as if the floodgates had opened up. Everyone started asking questions. She was having a hard time answering them. Clay intervened on her behalf.
"HEY!" he shouted. "One at a time!"
A few of them gave sheepish looks and waited for someone to asked the million dollar questions. It was Gemma who asked it.
"Where'd you go after New York?" she asked.
"Backpacked across Europe," she said.
"Here's a harder one. Why'd you leave?" asked Gemma.
It was like everyone was holding their breath, waiting on her answer. Kayleigh swallowed her food and took a long sip of wine before she answered. Everyone's attention was on her.
"I had originally set out on seeing the world when I left home six months ago," said Kayleigh. "I hadn't planned on meeting anyone or becoming friends with them."
Everyone sat and stared at her. Some were still trying to process that she was actually there. Others were trying to process her response.
"I though I had family in Dublin, but the few days I was here I realized that family are the people who share the same last name or blood. Family is who you are care about. This is a very tight nit family," said Kayleigh. "You didn't have to be nice to me and you were. You accepted me into your family. The entire time I was gone all I could think about is the family I left behind in here, in Charming."
Gemma smiled and continued eating, "Good. We missed you too."
Everyone added their agreement and went back to eating. Kayleigh smiled as she returned to her food. Maybe leaving was a good thing in a disguise. She really didn't care, she was back and that's all that mattered.