Jewell (Biker Bitches 7)

Jewell rolled her eyes, and Dustin just gave her a mischievous smirk before opening the door to yell for his son.

Logan poked his head out. “Yes, Dad?”

“Come outside. Jewell wants to talk to you.”

Logan peered around before he finally came outside.

“Hey, Logan,” Jewell greeted the boy. Lanky and slender, he looked more like his father every day.

“Hey.” He kept peering around the porch and yard.

“I wanted to come and apologize for taking off yesterday. It just startled me when you said my son’s name.”

Logan nodded then stared up at his dad. “Can I go back inside now?”

Jewell sighed. This was going to be harder than she had thought.

“Logan, even if you did see Michael, he wouldn’t hurt you.”

Logan puffed up his chest. “I’m not afraid. I’ve just never seen one before.”

“Seen what?”

“A ghost.”

“What you saw wasn’t a ghost.”

“Then what was he?”

Jewell bit her upper lip, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation, and came up empty.

“I don’t know what you saw and heard. I wish I did. I’d like to think my son is watching over me. He was four years old when he died.” Jewell couldn’t hide her anguish from the boy.

Logan stepped forward and took her hand. “Don’t be sad. If anything happened to me, I wouldn’t want my dad to be sad.”

“It’s not that easy—”

“Do you want him to be sad where he is?”

Jewell pressed her lips together. She had cried enough today. “No … I want him to be happy.” She took a deep breath. “I want him to be playing, using the stars as soccer balls. I bought him a soccer ball for Christmas. When I got out of classes, it would be late, and I would stay outside with him so he could play with his new ball before we went in. By that time, the stars would be out, and Michael would yell, ‘Look, Momma, I’m …’” Jewell’s voice cracked. “‘I’m kicking stars.’”

Logan’s hand tightened on hers. “Now, he has a whole playground.”

“Yes, Michael does, but I still wish he were here.”

“He is.” Logan dropped her hand. “Can you stay here for a minute? I need to get something for you.”

“I’ll wait right here,” Jewell promised.

Logan turned and ran back inside his house, leaving them alone on the porch.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Dustin uncomfortably scuffed his boot on a floorboard of the porch.

“When I found out Sam had a baby, and we couldn’t find him, it was the longest days of my life. I can’t imagine if anything happened to him.”

“I hope you never have to find out.” Only sheer willpower kept her on the porch, waiting for Logan to return. Thankfully, he wasn’t gone long.

He held out his hand for her to take, and Jewell raised her palm. Logan placed a wooden star in her hand.

“I whittled this last night. I didn’t know why … Now I do. Michael wants you to know he’s happy, and you should be, too.”

Closing her fingers around the star, with shaky legs, Jewell managed to take a step toward the rocking chair by the door. Blindly, she held her fist to her heart and started crying.

“Please, don’t cry … It might make him come back,” Logan pleaded.

Jewell lifted damp lashes to stare at the frightened boy. “I’ll make a deal with you.”

Logan looked at her suspiciously.

“I’ll stop crying over Michael if you stop being afraid of him.”

The boy nodded his head vigorously. “Deal.”

“Okay, then.” Jewell rose back to her feet. Then she bent slightly to press a kiss onto Logan’s forehead. “Don’t forget—no takebacks.”

“Porters never do takebacks,” he said huffily.

“If Dustin calls me to tell me you’re refusing to leave the house again, it’ll make me cry.”

Logan pulled his jeans up his skinny frame. “I’m a man of my word.”

She then looked at Dustin jokingly. “We better be going. I’m sure Jessie is ready to get away from Greer. You tell her to wait until we pull out before releasing the Kraken.”

“Can do.” He laughed, placing an arm around Logan’s shoulder.

As they walked back to the SUV, Jewell felt an overwhelming urge to look toward the trees on the edge of the property. Snow covering the ground shimmered under the sun’s rays beaming down, giving an illusion of movement. Jewell blinked, trying to figure out what had drawn her attention.

Curious, she moved away from the SUV, drawing closer. Then she saw snow was melting off an angel decoration that had been put out for Christmas. As the snow kept falling away, the features of the angel became clearer. The child angel was holding a lantern.

“Why would they stick this decoration out here?” Rory asked, coming up behind her.

Jewell held her star tighter until the little points pressed into her fingers. “Jessie’s brothers’ house is over the rise. Dustin probably put it out so if she goes visiting them and comes back in the dark, she would see the light,” she answered huskily. “The angel is here so she won’t lose her way home.”