Chapter 243: Dining Hall
*I’m telling you true, the woman who catches that man isn’t going to want him. And he’s not going to know what to do about it. – Nessie*
Nessie was still in Scotland after her grandmother had died. She was the one who typically kept track of the occupied rooms. And ran the kitchen at the clubhouse and oversaw the ordering for the kitchen at the daycare.
Zee, one of Nessie’s full-time employees, was currently doing the clubhouse. Karan was taking care of the daycare.
When Chance had told Karan that Rye would need a place to stay, she called Zee. By the time her shift ended, all of Rye’s apartment had been packed and moved to the clubhouse.
Karan took her to the clubhouse and got her a key to her room. After showing her around, Karan made sure that she knew how to get back to town from the Shack.
Before Rye left to go to the hospital, Karan gave the hours that the kitchen was open and asked that she have breakfast with her and her fiancée, Cookie, in the morning.
Rye then went and spent a few hours with Michael. He was getting bigger and stronger every day. At six weeks old, he was still tiny. But he was no longer always in the incubator.
More importantly, he was clean.
Michael no longer cried for a hit. Or when the methadone wore off. He hadn’t had a dose in several days.
He was perfect.
Leaving him was hard. Harder still when the nurses said that he would light up when he heard her voice. She loved her little man and was going to make sure that he had everything he needed. Ever.
With the promise of being able to come in late after going to see Michael, Rye went to the dining hall. Karan was coming in from the kitchen with an omelet.
“Rye!” Karan said setting the four egg southwest omelet in front of a large black man with long box braids.
Smiling nervously, she approached her boss. If Karan noticed her nervous hesitation, she pretended not to. Instead, she hugged the black-haired woman and started chatting, which put Rye at ease.
“How did you sleep?”
“Really well. I could get used to that bed.” Rye admitted.
“Keep the key, come stay whenever you want.” The man suggested as he covered his omelet with salsa.
“I appreciate you letting me stay here, but I couldn’t do that.” Rye said watching all the men walk in.
Tank walked in and saw her. He walked over and kissed her temple before giving a light hug to Karan. “How’s your little Michael doing?”
She brightened instantly. “Really good. Dr. Hamilton said that he should be able to come home in about another month or so.”
“I can’t imagine what it would be like to have the boys in the hospital for the first several months of their lives.” Tank shook his head. “If you need anything, let us know. Our boys are growing out of their clothes if you need them.”
“That would be wonderful. How much would you like for them?” Rye asked, having learned a long time ago that nothing came for free.
“Nothing. You are part of our family now, don’t worry about it.” He replied and saw the disbelief in her eyes. He tipped her face upwards with a knuckle under her chin. “Family isn’t always about blood.” He told her softly. “And this family doesn’t run away when things get hard.”
“Everyone leaves.” She whispered.
“We don’t.” he said wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. “Saints stay.”
“Come on.” Karan said, taking her hand and pulling her towards the buffet style serving line. “Let’s get breakfast.”
Tank started to follow but saw the motion from Cookie and sat down.
“What’s in her past? Anything we need to worry about?”
“I don’t think so. Both parents are dead. Her sister is an addict. Everything she has, she’s worked her ass off for. She’s been hurt, really fucking bad by those that should have protected her. She’s very guarded now.”
Tank glanced at the woman in question. “Most of what we know is because Evie got her to relax her guard and she slipped. She doesn’t want anyone to know her past or feel sorry for her.”
“How many of us here are like that?” Cookie mused.
“We’re all broken. That’s how the light gets in.” Tank chuckled. “Woman needs to go back to work. I’m quoting her motivational posters.”
Cookie laughed as the women returned. “You’ll miss her being home all the time.”
“What I won’t miss is colic.” He waved at Doc as he walked in. “Need to go see a man about a miracle.”
Cookie smiled at the new father as he walked away. Turning back to the women as they rejoined him, he saw that the only thing on Rye’s plate was a muffin and a single slice of bacon. He started to say something, but Karan shook her head.
“Woman is a bit rude.” Cookie said holding his hand out. “I’m Cookie.”
“Rye.” She smiled shaking his hand.
“You’re brave to be living at Tuscan.” He said going back to his omelet.
“It’s what I could afford. I needed a place to stay and didn’t have a job at the time.” She shrugged thinking about some of the other places that she had lived. And the months spent living in a car.
“Well, let’s see what we can do about that. I currently have a six bedroom, but I think that might be a little big for you.” Cookie smiled at her as he stole a piece of fruit from Karan’s plate.
“Yeah, it’s just Michael and me.” Rye gave a little laugh. “We don’t need much.”
“There’s a little post war bungalow over on Finch Street.” Cookie thought out loud. “Let me go look at it, see what it would take to fix it up.”
Law sat down at the table with a plate piled high with pancakes and another with scrambled eggs and sausage patties. “Morning boss. Cookie. And beautiful woman who will be haunting my dreams.”
All amusement left Rye as she stiffened. Without looking at Law, she nodded towards Karan. “I’m going to check on Michael. I’ll be no later than seven thirty.”
The three watched in confusion as she walked away.
“I guess she doesn’t like compliments.” Cookie suggested.
“Which would explain why she doesn’t like Chance.” Karan said offhand.
Both men choked on their food in surprise. Many people turned to look at the table. They both finally reached for their coffees and took a drink before speaking again.
“A woman does not like Chance?” Cookie rasped out.
“Can’t stand him.” Karan confirmed as Law snorted into his coffee cup. "I'm surprised she didn't bite his head off when he told her that he was moving her out of her apartment."
“Oh fuck.” Law grumbled and grabbed his napkin to blow his nose. “Hot coffee can clear the sinuses. But I don’t recommend it. Burns like a fucking bitch.”
“You good?” Cookie asked.
“I’m fine. I didn’t realize that was who we moved yesterday.” Law gave them both a giant grin. “He was so pissed off about her not having anything. We packed up her apartment in four boxes and the only one that was full was of baby stuff.”
“She has a newborn in the hospital.” Karan said.
“Michael.” Chance said sitting down with an omelet. “She named him after her dad.”
“How do you know?” Karan asked curiously.
“Name plate on his flag.” He said cutting up the omelet for it to cool. “You got a place for her?”
“Not yet. I’m going to go look at one today.” Cookie said.
“Make sure it’s furnished.” Chance said standing up. “I’ll pay for that if you need me to.”
Law laughed quietly as the biggest man slut in the club walked over to get a coffee. “That boy is so fucked, and he doesn’t even know it.”
