“Stand up, brother,” someone said.
“Oh, well, okay.” Slider rose, and Cora could feel the excitement rolling off him. “You all know I’ve worked at Frederick Auto Body for years. Well, you’re looking at its new owner, effective the first of the year.” Cora nearly burst to hear him say it, and the club was enthusiastic for him, too, clapping and calling out words of congratulations. In the weeks while she’d healed, when Slider had spent so many days at her side, they’d talked about dreams and futures. And the minute Slider had talked about wanting to own his own shop, maybe make a name for himself with custom paint and remodeling jobs, she’d pushed him to do it. Cora hadn’t known that he had decent savings consisting in part of money from Kim’s life insurance, but she was entirely supportive of him using it to build his future.
Their future.
“I love you, Slider, and I’m so proud of you,” she said when he sat back down.
“You make me want to build a life I can be proud of, sweetheart. For all of us.” He kissed her there, in front of everyone. And didn’t even care when the boys groaned and Phoenix teased and Maverick declared that Slider and Cora were the worst PDA offenders among them.
He wasn’t wrong . . .
When people had nearly finished their dinners, Dare stood up and raised his glass. “I’m not sure I’ve ever had as much to be grateful for as I do this year. This club—and every member in it—has stepped up again and again, and I’ve never been prouder to wear these colors.” Murmurs of approval circled the room. “So today, I want us to count our blessings. First and foremost, that Jagger is free, his name has been cleared, and he’s back where he belongs, with all of us.”
A cheer rose up, and everyone raised their glasses. “To Jagger!”
The guy blushed to the tips of his ears, and it was the most endearing thing, especially as his sister and her boyfriend were sitting right there with him, and his sister got a little teary and took his hand. It was so sweet it almost made Cora cry, but then she seemed to get weepy over TV commercials these days. Stupid hormones.
Dare continued, “Next, I’d like us to raise a glass to Caine, Haven, Cora, and Sam, who are all healthy again after some pretty hard fights.” Another round of toasts went up, and Slider pressed a kiss to her cheek. “We also have a special gift for Sam and Ben, too.” Dare pulled two boxes out from under the table and passed them down to the boys.
“Did you know about this?” Cora asked.
Grinning, Slider shook his head.
“Whoa!” Sam said, his eyes going huge as he opened one of the boxes. It was a sentiment Ben echoed a few seconds later. Both of them jumped up holding cutoff jackets, denim and leather, not with full colors, of course, but with the word Prospect on the back. For prospective member.
A huge round of applause and hoots and hollers went up as the boys put on their miniature cuts. Sam looked so much like a younger Slider that Cora could only shake her head. Some girl was already in so much trouble in another ten years, and she didn’t even know it. What an amazing gesture it was for the club to make to these boys who had witnessed so much these past months. Teary again, she met Haven’s smiling gaze and nodded. Thank you, my friend. Because Cora had no doubt that Haven had had a hand in this.
“And the last blessing I’d like to count is a more personal one.” Dare reached out a hand. “Haven, would you join me?”
A grin came immediately to Cora’s face as she watched her friend stand by her man in front of the entire club.
And then Dare Kenyon went down on one knee.
Cora sucked in a breath as Haven’s mouth dropped open, and you could’ve heard a pin drop in the room as the club’s president began to talk.
“Haven, you have literally saved my life. But even before you did that, you’d saved me in a different way—you made me face that I was only ghosting through the life I had and dared me to want more. And even more than that, you made me believe I deserved it. For a man who spent most of his life certain he didn’t deserve anything, you’ve given me everything. And so, I want to give you everything back. My heart, my love, my name. I don’t want to ride alone anymore. I want you in my saddle and at my side, always. So, Haven Randall, will you do me the greatest honor of my life and be my wife?”
Cora pressed a hand to her mouth, her heart so full she had no chance of keeping her emotions in.