baby out in public for the first time. She wished Matt could be there with her, but the reality was he needed to work today to have tomorrow off.
And tomorrow would be a special day none of them should miss.
She hoped she hadn’t forgotten to pack everything she needed in the diaper bag and also hoped Levi was warm enough. But as long as Teddy opened the salon, they’d be out of the late December weather soon enough.
A tall man with an extremely long beard caught her attention first, then she recognized the vest he wore. He was standing next to a curvy blonde and a just-as-blonde little girl.
She had seen him and his cousin around town so she knew who he was, she just didn’t realize he had joined the local MC that Sig and Autumn, Levi’s birth mother, were a part of.
Her first instinct was to keep moving past them, but her curiosity had her pause. “Hi.”
The big man wearing a beanie turned his head and ran his gaze over her, then it landed on Levi in the stroller.
“You’re Judge, right? You own Justice Bail Bonds?”
“Yeah,” Judge grunted and turned to face her.
“I... uh... I’m Carly Bryson.” She waved her hand toward the stroller. “This is Levi.”
Judge’s nostrils flared and his eyes dropped again to the baby.
“Hi! I’m Daisy!” the little girl called out from her chair with a sloppy wave as she kicked her little legs back and forth.
“Hi, Daisy.”
What she assumed was the little girl’s mother introduced herself. “I’m Cassie.”
“Hi.” She jutted out her hand to the seated woman. “I’m Dr. Carly Bryson. A local OB/GYN. I’m Autumn’s doctor. Stella’s, too.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Carly laughed. “I wasn’t trying to get you into my stirrups. I just wanted to point out how I know the ladies of your club.”
Cassie jerked her chin toward Judge, who now squatted in front of the stroller, staring at the baby. “His club.”
“Oh, well. Right. His club. Will Autumn be coming today? I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“No,” came the deep grunt.
“Oh, well...”
Judge reached out and ran a finger down Levi’s pudgy cheek. “He got red hair?”
“No.”
“Good.” Judge nodded, his hand pressed to Levi’s chest. It was big enough to cover the whole thing. “He good?”
“Yes, he’s very good. Perfect.”
Judge nodded again.
“Is Autumn doing okay? I haven’t talked to her in a couple weeks. Sig did the last couple drop-offs of her breast milk. I just wanted to make sure everything with her... between them... was okay.”
“She’s good.”
“Can you let her know she’s invited over to the Bryson farm tomorrow for Christmas? That’s if she wants to spend some time with Levi.”
Judge rose to his feet. “Sig ain’t lettin’ her go anywhere without him.”
“Right.” And there was no way Sig, an ex-convict, was going to spend Christmas day surrounded by cops. “Well, please still tell her she’s welcome, even if she can’t come. I just want her to know... How thankful we are.”
“She knows.” Judge was still staring down at Levi with a relieved expression. Maybe he’d been worried that Levi was going to be born with birth defects. Which had been a valid concern. “You take care of him.”
“I plan on it.”
“Those inbreds on that mountain give you any shit, you let me know.”
Carly’s mouth opened and she let it hang there for a second not sure how to respond to that. She belonged to a family of cops. If the Shirleys gave her or Levi any trouble, the last person she’d go to was a biker. She didn’t want any more violence than there had already been. Levi was a result of it. More violence was not the answer.
“Okay, well...”
“Hellllooooooo there, handsome. Oh!” Teddy stared open mouthed at Judge. “Ooooh.” He wrinkled up his nose. “Oh no. No, no, no!” He circled his hand in front of Judge’s face. “This mess is not acceptable.”
Did Teddy even realize who he was dealing with? Judge was not one of his elderly regulars he did a style and set on. The biker was far from being one of the man’s “blue hairs.”
“Who told you that looks good? Hmm? You know who?” Teddy got right into Judge’s face and poked him dead center in the chest. “Nobody!”
Judge blinked at him, his face a stiff mask.
Cassie had a hand slapped over her face and was turning a light shade of purple, but had given Teddy a slight nod. Apparently, she agreed.
Daisy sat quiet in her chair with her mouth hanging open, entranced by