Just like most every other morning, I took Millie out for a run when I woke up. We were passing the barbershop when Roosevelt stepped out and put his hat on. I moved to go around him, but he stepped right in my way. Millie stopped suddenly and it was all I could do to keep from tripping.
"Ms. Conner, you seem to be healing nicely. Not handling loaded weapons irresponsibly anymore, are you?" He asked, referring to the lie I told the police and the doctors about how I came to have a bullet wound in my stomach. I shook my head and wrapped Millie's leash around my hand, pulling her closer to me. "It's strange, we thought we had a lead on your house fire, but the suspect suddenly disappeared. Along with all of his known associates."
"So you're updating me to tell me you don't have any updates? That's some great work you all are doing. Glad to see my tax dollars at work. Why exactly are you in Lodi, anyways?" I said sharply. He chuckled and nodded his head.
"My favorite barber is here. You know your boyfriend is on parole, right?" He asked. I rolled my eyes and took my single earbud out, annoyed that I had to pause my music.
"Yeah, I've known that since before the first time you asked me if I knew. What's your point, Sheriff? I've got things to do." I was tired of having my time wasted and the sidewalks were heating up, which meant I needed to get Millie home before it hurt her paw pads.
"Well, I know he's not been staying in Charming much these days. I've got a few friends with the parole board and they'd probably agree that wherever your boyfriend is staying needs to be checked for any contraband. You know, illegal weapons, drugs, things like that." He said with a grin.
"Well you're more than welcome to get a warrant. Parole or not, you're going to need a warrant because he's not on the lease and he doesn't claim residency there. Now, if you don't mind, I need to get her home before it gets too hot." I said, walking away from him. He grabbed my upper arm as I passed by and I spun around to face him.
"Time's going to catch up with you, Jaden. Don't you think it'd be better if you're on the right side of the law when it does?" He asked, slowly letting my arm go. Millie positioned herself between us.
"No matter what side of the law I'm on, it'll be because I chose it. You can keep pushing me all you want but I'm not flipping on my fiancé or our family." I said before turning back towards home.
When I walked inside and let Millie off her leash, I was set on talking to Happy about what happened with Roosevelt, but one look at him told me that something was going on. He looked determined and I watched him check the magazines in both of his guns.
"Hey, is everything okay?" I asked, knowing the answer but hoping to get some more information from him. He nodded and put his gun in his shoulder holster.
"Yeah, J. I'm going to be late tonight though. We've got some stuff going on but after tonight it should get better." He said, waving me over to him. I believed that he wanted to believe that, but I also had a feeling that whatever the "stuff" was, it was dangerous. "I love you, Jaden."
"You know that just makes me worry more, right?" I said, hugging him and putting my cheek on his chest. I felt him nod as he wrapped his arms around me and planted a kiss in my hair.
"Yeah, well I just need you to know that." He said before stepping away. I bit my lip and watched him pull his kutte on and dig his keys out of his pocket. It had been less than a week since he'd gotten back from his first run after I got out of the hospital and things only seemed to be getting busier and busier.
"I love you to, Happy." I said as I watched him walk out to his bike. He turned around and gave me a smile with his nod. He started the bike and Millie and I watched him until he rounded the corner and disappeared from sight.
I walked inside and grabbed my laptop to start looking at possible bakeries for a cake. It was Monday, so the club was closed and I didn't have anything else to do besides work on wedding plans. The problem with planning the wedding was that it made me think about Happy, which made me worry.
After about an hour of flipping from website to website, I gave up and tossed my computer onto the couch and grabbed my phone. Barbie answered the phone on the first ring.
"Please come shopping with me! I need to find a dress and stop worrying." I begged, stepping into my boots. I heard Barbie laugh and groan, which she did often while standing up now.
"Pick me up. I don't feel like driving." She bossed. I smiled and grabbed my keys, patting Millie apologetically. I hated leaving her alone, but she wasn't exactly small enough to hide in my bag while shopping. I paused at the door and made sure my gun was loaded and easily accessible in the hidden compartment of my crossbody bag that Happy had gotten me a couple weeks ago.
When I got to Barbie's place, she was already walking out of the front door with a big smile. I knew she was looking forward to getting out of the house for something other than work. She lowered herself down into my car slowly and pushed her hair out of her face.
"Cute shoes." I said, smiling at her flats. She narrowed her eyes at me and I laughed as I backed out of the driveway. "I was being serious!"
"Sure you were. Are you actually going to try a dress on today? We've only got nine weeks to your big day." She said, cracking the window down a little. I'd been leaving the top up when she rode with me to make sure she didn't get too much sun. She hated being treated like she was a delicate flower, but I wanted my god-child to be perfect.
"Yeah, I am. I just want it to match who I am, you know? I don't want to look like some kid playing dress up." I said with a sigh. Just thinking about finding the right dress had my chest tightening.
"You're too sexy to ever look like a kid, J. We'll find something, okay?" She said, squeezing my hand that was resting near the gear shifter. I nodded and turned onto the highway. I found myself scanning the mirrors as we headed down the road, making sure no one was following us. It was just another sign of how much my life had changed since meeting Happy.
We walked into the dress store and I felt overwhelmed with all of the white surrounding me. Barbie looped her arm through mine and gave me a bright smile.
"Come on, we'll take it slow and find something you want." She said happily. A woman in a sharp pant suit walked over and introduced herself as Barbara. She asked me what kind of dress I was looking for and I froze. "She needs something sexy but classy."
The woman's brow rose a little at Barbie's words but nodded and led us over to a large rack. She stepped towards me with a measuring tape and took a few measurements, jotting them down as she walked around me. I bit my lip and waited nervously.
"How do you feel about lace?" Barbara asked, pulling out an off-white dress in a garment bag. I couldn't tell much about it through the bag, but I liked that it wasn't poofy.
"Lace is fine. I'd really like to avoid white if possible. Off-white or cream is fine, just not pure white." I said, starting to thumb through the rack. Barbie pulled a dress out and held it out towards me.
"Look! It has bling and shows off your back." She said, turning the dress around so I could see the back. I smiled and nodded as Barbara took it and a couple more to the dressing room. "Can she get some champagne?"
"Please!" I agreed with a laugh. Barbara smiled and nodded, heading off down a hallway. I flipped through a few more dresses before a dress across the store caught my eye. It was on a mannequin, so I could see exactly how it flowed from the lace, corset top to the flowing, tulle skirt. I bit my bottom lip and walked around the back of the mannequin, looking at if from all sides. "I need to try this one on."
"Of course you do." Barbie said with a little laugh. I smirked and drank my champagne while Barbara took it off the mannequin for me.
It was the first dress I tried on and I didn't have to try on any of the others. Barbie and her fucked up hormones started crying as soon as I stepped out of the dressing room. I couldn't resist the smile that spread over my face as I looked at myself in the mirror. It was perfect but more importantly, it was me.
"Do you think he'll like it?" I asked as I handed over a few hundred bills to Barbara. Barbie chuckled and nodded her head.
"Trust me, he'll love it. It's so sweet when he looks at you. Normally, he looks all serious or pissed off. When he looks at you though, he looks like he really should be named Happy. His eyes get all warm and he actually smiles." Barbie said. I blushed a little and nodded, knowing exactly what she was talking about.
We were walking out to my car when my phone started vibrating in my back pocket. It was a task, holding the dress and answering the phone, but I managed to do so just in time. Barbie took the dress from me and put it in the trunk carefully.
"Jaden, sweetie, is that you?" A female voice that I didn't recognize asked. I pulled the phone away from my ear to look at the phone number, it was out of state. I twisted my mouth and put my phone back up to my ear.
"This is Jaden, who is this?" I asked, already having a gut feeling about the answer. Barbie raised her brow at me and I shook my head.
"It's Momma, baby. I miss you so much! I never thought I'd talk to you again. Where are you?" I bit my lip and shook my head as my vision started to blur. I didn't want to talk to her again. I was just fine with how things were.
"Where did you get this number?" I asked. Barbie stepped closer to me and searched my eyes. I pulled my sunglasses down over my eyes, using a trick out of Happy's book.
"My lawyer gave it to me, sweetie. Don't be mad. We sent you away because we love you." She said. I laughed darkly and pushed myself upright from leaning on the car.
"I was fifteen! Go to hell." I threw my phone against the brick wall across from me and watched it shatter before bouncing on the ground. I started looking for things and counting them, trying to ground myself before having a panic attack.
I was getting close to finishing off a bottle of vodka when Happy came walking into the clubhouse along with the rest of the club. He looked tired, as did everyone else. Tig gave me a somber nod before grabbing a bottle of beer for himself and taking the seat next to me. Happy eyed the bottle on the bar infront of me and raised his brow.
"What's wrong?" He asked, sounding tense and distant. I shook my head and took another drink, straight from the bottle. Happy sighed and took the bottle, finishing it off himself. I rolled my eyes and searched my bag for a joint. He shook his head and gently turned my chin towards him.
"Do you want to talk about what happened tonight and why all of you look rode hard and put up wet?" I asked, knowing the answer already. He narrowed his eyes and grabbed my wrist, pulling me along behind him and towards the dorm. Millie hopped off the bed and looked up at him.
"Why are you here and not at home? What's going on, Jaden?" He couldn't keep the clip out of his voice and I scoffed.
"What, now I can't come to the clubhouse?" I snapped, not wanting to talk about what had happened earlier. I'd already cried with Barbie and gotten sadness out of the way. Now I was just pissed.
"Damnit, Jaden. I've got enough shit going on without you being a bitch. You know you can come to the clubhouse. I've got church. You can chill out and get over your shit before I get done." With that, he walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him. I held up both middle fingers before throwing a pillow against the wall.
Millie started whining and nudged me with her head as I sat down on the edge of the bed with my elbows on my knees. I hated that I'd let my mother upset me enough to get drunk and then fight with Happy. I hated fighting with him. This was the first time it'd gotten this bad though.
"Can I come in?" It was Barbie's voice coming through the door. I sighed and agreed, not really keen on the idea of talking to anyone. She picked up the pillow that was laying on the floor and tossed it over to me. I put it back in place and looked up at her. "I've never heard you two fight like that."
"That's because we've never fought like that. He—" I was cut off by bullets ripping through the outer wall. Barbie screamed and went down quickly. I laid down on top of her and covered my head with my arms, hoping to get out of this without another bullet wound.
When the bullets stopped, I could still hear shooting, no doubt the club returning fire. I rolled off of Barbie who was crying hard. She had her knees bent up towards her stomach and seemed to be in a lot of pain. I shook my head and dropped to my knees beside her. There was blood seeping through her shirt at her shoulder, but I could tell something was wrong with the baby by the way she was curled up and screaming.
"Hey, hey, breathe for me, okay. Breathe." I said, taking her hand and holding it tightly. Her pupils were wide and I could see the fear in her eyes. She coughed and blood sprayed from her mouth. "Don't try to talk, okay. You're going to be okay. I promise."
She nodded and screamed again, just as Happy and Juice burst into the room. I looked up at Happy and felt my bottom lip start to quiver. Juice slammed down onto his knees on the other side of Barbie and pulled her into his lap. She looked up at him and I glanced down, seeing blood on the floor near her legs as well. Tara rushed into the room and started ordering Juice to help her with towels and keeping Barbie calm.
"The ambulance is on the way." Gemma said, rushing into the room. I felt helpless as Happy pulled me to my feet and started looking me over. He was asking me if I was hit but didn't honestly know. I couldn't feel anything besides fear.
"Is she going to be okay?" I asked, wishing Happy would lie to me, just this once. He didn't answer and just pulled me out of the way as the stretcher rolled in.
A/N: Sorry for the cliff hanger but I'm at a turning point for this story and trying to decide which way to go. Thank you all so much for the reviews and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! I'm going to brainstorm and work on updating my other stories for at least a couple days.