Rough Ride (Men of Valor MC)

“Well, we’ll take pictures.”

“I know. Those are really important to me. I don’t have any pictures from my life growing up, so I want to take a ton today. With you, of course, and Trudy and Isla. Did you call Malcolm?”

I had in fact called Malcolm. We’d been talking on the phone and texting on and off for the last month. I wasn’t sure where we were but I knew nothing had changed. He’d told me he wouldn’t let her down and be there. She’d worked so hard to make up for the school she missed and Malcolm was her family, or at least she considered him as such.

“I’ll call him again on the drive over. Don’t forget to put on your class ring. I have the hat and gown in the car. Pee one more time and then we’ll hit the road.”

Skylar nodded at me and then jumped and down. Her nerves were contagious and my anxiety was piqued. I hoped Isla would bring some wine to the reception we were holding later that night, for Sky and our four other graduates at the shelter.

Two weeks ago, we’d submitted our petition for guardianship to family court. Sky’s mother, the only parent she’d ever known, had passed away when she was fourteen. She was a ward of the state and the transfer of guardianship would likely be a straight-forward, easy process. After we met with the lawyer, we both breathed a huge sigh of release. Skylar wanted to take my last name when we made it official. My parents thought I was nuts when I told them the plan.

“Darling, you simply cannot adopt every child at the shelter who pulls at your heartstrings, you’ll end up running an orphanage,” my well-intentioned mother told me over the phone. “And what about when you meet someone with whom you’d like to settle down? Will you tell them you have multiple children with behavior problems? Not many people would be generous enough to accept that, Claire. Think of your future.”

I was. And there was only one man I would ever want to share my life with and I’d already fucked that up.

Luckily, Sky and I drove to Cleveland the following weekend and it only took one family meal before everyone was smitten with Sky and welcoming her to the family. My mother apologized to me quietly in the kitchen after dinner and my father and Sybil insisted Sky accompany them to a softball game they were attending. My family loved Skylar and they were driving in for her graduation.

The back of my Subaru was stuffed with balloons and a sheet cake big enough for all the kids at the shelter. Sky sat in the back seat so she could slip into her gown and hat as I sped down the highway. I blasted Taylor Swift because both Sky and I liked to shout the lyrics, and if we were home, dance party in the living room.

I was busting out “Love Story,” when Skylar caught my eyes in the rear view mirror. She quickly turned her head around and then looked out the side window.

“Claire, turn the music down!” she demanded.

“What’s up?” I said. I cut it off and glanced in the mirror. All I saw were purple and silver balloons. Talk about a blind spot. Sky had moved to the side and was rolling down the window. Once it was open, that’s when I heard it. The rumble of the hog made my heart relocate to my throat and gooseflesh rise up all over me. I glanced in the driver’s side mirror and saw him, relaxed on his bike, not wearing a helmet like a jackass. He had on aviators and his gorgeous hair was slicked back like he was on his way to court, but his jeans and sweater told me Miller was showing up for his only kinda daughter.

I caught Sky’s face as she stretched out the window, her eyes were bright and she wore her heart on her sleeve as she waved happily at the one man who’d cared enough to intervene and save her life.

Patriot and Bullet and the whole crew pulled up behind Miller, and they held formation as Skylar blew kisses out the window. Right before they pulled out and sped off ahead of us, Malcolm looked at me and saluted. He was civil. I smiled, but on the inside I felt as raw and as ragged as a fish on the dock. Gasping and flipping for relief, but knowing I was totally fucked.

“They showed up, Mom! They really came! Malcolm was riding up front.”

I nodded and brushed the tears away as focused on the road and tried to deliver us to graduation and not straight into the ditch.

The ceremony was beautiful; I alternately cried, guffawed, whooped it up, and learned what it felt like to have your heart almost burst from pride. My family was beside me along with Isla and we’d never gotten so boisterous at a public event in the history of our lives.