Rake's Redemption (Wind Dragons MC #4)(6)

“Probably when you walked in on me having sex with—”

“Oh god, don’t make me relive it!” I shriek, cutting off the rest of her sentence. I’d once come over to her house to find the door unlocked. Panicked, thinking someone had broken in, or something was wrong, I ran into the house while dialing the police, only to find her riding some guy. It was awkward. She didn’t think so, but I did and still do.

“Bailey,” she says in a serious tone. “You’re a catch. A great woman. The best. And a f*cking babe. If you can’t find a good man, what chance do the rest of us have?”

I smile sadly. “Maybe not all of us are meant to be with someone. I have a house. A job. A beautiful, healthy daughter. If that’s all I get in life, I’ll be happy with it.”

“Bullshit,” Tia says, narrowing her blue eyes. “You’ll find someone, when the time is right. Someone who isn’t a creep like Trevor.”

Yeah, I sure know how to pick them. Tia knows a few things about Adam, but not the whole story. No one knows the whole story except me.

I push my dark hair back behind my ear and mutter, “I won’t hold my breath.”

Cara and Rhett run into the kitchen, saving me from Tia’s attempt at a motivational speech.

“You two finished playing games?” I ask my daughter, hugging her as she runs into my arms, her brown hair flailing around.

“Yeah,” she says, her big brown eyes glancing up at me. “Can we go play outside now?”

I nod. “Yeah, okay. How about a snack first?”

“Yes, please!” Rhett calls out, always hungry. His blond hair falls over his forehead, his blue eyes identical to Tia’s peer up at me in excitement.

“Okay,” I tell him. “Wash your hands while I fix you both something.”

They wash their hands and wait patiently at the table while I make them some fruit salad, and pull out some Jell-O from the fridge to go with it.

“Thanks, Mom!” Cara says, picking up her fork and stabbing a piece of watermelon.

“Thanks, Aunt Bailey,” Rhett says, doing the same. I always get a little emotional when he calls me Aunt, even though we aren’t blood related. Tia says I’m more family to them than their own family, and that I’ve done more for Rhett than his real aunts, so I’ve earned the title.

I share a glance with her. Here we are, both single mothers, doing the best we can, but even I have to admit we both have great children.

Tia smiles, reading my thoughts. “We’ve done well, haven’t we?”

Cara looks up at me and grins before returning her concentration to the food.

“Yeah, we did.”

*

The last place I ever thought I’d see Lana and Anna again is the school I teach at, so when I hear them both calling my name, I turn around with my mouth open in shock.

“What are the two of you doing here?” I ask, hugging Anna, then Lana.

“We’re here for Clover,” Lana replies, then points to a cute dark-haired girl in the crowd.

“She’s gorgeous. Neither of you mentioned having a child!”

But then again, neither had I.

Anna’s green eyes widen. “Oh, she isn’t ours. She’s Sin and Faye’s daughter. Friends of ours.”

“Oh,” I say, putting the pieces together. “You’re here to watch her race?”

Today was Field Day, and other schools were here to compete. The younger children came to play team games and have a friendly race or two.

Anna nods. “Yeah, we all came out to cheer for her. It’s her first race. She’s so excited, you should see her.”

Lana looks down at her shoes and shuffles them in the grass. “Why didn’t you call us after we saw you at Rift? We thought we’d all have caught up by now.”

My mind races with how to handle this. I don’t want to tell them the truth, but I don’t want them to think I don’t want to see them either. “I didn’t have your number.”

With social media, it was a lame excuse at best, but Anna’s eyes narrow. “Rake said he gave you my number.”

Well, f*ck.

That bastard!

“Well, he didn’t,” I tell her. “Look, girls, the truth is, I’d love to hang out with you both, but I don’t want to see Adam. There’s too much history there, and to be honest, I don’t even want to be around him. Trust me when I say the feeling is mutual.”

Anna crosses her arms over her chest. “Who says Rake has to be there? We can have ladies’ nights; he can do his own thing. It’s not like he told us to stay away from you.”

Now it’s my turn to look down at my feet, as though they suddenly became interesting.

“What the f*ck?” Anna growls, her hands falling loose and clenching. “He didn’t?!”

Even Lana looks surprised. “He doesn’t want you around that badly? Damn. That doesn’t sound like Rake at all. He’s normally pretty easygoing.”

“Not around me,” I grumble. “He told me he didn’t want me around the two of you. You’re his sister, Anna—unfortunately he got you in the breakup. I can’t go against his wishes, because if he finds out, he’s going to be in my face and that’s the last thing I want. I never want to see him again if I can manage it.”