Page 11 of Scythe’s Salvation (Imperial Knights MC: Roanoke, VA #2)

CHAPTER

TEN

Tamara

I honestly don’t think I’ve laughed as hard as I have today.

Scythe fits in like he’s always been around and part of the family.

When Amara told me he got her mother’s seal of approval, I realized that whatever it is that I’ve been feeling for him isn’t one-sided.

A knock at the door has all of us pausing as Amara shouts she’ll get it.

When she calls out my name, I stand, puzzled because while this was my address for a few years, I’ve been in my own place for quite some time now.

“What’s going on?” I ask as I approach the open door.

A man asks, “Are you Tamara Fruge?” At my nod, he hands me an envelope and says, “You’ve been served.”

Staring at the envelope in horror, I don’t hear the voices around me. No, I’m remembering one of my recent clients. “He did it, he really did it,” I whisper.

“Who did what, Tam? Talk to me, dammit,” Amara insists as she leads me back to the table.

I notice that Chance is missing, and Scythe says, “Hester took him out to feed the brood, whatever that means.”

Despite the terror that’s coiling around my heart, I smile. “They’ve got a little of this and a little of that, but she told me one of the sows had a litter, so I bet she’s taking him to see the babies.”

“Okay, I’m in the dark here, so tell me what’s going on, or tell me to leave,” Scythe states, nodding at the envelope.

“So, Amara found a booking system that allows new clients to set up appointments. It coordinates somehow with my calendar system so I’m not double booking, and it frees me up to do other things,” I say, taking a sip of my lemonade.

“Anyhow, a few days ago, I saw I had a new client but didn’t think anything of it, you know?

” He and Amara nod, her hand now clasping my forearm.

“So, I walked into the room ready to give my spiel like I did with you, Scythe, only… only…” I find myself having a hard time breathing all of a sudden; I’ve never had a panic attack before, but I suspect I’m on the verge of one now.

Scythe gently pushes my head down between my knees and says, “Just breathe, babe. Take your time. Okay, breathe in, hold it, now exhale.” We do that a few times until I feel calmer and the darkness that was shrouding me dissipates slightly.

“Amara, it was Timmy,” I whisper, fear choking me again. “He’s seen me around town, and because he’s got a wife and two kids, he wants to have a relationship with Chance. I told him he lost that right when he bailed after I told him I was pregnant.”

“He sure the fuck did!” Amara’s vehement response doesn’t surprise me at all. “So, what did he say then?”

“He told me I’d better get ready for the fight of my life. I can’t lose my son, I just can’t.” Tears are now running down my face and it doesn’t escape me that Scythe now has me in his lap, his arms securely banded around my body as emotion swamps me.

“You won’t. Who is this fucker? I’ll have one of my brothers check him out,” Scythe rumbles.

“Timmy… er, Tim Jones. He used to live here and was my high school boyfriend until I got pregnant, and he bailed on me and refused to answer my calls,” I reply. “Then he skipped town, and I hadn’t heard from him since, until a few days ago when he cornered me at the parlor.”

“So, you’ve been raising this little guy on your own? Without any monetary support or parental visits from him?” Scythe asks. “Seems to me, he could be charged with abandonment. I don’t think he’s got the legs to stand on that he thinks he does. Now, let’s open the letter and see what it says.”

With trembling fingers, I try to open it and fail multiple times before Amara takes it from me and quickly slits the top with a butter knife before she pulls a piece of paper out.

“Okay, it’s a court order that’s compelling you to provide Chance’s DNA.

It appears that good ol’ Timmy boy wants custody or visitation or some shit like that,” she snarls.

“There’s no doubt Chance is his,” I reply, “he was the only guy I’d been with, but I’ll do the damn test if only to take him to court for back child support. I don’t want him around my son, but I also won’t go against an official decree.”

“Can I see that?” Scythe asks, holding out his hand. “This is the guy who plans to run for sheriff, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, that’s what rumor on the street is,” Amara replies.

“So, maybe he’s wanting to present a happy family unit. I’m sure there are people in this town who will remember that he skipped out on you when you were pregnant.”

“It was the talk of the town for quite some time,” I report. “It was scandalous and everywhere I went someone was pointing at me and whispering.”

“What does Chance know about his father?” Scythe queries.

“The bare minimum because of his age,” I admit. “He knows his father left, but that’s all he knows. Dammit, what am I going to tell him?”

Damn Timmy! He fucked me over when he left, because my foster parents kicked me out, leaving me destitute until Amara and her family took me in and made me part of their family, of course.

Now that I’ve got a hot guy interested in me, who also likes my son, he’s back, like a viper or something else just as poisonous.

Well, fuck him! I’m not the same person I was all those years ago.

Too many experiences under my belt as a single parent make me one momma bear that won’t tolerate her cub being fucked with, even if it’s his biological father.

“How soon do you need to comply?” Amara questions. “I didn’t read that far down the page.”

I snicker because she went for the highlights and didn’t look for the details. “Ten days.”

“You need an attorney, babe,” Scythe says. “Let me see if our club attorney will help you out. He’s a shark.”

“I’m going to need one of those, I think, so thank you,” I reply. “Just give him my number, please.”

“We can do better than that, I’ll text Brick and see if he can come out to the clubhouse. I suspect the club will wanna know what the hell this fucker’s ultimate game is,” Scythe states.

It doesn’t take long before Scythe’s club president responds to him. I nod when he says we can meet the attorney at nine in the morning. I don’t have any clients until that afternoon, so it should be okay. “Thank you, Scythe, I think you’ve saved my ass,” I tell him as we help clean up the kitchen.

Memaw’s rules are if you eat, you help clean up, so even Chance is loading the dishwasher after Amara rinses off the dishes.

“Let’s not get too carried away, babe, but I think this will be a good thing in the long run,” he says.

Later that night, long after Chance is asleep in his bed, I sit alone in my living room, a glass of wine in my hand.

Who am I kidding? It’s the whole bottle actually, because today’s news hit me right between the eyes and not in a good way.

Memories from the time Chance was born up until now scroll through my head as I continue to either sip or chug at my chosen beverage for the night.

I know I’ll probably regret it come the morning, but right now, I need to be numb. Even if it’s alcohol induced.

Scythe texted me a little while ago to let me know that the club’s IT guy, Hawg, as well as two other people I don’t know, Beast and Selah, are doing a deep dive into Tim’s life.

As he said, it was better to see what was behind the curtain so to speak than to be surprised in court.

I kinda love that he used a Wizard of Oz phrase, even if he wasn’t aware that’s what he was doing.

It definitely shows me that he’s one of a kind and I’d be fortunate if he wanted me and Chance in his life.

As the liquid in the bottle gets lower, so do my inhibitions and it’s a good thing that my phone is now on the charger, because I want to text him and tell him I need him.

I’ve never felt as safe as I did earlier when I was in his lap with his arms wrapped around me.

Wanting to feel something similar, I grab the throw from the back of the couch and swaddle myself inside.

Obviously, the wine is winning because as sleep comes toward me, all I can think about is I’m a warm and toasty burrito.