Page 156 of Nash
Darla's hand goes to her mouth.
I pull out the next one. MALACHI'S OLD LADY. Rhinestones. Bedazzled. Sparkling under the clubhouse lights.
Candace says oh my god so quietly I almost miss it.
KNOX'S OLD LADY. I hold it up toward Sloane, who is laughing, crying, and holding her stomach because the olives are still working through her system.
JAMES' OLD LADY. Maggie takes it from my hands, runs her fingers over the rhinestones, and looks at James with an expression that makes the older man's ears turn red.
"Ruby," Candace says. "You made us cuts."
I reach into the bag one more time. My hand shakes. I didn't expect it to shake, but it does because the other four were gifts and this one is mine. I pull it out and hold it against my chest before I turn it around.
NASH'S OLD LADY.
My vision blurs. My throat closes. Shit.
The rhinestones catch the light. His name is across the back in letters I placed one by one with tweezers and shaking hands at two in the morning.
Nash is looking at me from across the room. His jaw is tight. His eyes are bright.
I hold the cut against my chest and let the tears fall.
"I made five," I say. My voice cracks. "I made one for me too. I bedazzled them by hand, every rhinestone placed individually with tweezers at two in the morning. The E in East's Old Lady took forty-five minutes because the curve kept catching the glue at the wrong angle, and I almost called the whole thing off. Then I thought about what East would do if he saw Darla wearing this. The answer was 'Have a full emotional breakdown in front of the entire club,' and that mental image sustained me through three more hours of rhinestone application."
"You made us cuts," Darla repeats. She's holding hers against her chest. Rowan is asleep in her lap. Tears are running down her face.
"Try them on," I say.
They try them on. Candace zips hers up and turns to face Malachi. His jaw loosens. His eyes soften.
Darla hands Rowan to East long enough to put hers on, then takes her back and walks directly to him. East is holding Declan as he tries to process the rhinestones, his name on his woman's back, and the visual of Darla in leather with their daughter asleep in her arms.
"Greg," she says.
"Don't ruin this," he whispers. His eyes are wet. "Don't you dare ruin this with the Greg thing."
"I would never." She kisses his forehead. "Greg."
Sloane puts hers on over her pregnant belly, which means it doesn't zip, so she wears it open and somehow looks more beautiful that way. Knox pulls her into his lap, his hand on her stomach, and his mouth against her temple.
Maggie puts hers on, and James stands up. He walks to her, takes her hands, turns her around to read the lettering on her back. Turns her back around. Cups her face in both hands and kisses her full on the mouth.
The room goes dead silent for two seconds. I start clapping. It spreads. Maggie's hand comes up to James' chest, gripping his shirt, kissing him back in front of every person in the room. James pulls back. His ears are red. Maggie's eyes are bright. Neither of them says a word.
"So," I say. "The official position of the Outsiders MC Women's Division is that we are now patched members of this organization and our patches are better than yours because ours sparkle."
"Those are not official patches," Kyle says.
"Those are absolutely official patches. They are rhinestone-certified. Bedazzle-authorized. They carry the full weight and authority of the Women's Division, which I just founded. It has a membership of five and a goat."
"The goat is not a member."
"The goat has always been a member, Kyle. It was the founding member. The goat was here before any of us. The goat is the spiritual leader of this entire operation."
The goat walks across the room and sits on Kyle's foot.
"I rest my case," I say.
