Page 47 of Broken Skulls (Rebel Skull MC #7)

Chapter Forty-Six

Elizabeth

M y fingers trail through the curtains as I lazily watch two men play cards on the porch. There’s been someone here for the last week. I’m not going to lie; it kind of blows my mind how wonderful these people are. It’s been nice.

The second night, I made Jesse go home to her family. She has little grandkids, and her sister needs her help right now. She has her hands full with her three girls.

It was the right decision, but oh my god I was terrified. I went to the basement and yearned to crawl into bed with Jacob, but the door is locked and I couldn’t find the key.

Jacob’s friend Brody must have noticed I had every light on in the house that night, because he knocked on the door. I literally fell into his arms in a fit of tears. I’d never felt so alone. I don’t know how I became so accustomed to having someone by my side.

Anyway, Brody has slept on the couch ever since.

I push myself out of the chair and head back downstairs to try again.

“Jacob, please talk to me,” I beg.

He sighs loudly on the other side, and my heart lurches. I know it’s not much, but it’s the first response I’ve gotten from him.

“I hate this. I miss you,” I say, struggling to reign in my emotions.

When he doesn’t say anything, I snap.

“You know what? You’re the one who made me come back to this world. You can’t abandon me now!” I yell.

“I need to talk to Dirk,” he says shortly.

Dirk warned me about this. He said he might ask to talk to him. I really don’t want to respond the way Dirk told me to, but I have no choice but to trust him.

“Um, Dirk told me to tell you to fuck off and grow a pair if you asked for him.” I cringe as the words leave my mouth. It sounds so harsh.

“Then go get someone else,” he says gruffly.

“Are you saying you’ll talk to anyone but me? Does that mean you want me to leave?”

Again, I hear him sigh. “Elizabeth, you can go anywhere you want in this world. You’re free. Let the club help you get out of this fucking junkyard. Go live someplace beautiful.”

His words pierce my heart, but my soul recognizes his pain. I’m thankful Dirk and I talked about this ahead of time.

“You saved me, Jacob. Not once, but twice.”

Of course he doesn’t say anything. I don’t expect him to.

“You were a boy. There was no way you could have overpowered your father back then. Do you really think your mom would want you to beat yourself up for the rest of your life for what happened that day?”

“I hit you, Elizabeth. I’ll never trust myself around you ever again.”

My head rests against the wall. “Jacob …”

“Yeah, yeah, it was an accident. That doesn’t make it right.”

I jump to my feet. “Well, I see you’ve made your decision. You’re throwing your life away.”

“Maybe I am.”

“Good.”

“Good?” he asks.

I hear the surprise and the sadness in his voice. He doesn’t want me to leave. He wants me to stand by his side no matter what. How do I know? Because that’s exactly how I felt when I was on the other side. We all want someone who stays with us, especially on our darkest of days.

“Because now it belongs to me.”

I march up the stairs, going over to his album collection. My fingers flip through them until I find my favorite one. Something in my heart tells me it was his mother’s favorite too. The corners are bent, and it’s slightly faded. It’s been well loved.

My hands hold it to my chest. “If you’re listening, I could use a little help,” I whisper.

Someone knocks on the door. I jump up to answer it, and smile when I see who it is.

It’s everyone.

They’re here to work on my secret project for Jacob.

I’ve spent my life dealing with everything on my own. I know now that I should have asked for help when I was a teenager. But I’ve grown, and this time I was brave enough to ask.

I open the door a crack, giving Jesse a smile. “I’ll be out in a minute.” I hold up the album. “I just need to give the man I have locked in my basement a little mood music.”

She laughs. “There’s my girl.”

I close the door and jog down the stairs. Jacob groans when he hears me. I hear him say “fuck,” but I ignore it. I’m in charge right now. When one of us is down, the other has to be strong enough to hold us both up.

When the music starts to play, he gets angry.

“Elizabeth,” he warns, but I don’t wait around to listen to his complaints. I run back up the stairs. I’ve got work to do.

Everyone is already working when I get outside.

“I’ve got a shit ton of food in the back of the truck. I’m going to set up in your kitchen,” Jesse says, lugging a crockpot by me. “The men get hangry when you don’t feed them.”

I hurry to hold the door open for her. “I’ll help you,” I say.

“No. You go do your thing with Willow.”

“You sure?”

“Yep. I don’t have a green thumb to save my ass. Go on.” She whips a dish towel at me.

I laugh and run outside.

Willow is set up in the grass near the plants I’ve been babying all week. “JD’s plants are doing so good!” she exclaims.

“Thanks to you. I couldn’t have done this by myself.” I hug her tightly. “Thank you so much.”

She’s crying when I pull away from her. “Just when I think I’m used to being here, I’m hit by how incredibly lucky I am to have found this place.”

I shade my eyes, watching the men work. “Yeah. It’s pretty amazing.”

She nods, wiping her face. “Let’s get to work. At the rate the guys are working they’ll have the greenhouse up before we get everything potted.”

“Everything is so beautiful.” I run my fingers over a bright orange petal on the new flowers she’s brought.

“Grandma Maggie helped me pick them out. I brought some vegetable seeds, too.” She stomps her feet in the grass like a little kid. “I’m so excited for you. You’re going to have a whole freaking greenhouse!”

Jackson overhears her. He points at me. “See what you started? Now I’m going to have to build her one of these things.”

We both laugh, digging our hands into the dirt.

“He’s right, you know.” She leans over and bumps her shoulder against mine. “Grandma Maggie is coming over with some trees. We thought you might like to plant a few in the front yard.” Her gaze roams over the landscape. “I mean, I know it’s a junkyard, but it’s also your home.”

“I would love that.”

“Do you think JD will be mad?” she asks hesitantly.

“Nope,” I say, popping the p loudly. “He told me I could plant flowers out here. Trees are just big flowers, right?”

She laughs. “Not exactly, but that does sound like a good argument.”

Lily pulls up beside us. “Wow,” she says as she gets out of her truck. “The guys aren’t messing around, are they?” She waves Jackson over to us. “Hey, I thought we could use the last of these old windows from my house.”

He smiles wide. “I remember these! They’re just like the ones we painted when I was a kid. Fuck yeah, they’re perfect.”

I stand up to join them. He looks at me. “If we put these in, you’ll be able to open them and get some outside air, if you want.”

“They’re beautiful. Are you sure you want to part with them?”

Lily nods, tears already spilling down her face. “I’ve held onto them for something special. This is something special. It was a wonderful idea, Elizabeth. He’s going to love it.”

I sigh, kicking a rock. “I hope so.”

She gives me a side hug. “He’ll come around.”

“What’s the longest he’s stayed down there?” I ask her.

“Ten days.”

“It’s already been eight, and I don’t think he sounds anywhere ready.”

Jesse steps out onto the porch. “Your music stopped. Do you want me to start something else? I promise to pick something that will really drive him nuts.”

Lily gives me a questioning look.

I shrug. “Just a little tactic I learned from him.”

She chuckles and shakes her head.

“Go for it!” I yell to Jesse. She gives me a thumbs up before heading back inside.

The day wears on, and we get so much done. Another day of work and I think we’ll have it licked.

I’m sitting by the bonfire the guys lit when it starts to get dark. Everyone is relaxing after a hard day’s work, beer in hand. Life feels good. The only thing missing is Jacob. I’m staring into the flames when Petey sits down beside me.

I sit up straight.

He shakes his head. “I’m not as mean as I look,” he jokes. “Relax.”

My shoulders fall. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend.”

“No offense. It’s what I’m going for … most of the time,” he adds.

“Well, you and your wife are a good match. She scares the fuck out of me.”

He laughs loudly, throwing his head back. “Me too, girl. Me too.”

His hands clasp together, and he stares at the ground. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Okay.” I bite at my nail, wondering what he could want to talk to me about.

“I was inside, and Lily told me that Charlotte painted the dragonfly on the fridge.”

A little poof of air rushes out of my mouth as if I was punched in the gut. “Oh,” I say, hoping he doesn’t notice.

“My daughter is talented at many things, but she is no artist.” He stares into the fire. “I’ve been out here many times, and I’ve never seen that painting on JD’s fridge.”

“Um.” I scratch my head, trying to think of a way out of this.

He reaches out and wraps one of his big hands around mine. “Hey. I’m not asking for an explanation. I’m just letting you know that if you have a little someone out there, and you need help getting them back, you let me know.”

I take a deep breath, staring at the flames dancing in the reflection of his dark eyes. He’s dead serious.

He glances around, making sure no one else hears us. “Your secret is safe with me.”

And I believe him. Petey is a man of his word.

“They aren’t little anymore,” I answer, giving him my honesty and trust.

He nods, satisfied with my response. “The fact it’s hanging on the fridge in there tells me you love them. Grown babies are still babies.”

Tears pool in my eyes, and again it feels good to be able to acknowledge her. “I do love her,” I whisper.

His face softens at my admission of having a daughter. “I’m going to go out on a limb and say you’ve been protecting her for a long time.” He hands me a napkin as tears drop into my lap.

I nod silently.

“That’s a big sacrifice.”

“It was nothing.”

“It was everything. Sometimes the greatest way to love someone is to let them go.”

He lets me sob quietly while shielding me so no one notices.

“I’ve got mad respect for you, Elizabeth. Give yourself some credit. It’s a strength to know when to hold on and when to let go.” His hand wraps around my shoulder, and he shakes me lightly. “I’m glad you’re standing by my brother. He’s lucky to have you.”

“I’m the lucky one.”

“Can’t it be true that you’re both lucky?”

I laugh, letting out an embarrassing little hiccup.

“There. That’s better.”

I give him a small smile.