over something entirely different this time.
“Baby girl, I’m sure he is feeling the same right now.”
“I didn’t tell him about Cody, he doesn’t know.”
Jenny strokes my hair. “We will fix this, ok?”
“Knock knock.”
The soft voice comes surprisingly from Bull. I raise my eyes to see him standing at the door with a weak smile on his face.
“Mind if I talk to Willow?”
The girls look to me for confirmation. I nod my head and Jenny rubs my shoulder before taking Ava’s hand and they leave the room. Bull walks over and stares down into the crib at Cody.
“He’s really something.”
I smile. “Yeah, he’s everything.”
“Listen Willow, I know what happened out there tonight. I can’t make you believe anything else, but I can try. Jagger loves you, if you saw how he was when you got taken , you would understand. He vowed he would do anything to make sure you lived a safe life. I know what he said, but I know him. I’ve known Jagger a long, long time and I know when he cares. He loves you and I know he is just trying to scare you off because he doesn’t want you involved.”
I smile weakly and nod, tears form in my eyes. Bull sits down beside me and takes my hand. “Did he ever tell you how we met?”
I shake my head, “No.”
Bull smiles and it’s a dazzling smile. Bull has this dark red hair and pale eyes. He looks almost Scottish, but he doesn’t have an accent. I bet it’s in the line somewhere though. I smile at Bull’s smile, because it’s not often I see him smile.
“I was eighteen. I was a rebel back then. Tough life, hard parents, no siblings. Anyway, I got into some trouble with a bunch of men at a bar one night. Jagger and Ace were there, both sitting and drinking. Four men jumped me and I had no hope. The two boys jumped in and beat the shit out of them. They helped me, they didn’t even know me, but they helped me. Jagger took me outside, and when I thanked him you know what he said?”
I shake my head.
“He said boy, don’t thank me. You change, you hear? You get one choice at life and if you want to pick on people three times the size of you and have your ass kicked, then you go right ahead. That’s a choice, and you can’t blame anyone else for it. You make a choice and you stick with it. You want me to give you a choice boy?”
I smile, because I could hear Jagger saying something like that. “So what did you say?” I ask, crossing my legs.
Bull grins. “I said please give me a choice, because I no longer know how to make them. I’m just a kid.”
“What did he say?”
Bull throws his head back and laughs, and then he tilts his head to the side and shows me a faint scar on his jaw. “He hit me so hard my jaw split. Then he took me in and I’ve been with him since. He gave me a chance Willow, he gave me a chance when I had nothing else. He believed in me.”
I swallow back my tears. Jagger manages to find the good in absolutely everyone. Bull pats my hand, and then he stands and smiles down at me.
“Don’t give up, not yet. If he doesn’t want you when all this is done, then there’s just nothing you can do about it. You have a choice now Willow and only you can make it.”
I know he’s right. I know only I can make this choice, and I know deep down in my heart I’ve already made it. I want to help Jagger, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get him out of that place, even if it means heartbreak for me.
~*~*~*~
WILLOW
“Ring this number, I got it from Huck. It’s Jagger’s number. Tell him to meet us tomorrow night at the wharf.”
“Huck? Why does his name keep coming up?”
“Look, Jagger and Huck go way back from when he was involved with your father. While Huck was a cop, Jagger and he had a deal. I don’t quite know what it was, but he trusts Huck and Huck has helped him out of a few situations. He’s got information and he can get access to some serious shit that we could never imagine. He’s of good use to us.”
“I
Mercy Walker, Eva Sloan, Ella Stone