Page 40 of My Single Dad Biker

"Tyler's dad said model airplanes are boring."

"Tyler's dad is wrong."

He grins at that. We finish breakfast and spend the morning doing the Saturday routine. Hardware store where Louis looks at tools he doesn't need. Park where he plays on equipment he's technically too old for but still enjoys. Lunch at home. By two he wants to watch a movie and I set him up in the living room and go out to the back porch.

Pull out my phone and call Katherine.

She answers on the second ring. "Hi."

"Hi."

"How did it go?"

"Better than I expected. He asked if you were going to leave like his mom did."

Silence on her end. Then, "What did you tell him?"

"That you're different and I'm different and you're not leaving."

"Can you promise that?"

"I just did."

More silence. Then quietly, "Okay."

"He likes you. Said the tacos were better when you were there."

She laughs and the sound makes something in my chest warm. "The tacos were the same."

"That's what I told him. He didn't believe me."

"When do I see you again?"

"Wednesday night. Church. I'm picking you up at seven."

"Should I be nervous?"

"No. The brothers are going to take their cue from me. I respect you, they'll respect you. Clint might be intense but that's just how he is. Tate will probably make a comment. Cain will assess you and then approve. The rest will follow."

"What should I wear?"

"Whatever you're comfortable in. You're not performing for them. You're just meeting them."

"Okay."

We talk for another fifteen minutes.

She tells me about the book she's reading. I tell her about a rebuild I'm working on. It's ordinary conversation and it feels significant because we're having it at all.

When I hang up it's almost three. Louis is still watching his movie. I sit on the porch thinking about Wednesday.

The last woman I brought to church was my ex-wife and that was eight years ago. The brothers are going to understand what this means. They're going to know Katherine is permanent.

They're also going to understand the strategic implications. If Marrow retaliates for the warehouse, Katherine is now protected. Touching her means going through twenty armed men who will not hesitate.

Sunday I take Louis to the park. Katherine meets us there around ten with coffee for both of us and hot chocolate for Louis in a thermos. She brought donuts. Louis talks non-stop about a show he watched and shows her how high he can climb on the equipment he is technically too old for. She watches without hovering and when he falls and scrapes his knee she is there with a bandaid from her bag before I can move. We stay until noon. Louis asks if she can come over for dinner later and I look at her and she says yes and something about the ease of it makes my chest feel tight. She comes for dinner. We make spaghetti. Louis falls asleep on the couch at eight-thirty. I carry him to bed and when I come back downstairs Katherine is doing the dishes. I stand in the doorway and watch her move through my kitchen like she belongs there and I do not say anything but I think it might be true.

Monday and Tuesday blur together the way weekdays do. I work at Ray's. Katherine teaches. Louis has homework. We text in the evenings after Louis is asleep. She sends me a photo of a mug that says "World's Okayest Teacher" that she found at a thrift store. I send her a photo of Louis asleep on the couch with a book open on his chest. She asks what we are reading. I tell her we just finished Hatchet for the third time and started The Giver. She says Louis has good taste. I tell her he gets that from me. She sends back a laughing emoji and I stare at my phone for thirty seconds because I made her laugh and that matters more than it should.