Reining It In (Devil's Knights 2nd Generation 6)

“Bear,” I cried. Tears streaked down my cheeks, and I couldn’t stop them. “How are you not crying?” I wailed.

Bear reached into the center console and pulled out a stack of napkins. “Because I’ve had five years to come to grips with it, mama. You’ve had about ten minutes.”

“I’m a blubbering mess,” I sobbed. I grabbed one of the napkins and loudly blew my nose. “You visited her when she didn’t even know you were there,” I wailed. That absolutely killed me. There were not many people in the world who would do that.

For a year after I graduated high school, I had worked as a cook in the local nursing home while I was in vet school.

It killed me how many people were just dropped there, and no one ever came to visit.

“Breathe, mama,” Bear called.

“You shouldn’t be consoling me,” I cried. I was a mess. I was here to help Bear, and he was the one who was trying to calm me down. “Get it together, Greta,” I scolded myself. “This is not about you.”

Bear chuckled, and I wiped my nose.

“I didn’t know your mom, Bear, but I know she loved you even if she couldn’t remember you.”

Bear smiled sadly. “She talked about having a son. The staff told me.”

“See, she had you in her head, but it was a little scrambled.”

He nodded and let go of my hand. “Yeah, she told them I was eighteen and was away at college.” He zoomed around a slow car and reset the cruise. “And, when I thought about it, that was about the time she started forgetting things. Not me yet, but just small things.”

“And you didn’t have anyone to help you,” I whispered. If I would have been Bear, I would have lost it and broken a long time ago.

He shrugged. “It was what it was, mama.”

“But you’ve got me now,” I added hopefully. “And the whole clubhouse.” I mean, he didn’t really know the guys that well, but I knew they would all be there in a heartbeat for him. Hell, Mom and Dad were ready to drive to Colorado if Bear needed them, and that was saying a lot for Dad who hadn’t seemed to even like Bear before.

“Yeah, mama.” He nodded to a billboard. “You wanna take a detour and stop at the Leaning Tower of Niles?”

I blinked away my tears and caught a glimpse of a billboard with what looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. “Only if you take a picture of me that looks like I’m pushing it over.”

Bear let out a bark of laughter. “Deal, mama.”

I unbuckled my seat belt and leaned across the center console. I pressed a kiss to Bear’s cheek, and he laid his hand on my cheek. “I’m here,” I whispered.

He turned his head and pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you, lumberjack.”