Page 39 of Stone
Stone could say more by never speaking a word aloud than Jared ever had by raising his voice.
She and her sisters had discussed her father and Jared. A lawyer the club knew had gone over all the information Beth had found, which sounded so much better than saying that Beth had stolen it. Either way, Beth had the information they needed to make an informed decision. They’d received a report that stated she and her sisters were not tied to the other companies. They’d voted to turn the information over to the authorities, which was happening soon. Jared had been sent paperwork for him to sign revoking his parental rights. Naomi didn’t ever want to see him again, so Stone said he would take care of making sure Jared signed. When she’d been worried about it, War had dropped by to say that they all had Stone’s back and to not worry.
Locks had mentioned he hoped their father showed up in Bluff Creek because Locks wanted to have a little one-on-one time with his brother to teach him how he was supposed to treat daughters. Naomi hoped it happened, and if her father felt the same pain that Naomi had to deal with, then she’d be even happier. She’d known it was wrong when her father didn’t helpher, but until she got out of the situation and Jared’s emotional gaslighting, she hadn’t understood how truly evil it was.
Stone and she would do whatever it took to keep the girls safe. The lack of empathy and care that her father had for her was staggering.
If she was going to pull off what she wanted, then she’d probably need some major help. She picked up her phone and typed in aCode Rachelto her sisters, cousins, and all the women that had shown her Bluff Creek was home. Before she could figure out where to have the get-together, Willa suggested the helicopter hangar because there wouldn’t need to be any shuffling of kids for privacy.
Naomi loved how quickly everyone agreed to be there tonight. She needed to figure out something for the girls to do. Before she could start working through the problem, Hope texted that Locks would be happy to hang out with the girls and Benji tonight while they met.
One problem solved. Now, tonight, hopefully, the women of the club would help her solve the next one.
Stone sipped the beer that Locks had brought him. When Naomi said she was busy tonight, he’d checked about doing something with the girls. Locks had already volunteered to hang out with them, so Stone had asked to join.
The girls had picked the firstAvengersmovie since Stone was there. He’d been lectured multiple times that they were aniconic set of movies that Stone needed to watch. He didn’t bother informing the girls that before he’d gone to prison, he’d been a pretty big comic book buff. He’d read most of these in comic form.
Ben and Finn had decided to join them.
“Hey, what do you have planned for Naomi’s birthday?” Finn asked.
Stone turned to stare at his brother. He didn’t have a clue when Naomi’s birthday was. They’d never discussed it.
“When is her birthday?” Stone wondered.
“July 1st,” the girls echoed together, which sometimes was a little creepy when they did that.
“That’s not much time. I’d love to do something fun for her,” Stone mused.
“You know she loves to sing,” Taylor offered.
“And Dad was an ass and always said not to sing,” Beck added softly.
“Hey, what about karaoke?” Regan suggested.
Stone thought about that. He could take Naomi on a bike ride to Dodge City, where Nelson’s could host a karaoke night. If all of her family and friends were there, then he could also have a cake for her. He just needed to find out what her favorite flavor was.
“I want it to be a surprise, but I also want it to be just for her birthday. If she, Lilah, and Chloe want a joint party, then we could do that on the actual birthday. Maybe we could have it the Friday night, June 26th, before her birthday. She’d never expect it early,” Stone proposed, tossing out ideas to get the girls’ opinion.
“She’ll never expect it anyway because Dad never did anything for her birthday,” Beck muttered.
“She likes hot applesauce cake with caramel frosting.” Taylor grinned, already plotting. “I bet Regina would help us make it and keep it a surprise.”
“All right, let me contact Nelson’s and see if they are willing to have a karaoke night and reserve a huge number of tables for us. If that works, then our next thing is what should I get her for a present?” Stone pondered.
“Let’s watch the movie, and then maybe we’ll think of something,” Regan said.
Stone nodded and stared at these girls who were becoming young women, reflecting on how he’d been blessed to have them come into his life.
He leaned over, patting Finn’s shoulder. “Thanks for letting me know about her birthday.”
“No problem,” Finn shrugged, tossing a piece of popcorn high in the air and catching it in his mouth.
“Oh, will you teach me to do that?” Beck asked.
Stone watched the interaction between his brother and one of his future daughters. They already felt like his, but he needed to make it official. He’d been giving Naomi time before he took them all the way, but he was about at the end of his rope. His hand had gotten more action since he’d met Naomi than it had in years.
Chapter Twenty-Two
