Page 37 of Stitch & Steel

“Still. Keep your eyes open. Something’s off.”

Pledge nodded. “You got it, boss.”

Bear finally looked up. “You doing something tonight?”

I paused. “Yeah. I’m taking Bella out.”

That got their attention.

“Like... on adatedate?” Pledge asked.

“Like real napkins and a table,” I muttered.

Bear barked a laugh. “Damn, someone call the press. JD’s out here trying to have a fairy meadowland dinner with a school teacher.”

“I’m serious.”

“That’sthe problem,” Bear said, standing. “But alright, lover boy. You got backup. What do you need?”

“Battery generator. String lights. Folding table. Chairs. Lanterns. Something for the center.”

“Like a bouquet?” Pledge smirked.

“Like I won’t beat your ass in front of the whole crew.”

They laughed. But one by one, the clubhouse came alive with energy.

Wrench pulled an old oil lamp from the storage shelf and dusted it off. Bullet tossed me a red-and-white checkered cloth like he’d been saving it for just this kind of love story. Even Big Lou, who hadn’t shown emotion since he crashed his Harley into a dumpster during the Fourth of July parade three years back, offered up a camping rug to lay under the table.

And then?

Someone had the idea to light up thelake.

“You take the canoe,” Jigsaw said. “Load it with lanterns. Let the light dance on the water.”

“I’ll get floating candles,” Pledge added. “They’ll look like stars.”

For a bunch of outlaws with dirty boots and blood on our hands, we sure knew how to put together a romance.

Only problem?

I couldn’t cook worth a damn.

“I got you,” Pledge said, typing on his phone. “Italian. White tablecloth level. Ordered. I’ll pick it up and stash it in the warming box in my truck.”

By the time the sun started to dip below the trees, my truck was loaded.

String lights. Generator. Rug. Table. Chairs. Lanterns. Wine—hell, I didn’t even know if Belladrank, but I got a bottle just in case. The good stuff, too. Not the cheap gas station brand.

As I pulled away, I caught Bear watching from the porch, arms crossed and expression unreadable.

He gave me a slow nod.

Gran’s story had shifted something in all of us.

Even the hardest bastards in the room believed inone great lovenow.

And tonight?