Chapter 300: Pop's House
*We all get land for a house, except Chance, he wants pop’s house. – Molly*
Tuesday Chance rode in with Rye into work in her car and said that there was something that he wanted to do after they got off. The previous Sunday afternoon officer Murphy told them that the house was released, and they could return. Rye shook her head and said that she didn’t want to go back to it. Chance understood that her safe place had been destroyed and did not push it.
They had been staying at the Shack and as expected, he had caught hell when he showed up for church on Monday night. The first Monday, it was bad until Trigg called the meeting to order.
“As most of you know, Chance and his new bride are staying at the Shack, he is not changing chapters.” Trigg slammed his gavel down to stop the teasing and comments that were flying around the room.
“Shut the fuck up!” Popeye, the enforcer, demanded. Very few times had anyone ever seen him lose his cool. Both times that Chance knew of, someone ended up dead. The room fell silent instantly.
“For those who don’t know, Saturday afternoon, his house was broken into with the intention of taking the baby.”
The silence in the room only amplified the tension. The tension was broken by the sound of a baby crying and the door opening. Geo stuck his head in with a confused look on his face.
“Chance, your wife says that you need to breast feed the baby?”
He chuckled as he stripped off his cut and t-shirt on the way to the door. He handed the clothing to Rye and accepted the baby and his bottle. Little fingers grabbed the chest hair as Michael quit crying.
“Give me a kiss, Duchess.” Chance demanded and Rye obliged.
“Pee-Wee good?” Trigg asked as Chance settled back into his regular chair.
As Chance drove down the country road, he couldn’t help but grin. As his wife came out of her shell, he discovered that she had a wicked sense of humor.
He turned down a road outside of town, closer to East Vale than Monroe or Ridgeview. About a half mile down the road, the first stone and wrought iron fence came into view. They passed driveways with the Lowery crest on the gates. Turning down another road, they passed a gateway that led to a cul-de-sac with three houses.
A little further down on the same side was a large barn style garage with six large doors. Foundations were being set for two smaller garages.
“Granddad loved cars and bikes. When he passed, there were over a hundred cars and bikes in his collection.” Chance said turning into a driveway on the other side of the road. He punched in a code on the keypad and the gate rolled open.
“Whose house is this?” Rye asked as they went through the gate.
“It was my granddads house.” He said coming to a stop on the large circular drive. “If you like it, it can be ours.”
“It’s really big.” Rye said as she stepped out of the car.
She looked up at the large pale-yellow two-story Dutch colonial house. The blue front door was set back about six feet in the center with benches on either side. A decorative white railing ran along the whitewashed wooden porch which ran the length of the long house.
On the left end, there was a sunroom with a deck above it. The other end had an addition and a covered walkway leading to a detached garage in the same style as the house. Both had dormers for the second-floor windows.
“Not as big as some of the others out here.” He said walking around the car with Michael asleep in his carrier. “I should take you over to see Molly’s compound.”
“Is this the land that your family has?” She asked, accepting his hand and walking up to the large front porch.
“It is.” He punched a code into the keypad next to the door and then opened it. “My uncle Deuce and cousin Molly still oversee the farm. I have no idea what we grow. I know we have some large green houses and chickens. I think the flowers have goats.”
“The flowers?” Rye laughed.
“Rose, Violet, and Heather. They’re married to my cousins Dino, Rocky and Gremlin. They have the cul-de-sac over there.”
“I think I met them at the wedding. I met a lot of people at the wedding.”
Their voices echoed in the large empty room. Original hardwood floors ran through the main floor, except for the kitchen and bathroom. He explained that water damage a few years ago made them unsalvageable.
“Cookie and Jaye remodeled them. They did the addition before grandma died. There’s a half bath down here, and three full bathrooms upstairs. A total of five bedrooms, including the room in the attic.”
“Do you want to? Live out here?” Rye asked quietly walking into the sunroom.
“I have a lot of fond memories of this house.” He said approaching her and setting the carrier down and resting his hands on her hips. Chance turned her towards him wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling her close. “I want to make new memories with you and Michael. Good memories and I don’t care where we make them. Here. Somewhere else. If you want to go to Tampa, we’ll go.”
“Here.” Rye whispered. “It feels right.”
He kissed her and then rested his forehead against hers. “I love you, Rye. I want you to be happy.”
“I am happy. I’m upset with Leigh Anne. But I know it has nothing to do with me. And more importantly,” She kissed him, “I like me. You introduced me to myself, and I like this woman that I’ve found.”
“I like her too.” Chance grinned.
“Chance!” Sticks called from the front door. Chance groaned as his brother and Mark argued about interrupting the couple.
“We could send Michael with them.” Rye suggested quietly.
Chance stood up straight and looked at the blushing woman in front of him. “I can get rid of them in two minutes.”
Biting her lower lip shyly, Rye nodded.
“I’ll be right back.” He said as he grabbed the carrier and went to the front door. “Not sure what you’re doing here,”
“Molly said that you were coming over.” Sticks said.
“don’t really care.” He continued handing the carrier to Mark and guiding both men outside. “We’ll be by to get him in a little bit. Thanks. Love you. Blah blah blah.” He handed Sticks the diaper bag from the back seat and grabbed the blanket from the back of her car. “He’ll probably want a bottle in an hour.”
“Skin to skin is best.” Chance advised as he closed and locked the door.
