Meant To Be - Heaven Hill Series #1

Chapter One

Roni Walker sighed deeply as she stood outside the city jail. Unfortunately, in the past few months the employees had come to know her by name. Every time she turned around, someone in the MC was getting into trouble. Being a female, she wasn't privy to club information, so most of the time she flew in the dark and under the radar. This, however, was beginning to piss her off. Grabbing a peppermint from her pocket, she waited for the two members of the MC she'd been dispatched to bail out. This place gave her the heebie jeebies and she bit down hard on the candy, cursing as a sharp edge sliced her cheek.

Trying to keep her mind off of what could possibly be going down inside the jail, she took in her surroundings. The beautiful South Central Kentucky day belied the butterflies in her stomach. The warmth of the sun beat down on her head, and the sky was a deep blue and cloudless. If she had been someone else, part of another family, she might be out on a picnic. She might be parked in a field with a boyfriend, enjoying some quiet time. Any of those scenarios would be better than what was happening at this moment. Instead, she paced back and forth, waiting for something to happen.

The entrance opened, and she looked up expectantly, smiling as she saw her brother and his best friend Tyler Blackfoot walk out.

"Thanks for coming to get us," Liam grinned.

She walked into the arms of her younger brother and squeezed him tight. It hurt her that he seemed to spend so much time going in and coming out of this building. "I wouldn't let you stay in there, Liam."

"Tyler and I were fine, just like we always are. Did the guys get our bikes before they could be impounded?" he asked, looking up and down the street to see how she had arrived.

"They did," she nodded. "Everybody is at the clubhouse waitin' on us to get there, but we gotta be movin'. Some guys heard on the scanner that the local news media has picked up on this. You know what that means." She rolled her eyes in disgust.

Both men groaned. That meant hometown reporter, Meredith Rager, would be trying to get the scoop. Young and hungry, reckless and sometimes stupid. They'd had run-ins with her before, and after this long day she was someone they all wanted to avoid.

As they made their way up the street to Roni's car, they saw a news van pulling up next to the jail. Keeping their heads down, they walked swiftly and with purpose, hoping to deter the reporter. They had just made it into the car and shut the door when she caught up to them and knocked on the window. All three sent her a pointed glare as they drove off.

Hours later, Denise sat in the break room at her job, watching the local news. She had called her thirteen-year-old twins and explained to them she'd had to pick up an extra shift. Neither of them had complained when they realized there was nothing more than a pound of hamburger in the fridge and some noodles in the pantry. When they told her to be careful on her drive home, tears had flooded her eyes and she realized that she didn't deserve them. They didn't deserve this lifestyle. When she first found out she was pregnant, the picture of what her life would be like had been so clear to her. She had known she would have to work hard, but she had also known for her offspring she would do it and like it. Denise knew that there would be tough times, but she never thought they would be this tough. What she had envisioned was struggling but making it through. For the first time ever, she now thought about giving up. It was a scary thought, but life had given her a hand she wasn't sure she could beat.

"Happy birthday," one of her co-workers yelled as he saw her. Glancing up at the news, she saw the date in the right-hand corner. It was August 1st. Was it sad she hadn't even remembered? What an amazingly shitty way to spend her birthday. Being served with foreclosure paperwork and getting called into her job. Happy fucking birthday to me, she thought.