“Seychelle. Please come in. Blythe is happy that you’ve come to visit us.” Czar stepped back to allow them to enter.
Savage wrapped his arm around his woman and guided her inside into the very spacious living room. Blythe was sitting in one of the many comfortable armchairs. She rose immediately, a welcoming smile on her face. She came to them, both hands extended toward Seychelle, but leaning toward Savage. He obliged by kissing her cheek. Seychelle took her hands.
“I’m so glad you both came. Savage, I have your favorite coffee made fresh. And Seychelle, I hoped you were a tea drinker. I made a fresh pot, but if you prefer coffee, I can get you a cup of that.”
“Tea would be lovely,” Seychelle said. “I take mine with milk but no sugar.”
They followed Blythe over to the chairs. A small table was set with a tray holding coffee, tea and fresh-baked pastries. There was also a vegetable tray with dip. Savage was happy to see that. He immediately took one of the small bowls and scooped up plenty of the vegetables and added some dip before handing it to Seychelle.
She laughed. “You’re always trying to get me to eat.”
“Because you never eat.”
Seychelle laughed again, her golden notes floating to the ceiling, the sound real this time, relaxing the tight knots in his gut so that the burning in his lungs eased.
“Before we get to the reason you’re here,” Czar said, “I just want you to know ahead of time, I’m in full-blown crisis mode.”
Blythe rolled her eyes. “You’re not. You’re just being silly. Take a breath and eat a pretzel. They’re warm. Fresh out of the oven. They’re your favorites.”
“They’re Savage’s favorites,” Czar corrected, taking one of the fresh pretzels anyway and glaring at his wife. “Don’t discount this, Blythe. It’s a big deal.”
Savage looked to Blythe for an explanation for Czar’s out-of-character behavior. Either he was striving to put Seychelle at ease, or he really was upset. With Czar, it was impossible to tell.
“Darby was asked out on a date.”
“She gets asked out all the time,” Savage said.
“She said yes this time,” Czar declared. “She’s going out with a perfect stranger. And he already has a child. He’s a fireman, for fuck’s sake. He’s too old for her, Blythe. He’s looking for one thing.”
“If he were her age, you’d say that,” Blythe said, calmly drinking her tea. “And you’d be right. I suspect this man is looking more for a mother for his child.”
“She doesn’t need to be a mother at eighteen,” Czar declared. “She’s hardly started her life. And she’s so protective of the girls and Jimmy. Even Kenny, whether he likes it or not. She needs to have some time for herself so she knows who she is.”
“I’m well aware of that, honey,” Blythe agreed quietly.
“I’ll pay him a visit,” Savage volunteered immediately. “Have Code get an address for me.” Damned if some man was going to take Darby from her home to play mother to his child. That was some bullshit right there.
“You won’t be paying him any visit, Savage,” Blythe decreed. “Czar, this man is off-limits. Do both of you understand? He’s off-limits.”
Czar sighed. “I see no reason why I can’t just have a talk with him, Blythe. He’s way older than she is. I won’t embarrass her.”
Blythe rolled her eyes. “Don’t be obtuse. You know darn well you’ve already embarrassed her just by riding with six of the boys past Crow 287 when he was coming out of it. You did it on purpose. Twice. It was no coincidence, like you told her. I’m not that naïve. And he isn’t all that much older than she is.”
“You did a rollout and I wasn’t called?” Savage objected.
“We thought you might be a little busy,” Czar said, then grinned sheepishly at his wife. “It wasn’t really a rollout. We were just riding together.”
“See the kind of thing you’re going to have to deal with when you have children, Seychelle? Especially girls.” Blythe sipped her tea and chose a pretzel.
Savage was happy to see that Seychelle was relaxed enough to eat a few of the vegetables with the dip. He realized that was another of Czar’s gifts. He knew she was extremely nervous—that even Savage wasn’t his usual calm self—and he’d deliberately introduced a topic that would make everyone have a lively conversation involving someone else. It also gave him the opportunity to see how Czar and Blythe interacted when they disagreed.
“Darby is a very headstrong, stubborn young woman, Czar. If you push her, or threaten this man in any way, she will turn that protective nature of hers straight to defending him, and she’ll rush right into his arms.”
Czar flashed her another grin. “I notice you never give me his name.”
Savage realized that Czar didn’t disagree with Blythe. Czar read people too easily. He would know his daughter’s nature inside and out. He knew if he pushed too hard against her dating the fireman, she would rebel. He also knew she expected his resistance. And there was no way Czar would ever allow Darby to date a man without knowing his name.