Page 106 of When You Stayed
Connor’s head dipped again, and his jaw now looked about as tense as mine.
“He was found dead in his home two nights ago. I’m trying to play catch-up as much as I am determined to figure out who leaked your shit. We’re both being attacked, Ford. We’re going to work together on this, or we’re going to fucking die trying.”
I stared up at my friend, and I realized after such a long time that it might actually be nice to have him back.
“Fine, help us but stay the fuck away from Royce. I don’t care that you’re friends. Don’t touch her and don’t try shit. She’s mine.”
“I want you both to be happy,” Connor said honestly.
Killian tapped the table with his knuckles. “Great, so where the fuck does that leave us?”
I glanced back at my best friend who stepped closer to the table to address everyone. “I have someone who’s been helping me keep tabs on men in the club. We’ve had a hunch for a while that there might be a mole, so I’ve had someone unsuspecting following a few of them around and keeping notes. We’ll bring her in, and then from there we can figure out a direction to go in.”
“Are the Murdoch Devil Rider’s going to be a problem?” I asked Silas.
He shook his head. “I left the leader intact, and with incentive to work with us.”
It still boiled my blood that I didn’t have a chance to deal with him, or his men for watching that video, but I had to focus on keeping Royce safe, that was the most important thing.
Killian suddenly tilted his head and asked, “Who is it you’ve been working with, Connor?”
My best friend nervously tapped the surface of the table, and then his Adam’s apple bobbed. I watched his expression, knowing mine was twisting with confusion. He seemed apprehensive to share, and I almost thought he wouldn’t until the doors opened again, and in strutted the youngest Quinn sister.
With blond hair styled, her high-heeled boots echoed against the floor, and I think she was even chewing gum.
“That would be me.” Taryn smiled at the table in front of us. Connor winced, and Killian shot to his feet.
The whole room erupted into chaos, and how fucking fitting as Connor was now the king of it.
EPILOGUE
Callie
Three Months Later
For the firsttime in nearly a decade, Dead Roses was closing early.
I had flicked the button on the sign to indicate that we weren’t taking any more walk-in clients, and anyone on the books was called and rescheduled.
There was a tiny ball of excitement that had been building inside my stomach ever sense Ford first turned down his scholarship and chose to stay in Rose Ridge. I’d never forget how my son looked that day he informed us that he wasn’t going to college. His boxes had been packed, his room nearly empty as we prepared to move him to the dorm. Wes and I had planned the route and all the stops along the way as we prepared to say goodbye to our eldest child.
We were proud, hopeful but when he’d told us that he was staying, my husband had glanced at me and I knew right then and there this was about her.
The girl who had kept my son busy sketching well into the night. The one who had come to my house more times than I could ever count to clean, or bake, or wash our cars. The reason was always obscure but not enough to veil the true intention.
Royce had grown up with a crush larger than life on my son, Ford. It was endearing and even adorable at times, until I realized how big of a mess things might have become. Connor had his heart set on Royce, and Ford was nothing if not the best kind of friend you could ask for. So, years ago when all this began, Wes and I knew that our son would end up with the broken heart. The one left behind as the girl who liked him would go shunned and ignored because of the code he lived by to not take something that his best friend desired.
So when Connor left, and Royce stayed, I wasn’t surprised in the least bit that Ford had chosen to abandon his dream and remain in Rose Ridge. Because of all the dreams he had, Royce Quinn had always been the largest, and the most out of reach. Wes and I supported Ford, we never even questioned why he wanted to stay.
I knew by staying that meant he’d join the club, and I knew it meant I had to allow the tender part of my heart that might not want that for my child to bleed or heal, but regardless, he was going to be in the Stone Riders. I knew it was just a matter of time.
What I did not expect was how long it took for Ford to finally make a move toward Royce. Six years passed and with each month, I began to worry that this was all for not. That Ford would simply miss his chance at this great love, and he’d be stuck watching her from afar. I could nearly scream with how frustrated I was over his lack of action.
And then it happened, the two were thrust together that night at dinner and I saw the way Royce looked at Ford, with awe and a bit of surprise. There was plenty of animosity too, but I saw hope there too. Laura had tugged my hand after dinner and with her eyes blown wide, and no words needed we both had begun thinking the same thing: They were finally going to start this thing that had been brewing for the better part of twenty years.
Did Laura and I secretly hope our kids would one day end up together? Of course we did because Laura was my chosen sister, andmy best friend but we had never done anything to try and force that or even encourage it.
Now, here we were, three months after the two started dating and they were coming in to get tattoos together. Royce had been the one to reach out and ask if they could reserve a slot together, and if I would be the one to do the tattoos. I was so honored that she’d asked me that I had shut down the whole shop for them.
