Crossroads (Beautiful Biker MC Romance Series) - DD Prince Page 0,45

the top of my head. “Fuckin’ gutted last night at the notion you were at that house.”

I burst into tears.

Yeah, I guessed I’d been holding that back for a bit. And Dad let me cry it out for a minute while he stroked my hair.

“What’s goin’ on, Dad? More Jackals bullshit?”

“Yeah, punkin. Fork got a tip. Just in the nick of time, too. Fuck sakes… But don’t you worry. We knew there’d be at least a little more shit to deal with after the patch-over. We’ll take care of it. Eyes open, though.”

“Okay, Dad. And always.”

***

“I need everyone’s numbers,” I told Ella. “My whole life was in that phone.”

“Yeah. Glad you didn’t succumb to the same fate as that phone. Here.” She passed me her iPhone. “Take ‘em. Whatever you need locally is on there.”

I hauled over a waiting area chair to the desk beside her and started forwarding myself contacts from Ella’s phone.

“Today, you Ella Forker, are my favorite future sister-in-law,” I informed her.

“Yay,” she did a jazz hands gesture.

The desk phone rang so she answered it.

Christoff the Jerkoff was an entry in her directory. I didn’t forward that one so she wouldn’t see that I did it if she checked her message string later. Instead, I typed the number into my phone while biting my lip and feeling my face go hot.

My new phone was bigger, nicer, and it was missing the messages string from Luke. And that hurt. But, maybe it was a sign. A sign that I should move forward. I still couldn’t help but feel sad. I remembered just about every word, but it was always comforting to know I could look it over if I needed to.

“Let’s do dinner,” Ella suggested after her phone call. “Me, you, Pippa, and Jenna. I’ll call you after Gran’s doctor’s appointment and we’ll meet up?”

“Sounds good,” I said.

I’d hung out with Ella for most of the afternoon after stopping by the police station and then getting my new phone. I’d also called the social worker who informed me that the baby would remain in care while they tried to locate any family to see if anyone was qualified to look after him.

It sounded like Melanie might do some time in jail since she already had a record. The social worker told me she was talking to my brother about the DNA test and I gave her Mrs. Hanson’s phone number (because I’d memorized Luke’s childhood home landline number many moons ago) but asked her to wait a few hours to call, said I’d like to make sure Mrs. Hanson heard it from us first. I messaged Rider.

Me: Did you talk to Luke’s mom about the DNA test?

Rider: Not yet.

Me: I’ll call her. Social worker is calling soon an she needs heads up.

I phoned her and she was concerned about her husband getting upset even more than she was concerned about Trevor and it was difficult to not lose my patience with her. In the end, I provided her with the social worker’s phone number, telling her that the worker already had her contact information. She let me go after that.

I’d missed Rider’s reply while I was on the phone telling me to stay out of it. The door opened at five minutes to four o’clock when we were nearly ready to lock up.

“Can I help you?” Ella asked a guy who was smiling at us as he walked in.

“Actually, you can.” His eyes moved to me. “I was comin’ in to ask where I could find you and here you are.” British accent. Nice. What was this guy all about, though? He was good-looking. Maybe thirty years old. Hipster/biker look to him. Brand new leather jacket, expensive sunglasses, freshly polished un-scuffed motorcycle boots. Boy-band hairdo.

“It’s like magic,” I announced with a flourish.

He smiled.

“We’re about to close, bud,” I said.

“Not a worry. I only need thirty seconds. I’m Lawrence Gale, a local photographer, and I’m shooting some calendars to raise funds for some South Dakota charities. I saw you with your purple motorbike at that charity carwash on the telly a few weeks back and would love to make you my Miss August for this year. Originally, I’d intended to approach you for the next calendar, but if you don’t already know, each new issue begins in August, this helps us sell out every year at Sturgis. Our current Miss August backed out and we go to print really soon. Check my website and give me a ring tomorrow