CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND TWO
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I hear Gary whistling his team from inside and as I start to walk towards the door Gemma calls my name from where she's standing by her Caddy, a white envelope in her hand.
Spinning around I head over to her, but before I get there I notice the logo in the corner of the envelope and realise it's the paperwork from Patrick, which I really don't want to open around anyone.
Taking it out her hand when I'm within reach I step over to my truck and toss the whole envelope on the passenger's seat.
Gemma looks like she really wants to ask what it contains but the clatter of boots from inside distracts her. The electrician's all are in their vans and out of the driveway before Gemma can even ask what's happening.
Clay comes out the front door and down the stairs, striding over to us. "What the fuck just happened there. Gary came in, said bye and he and his team left."
I shrug, "Sorry. I told them to finish early for the weekend. I bet they've been doing mammoth hours." I don't mention that the list of figures had the fact that each of the 6 of them had done 10 hour days since they were called in on Tuesday morning. The way I look at it 36 hours in 4 days is quiet enough.
Gemma rolls her eyes, "Oh Clay, stop it. You know that Jax and I are both leaving soon anyway." She glances down at her watch, "In fact we should leave now."
Clay turns towards my house and opens his mouth but before he can say anything I put a hand over his mouth, "First rule of Sarah's house. No yelling."
Gemma erupts into laughter while Clay stands there staring at me, his mouth hanging open in shock. Pulling my phone from my pocket I push the 1 and wait.
"Hello."
"Hey Jax, Gem said it's time to go." I say, grinning at Clay's gobsmacked expression.
"K, on the way." Jax hangs up the phone and minutes later is jogging across the grass as he pulls his kutte on.
Stopping beside his mother he finally turns around and starts chuckling at the expression on Clays face. Waving a hand in front of his eyes the older man finally moves, shaking his finger at me but grinning.
Jax raises an eyebrow and waits.
"I told Clay no yelling. He was going to stay right where he is and call you…not using a phone." I grin at Jax as he continues to chuckle quietly.
Jax shakes his head and turns to Gemma, "I'll meet you there, we'll just lock up here first."
Gemma nods once, climbs into her car and leaves while Jax and Clay go back inside. Following the pair of them inside we find most of the Sons already gathered in one of the downstairs rooms, kuttes back on and beers in hand.
"Looks like we're wrapping up early today boys." Clay says, stepping through the door.
"Awesome." Tig comments from the corner. "Time to get the party started."
"Not here. Jax is taking off and he wants to get the house locked up so all of you, on ya bikes." Clay says, ushering them all out the door, Jax following behind making sure no beer cans are dropped on the floor.
Once we reach the front door Jax pulls a set of keys from his pocket and locks the door before handing them to me and pointing out the new lock that has been put on.
"Thank you for all of this." I say, wrapping my arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.
"No worries darlin' the workshop's been pretty quiet."
Releasing my hold on his neck I tuck the keys in my pocket and jump down the stairs and head towards my Nitro where it's sitting solitary in front of the garage.
Hearing Jax's footsteps behind me I wait till he's straddling his bike to climb up behind the wheel of my 4x4. Starting the engine I turn around and head down the driveway. Pulling up beside Jax on his bike I lean out the window, "What time will you be back at your house tonight?"
Jax looks at me as he slides his sunglasses on, the dark lenses hiding his eyes, but not before I catch the hurt that flashes through them.
"Not till after church probably, but I'm going to the hospital first. Abel's out of the toaster today." Jax says, and I can't help the grin that splits my face.
"Jax that's great. How come no one told me? I would have told you and Gemma to go hours ago." I mentally shake my head at the fake act I've managed to somehow pull off. Knowing them though, I could have told them to leave and they wouldn't have. The only reason my house is empty now is that the electricians have finished and there is nothing else to be done till the next room is finished being wired.
"Thought you knew." Jax says, lifting his helmet off his handlebars and holding it towards me. "You coming?"
I flick my truck into reverse and pull it up right by the garage before winding all the windows up and jumping down. As I walk over to him I rummage through my bag to double check I have my small digital camera.
"Don't suppose we can stop by the storage unit on the way can we?" I ask, straddling the bike behind Jax and fastening his helmet under my chin.
"Sure, we don't have to be at the hospital till 3." Jax tells me kick starting his bike and pulling away from the flattened grass which has become a motorcycle parking lot.
Our quick stop at the storage unit I've rented takes longer than I expected when opening the huge case which holds my camera gear and cake decorating equipment causes a scream of frustration to come out and Jax to come running over.
"What's wrong?" He says, almost skidding to a halt beside me.
Turning to him I chuckle at the stressed expression on his face. "Nothing life threatening, apart from for a certain prospect. It seems that somehow this case got shaken up and the blue and purple icing colourings have spilt all through half my shit." Picking through a few brightly coloured packages I relax a little.
"Not as bad as I thought actually, most of the stuff is still in the zip lock bags. I'll sort through it later, when I can be bothered." Reaching into the other side of the split case I pick up a camera bag and double check that it's the right one. My red Canon EOS M is sitting snuggly in the case, the two lenses tucked down either side and the spare SD cards tucked in the zippered compartment at the top of the bag right over the flash.
Sliding the bag over my shoulder and turning back to Jax I see the confused look on his face, the number of camera cases probably completely baffling the man who doesn't even have a camera on his phone.
Tugging the door closed I start speaking. "I have 3, no 4, digital cameras. I have the little one that I now carry all the time which is fine for most things. I have a water proof one that Al brought me for Christmas last year, this one and the food one."
"You have a camera made of food?" Jax has given up watching me struggle with the roller door and tugs it closed swiftly before dropping to his knee to lock the padlock.
Shaking my head and laughing at him as we walk back to his bike, "No, I have a camera that's only ever been used when I've been cooking. I tend to take photos of all the decorating that I do of the cakes and cupcakes that I make. It means if someone wants something similar I have a starting point and photos to show them roughly what it may look like."
Jax just nods as we pull away from the storage lot and head towards the hospital. When we eventually pull into the car park Jax slots his bike in the park by Gemma's Caddy and waits while I climb off.
Gemma jumps down from her car saying "I wondered if you'd be here Sarah. I stopped and picked up some paint colour charts for you on the way."
I lean over and give her a hug, thankful that my family has stood by me when I needed them and fully prepared to stand by them now. Abel coming out of the incubator has to be tough on both of them. "Aww thanks Auntie G."
Gemma scowls at me briefly before shaking her head and laughing. "Let's go free this baby."