Motorcycle Man (Dream Man #4)(113)

She took in another breath then she nodded.

I gave her neck a squeeze. “But, the bottom line is, in this room there are a lot of people who love you. And you have to be you, you should have fun, live your life but you have to learn to do it smart and not put yourself in a position where people will worry about you or hurt because you’re hurt.”

She bit her lip.

I leaned closer.

“Honey, you’re you and the people in this room love you because of who you are. You aren’t who your Mom says you are.”

She sucked in a sharp breath.

“She has her issues,” I went on quickly. “I know at your age it’s hard not to take them in. But they’re hers. Let her have them. Don’t take them on.”

“Tyra –”

“That,” I cut her off, “now that you can talk to me about. I’m here and we can talk about anything you want to talk about. I cannot guarantee I’ll keep it from your Dad. What I can guarantee is, whatever I do, it’ll be in your best interests. It’s up to you if you want to trust me again. All I can say is, you can. I’ll have your back. It’ll just be my decision how I have your back.”

Her lips twitched before she replied, “Yeah, you kinda proved that last night.”

“Kinda,” I agreed, grinning.

Then her pretty face lost all its humor and she whispered, “I can’t go back to her.”

Tack joined the conversation at this juncture.

“You’re not.”

I dropped my hand from Tabby’s neck and we both looked at Tack.

“But, it’s not official, like, court official and if she gets wound up and –” Tabby started.

Tack turned fully to his daughter. “Darlin’, you’re not goin’ back to your Mom.”

“But it’s not official, Dad,” she returned.

Oh boy. There it was.

She’d been worried about this just like me.

Tack studied her.

Then he declared, “Right. So I’ll make it official.”

I blinked.

“You will?” Rush asked.

Tack shrugged and turned back to the bowl he was whipping pancake batter in as he muttered, “Yeah.”

“Court official?” Tabby asked and Tack looked over his shoulder at his daughter.

“Legal, babe, yeah.”

Tabby’s shoulders slumped with relief.

Yep. She’d been worried about this.

As for me, this was another thing Tack had to worry about which I didn’t think was great.

Tack turned away from the bowl, moved to the counter opposite Tabby and me and put his hands on it.

“No more twenty-three year olds,” he ordered.

“Okay, Dad,” Tabby replied quietly.

“Eighteen, no older,” Tack declared.

“Okay,” she whispered.

“No more booze.”

She pulled in breath.

Then she breathed it out on another, “Okay.”

“And definitely no more lyin’, to me, Tyra, Rush, anyone.”

She nodded.

“That last, darlin’, take it in,” Tack urged. “You earn our trust again and break it, you might find it hard to get back.”

Tabby bit her lip while she nodded again.

“You’re still grounded,” Tack continued. “No car. You go nowhere unless I take you, Tyra takes you or Rush takes you or Tyra and me send you to the grocery store or on errands. You also got chores.”

“Right,” she muttered.

“But you’re still goin’ shoppin’ today with Tyra.”

Tabby perked up.

So did I.

“Right,” she said softly.

I grinned at my man.

“After pancakes,” he stated.

“Okay,” Tabby replied.

Tack held his daughter’s eyes.

Then he said gently, “Got all the love in the world for you, darlin’, always. No matter what shit you pull. Never forget that.”

My lips quivered.

So did Tabby’s.

Then she whispered, “Me too, Dad.”

Tack kept looking at her. Then his gaze moved to me.

Then he moved back to the bowl.

We ate pancakes. I took Tabby shopping. I got some Brandi clothes. Tabby got some school clothes. We came back and Rush and Tack had fixed Tabby’s door. Tabby made dinner that didn’t go too well but we all ate it anyway while watching back-to-back episodes of Dog, the Bounty Hunter that Rush had taped. And, incidentally, it was another new favorite of mine, I decided this halfway through my first episode. This was partly because Duane Lee was badass and hot. This was partly because Leland was also badass and hot. But it was mostly because Dog and Beth were badass, sweet and freaking awesome. We went to bed. Tack woke me up in the middle of the night to make love to me. I made breakfast the next morning. Rush took off to hang with buds while Tabby got down to the chores her father gave her.

And now it was now, all was well and I was on the back of Tack’s bike.

All too soon, we swung off Broadway into the forecourt of Ride. When we rounded Ride, I was surprised to see the grill was smoking but the outside of the Compound was deserted.

Tack parked. I hopped off and he swung off behind me.

I got close.