most of the drive, but something about those tears were different.
“You need to pump?” Farrah asked, rummaging through the bag at her feet. “I washed everything after you used it this morning, so it’s ready to go.”
Cecilia waved the contraption away.
“Cec,” I said, getting her attention. “Forrest said you need to pump while you guys are apart unless you want to get another clog.”
“Yeah, or have your supply tank,” Farrah said, pushing the hand-pump at Cecilia.
She just stared out the window.
“Should I pull over?” I asked Farrah. It wasn’t a good idea—actually it was a terrible one—but if Cecilia needed to stop, I’d stop.
Silently, CeeCee yanked the pump out of her mom’s hands.
“Threatening to pull the car over never stopped you from being a punk when you were a kid,” Farrah said, still twisted in her seat. “Glad to know it does now.”
Half an hour later, a little bottle of milk was passed to the front of the cab and Farrah stashed it in a cooler at her feet. When I glanced back at Cecilia, her head was resting against the window, her eyes closed.
“Only an hour left before we get to the house,” I said quietly to Farrah in case Cecilia was able to get some rest.
“Yeah, then we’ll have somewhere to pace until everyone else shows up,” she said in frustration, running her hands through her hair. “But at least we know that Rose and Mack are safe back home. Might help my ulcer, some.”
“Can’t imagine how hard it’s been for you and Casper,” I replied.
“Hard’s an understatement,” she said quietly. “Rose is like one of our kids. And we know that she had the whole club up there searching, but it’s been pretty much an impossible situation not knowing whether or not to haul ass north or play it safe.”
“Being pulled in two different directions,” I muttered.
“Yep. This shit is far from over, but it’s a bit of a relief to have one fucked situation to deal with at a time.”
“I bet.”
We were quiet for a few minutes.
“I was sorry to hear about your mom,” Farrah said out of the blue. “Don’t think I ever told you that.”
“You don’t have to say that,” I replied, glancing at her. “I know you weren’t her biggest fan.”
Farrah huffed out a laugh. “Bit of an understatement,” she said ruefully. “But I am sorry you lost her. Losing a parent sucks, doesn’t matter if they were a good one or not—and from what I understand, she did her best with you.”
“She did,” I replied.
“People react differently to shit,” Farrah murmured. “Cam and Trix were different, but I can’t imagine telling him to bail when he told us Trix was pregnant.”
“That’s not exactly how it went down.”
“Close enough,” Farrah said, shooting me a look. “But she’d had a different experience with the club. Couldn’t have been happy that you knocked up some club brat.”
“I think she regretted it later,” I said quietly. “Once she saw how bad it fucked me up.”
“Water under the bridge now,” Farrah said with a sigh. “I never understood why she hated everyone so much, but still sent you to us all the damn time.”
“I have no idea,” I said, shaking my head. “I think she was just desperate for help.”
“The boys probably didn’t give her much of a choice, either,” Farrah replied ruefully. “They weren’t about to let you fall through the cracks.”
“My dad seemed to attract that kind of loyalty,” I agreed.
“Not just your dad, kid.” She slapped me lightly on the arm with the back of her hand. “Seems to me you’ve got that same pull.”
I shrugged.
Time seemed to speed up as we got off the highway, following Casper as he led us down back roads, circling and backtracking through small towns along the coast. When we finally turned onto a long, gravel driveway, I sat up straight and stretched my arms over my head.
The house was small and covered in wooden shingles, and it looked ready to fall over, which made the high tech alarm system seem seriously out of place.
“Only you would remember the code to this place,” Farrah called to Casper as we climbed out of the truck.
“You complainin’?” he called back, opening the front door.
I grasped Cecilia’s hand as we walked up the steps to the porch and was kind of surprised that she didn’t pull away. Shit had been happening at lightening speed, but I was still highly aware of the fight we’d had. Did I really think that she