“You think he’s lost Luna?”
“I don’t know. He won’t talk about it,” Duke said.
Holly patted the bed. “Everything can wait until morning. Climb in.”
“You’re sure. I was pretty pissed with Pie.”
“You think this can fall back on him?”
“It depends on how well Diaz does his job.”
“He’s never let you or the club down before.”
“There’s a first time for everything.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m starting to think you love the drama.”
He climbed on the bed, cupping her cheek. “I hate the drama, but I love you and it has been a long night, wife.”
“It has, has it? Shame I’m so tired.” She faked a yawn.
He ran his hand down her body. “Let’s see if I can wake you up.”
****
Wearing jeans, a long shirt, and some boots, with her hair pulled back into a ponytail, Lindsey bent over cleaning a table. There was no makeup on her face. Staring in the mirror that morning, she was tempted to cover up the bruising but finally decided against it.
She wasn’t going to hide what had happened to her.
Picking up the used glasses she walked back to the kitchen and paused when she saw Mary and Holly arriving. Both women had their arms full of shopping bags.
“Holy shit,” Mary said.
“Morning.” Her voice was croaky from all the yelling and screaming she’d done the night before. Holding the glasses to her body, she stared at the two women.
Holly stepped forward putting the bags on the table. She walked toward her and went to put her hands out. “I want to hug you. I don’t know if you can handle me—”
“Nothing actually happened.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Mary said. “That asshole shouldn’t have done what he did.”
Tears filled her eyes, and she stepped into the two women’s arms, and just held them. She sniffled, and Holly held her even tighter.
“I’ll be fine.” She kept saying that.
Pie had to go and attend some club business, but he’d not wanted to leave her.
“I’ll be fine,” she said again.
“Would you like to help us with breakfast?” Mary asked.
“I’m not good at cooking.”
“Well, the good news is Holly and I are, and not only that, we always love to order people around.”
Lindsey chuckled. “Okay then. Yes, I’d love to help.”
Putting the glasses in the sink, she turned back to see both women still staring at her. She placed a hand near her face and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Holly said. “I guess I got used to your smiling face so much that seeing you look sad, it’s hard.” She clapped her hands together. “Let’s get cooking.”
Lindsey wanted to cry. She wanted to go back to Pie’s room, curl up in a ball, and sob until there was nothing left.
Instead, she grabbed flour and sugar. She whisked dry ingredients together as Mary and Holly talked back and forth about what should and shouldn’t go in pancakes and waffles and everything else.
She listened to them talk, and as she did, she forgot for a few moments at a time what troubles had happened the night before.
Pie had already called in sick to her boss, and in a few days she was going to quit. There was no way she could go back there. Not now. Not after what had happened.
Holly left the kitchen for a few moments, and as she did, it was just her and Mary.
“You know, I didn’t like you,” Mary said.
This made her look up to see Mary looking at her.
“Oh.”
“Not now. I mean, in the beginning. You know. When you first came around. You talked all the time and you always smiled, and I didn’t think anyone could be that cheery all the time. I thought you’d try to fuck all of our husbands, and that you were going to be a nightmare.” Mary took a deep breath. “I was so wrong. You are a wonderful person, Lindsey. I know this monster has hurt you. I don’t know everything, just what Pike has told me. I don’t blame Pie for what he did. The bruising on your face, no woman should have to go through that.”
“He didn’t … erm…” She hated talking about it, and just thinking what had happened, it was tearing her up inside.
“Doesn’t matter. He tried, and he failed. I’m so sorry you had to go through that, but thank you for proving me wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“You are a good person.”
She didn’t feel like a good person, but instead of saying so to Mary, she just left it. For the rest of the day, she tried to distract herself, listening to Holly and Mary talk about ingredients, camera shots, questions. Everything related to their blog, which she liked seeing as it stopped her thinking about all of her other troubles.
Everything was her fault, and no matter which way she thought about it, she felt awful. Pie could get into trouble because of her. Whatever Richard did, he did because he thought she wanted it, and she didn’t.