For Her Honor (25 page)

“Karen.”
Taz tugged on her hand. “You sure?”

She nodded.
“Positive.”

“Okay, then.”
The doctor stood up. “You’ll have to sit with the pre-surgery administrator to answer some questions first. Have you had anything to eat or drink today?”

“A half cup of coffee around nine.”

“That’s fine.” She handed Karen a paper cloth. “I’ll give you a moment to clean up and get dressed, then come next door and we’ll get you scheduled and prepped. Surgery should only take forty-five minutes to an hour– out patient. No heavy lifting or driving for a week. You’ll be able to go home later on.”

When they were finally alone, Karen began to wipe the gel
from between her legs. The urge to break into tears was strong, but she bit them back. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Ain’t your fault, sweetheart.
You heard the doctor.”

She let out a relieved breath. “Well, look at it this way.
Least we won’t have to get married.”

He hotly pushed the chair back and stood up
. “
Really,
Karen? Is that what you fuckin’ think? That I’m only marryin’ you cuz I knocked you up?”

She
hopped off the table and pulled her shorts on. “Taz, it isn’t that. It’s just…..you never would’ve proposed if it wasn’t pregnant. Now I’m not anymore, or I won’t be once the surgery’s over so what’s the point?”

He looked almost feral as
he took her face in his hands. “Because I love you –
that’s
the point, sweetheart. I took a man apart because of what he did to you.”

She gasped.
“Taz.”

“No, Karen.
No talking. Just listen. You go next door. You have this taken care of and we go home later. As soon as you’re better, you’re gonna get yourself a pretty dress and we’re gettin’ married, because I fuckin’ love you. You understand?”

Her emotions were in overdrive as she couldn’t hold back any longer.
She burst into tears, leaning her forehead against his chest. Her arms went around his waist as he enveloped her shoulders, pulling as close as possible. “I love you, too. I do. I’m just scared. What if….what if this happens again? And again? What if I can’t carry a baby? You’ll be stuck with me.”

He pulled back, thumbing the tears from her cheeks.
“Sweetheart, like you said,
none
of this was supposed to happen. You, me….
this
. But it did. Neither of us were in the market for it, but we bought it. I ain’t gonna worry, Karen. Nor should you. But we can do it the right way now, by givin’ you my name first. I wanna do this, sweetheart. You didn’t come into my life and change my entire itinerary for me to fuck it up. A’ight?”

She
gulped a shuddered breath and calmed herself. This man had turned out to be nothing like she’d thought when she first saw him. His outside appearance didn’t do justice to the man he was on the inside. She sniffed then nodded. “Okay.”

~~~***~~~

He kissed her then walked her out and next door. “You want me to come in?”

“No, it’s okay.
You better go tell your mother.”

He brought her hand to his lips.
“Be right back.”

He found his ma pacing like an expectant father in the main waiting room.
She was going to have her heart broken too. Well, half of it at least. “Hey, ma.”

She put down the bag of Fritos she
’d gotten out of the vending machine, licking the salt from her fingers. “Well?”

“C’mere.”
He sat down and motioned for his ma to do the same and explained everything that had happened. He finally felt the weight of the words and leaned forward, elbows on knees, and put his face in his hands. For the first time in…shit, he didn’t know how long, he wanted to cry.

“Gabriel.”
Janice put a comforting arm around her son. “I’m so sorry.”

He straightened up and took a deep breath.
“I’m still gonna marry her, ma. As soon as she’s out and better. It’s a go. Ain’t gonna do this shit backwards.”

“You mean the way
I did?” Janice said.

“Ain’t what I mean
t.”

“I know.” She kissed his temple as if he were a little boy.
“Guess I didn’t do such a bad job raising you after all.”

He lifted his arm to hug her close.
“You did pretty well, Jan.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Three weeks passed
, bringing the town of Tippitt deep into the month of September. The green of summer began to slowly fade, replaced with vivid colors of reds, oranges and yellows. Fall in West Virginia was beautiful, and a simple drive down a country road was nothing but an explosion of beautiful color. It also ushered in the beginning of school and a lead-up to the first of three major holidays.

And enough time had passed
that the club was able to take a breath and consider the events which had taken place. As custom, Vic gathered everyone early on a Thursday morning, so not to interfere with their day jobs. When all were present, he opened the meeting with the slam of a gavel. “First off.” He directed his attention to Taz. “How’s your ol’ lady?”

Taz
had grown to like having Karen referred to as his old lady. “Fully recovered. All’s good.”

Nodding, Vic then looked over at Tanner.
“You?”

Though his leg
had healed up pretty quick, the bullet had torn a bit of muscle in the back of Tanner’s thigh. He’d forced himself to ride after a week, but still had a visible limp. “On the mend, Pres.”

Quickly, Vic went through each of his men to inquire what was going on
with them outside the club. Although the room was for business only, he had begun taking time to ask about them as a whole. Personal lives were rarely discussed at the table, but with so much that had happened since last November, two members getting shot, kidnappings, fires and break-ins, Vic had opened the floor to anyone who wanted to get something off their chest or just talk about what was going good in their lives.

Doug chimed in that Ticker Liquor was going well. “Now that the lawn season is over, I’m gonna have my brother run the back until winter kicks in and we start plowin’.
Perri’s workin’ the front, splittin’ time between there and the body shop office.”

“And you
.” Aero’s comment caused a little laughter around the table.

“What
-the fuck-ever,” Doug replied. It was good to shut him up once in a while.

“Mill status?”

Tanner sat forward. “Charles is waitin’ on the insurance payout. Deemed it an accident.”

“Course
, now that we know the truth, he’s sick about it,” Ben chimed in. “He’ll stay mum. He talked to Ty’s parents and they worked out a settlement.”

“And
when
are we expecting again?” Vic asked.

Ben folded his meaty hands on the table and smiled.
“November tenth. Got the furniture delivered. Just gotta put it together and….wait.”

Wait.
That’s what Taz and Karen were doing. He’d meant what he’d said, that he wanted to do it right. She’d gotten through the surgery and he knew she’d spent a good portion of her recovery week crying, as her eyes were all puffy when he’d come home every night. She’d had a slew of visitors and support. Eva had stopped in to check on her after leaving the card shop, and Kelly had brought her iced coffee and lunch. When he’d come home one day and found a weird looking flower sprouting up from a ceramic pot and discovered Elle had dropped it off, he’d felt cemented. To endear oneself to Vic Connors’ wife was an achievement

“Got an interesting side project going on.”
Aero spoke up now. “One of the guys from my former unit’s been contracted to consult for curriculum at Pratt & Whitney. Asked me to put my head together with his for a cut.”

Taz smiled.
“Yeah, speaking of cut, anything else you wanna share?”

Aero’s hand instantly went to his
preciously clipped hair, but quickly realized Taz meant something else. “Fuck, shut up.”

“C’mon, bro.
Spill it. Even Doug fessed up with Perri.”

“You keeping
company, V.P.?” Vic asked.

“What if I am?”

The second oldest bachelor, Aero kept his outside life private.
Although he mainly crashed at the club, there’d be times when he found a place to spend the night – or a weekend. After a vague reply, he looked as if he was fighting a lost cause. “You’ll meet her. Soon. Next.”

“Anything you want to add?” Vic asked down the table at Wes.

The young intelligence officer shook his head. “I’m happy to oblige myself to having the ladies all to myself.”

“Fine,” Doug bit out.
“Now that group couple’s therapy is over, can we get down to business?”

Vic cleared his throat, leaning forward
. “And they say I’m cranky. Moving on. Wes, any noise on Mallory?”

“Nope.”
Wes slouched back in his chair, arms crossed, legs spread. “I’m guessin’ you put the fear of God in Martin Pearson. His wife even took down her Facebook page.”

“What about the business he took over?” Tanner asked.

“I’m sure Pearson’ll come up with some explanation to Mallory’s crew,” Ben replied.

“Yeah, because
being taken out by the mafia won’t exactly fly,” Vic joked. “Which brings me to the next point.” He looked at Taz. “Credit, brother. Not only did the condition Mallory showed up in speak volumes, but, let’s just say that Conti’s…..regaling of the events to Adamo scored points.”

Taz felt
proud of himself. Now wasn’t a time for humility. “Got the job done
and
sent a message. Way to let ‘em know we ain’t some two bit ridin’ club willing to drop to our knees and open wide. Granted, the Skulls’ll never outmatch the Caprese family, but that was a silent way of sayin’ we ain’t no slouches, either. Earn some respect.”

Doug nudged him.
“And you had fun.”

Taz’s black eyes actually sparkled.
“It was glorious. And,” he regarded Ben across the table, “barely any mess.”

“How the fuck you gonna chan
ge a diaper, bro?” Doug asked.

“Uh,” Vic cut in, “and before you go and say
‘I’ll just have my ol’ lady do it’
, lemme tell you that ain’t the correct response.”

Ben shook his head.
“Am I really that bad?”

“Yes.”
It resonated around the table.

It felt good to laugh, to joke around, to just be guys talking about shit.

“Any problem with doing a repeat performance in the future?”

Taz twirled the tip of his beard at Vic’s question. “Uh, let me th…..no.” There wasn’t anything to think about. He’d already proven three weeks ago that he could leave business on the street and walk through the door of his home. Whether he could ever break down and tell Karen some of what he’d done remained to be seen. Right now, there wasn’t a point. He’d never bring that shit home. He’d thought he was incapable, but James Mallory was about as freaky as he’d ever done. He’d never taken a life – that was Ben’s realm. So if he was able to separate enough to pick Karen up and rush her to the hospital the morning after, then an occasional missing finger, broken bone or rearranged facial parts would be cake.

Vic continued.
“Liquor store and body shop are holding their own. Hogs’ parts are steady. Narcotics runs have been smooth. And Adamo is more than satisfied with us running security and escorting the take. Let’s not think we can quit our day jobs, gentleman. This is Tippitt. Small town - smaller microscope. We continue to look good. My wife can only dig out so many monkey wrenches with higher ups. And I’ve got a wedding to pay for, so I don’t need the hassle.

Taz wanted to speak up, but held his tongue.
Now was not the time. Not at the table, where it ended on business. He had ideas buzzing through his head, but here wasn’t the place to announce it. He had someone more important he needed to discuss with first.

~~~***~~~

Fully recovered and glad to be finally up and useful, Karen was in the stock room of the card shop looking for the clearly marked boxes to begin prepping the elaborate Halloween display Jen had in mind. Taz had been a massive pain in the ass with strict instructions not to lift anything too heavy or exert herself, but she’d assured him – yet again – that she was fine. It wasn’t as if she had been cut open. Instead, she’d had three tiny incisions – one being in her belly button where the laparoscope was inserted - the other two on either side of her abdomen. They were closed with dissolvable stitches and covered with tiny adhesive bandages. Truth, she’d felt fine the very next day, just a slight soreness, as if she’d done several hundred crunches.

But doctor’s orders had her homebound for a week
, where just about everyone had stopped by to check on her – usually with something to eat – while Taz was at the body shop. Eva, Kelly, Janice – hell, even Elle Connors had made a surprise visit with an orchid plant. After sizing up the club’s newest addition, Elle had twitched her mouth before kissing Karen’s cheek. “You’ll do just fine.”

Vic Connors
’ wife didn’t involve herself much in club business, but her obvious involvement with anything town related was a powerful tool in the club’s belt. Karen could see how Janice was intimidated by her. She felt the same way compared to her sister Shelia, also married to a powerful man. But as both Preston and Taz proved, it wasn’t about exterior appearances. It was about heart. About loyalty. About keeping a promise and seeing something through. Taz possessed a shitload of it under his skin.

Her contact with her family had been limited to texts and a few phone calls to her dad.
She kept the details of the baby, and her impending marriage, out of the conversation. Like she’d told Taz, it was something she had to do face-to-face, which had to be soon. They’d decided to not only have a simple wedding before the holidays, but also before Eva’s due date, which was November 10
th
. Of course, Taz being Taz, he wanted a Halloween wedding. For some weird reason, she liked the idea. Like this town’s name, it was apropos.

After being wrapped up in a sea of orange and black, she and Jen closed up and headed home.
Pulling down her street, Karen winced as she drove by the reservoir. The place that had started out as a sexy memory had turned into a near-fatal nightmare. Coming upon her house, she saw Taz’s bike in the driveway and him planted on the front steps. Gone were his black t-shirts, as the temperature was beginning to drop. His arms were covered in a dark blue shirt with the two buttons undone at both the top and bottom. Only the ink on his chest under a light spattering of black chest hair was visible. He got up and met her as she got out. “Been waitin’ for you.”

“You know I close up
the store with Jen. What’s up?”

Hands in his pockets, he looked around at the vibrant fall colors surrounding him as dusk settled a faint glow on the town.
“Let’s take a ride.”

“Now?”

“Yeah, now. Ain’t much of a planner, sweetheart. When the mood strikes, I act. Between all the shit that happened - your surgery, getting back to work, club stuff – I just wanna up and go for a bit.”

She was in jeans, flats, peach tank and a gray cardigan
, which was her usual work wardrobe at the card store. She spiffed it up a bit more for the bank. “I think I’ll need a jacket.”

He stopped her as she headed towards the door.
“Don’t bother.” He reached in the saddlebag of his bike and pulled out his black hoodie. “Put it on. We won’t be out that long. Let’s enjoy the color before it fades.”

For thirty minutes they just…..rode.
No talking, no hand signals to communicate. He concentrated on the road while she pressed her cheek against the skull patch on the back of his cut. He came to the base of a mountain which contained a path. He stopped and braced his feet on the pavement before turning his head. “We’re goin’ up.”

At a slower speed, he followed the road which was built into the mountain until they reached the top.
He killed the engine while she slid off, immediately going to the edge. There was a retaining wall of crumbling rock, which led to a ledge buffered by wildflowers that was just above a steep drop. A tree was off to the right side, its branches shooting out like arms with tiny bits of leaves for fingers. But it was the sight beyond the tree that took Karen’s breath away. The sun was beginning to set, and it was encircled by a hazy glow of yellow, orange and lavender. Beyond the rock, sprigs of wildflowers nested in fertile ground before it gave way to a deep drop below. “Wow. This…..this is beautiful.”

Taz sat on one of the rocks so that his back was up ag
ainst the stump of the tree. “I haven’t been up here in a long time. Never liked heights too much.”

“So what made you come up here?”

“Somethin’ Ben told me a while ago. That it don’t matter how many women lead you to the edge. All it takes is one to shake her tail just right to send you over.”

Karen held back a snort.
“Shake her tail? Are you saying I did that?”

“Sweetheart, the first time I saw you at the gas station you were leanin’ in through the driver’s side window.
The image of your ass stayed with me a long time.”

“So you love me because of my ass?”

“I love you
and
your ass.” He then took a moment to collect his thoughts and get serious. “I had no idea what Ben meant. Hell, I couldn’t understand how he could marry a woman after knowing her for a few months. It wasn’t something that could be explained. I guess you just…..know. I thought he was out of his mind. Now,” again, he paused, “I understand. C’mere.”