A ride hadn’t been on my agenda today, but I eyed Griff and said, “Sounds like the best fuckin’ idea anyone around here has had for weeks. You in?”

He nodded. “Yeah, brother, I’m in.”

We rounded everyone up and ten minutes later, our pipes deafened the neighbourhood.

Best fucking sound in the world.

4

Harlow

“It’s nearly seven, babe. Do you need to be at work by eight?”

I cracked one eye open and attempted to get my bearings. Scott’s legs came into sight as the sunlight streaming through the window hit me. Squeezing my eyes closed again, I grumbled, “Why is it seven already?”

Scott chuckled and the bed dipped as he sat next to me. His hand trailed down my back and then he pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “This is why you’ve gotta stop doing those shifts at Indigo. You’re exhausted.”

My eyes blinked open and I rolled onto my back. “I’m not exhausted; I just wish I had more time in bed this morning.”

The way his brows pulled together told me he didn’t believe me. “When’s your next shift at Indigo?”

“Tomorrow night.” I sat up and pushed the sheet off me. Swinging my legs off the bed, I stood so I could go to the toilet. Scott, however, moved fast and blocked me.

“I’ll take you and pick you up tomorrow; you were in no shape to drive last night.”

He was right. He’d arranged with one of his boys to get my car home early in the night so that he could pick me up at the end of my shift, and I’d been so tired when he arrived. Smiling up at him, I nodded. “I agree. Thank you.”

“Fuck me, did I just hear that right?” he muttered.

“No need to be a smartass about it.” I pushed him gently so I could move past him, and his eyes crinkled into a smile. God, I was a sucker for those crinkles. He could ask me to do anything and I would do it if he flashed them at me.

I showered and got ready for work, and then met him in the kitchen where he had coffee ready for me. Taking it from him, I drank some before saying, “Your mother called me yesterday.”

The way he said, “Yeah,” made me think he already knew this.

“Did you know she was going to?”

He drank some of his coffee while his gaze moved to mine. “She told me she was going to try and organise to meet up with you.”

I leant against the counter and cradled my mug with both hands. “Scott, she was so strange on the phone that I didn’t know what to say. I think I must have come across all wrong.” Just thinking about it now caused my body to tense up. Making a good impression on his mother rated high on my list of priorities, and I’d been so caught off guard when she rang that I ended up rambling like an idiot.

“Just be you. She’s feeling as nervous as you are.”

“That’s all you’re gonna give me?” I stared at him, hoping he’d share at least a little bit more about how I should deal with his mother.

He rinsed his mug and placed it in the dish rack. “I don’t know much more than you, Harlow. She’s been ringing me to check on you and I suggested to her yesterday it would be a fuck of a lot easier if she just rang you direct. And then she said she’d try to organise girl time with you, or some shit like that.”

As he tried to move past me, I put my hand on his arm to halt him. “She’s been ringing you? Like, more than once?”

“Yes.” He seemed frustrated with me.

“Don’t you get like that at me,” I warned. “Getting to know your mother is important to me, and I’m going to need your help.”

His eyes crinkled again and he dropped a kiss onto my lips before swiping his keys off the counter and saying, “I’ll talk to you about this tonight because I’ve gotta head out now. When are you seeing her?”

“We’re having lunch together in a couple of days.”

He nodded and slid an arm around my waist. His eyes softened as he asked, “You good today, baby?”

I knew he referred to my rollercoaster emotions. “I’m good,” I replied, my voice a little breathy because when Scott did soft, it made me a little breathless. I loved that he didn’t give that softness to everyone; he made me feel special.

With one last kiss, he let me go and took a few steps towards the front door before pausing and turning back to face me. “That bossy shit you just pulled on me is hot, sweetheart. I’m loving the fuck out of this new side to you.”

I watched him leave; disappointed we both had work today. It would have been the perfect day to stay home in bed together.

Nine hours later, I’d finished another long day at the café and had dropped into the supermarket to grab some meat for dinner when Scott texted me.

Scott: I’m gonna be late tonight. Can you check in on Michelle and Lisa?

Me: Sure. You okay?

Scott: Some club stuff just went down. Will tell you when I get home.

Me: Okay. I’ll take care of Michelle. You just concentrate on you and don’t worry about us.

He didn’t reply after that and concern edged its way into my mind – Scott usually phoned rather than texting. However, I pushed the worry to the side and concentrated on taking care of what he’d asked me to do. I grabbed everything I would need for dinner, as well as the ingredients to make Michelle some soup because I knew from previous experience it was something she would eat, and then headed home.

After dumping everything inside, I made my way next door.

“Hi Harlow,” Lisa greeted me after I waited nearly five minutes for her to answer the door, and I realised she was now also sick.

“Hey, honey. You’re not feeling well?” I stepped inside, closed the door behind me, and followed her into her bedroom where she slumped onto her bed, curling into a ball.

“My throat is so sore.” She could barely get the words out, and my sympathy kicked into gear. Lisa didn’t get sick often and she never complained, so for her to telling me this meant she must be feeling awful.

“You’re burning up,” I said as I placed my hand on her forehead. “Have you taken some Advil?”

She nodded, but didn’t speak again.

“I’m just going to get a washer and I’m also going to check on your mum, okay?”

Again, a nod, but no words.

I left her and found Michelle asleep in her bed. Pressing my hand to her forehead, I found that her fever seemed to have broken. Thank goodness.

A couple of minutes later, I sat with Lisa on her bed and tried to cool her a little with a cold washer. She shifted so that she could curl into my lap, and a little while later she was asleep.

As I sat with her, running my hand gently over her head in an attempt to help her sleep, pain sliced through my heart as I thought about doing this for my own child. I loved Lisa as if she was my own, but after losing my baby, everything felt different. Doing this for Lisa was high on my priorities, however doing it for my own child one day was something I prayed I would get to do.

Lisa fell into a deep sleep, and I tried to leave her a couple of times, but each time she clung to me, clearly not ready for me to leave. Eventually, I fell asleep with her, not waking until Scott touched my shoulder.

“Harlow.” His voice broke through my sleep and I blinked my eyes open to find him staring down at me.

I smiled up at him and this time when I moved, Lisa shifted onto her side and continued to sleep. “Hi, you,” I whispered as I stood.

He jerked his chin at Lisa. “She sick, too?”

“Yeah, poor baby, her throat is really sore and she has a fever.”

His arm slid around my waist and he pulled me close so he could kiss me. “Sorry I’m so late.”

As we left Lisa’s room, I asked, “What time is it?” The only thing indicating to me how long I’d slept was the crick in my neck.