Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 94921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“You know that old woman over there?” Raven asked.
“Yep.”
“Who is it?”
“That would be my mom,” she said, stepping into the back. If Raven was going to stick around the shop, then she would take advantage of her presence as she got some of the freshly baked goods packaged up.
“Your mom? What is she doing standing across the street?” Raven asked.
Her voice carried because when Harlow turned around, Raven wasn’t in the back.
She packaged up multiple bags of cookies. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“Mom and I … it’s been a few months since I last talked to her.” She’d not been anywhere near her parents’ house during Christmas. When her mother had called to ask why, she told her she’d been busy. It was the first time she’d ever told her mother she was too busy to spend Christmas with her.
Big Dick had saved her ass that day by inviting her along to the Hell’s Bastards MC clubhouse. All her mother did was criticize everything about her and what she was doing. There was nothing she could do right, and there was no point being around her. Not during this festive period. Hopefully at the next one, it would all be better, but she failed to see how. There were still several family events she had to consider between now and then.
“You don’t get along with your mom?” Raven asked.
Harlow walked through to the main part of the shop, carrying the bags of cookies she’d just set up.
“Not really. I’m not what she wanted in a daughter, and in truth, she hasn’t been what I wanted in a mother. We’ve both been disappointments to each other. It is what it is.” She finished replenishing the packaged cookies, and took the tray in the back.
“Do you want to go out there and say hello?” Raven asked.
“Nope.” Harlow sliced up a cake with chocolate frosting, and carried that through to the main shop. “Why don’t we stop talking about my personal life and focus on why you’re all of a sudden hanging out at the shop like a bodyguard?” She didn’t have any intention of bringing her question up, but one look at Raven and she saw that she had surprised her.
“No reason.”
“Please, Raven, what gives?” Harlow asked. “Do I need to start worrying about being stabbed? What about the customers? What about Ava? How can I help protect this place and one of my best friends? Also, you’re one of my best friends, and I need to watch your back as well.”
“Watch my back?”
“Yeah. You know, what best friends do and all that?” She shrugged. “Or we could pretend to care about why my mom was staring across the street.” Her mother was already gone.
Raven glanced behind her shoulder. “Aren’t you curious about her?”
Harlow shook her head. “One, no. Two, she will never come into this shop because she doesn’t agree with the MC in any shape or form. Three, stop changing the subject. What is the threat and how can I help?”
“It’s doesn’t concern you.”
“I have a scar that says anything that concerns Ava and this shop does concern me. Don’t be a pain in the ass. Come on, Raven, tell me.”
Raven shook her head. “You don’t need to know.”
“Ah, so what that actually means is Smokey has given you the order and only when you call Smokey and ask him if you can tell me, can you tell me?”
Silence.
Harlow shrugged and then pulled out her cell phone. It took her less than a minute to find Smokey’s number and as soon as she did, she pressed Dial and placed her cell against her ear.
“Harlow, stop.”
“Nope, not happening. I’m not stopping.”
Smokey, much to her surprise, actually answered. “Why are you calling me?”
“Lovely to hear from you too. Can Raven tell me why she’s guarding the bakery?”
“Damn it, Harlow. Give me the damn phone.” Raven rounded the counter, and Harlow was able to dodge her hand, but it did take her into the back of the shop, providing a large table between them. Every time Raven moved to get closer, Harlow moved the opposite way.
She had six brothers and had played this game often. Harlow always had to try and avoid them or she often ended up with her head severely rubbed or tickled to the point where she almost wet herself. Brothers were dicks.
“Is Raven there with you?” Smokey asked.
“Yes, she is currently trying to steal the phone from me, and don’t go thinking she spilled some kind of club secrets. Once you put all the facts together, it’s pretty easy to come up with a viable solution. So easy. Too easy.” She kept a hand up to ward off Raven.
The other woman looked like she was ready to come across the counter. All the baked goods be damned.
“Try it and then you’ll have to explain all of this waste to Ava.”