VOLUME SIX: SECOND CHANCE LOVESharon—better known as Roni—Walker, sighed deeply. Today was her thirty-sixth birthday, and just what the fuck did she have to show for herself? Not a damn thing. She had spent most of her life bowing down to a father who didn't care one iota about her and living for a brother who wasn't exactly her brother. Half-brother, but not full-blood. Funny, that fact seemed to bother her more than Liam; finding out the truth had taken a part of her identity away she hadn't realized she counted on. Her life had been spent taking care of Liam since their mother had left. Now it almost felt like she'd put in all the work for no good reason. It made her sad and made her question the direction of her life. Had she tread water for too long?Her phone went off from where it sat beside her. Scrolling through, she saw more happy birthday messages, these from her niece and nephew, Mandy and Drew. She loved those kids with everything she had, and she would absolutely do
Summer 1998Not many things scared Roni Walker. In fact, the list of things that would was very short. Five, tops. Number one? Falling in love. Number two? Falling in love with Rooster Hancock.Damned if she hadn't just broken both rules one and two. An instance of drunken debauchery with her little brother's best friend and she was done for. It'd been stupid and the worst mistake of her life up to this point."Roni, I'm sorry," she heard him yelling as he beat on the door.He was sorry? Sorry he'd made her look like such a dumbass? Or sorry he'd lied to her in the first place? She'd show him. She'd go to this party, find the first guy who paid her any attention, and let him have a piece."Fuck off, Rooster!" she screamed through the wood that bent with every beat of his fist."Fine," she heard the anger in his voice. "You get whatever you fuckin' deserve."Roni shook her head, coming out of the flashback. That night had changed their lives drastically. By the end of the
Roni put off going inside the clubhouse for as long as she could. It wasn't until she saw Jagger, B, and Layne pull up that she started making her way towards it. She wouldn't easily be able to explain why she was standing outside playing on her cell phone if they asked. She'd never been the type to be obsessed or engrossed with it. It wasn't an extension of her arm, like it was for other people."About time you came inside," Denise teased as she made her way to the kitchen. Denise was the only person that she'd told about her birthday ride with Rooster."Laugh it up," she told her sister-in-law. "Do you need help in here? Please tell me you need help in here.""You're going to have to talk to him at some point, Roni." Denise shook her head. "You can't keep avoiding him forever.""Yes, I can." Her tone was adamant. She'd done it successfully for over four months. There was no reason she couldn't continue to do so."No really, you can't. I heard him and Liam talking the other
The sun had finally set and, with it, the heat of the day had receded. July in Kentucky was usually hot and muggy, but they'd been blessed this summer that it'd been one of the coolest on record. It was comfortable enough that they actually had a bonfire going. Roni sat in the corner, nursing a glass of strawberry margarita that Bianca had given her at some point. She wasn't in the mood to drink tonight, was barely in the mood to be around other people. She should have told Liam that she hadn't been up to dinner at the clubhouse."I think I'm gonna head out," she told Denise, tapping her on the shoulder."Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, worry in her eyes."I am. I'm just really tired trying to get the office back in order. Bless his heart, but Liam is not a businessman in that sense of the word," she laughed. The words weren't a lie. He'd done the best he could with what he had, but Liam hadn't been prepared to run a shop at the drop of a hat."Don't work too hard," Denis
The next morning, Roni pulled into Walker's Wheels and took an excited breath when she realized she was the first person there. She could get so much more accomplished without the guys milling around asking her questions. The previous bookkeeper had been a good one, but the cancer diagnosis for her husband had thrown her for a loop. Roni could see without anyone telling her when he'd been diagnosed. The work had become sloppy and then Liam had taken over. She'd walked into a total shit fest, but that was okay, because that was what she always did. Cleaned up everyone else's mess. It's what she'd done since Liam and Rooster had cleaned up hers. Her life had been dedicated at that point to helping either one of them at any time. Guilt had eaten at her, it still ate at her. She wasn't sure she would ever forgive herself, but that was her cross to bear, not theirs.Walking into the office, she turned on the lights and shut off the alarm. It was quiet here, almost unnerving compared to wh
"I swear to God, the only person he is nice to anymore is Tatum," Denise mumbled under her breath as Drew stomped his feet up the stairs."What's the problem?" Liam asked, coming in with Tyler and Rooster in tow. They had finished early at the shop, thanks to Rooster, and he'd invited them over for a beer."Your son is a jackass," she told him, rolling her eyes as Drew slammed his door."Welcome to life with a teenager," Rooster laughed, looking back and forth between them. He'd seen it many times on the force, parents who were at the end of their rope with their children."What he said, he's a teenager," Liam reminded his wife.She cut her eyes at him. "Yeah, I'm aware. Not only did I give birth to him, but I clean up his bathroom."The guys chuckled."Totally not sure I'm gonna survive this, and if he woke Tatum up, I will jerk a knot in his ass," Denise fumed, listening closely for the child. "She finally went down for a nap.""I think we're safe from diva waking up,
Roni sat down on her couch and breathed a sigh of relief. It had been Rooster's first day at the shop and she'd been on edge for most of it. Every time he walked towards the office, her body tensed up and her stomach rolled. It wasn't that she was afraid of him, she was afraid of herself. After he'd cornered her the night before, she'd not been able to do anything but think about him. How they'd been during the summer they'd spent together. It hadn't mattered to either one of them that she was older than him by a few years, all that mattered was the animal magnetism they had for one another."C'mon, Liam's asleep," Rooster whispered.Roni couldn't believe that he'd conned her brother into letting him sleep over, just so he could spend time with her. "What if we get caught?" she whispered back. It didn't really matter to her, she was of age, but he was a few months from it. If they got caught, she knew without a doubt his parents would punish her to the full extent of the law. That'
After her run-in with Rooster the night before, Roni woke up wanting to do something different, wanting to change something about her life. She wasn't sure what, but she knew that it had to be today. Glancing at her hair in the bathroom mirror, she curled her lip. It was limp and too long to have any kind of style. It had been years since she'd had highlights. This was the change she needed, and she knew exactly who could help her. Christine was working towards her cosmetologist's license at the Curly Q she hoped she could be fit in quickly.A quick couple of phone calls later, and Denise was meeting her downtown, along with B and Jessica who'd had the same idea thanks to the summer weather. An early evening haircut with her best friends was just what the doctor ordered. The only lady they hadn't heard from was Meredith, but Roni was pretty sure that she would make an appearance too, if the rest of them did. Grabbing her stuff, she was out the door and in her car.The drive downtow