Unveiled Wishes (Iron Shield MC #2)

5. Two Peas in a Pod

Chapter 5

Two Peas in a Pod

E mily

“You’re no help, Eric.” My brother was driving me crazy. He had called to tell me it was okay to book the ticket, but he wasn’t working with me on dates and times.

“I told you I didn’t care. Just pick a date, Em. Email me the confirmation, and I’ll think about picking you up at the airport.” He blew out a breath, like he was over having this conversation. If he had just been helpful, I could have booked already.

“I don’t find you funny right now,” I exhaled into the phone. “This is our first Christmas together in a long time, and you’re not making me feel welcome.”

“If you’re not on that plane when you’re supposed to be, I am coming to New York and dragging you here myself.”

“Better. I’ll take that.” Eric had been a Marine for six years and a biker for not much longer than that. The Park Avenue Prince no longer spoke like he had a hot poker up his ass. “There’s an early morning flight on the twentieth. That’s the last weekend before Christmas vacation. Will that work?”

“Em,” Eric sighed. “Book it, and email me the confirmation.”

I made a few more clicks, paid for the flight, and that was it. I was officially heading to my brother’s for Christmas. “Eric, I’ve never met the club, and I want to make a good first impression. Who should I bring a present for to say thank you?”

“What do you mean?” His tone showed that he had better things to do.

“I don’t want to show up empty-handed. That’s just rude,” I said to him. When he didn’t answer me, I asked again, “Who should I bring a Christmas present for? Like a ‘thanks for having me, and putting up with my dumb brother’ gift.”

“I am not dumb.” He pulled the phone away from his ear. “Hey, Zook! Em said I was a dumbass,” I heard him yell.

Zook. Tyler Mitchell. My heart rate tripled, and if I passed out, I wouldn’t be able to explain why.

“She’s right. You’re a dumbass. Always have been.” His voice hadn’t changed in all these years.

“Whose fucking side are you on? Bros before hos.”

I gasped. How could my brother say something like that?

“Your sister isn’t a ho, and you better take that back before I bend you into a pretzel so that you can find your own dumb ass.” It wasn’t the prettiest thing that had ever been said to defend my honor, but it was the best.

“Since you two want to gang up on me, here, talk to Em.”

Had Eric passed the phone to Tyler?

“Em?” He had. I was going to kill my brother when I saw him.

“Tyler,” I said, hoping I sounded like the sophisticated woman I was. His last letter had accused me of being a little kid who had made something out of nothing.

“Hey, Em. I wasn’t sure if your brother was fuc... messing with me or not.” He always measured his words when he was speaking to me. I wasn’t sure if it was because he was afraid of what he might say, or if he just didn’t want to offend me. He didn’t do it with anyone else in my family.

“No, I was trying to get Eric to commit to a date so that I could book my flight. He just told me to do it, and he’d make it work.”

“He always says that and then bitches about what you decide, but if you try to include him, he doesn’t want to be bothered. Seven is too early, ten is too late. Fuc…crybaby.” I could hear the eyeroll in his voice.

“Hey!” I heard in the background.

“Yeah, it went something like that, until I finally just booked a ticket.” I tried to infuse a smile into my voice. I wanted Tyler to think everything was fine, but I was really shitting bricks to be talking to him. There were too many unanswered questions, and now wasn’t the time to dig. I wasn’t sure there was ever going to be a moment, and I had to make sure I was alright with that. I was visiting my brother, not interrogating his best friend.

“When are you coming?” he asked.

“The twentieth. There’s a flight that leaves here at six in the morning. I figured even if I am delayed, I’ll still make it in time.” A blizzard would not stop me from getting out of New York.

“Okay, I’ll make sure he picks you up, or I’ll do it myself.”

“Thank you.” I wasn’t sure how to hold a genuine conversation with him, but I knew he wouldn’t disappoint me. “Hey, Tyler?”

“Yeah,” he answered.

“I asked Eric, but he didn’t have an answer for me. I’ve never visited the club, and I don’t want to come empty-handed. Is there anyone I should bring a Christmas present for? Kind of like, ‘Thanks for having me.’”

“Why would you do that?” My brother had grown up with the best of everything, while I knew Tyler had come from beggar beginnings. However, I swore they had the same neanderthal characteristics.

“Eric said that he had to ask permission for me to come. It was nice to be included so that I don’t have to spend the holiday alone, and I want to make a good first impression.”

“You sounded like Flo for a second with that bullshit.” He laughed.

Flo. My brother had never mentioned Tyler having a woman in his life. Was this a girlfriend? Did she mean anything to him? I didn’t want to ask.

“We call our president’s woman Flo. When he first brought her to meet the club, she said something similar, that’s all. It must be a thing.”

I breathed a metaphorical sigh of relief. “So…come on. Help a girl out.”

“You’re not a girl.” He paused. “Sabre and Flo have a baby boy. He’s going to be six months old. Just bring a present for him and your brother, and you should be good.”

“What about you?” I pushed. “What should I bring you?”

“I am alright. You coming is present enough. Do you still need How?”

“No, I’ll talk to him later.” The phone went silent in my hand. Had that been real?

***

Grace

JR’s whimpers were the only sound as we sat on the bed in the spare bedroom.

“I know. Mama messed this up.” I tickled his feet, trying to soothe him as I looked around the room. Shipping boxes filled every corner. I had told the prospects to toss them in the spare bedroom each time something arrived. They had taken me at my word, and now the boxes took up every available space. I’d had a hard time opening the bedroom door.

I couldn’t blame them. I’d done the same with the bags of presents I had bought. Piles of bags sat where I had dumped them, and I had quickly left the room to avoid seeing the mess. How’s sister would be here in two days, and I could no longer turn a blind eye. I had to get everything wrapped before we hung the stockings, and the room needed to be clear.

JR fussed. “I know, baby,” I said, running my hand through my hair, dislodging the ponytail I had put up that morning. “I promised your daddy that I wouldn’t get crazy. It’s a good thing he hasn’t seen this nightmare.”

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” I called.

Kelly opened the door but stopped before stepping inside. “Oh, Mylanta,” she whispered, taking in the disaster I had created. I watched as her eyes went wide, bouncing from one area to the next. Her lips parted into an O shape. “Do I want to know?” she asked me.

“I promised Sabre it would all be fine. I told him I had it under control, but look at this. It’s not fine.” I held my hands out in front of me and spread them to incorporate the rest of the room. “How am I ever going to get this done?” JR was crying beside me. “I feel the same way.” I picked him up, cradling him against my shoulder, as I pushed a few stray pieces of hair back.

“Where’s Aunt E and Meredith?” Kelly asked, and I appreciated her optimism that reinforcements would arrive. I tried to smile at her, but I was sure it was more of a grimace.

“Pebbles is with my aunt, making sure that she can shower and get dressed. I am not sure if Meredith will be available.” Aunt E would do her best to help, but her lack of mobility really prohibited her movements. Meredith was having a bad day, and it would be easier if we just left her alone.

Shutting the door, she leaned against it. “I am not sure where to start, but what if I help you wrap the women’s presents? There are fewer women in the club, and if we can get them finished, I’ll help you stack the stuff in the main room.”

“You sure? How’s sister is coming to visit, and this room has to be cleaned out in two days.” I usually had things under control, but now I was on the verge of tears, unable to see a way out of this mess.

“I have nothing planned for today, so I can stay and help. As long as we finish those by tonight, you can get the club girls to help with the men’s presents tomorrow. Just threaten them to get them not to tell, and it should be alright.” Kelly didn’t move from her spot by the door.

JR was crying, and her kindness was too much in this moment. I cried, the tears running down my cheeks. “What would I do without you?” I asked her, not really expecting an answer.

She laughed as she made her way around the bags in the doorway. Sitting on the bed next to me, Kelly wrapped her arms around us. “You went a little overboard.” She pinched her thumb and forefinger and showed me.

I looked at her and smiled. There was a pause before we laughed like hyenas. JR didn’t like the noise and cried even louder, which only made us laugh harder.