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“I’m sure it’ll be fun.”

We walk down the last few aisles as we finish grabbing everything we need for food and pick up some cleaning supplies for the house.

“Think Dad will be home later to throw the ball around before it gets too dark?” Ryder asks.

I stop mid stride as we approach the cashier line. This is the first time Ryder has referred to Rhett as Dad. My heart melts and I wish I could’ve gotten it on video.

“You have a phone. Why don’t you text him and ask?” I say.

I know why and I’m not sure how long it’s going to be before both Ryder and I feel like this is more permanent and not just a temporary situation. I can see it in Ryder’s eyes that he’s worried about being rejected by his dad.

Ryder looks down at his feet. “He seems busy since we’ve moved here and I don’t want to bother him,” my son finally admits.

He isn’t wrong with that observation, but I know that this is a huge adjustment for Rhett as much as it is for Ryder and myself.

“Bite the bullet, buddy, and just ask him,” I finally say as we start to load the groceries up at the checkout.

Ryder lets out a dreadful moan like I’m asking for him to hand over a kidney. “Fine.”

Once I finish paying, we head out to the parking lot with two of Rhett’s friends from the club close by. They help load my Bronco and fall in behind my SUV on our drive back to the house. A short while later, before we get to the clubhouse, Ryder’s phone pings. From the way his shoulders slump, it’s not the response he was hoping to get.

“Well?” I finally ask as we pull into the garage. “What’d he say?”

“Said he can’t tonight, but maybe this weekend we could hang out,” Ryder sulks. He jumps out of the car before I can respond and rushes into the house.

“Don’t worry, I’ll carry all this in!” I sarcastically say to an empty garage.

By the time I get everything inside and put away I’m a sweaty mess. An alert on my phone lets me know that someone is walking up to the front door. I tap the notification and see Sutton and Raegan getting out of a golf cart. Before they can knock, I open the door to greet them.

“Hi,” I say.

“Hey, we thought we’d stop by and see if you wanted to have a drink with us?” Sutton and Raegan both hold up bottles of wine.

“Absolutely.” I usher them into the living room.

“Mom wanted the babies and Zane for the night and since the men are all off doing God knows what, we thought we should have a girls’ night,” Raegan explains. “Allison is sorry she can’t make it but she’ll come by in a few days. She’s been sick lately and didn’t want to pass it on. I think she’s pregnant and just hasn’t announced it yet. It’s the reason she and Blaze couldn’t make it to the rally.”

“You think so?” Sutton questions. “Can you imagine, the men are going to need to build a daycare with all the kids the club is having now.” She giggles then turns towards me.

“I couldn’t wrap my head around having to start over with an infant,” I say even though I always wanted a big family. “Having to raise Ryder on the run and all the moving around I did was so hard. The age gap between siblings would be crazy at this point.”

Sutton reaches over and places a hand on mine.

“I’m sorry you had to experience that. I feel like sometimes we get put into situations that really show us how strong we truly are, even though at the time it seems impossible to overcome,” she expresses.

Sutton has been very open about what she went through with her father and his cult and all the craziness that happened last year. I’m not sure how she’s still standing after everything she endured but she seems like one of the strongest women I know.

“Thank you, Sutton. Do we know what the men are off doing?” I ask and watch as Sutton looks to Raegan for the answers.

“Some is club business and some is for The Velvet Palace,” Raegan informs me.

I walk into the kitchen to grab some glasses for our drinks, remembering that Rhett had mentioned not being able to talk about some club business the other day. The cabinets are bare so I grab three red solo cups and walk to the couch that we’re using until our new ones are delivered this weekend. We are also sleeping on borrowed mattresses on the floor until then too.

“Sorry about the cups but everything hasn’t come in yet,” I say as an apology.

“Girl, I’d drink straight from the bottle if I wasn’t sharing with y’all. You’ll see soon enough that we aren’t picky around here, right Sutton?” Raegan chimes in as she starts pouring the wine to the tops of the cups.

“I’m just glad to have a few extra hours of sleep tonight,” Sutton says. “Little Rocky is cutting some teeth and it’s been horrible this week.”