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Chapter 572 Chicken

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Jax had finished the section of his father's memoir dealing with his own childhood, Vietnam and the founding of SAMCRO. Now he was reading about his childhood through his father's eyes. His vivid descriptions and stories brought back long forgotten father son adventures. He'd found some recipes for the food he and his father used to prepare together. He was making his favorite chicken nugget recipe that he used to make with his father.

Jax stirred together the seasoned flour with splashes of milk to make the flour clump. Those clumps would turn into crispy bits of golden goodness. His father didn't cook a lot, but what he did was always good. Next, he got a bowl, broke a couple of eggs into it, added a little water and beat them with a fork to break up the yolks. Earlier he had taken four large chicken breasts and cut them into pieces. He dipped pieces in the egg mix, then the flour and then repeated the process before putting them on a wire rack placed over a baking sheet. When all the pieces were coated, he put the pan in the fridge to firm up the coating.

He cleaned up the kitchen and got the Dutch oven, cooking oil and paper towel lined tray ready for the final step. He scrapped plans to make mac and cheese deciding instead to serve Scarlett's favorite deli potato salad and Cole slaw. He also made his father's baked beans that were ready to warm in the oven while he fried the chicken.

After about an hour, he heated the oil until it bubbled around a wooden spoon when he put it in the middle of the pan. That meant the oil was hot enough. He began to fry the pieces of chicken until they were golden perfection.

He thought about Scarlett and knew he was probably smiling. She'd added so much to his life. She'd more than earned his trust. He'd quit setting little tests to see if she was reading his father's manuscript when he wasn't around because nothing was ever disturbed. She respected his boundaries and earned more of his trust. She always let him take the lead when it came to the contents of the treasure box. She didn't ask questions and waited for him to offer information. Every evening, he would go up to the loft and continue reading sometimes for hours. Again, she never complained. He read everything multiple times wanting to savor and memorize every word. After all these years, he felt like he was finally getting to know his father. He was grateful for the huge commitment of time and work involved in JT assembling the contents of the treasure chest.

Outside of Piney, Scarlett and her father, no one else knew of its existence and he intended to keep it that way for awhile. He definitely didn't want Gemma to know. For some strange reason, he'd gotten it into his head that if she knew about the treasure chest, she might try to destroy it. Obviously his father—he'd quit thinking of him as JT as he read his father's words—didn't trust Gemma with the contents. Maybe that had something to do with his instinct to keep its existence from Gemma.

As he scooped out the last batch of golden nuggets with a wide slotted spatula, he heard the garage door opening, closing and Scarlett opening the door.

"Now this is my idea of perfection," she said finding him in the kitchen. "I come home from a long day at work to find a sexy as hell man in my kitchen cooking me dinner."

She stole a nugget from the paper towels and popped it into her mouth.

"Mmm. That's really delicious. I can't believe how crisp you got them. Fried chicken is the one thing my father refuses to cook saying he can't compete with KFC or Popeye's, but your spicy nuggets are even better. You have to make them for him some time."

"That's a good idea. I can't believe I can actually make something he won't even try to make. I'm glad you like the chicken because I made enough for a couple of meals."

"Even better. You are definitely the man of my dreams."

Jax turned the stove off and wrapped his arms around Scarlett.

"Remember you told me that you like fried chicken better cold?"

"Uh-huh," Scarlett said suspiciously.

"I do too. Why don't we let it cool?"

"And what will we do while we wait?"

"I have an idea," Jax said with a wide grin. He couldn't keep his hands off Scarlett. He lowered his head and kissed her as he slowly steered her into the bedroom. By the time they emerged some time later, the chicken was completely cooked and the baked beans cooked to bubbling perfection.

Over dinner, Scarlett told him about her lunch with Tara including what Tara suspected was going on at the hospital.

"Tara isn't overly dramatic. If she thinks something is going on, I'm inclined to believe her," Jax said.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Scarlett confessed. "She's going to a conference and bringing Steve along for protection. She's still pretty nervous about it though. She gave me some information to take to David Hale if something happens to her."

"That does sound serious. I never gave it much thought about there being money in stealing bodies. That's the kind of thing you see in a horror movie."

"I did a little quick phone research and it is big business."

"Steve should be able to handle things," Jax said.

Despite his reassuring words to Scarlett, Jax hoped Steve was up to the challenge if something went wrong.