Happy Lowman is the quintessential biker badass. He loves the biker lifestyle: drinking, carousing, and taking care of business. What happens when fate literally puts him in the path of a woman that has always lived a simpler life? Will he be able t...
When Happy and Tig returned from disposing of Tom's body and his car, Jax met them out on the front porch. When they had left, Josie had been helping Chibs with Elliott's gunshot wound. Jax shook his head, lighting a cigarette as they joined him on the porch.
"Your girl... she's in there scrubbing the kitchen floor. Says that she can't do anything until all of the blood is gone. Chibs thinks she may still be in shock, and I think she thinks that you're gonna be pissed with her." He nodded to the black panel van sitting in the drive. "Juice got here about half an hour ago. He's been trying to get Josie to let him clean up, but she won't."
Happy cursed under his breath before nodding. "Okay. You guys should take Elliott home. I'll stay with Jo."
Jax nodded as Tig spoke up. "I'll stay too. I'll clean up while you get her calmed down. Her bedroom is gonna have to be scrubbed down, man. She got blood everywhere."
Jax nodded. "Yeah, she did good, brother. She's definitely an old lady." When Happy grinned, he nodded to the house. "We'll take Elliott home and I'll press upon Karen the importance of keeping her mouth shut."
Happy nodded before walking inside and weaving his way through to the kitchen, where he found Juice and Chibs sitting at the kitchen table while Josie knelt on the floor, scrubbing the dried blood from the linoleum. Happy squatted down beside her, taking the scrub brush from her hands and putting a hand on her face to lift her eyes to his. What he saw there almost took his breath. She looked scared to death. She bit her lip and avoided his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Hap. I'm going to get it all cleaned up."
It struck him right between the eyes that Jax was right. She was scared that he was angry with her. He cleared his throat and frowned down at her. "Jo? Look at me, baby." When she lifted her eyes to his, he nodded. "Good. Listen to me, Jo. This isn't your fault. You have nothing to be sorry for."
Jo swiped at the tears rolling down her face and shook her head. "I didn't know that... I didn't think... "
She broke down then, sobbing into her hands as Happy cursed and picked her up off the floor, carrying her into the living room past Tig and Jax, who both looked ready to cry themselves. he sat down on the couch, keeping her in his arms as he rocked her. When she'd calmed down a little, he leaned back to look down at her. "You couldn't have known that he was going to go that far, baby. That's not on you. None of this is your fault and I don't want to ever hear you say that it was again, okay?" When she nodded, he leaned down and kissed her before pulling her closer. "Jax, Chibs, and Juice are going to take Oswald home and Tig is going to stay here and clean up. I'm going to get you into a hot shower then to bed."
Josie frowned. "I can't sleep in my room."
Happy grinned and shook his head. "No, you can't. It's a mess. The guest room is gonna have to be good enough for tonight."
The next morning, Happy found Josie on the porch swing, sipping her coffee and staring out across the fields, lost in thought. She looked over and smiled at him when he sat down beside her.
"I've lived a big part of my life here in this house. A lot of it alone." He nodded as he laid an arm across the back of the swing, letting his fingers tangle in her hair. "I feel like it's time for a change."
Happy nodded again as he looked at the woman he planned to spend the rest of his life with if she'd have him. "Change is never a bad thing, Jo."
She grinned and nodded. "No, it's not. I think I'm going to buy the place in Charming. Be closer to my family." She looked over at him and smirked. "You think you could be a part-time farmer?"
Happy chuckled and shrugged. "Only one way to find out. Think you could be a full-time wife? Maybe try for a family?"
She stared at him in shock for a moment. "I never thought... you want to be a father?"
He grinned. "If you're the mother, sure. You completely missed the first part of that question, by the way." When she frowned, he rolled his eyes and tugged on her hair. "I was asking you to marry me, Josie." He shrugged. "After this whole thing with Tom, I realized that life is short. I want to spend the rest of it with you, if you want me, that is."
She looked at him for a long moment before leaning in and kissing him. "I would love to be your wife." She smiled at him and he felt like he was invincible. "I love you, Happy."
He smirked and pulled her into his lap. "I love you too, Jo."
She giggled as he nuzzled her neck with his nose. "Who would have thought that finding a body in my driveway would have turned out so well?"
