Page 3 of Trusting Skulls (Rebel Skull MC #8)
Chapter Two
Ash
I stretch, waiting for my sister to get here for her visit.
It will be our last one. I get to go home next week.
I don’t know if I’m excited or terrified about that.
I guess they’re the same feeling; it’s just how you choose to look at it.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about slipping back into old habits once I get there.
A car pulls up, and I smile when Willow jumps out of the passenger side and waves at me. Jackson shakes his head, and I see him wag a finger at her. He’s clearly upset she jumped out before he came to a complete stop. She doesn’t even wait for the lecture to end before she starts running toward me.
I hold my arms open wide, and she barrels right into me. I have to take a step back to keep her from knocking us over. “I’ve missed you,” she whispers against my neck.
“I’ve missed you, too,” I tell her. She’s still in my arms when I shake her husband’s hand. “Jackson.”
He takes it and wraps his other arm around his wife and me. “Brother, it’s good to see you,” he says, patting me on the back.
It feels so good to be in the arms of my family again.
After some small talk, we sit down and the more serious discussions begin. They tell me everything that’s been happening at home. I don’t interrupt them.
“JD had a woman in his basement?” I ask in disbelief. That’s literally insane.
“It’s been pretty crazy around the old homestead, but things have settled down,” Jackson assures me.
I run my hands through my hair, leaning back in my chair.
“Oh, what kind of tree is that?” my sister asks, pointing at a tree down the hill.
“I’m not sure.”
She looks at Jackson. “I’m just going to …”
He cuts her off. “Go on.”
“I’ll be right back.” She hurries down the hill, pulling her phone out.
Jackson laughs, turning back to me. “She has this app on her phone. All she has to do is take a picture of the damn thing and it will tell her what it is. It will also pull up every detail about it. Which I’ll be listening to all the way home.”
It makes me chuckle. He doesn’t seem to be bothered by the idea, though. “How has she been?”
“Good. Real good,” he tells me.
“I’m happy to hear that.”
We sit in awkward silence for a few minutes. It tells me everything and yet nothing.
“Lex …” I begin to ask.
He shakes his head, staring at the ground.
“That’s what I thought. She hasn’t written to me, and the few times I’ve been allowed to call, she doesn’t answer.”
“I’d really like to lie to you on this one, brother.”
I sit back, watching my sister walking around the grounds. She keeps looking back at us.
“Just give it to me straight. Don’t worry about hurting my feelings.”
He nods once. “She’s gotten worse. She’s tried to escape us at every turn. When Elizabeth showed up, I thought maybe we were on to something. Lex seems to be comfortable around her, but ever since JD’s dad broke in, she’s slipped right back into her previous behaviors.”
It’s like a punch to the gut. “So, she’s been drinking and … stuff?”
“I’m afraid so. Last night we found pills on her.”
My head falls back, and I stare at the sky. I was worried about this. Leaving her was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But I knew I had to get right in my own head before I could even think about helping her with hers.
“We made the decision to take her up to Dirk and Jesse’s cabin. They’re with her right now.”
Relief floods my system, and I know why. It’s my own jealousy. I don’t like the idea of her being with other men. “That’s good. I’ll be home in a week, and then I’ll head up there to take over.”
Jackson leans forward, resting his arms on his legs. He’s quiet for a minute before he looks at me. “I’m afraid that can’t happen.”
I pull my head back. “What?”
His gaze roams over the building behind me. “You’ve been doin’ real good here. They said you’ve taken your treatment seriously.”
“I have, but what does that have to do with Lex?”
His fingers run through his beard as he thinks about what he wants to say. “I want you to be successful when you get home, and I think it would be better if you at least get settled in before you go trying to fix her.”
“You know how I feel about her.”
He nods. “I do. You’ve never hid your feelings for her. I’m not saying this is forever. Just give the club some time with her, and let’s see if we can cool things down a bit. I don’t think it’s wise for you to go jumping right into the fire.”
I sit back as my sister joins us. Her eyes bounce between Jackson’s and my own. Slowly, she lowers herself in the chair beside me.
“Are you good?” she asks, and I realize she only walked away to give her husband a minute to talk to me.
“Yep.” But I don’t know that I am. I’ve been looking forward to seeing Lexie all week.
Jackson and her exchange a look.
“How long are you going to keep me away from her?”
He reaches into his jacket, pulling out a bundle of envelopes and placing them on the table in front of me.
“I can’t answer that, but I want you to know we aren’t just doing this for you.
We’re doing it for her, too. She’s been putting herself in some really fucked up situations. No one wants to see her get hurt.”
I pick up the bundle of letters and flip through them. They’re all addressed to me from Lexie. I guess the good news is that she’s at least been thinking about me.
“She hasn’t been opening the packages you’ve been sending.
” He sighs when he sees the hurt on my face.
“I’m not saying she’s a lost cause. She’d made a lot of progress.
She got her diploma. We threw her a party, but she didn’t show up.
She ran from us and missed the whole thing.
” He laughs, rubbing his eyes. “Anyway, she’s even apologized to Charlotte. ”
It gives me a little hope. I know apologizing to Charlotte had to be hard for her. “Thank you for watching over her. I know it was a big ask.”
He doesn’t deny it. “She’s been a pain in the ass, but it’s kept us busy.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It gave us the opportunity to spend time with her, and I think we’ve all seen glimpses of what it is that you see in her. Now we just have to get her to recognize those qualities in herself.”
I nod, slapping the bundle of letters on my leg.