Chapter 0015

Chapter Seventeen

We arrived at a really nice sunny park. There were lots of families here, a play park, kids everywhere, an ice cream stand, the usual things you'd see in a quiet ''Summers Day'' picture. It was cute. As soon as we pulled up and Ron turned off the bike, I got off it.

Admittedly, it wasn't as bad as I had feared, but it was nice to be back on solid ground again.

Walking down to the picnic benches, we stopped at the ice cream stand and Ron brought us a frozen treat.

'What's your favourite flavour?' He asked me when it was our turn to order.

'I like the classic strawberry'. He smiled.

'Good choice. Me too'. He turned to the guy and ordered two large strawberry cones and once we got them and he paid, we went and sat down.

'It's really nice here'. I told him between licks of my ice cream.

'Yeah, it's one of the nicer, family parts of PTV'. It took me a minute to realise what PTV meant. Of course, Pleasant-Tree-Ville. I looked around, taking it in a little more. 'I'd have loved to have been able to bring you here when you were younger, Pushed you on the swings, had picnics...' I couldn't help but smile at his words.

'Yeah, I can really imagine the big scary biker guy having a little tea party picnic with his daughter'. He laughed loudly.

'Who said anything about a tea party'. I grinned.

'You saying you wouldn't play tea parties with me?' I faked offence a little which only made him laugh more.

'Nah, not saying that I might have dragged some of the other guys into it, made wearing hats and delicate gloves mandatory'.

'Oh yeah, I can just imagine it. I'm never too old to have a tea party with my daddy'.

'Well, I'll remember that'. Suddenly the conversation wasn't as funny anymore, but not in a bad way. It was just nice

We carried the banter back and forth for a little while, and despite my earlier worries about seeing and spending time with Ron, I was actually having a really, really good time.

'So.. can you tell me a bit about my mum?' Ron just looked at me. 'I don't wanna mention her around the clubhouse... Or Jemma. I don't want to be insensitive but... I want to know about her. She's my mum'.

'What do you want to know about her?' I shrugged.

'Anything. What was she like when she was here?'

'Honestly, Harley, My relationship with your mum when we were together was just... Fun. We were never in love, it was all for fun.'. I nodded, understanding, 'But I knew her in a friend sense and she was a nice girl. She looked a lot like you'.

'Yeah, Alexander said the same'. As soon as I mentioned Alex's name, I noticed Ron's whole mood change slightly.

'Yeah, well, it's probably best you don't talk about your mother with him'. I wanted to ask him why or what the problem with me talking to him was, but I could just tell that I shouldn't... So, I didn't. 'Your mum was funny, she was always laughing, if anyone needed any help, she'd be there, She would go without just so someone else had what they needed... she was an amazing person'. I smiled sadly. 'What's wrong?'

'Nothing just... she sounded like a nice person when she was here with you all’'.

'What do you mean?' His eyebrows frowned in confusion. I suddenly realised I had said something I shouldn’t and shook my head.

'Nothing, just, that she sounds like a nice person despite the obvious affair'. It took him a minute but eventually, he nodded in agreement. 'Does everyone still hate her? Or just Jemma and some of the guys?'

'Me and your mum hurt a lot of people'.

'They don't seem to hate you?'

'I'm their leader, and me and Jemma worked hard to move past all that shit'. I looked down, suddenly remembering Jemma's harsh words about my mum and how it's clearly not easy for her to have me around. 'What's wrong?'.

'Just.. some of the things people have been saying about mum... I understand what she did was wrong.. But the way people talk about her, it's wrong.'. Ron asked me what I was talking about and reluctantly, I told him about what his wife had said, Even though he was in the room for it, I told him about how it made me feel… and how I had heard what she said when she thought I was out of the room.

'I'm sorry that she's upset you'. I shrugged it off, not wanting to cause any issues between him and his wife. 'How about we don't talk about this and just focus on us for now?' he suggested and I smiled.

'Yeah, that sounds good to me'.

We stayed in the park for a good few hours. We had another ice cream, went for a walk, spoke about random things that weren't all that important, but it was just nice. It was just him and me. It was getting into late afternoon/ early evening when we decided to head back. I started to get hungry and Ron had suggested going out to dinner, again, just him and me.

When we got back to the bike, I took the helmet and put it on before getting on behind Ron and we headed back to the garage...

When we pulled up, all the bikes lined the yard, telling us that it was a full (club) house. They must have heard the bike and all came out. Ron parked up and we got off.

'Ron, We have a little bit of a problem'. Jackson told him as he and some of the other guys, including Alexander, came over to us. I turned my back to them and took the helmet off, not wanting to see him.

'What kind of problem?' No one spoke. I figured it was because of me. I apologised and went to walk off, but Ron put his arm over my shoulder, stopping me. 'It's ok, She's family'. I couldn't hide my smile. This was a very big and very good first step.

'Ok..' Jackson still seemed hesitant to discuss it in front of me. 'Well, Lojack called, He's having some problems tracking down those snitches, He said he needs till tomorrow but promises his guys can find them'.

Lojack? What a name.

'How sure are we they will find them?' Jackson shrugged.

'Not very. He's losing his touch in Portland. No one's taking him seriously.' Alexander was the one to speak this time. 'Shall we send some boys from the Portland Charter to shake things up a bit?'

'Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I want these snitches in the ground by sundown tomorrow'. The guys nodded, said they would sort it and walked off again. Did I just hear Ron basically say he wanted his ''guys'' to murder someone?!

'What was that about?'

'Just business. I think it's obvious but, you don't mention the business to anyone outside the club'. I nodded. 'Good girl, Go and get changed and I'll go get the car'. I smiled. Honestly, part of me thought he would cancel our dinner plans, but I was so glad he hadn't. Excitedly, I leaned up, kissed his cheek and then headed back into the clubhouse, and my room, to change and get ready for dinner.

I was really enjoying spending time with him..