Page 90 of Maple Mountain
“What would you have done?”I asked.“If you’d known about Lenni back then?”
“I would’ve stepped the fuck up.But Blair didn’t give me that choice, did she?”
“No, she didn’t.”
The water boiled and I turned off the burner.I let the kettle sit for a moment and then I poured the water over the strainer into the mug.
“We were nineteen,” he said.“I wouldn’t have known what to do, but I could’ve learned, you know?She didn’t even give me a chance.”
“So, you would have left the club?”
“No.The club is how I would have provided for her.The club takes care of its own.”
I cocked my head to the side.“But that’s not what Blair wanted.She didn’t want you to choose the club, but she knew you would.”
“You don’t just walk away from your brothers.The club is for life.”
“That’s not really true, is it?”I asked.“I mean, you’re out now.”
“Yeah, because of Brooks.He’s the reason we got to walk away clean.”He sipped his drink.“He took the fall for a brother who already had a record.The guy had just had a baby girl, and Brooks didn’t want her to grow up without a father.But he told our club president that in exchange for going to prison for a brother, he and I would be out, forever.”
He laughed, but it wasn’t in humor.“Ironic, isn’t it?Brooks went to prison so a biker brother could stick around and watch his daughter grow up, but the fucker died anyway when Brooks was only a few years into his sentence.And I didn’t get a chance to watch my kid grow up because I didn’t even know about her.”
Archer shook his head and then took a hefty swallow of bourbon.“My brother lost years of his life for nothing.”Shock permeated my face and Archer raised a brow.“You didn’t know about any of that, did you?”
I slowly shook my head.“How would I have known?”
“Poet.She knows.I thought for sure she’d already told you.”
“No.”My throat was tight.“The first time I knew anything about Brooks’ past was when you told Lenni about it.Poet didn’t say anything about it to me.Nothing concrete, anyway.”
“Oh.”He paused.“Tough broad.”
“Tougher than any of us gave her credit for,” I said.“Brooks going to prison wasn’t for nothing.If he hadn’t done that, you’d both still be in the club, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And then what would’ve happened to Lenni?She’d be with Nancy right now.”
“Maybe.Maybe not.”His tone was bitter.
Before I knew it, I took a step toward him and placed a hand on his chest right over his heart.
His hand covered mine.
“She’s here now,” I reminded him.“And there’s only forward.Don’t look back, Archer.Looking back just fills you with regret.”
“Are you speaking from experience?At the ripe old age of twenty-four?”
“Twenty-three,” I corrected.
I tried to pull my hand back, but he wouldn’t let me.Instead, he bent his head ever so slightly.And right before he could meet my lips, I turned my face, so his mouth grazed my cheek.
Swallowing, I finally managed to pull my hand away.I grasped my tea and stepped away from him.“Good night, Archer.”
He let me escape to my room.Mildred wasn’t on my bed—so I knew she was snuggling with Lenni.
Lenni wasn’t mine.
