Page 81 of Kane
Brick waved his words away. “You’ve done plenty for me. I wouldn’t even be here without you. Wouldn’t have my girl, this house. You don’t owe me shit. It was my pleasure dragging his sorry ass off the property. I only regret Evan got a crack at him and I didn’t.”
He told no one about his plans to leave the club after the holiday; instead, he absorbed the laughter and the love in the room like a sponge. As fun as it was, though, it was only the warm-up for an afternoon at the Cooper house.
Mandy was already there, working on the food with Cindy. When he’d told her about his invitation from Brick, about the growing friendship they had, she’d insisted he go there first. His arrival at the Coopers’ was supposed to be a surprise; he hoped everyone would consider it a good one.
Why was he so nervous? He’d known these people for years. He was only there a couple of weeks ago.
But I wasn’t back with Mandy then.
Would they be happy to see the man he’d become as a permanent fixture in their family? He’d find out soon enough.
He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. It swung open before he even let it out. Then Mandy fell into his arms, and nothing mattered but the smell of her hair and the way she whispered his name.
“Who is it?” Cindy’s voice drifted out from the living room. “Amanda?” She exhaled sharply. “Oh my God, Mike. It’s Kane. Is he…are you…are you guys together?”
The joy in her voice put to rest any concerns he had about his welcome. When Mandy finally let him go, Cindy practically elbowed her aside to give him a hug of her own. “We’ve been waiting a long time to have you back here, my friend. I hope you’re sure about this because you’re stuck with us now.”
He hugged her back with the same warmth she bestowed on him. Her grip was strong and after all these years, she still smelled like coconuts.
“All of you need to get your asses in the house and shut the door,” Mike grumbled. “I’m freezing my nuts off.”
Flanked by the women, he followed Mike’s voice into the warmth of the house. Mandy’s brother looked transformed from a few weeks earlier. Though he was still in the wheelchair, the casts were off his legs, and he’d put on at least ten pounds. His little girl had her arms locked around his neck. “Looking good, old friend.”
Mike set his daughter on the floor, and she toddled away on pudgy feet. “I’m living right. It looks like I’ll finally be able to get back to work in a couple of weeks. I’m sure my better half is ready to get me out of the house. If she has to spend much more time with me in close quarters, I may not make it out alive.”
Cindy tapped the back of his head playfully. “If I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have wasted so much time nursing you back to health.”
“Hey, Mom, are we going to eat or what?” Joshua tilted his upper body into the space of the doorframe to the kitchen. “I’m starving.”
Mandy’s hand nestled tightly in his, Kane walked with the family into the kitchen. He hadn’t eaten too much at Brick’s place, knowing he’d be sharing dinner here. Once the smell of Cindy’s pot roast took over his senses, he knew he’d made the right choice.
“Mana, up. Mana, up.” Mike’s little girl was tugging on Mandy’s jeans and quickly got scooped into her aunt’s arms.
His woman looked right at home holding a toddler. Maybe they could talk about having one of their own.
His heartbeat picked up.
It could really happen. All those dreams he thought had died were waking up from hibernation.
The meal was delicious, and the family was everything he remembered from before. Everything but Charlie and Elizabeth Cooper. Still, their picture hung on the wall over the table, giving him the feeling the couple watched over them from wherever they were now.
It might have been perfect if Joshua would have stopped staring at him every once in a while. He crooked his eyebrow at the boy from across the table. “Do I have spinach in my teeth, or what?” He glanced down at his T-shirt. “Food on my clothes? Twigs in my hair?”
Joshua smirked. “You thought I was your kid, didn’t you?”
Cindy slapped her forehead, then ran her hand over her face. “Joshua Charles Cooper, do you have no filter at all?”
The boy had a lot of nerve. Kane decided he liked it. Shooting back his own crooked smile, he feigned a shudder. “Thank God, I was wrong.”
A moment of silence passed before Mandy let out an inelegant snort, and the entire table erupted in laughter. A roll flew across the table and bounced off Kane’s head, leaving Mike doubled over in mirth.
It was the kind of Christmas he had always dreamed about.
He was still smiling when the phone buzzed in his pocket.
Malcolm: 911. Family emergency.
The one call he couldn’t ignore. Family emergency meant shit was hitting the fan. The club needed him. This one last time, he would go.