The sane thing for me to do would have been to run in the opposite direction and flee for my life the second that I saw his bright blue eyes and bad boy smile. But I'd never been considered completely sane. So I stayed. I fell. I loved. And I broke.
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Chapter Five:
Gemma's name flashed up on my Caller ID as I was sketching and I held it up on my shoulder. "Hey, Gem, what's up?"
"I need a favour." She got straight to the point without bothering to greet me. "And I need you to say yes, otherwise I'm fucked."
I chuckled and put my sketch pad down. "What do you need?"
"Can you watch Abel for a few hours?" If I hadn't known better, I would have sworn that she almost sounded like she was pleading. "Neeta just called, she's got a stomach bug and I'm out of town and won't be able to get back for at least a while. Jax is dealing with shit at the clubhouse and I don't-"
"It's fine, Gem. I don't have any more clients today, anyway, I was just goin' to fix things up around the shop." I cut her off and stashed away my pad. "I'll leave now and be there in half an hour, don't stress, just get back when you can."
She sighed in relief and thanked me on repeat before the line went dead.
Maggie watched me with confused eyes when I walked over to her and explained that I had to leave early, but agreed that she would take care of everything and lock up after her last client. Jess was a little more inquisitive when I asked her to call my clients for the day and reschedule at their earliest convenience, but I shut her down quickly.
I'd told Gemma that I didn't have anybody else, but it wasn't true and it was going to be a pain in the ass to make up for the days work that I was going to miss. But I'd heard the desperation in her voice and it had been the first time that she'd let her guard truly down enough for me to realise that she was depending on me, so I couldn't let her down even if I'd wanted to. Not when Abel was concerned, at least.
I stopped by my house on the way and loaded up my backseat with Tupperware containers full of meals that I'd spent my day off cooking. I'd planned to give them to Gemma to take over and hide in their freezer for when Jax was too tired to cook since she'd commented that, when she wasn't cooking, the pair tended to live off takeout and frozen meals, which just made my Georgia heart hurt. Besides, I couldn't leave Larry behind, and I patted his leg as he sat on the passenger's side, head out the window as he enjoyed the sun whipping past his ears.
When we got to their house I knocked on the front door and greeted Neeta, an older woman who looked slightly green around the gills and apologised before she almost ran from the home. Gemma had called to inform her that I was on my way so she didn't stick around to grill me or confirm that I knew what I was doing, just made a run for it as soon as I'd arrived.
"Ellie!" Abel shocked me by wrapping his arms around my mid section and grinning as soon as I stepped into the living room and joined him. "You came back!"
I ran my hand through his hair comfortingly at the same time that my heart ached. The little boy had been worried that I wouldn't return to their home after knowing me for a total of less than a day, and that put a wound in my soul I didn't know it could create.
