Sweet Charity (18 page)
After a busy week both at the restaurant and at the MC, ensuring everything was in order for Saturday, the day of the hospital fundraiser had arrived. It was being held at a local park, which included a huge pavilion, in the event of inclement weather, but thankfully the sun rose on a clear and pleasant day. Charity and the girls set up the food under the covered roof to protect it from the sun’s heat, and to be close to the picnic tables, also located there, for people to sit down and eat at. Because it was such a large area the artisans set up their tables there too. The boys from The Mavericks set up their bikes and demonstration area in the parking lot. Jackson had Rocker and Rebel help Charity, Melissa, and the other staff from
Sweet Charity’s
with their set up before heading over to help with the bike rodeo.
Charity couldn’t have been more impressed with the turnout, and was happy to see that there were, indeed plenty of young families attending. She loved seeing the young children, and talking with their parents about how the children’s hospital had touched their lives. She also was happy to hear how thankful they were to The Black Maverick’s for organizing and holding this rally, for the past several years now. She was so proud of Jackson for having come up with this idea, and getting the buy-in from the other club members years ago.
While taking a short break to have a bite herself, Charity decided to walk over and check in with Jackson, who hadn’t yet taken a lunch break. As she approached the parking lot where the boys were set up, she noticed Jackson lifting a little girl, probably no older than four or five, up onto the seat of his bike, while her parents stood nearby. The little girl had a tight hold on him, and she smiled up at Jackson as he made a funny face. He knelt down beside her as he held her on his bike, and spoke to her eliciting several smiles and giggles. Charity couldn’t help but stand there mesmerized at the sight before her, and her heart melted at the smile that was plastered on Jackson’s face, as he entertained the little one. She was so engrossed in the scene before her, that she didn’t hear Rocker as he walked up behind her and spoke her name. When she didn’t respond to him, he called out a little louder, which drew the attention of Jackson, as he looked over and noticed her standing there. They couldn’t help but smiling at one another, as Jackson realized Charity had been watching him charming the little girl. Then he called her over, and when she approached, he introduced Charity to his new little friend and her parents. After a brief visit, the couple asked their daughter if she would like to go next and have her face painted. As Jackson lifted the child off of his bike, and handed her back to her parents, she seemed in no hurry to say goodbye to him, which Charity teased him about after, asking him if she had some new competition to worry about. While she returned to the concession area a little bit later, she couldn’t help but imagining Jackson with a child of their own. She knew he would be a wonderful father someday.
The rally was a resounding success, and at the end of the day The Black Maverick’s and the artisans at the event, had helped to raise over $75,000 for the children’s hospital. Charity couldn’t have been more proud of Jackson, and The Black Mavericks.
Chapter 29
Brains had been continuing to follow Charity and Jackson around, at Tommy’s insistence, for weeks now and he was really getting sick and tired of being bossed around and treated like a dog by Tommy. He understood that as a prospect for The Red Aces, he would have to do a lot of shitty jobs around the club, but being the boss’ personal tracking dog, wasn’t one of those things he planned on. He’d had enough of Tommy tearing a strip off of him, over something that had nothing to do with club business at all. Every time he called to give him an update, he treated him like he was no better than dog shit, and it was getting old. Deciding that it was about time Tommy made a move in this ongoing game, Brains had called Tommy and told him that Charity was not only here, but that she and her staff from Sweet Charity’s were actually catering the event. He suggested that with the huge crowd around, and with The Black Maverick’s all involved that it might be a good time for him to come and observe what’s been happening for himself.
That lead to Brains and Tommy parked across the street from the parking lot where the bike rally was being held where they were sitting camouflaged by all of the parked cars and many other motorcycles in and around. As Tommy was observing the activities going on, he watched as Charity made her way over to where Jackson was as he saw the scene unfolding between Jackson, the little girl and then Charity. Brains could see Tommy’s head was about to blow off as he saw this little vignette, and he smirked to himself, not about the actions Tommy might take against The Maverick’s, rather about the fact that it really pissed Tommy off to see his ex looking so cozy with the president of The Black Maverick’s MC. Truth be told, he had been observing Jackson, Charity and The Mavericks for so long now, that he was starting to develop a newfound respect for how they conducted themselves, and for the genuine respect that they all had for each other, not just for their president. He also thought that they all seemed to be doing pretty well for themselves, despite not being involved in any, shall we say, less reputable activities.
As Tommy sat and watched Jackson and Charity and the respect that the members of the community were showing them, unlike himself and his Red Aces, he began pacing and cursing. “They all think they are so fucking good don’t they?” he asked to no one in particular. “And that fucking cunt thinks that she’s moved on with someone so much better than me...I’ll show the slut that I’m every bit as good as him,” he spewed. As much as Brains thought it was entertaining to watch Tommy blow a gasket, he was a little concerned for the safety of Ms. Spencer, who he’d actually come to admire, while following her around these past weeks. It might have gone against his criminal image, but he didn’t really want to see any harm come to her. She seemed to work hard for what she has, and from what he could tell she was kind and generous with everyone. He guessed that he would have to listen up, to what kind of revenge Tommy had in mind, because he wasn’t going to stand by and watch him hurt the woman. After all, he felt that she’d been smart to get away from Tommy.
Chapter 30
The day after the fundraiser, Jackson had invited all of the members of The Black Maverick’s MC to his house for a barbeque. He also invited Charity’s friends Melanie and Faith, his sister Hope, and Holly, the bartender from the club. It was to be a family affair, including any children of those invited which meant Jackson’s niece Kelsey, Nick and Abby’s kids, Maddie and Jacob, and Holly’s daughter Beth, were there too.
The weather was fabulous, a gorgeous hot sunny day with a slight breeze, giving relief from the heat. It was a perfect day to be at the lake and Jackson had set up lounge chairs on the beach in front of his house, so that everyone could take a dip to cool off, if they wanted. He even had a golf cart that he used to transport all the heavy stuff to and from the house, so that nobody would get too hot or tired from lugging everything back and forth. Charity was surprised to see how everyone in The Maverick’s kept an eye on all of the kids, and even played games and built sand castles, etc., with them.
Charity had stopped by one of the dollar stores, and had picked up sand pails and shovels for each of the kids, adding coloring books and crayons, bubble blowing kits, and beach balls into each pail as well. When they headed down to the beach and she told the children that she had something for each of them, they were so excited and they each thanked and hugged Charity for the gifts. She certainly made some new friends amongst the children in the group, and their parents loved it when she surprised them all with these things that helped keep the kids entertained and happy for the afternoon. Jackson loved that she had done this for all of the kids.
At one point Jackson’s sister Hope had excused herself from the group, telling him that she was going to head up to the house for a bit to put the casserole she had brought in the oven to slowly warm up before dinner. She asked him if he minded taking care of Kelsey for a bit while she did. Jackson adored his blonde and blue eyed niece, and he cherished the time he spent with her. He and Charity sat together with her in the sand and built her castles, blew bubbles, and played with her. Once again, as Charity watched Jackson with his niece, she could see him with a child of their own. She knew he felt that he had no examples of what good parents were, but Charity disagreed. Any father that could raise a son like Jackson, must have been good to his children. Besides good role models or not, Jackson was perfect just the way he was, in her eyes. She wanted to talk to him about his feelings on fatherhood one day, but knew that it was too soon for them to be discussing this yet. The last thing that she wanted to do, was to push him away, by making him feel stressed or pressured into something he was uncomfortable about.
While Jackson and Charity were with Kelsey down at the beach, Dusty had followed Hope up to the house, when he thought nobody was watching, and the two of them were spending some time alone, before the others joined them up there later. Dusty had been attracted to Hope from almost the time he first met Jackson. He fought the attraction for years, out of respect for his brother Jackson, and regretfully Hope had ended up becoming involved with another guy. Recently however, Hope had ended a long term relationship with the guy, and Dusty wasn’t about to let her start seeing someone else, without testing the waters himself. They were taking things very slowly, and Hope had insisted that until they knew where things were headed that they keep it a secret from her brother. This was no easy feat, considering that he was Jackson’s vice president, and right hand man, in The Black Maverick’s. They had become brothers long before that though, as they fought beside one another in Afghanistan. The things you saw over there, you would never forget and the brotherhood of being a veteran, was just as strong as that of the club. He didn’t like keeping something like this from one of his best friends in the world, however, if this was the only way that Hope would consider a relationship with him, he would respect her wishes.
When Dusty entered the house through the double doors leading into the kitchen, Hope was just bending over putting something into the oven. Fuck she had the best ass he had ever seen, and one day he planned to own that ass for the rest of his life. There was no way he would ever let her move on with someone else, if he had anything to say about it. He waited until she closed the oven door and moved over to the island, before he walked up behind her and trapped her between the counter and his body, encircling her with his thickly muscled arms. “I’ve been trying to get a minute alone with you all day,” he said.
“Dusty, I told you we can’t do this here. It’s too risky. Jackson or Charity or anybody else for that matter, could walk in and see you putting the moves on me,” she told him.
“Awe...speaking of moves, when are you going to let me actually try some out on you?” he whispered into her ear. “I have some pretty good ones you know,” he added. “I want to do more than just kiss you Hope, much more,” he told her as he pressed her into the island with his pelvis, so she could feel how much he wanted her.
“You promised we’d take things slow. You do remember that, right?” Hope reminded him. “I just got out of one relationship, and after finding Joey with his best buddy Brad, I’m not really ready to jump into another one yet. Besides, it’s kind of fun to be single again,” she said with a bit of a laugh at the end. “And what about Kelsey?” she asked. When Joey and I broke up, she cried for a month because she missed him so much. I can’t bring another man into her life again, until I’m sure it’s going to become more permanent. You understand, don’t you Dusty?” she asked.
“I know what I promised doll, but you do know that you’re killing me don’t you? Today especially, when I saw you in that teeny tiny bikini you were wearing earlier,” he said. Even now just thinking about how sexy she looked in the red bikini, was making his already swelling cock, grow harder.
Feeling Dusty’s cock filling out the front of his shorts, Hope turned around in his arms, and put her arms around his neck. She was just about to lean in and kiss him, when she heard a noise. As she looked over his shoulder towards the back windows, she saw Jackson and Charity walking towards the house, swinging Kelsey by her arms between them. It must have been Kelsey’s high pitch giggles, that she had heard before. “Oh Jesus!” she said. “Jackson and Charity are on their way up here right now with Kelsey. You have to go!” she told him.