Ties That Bind

Apologies

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The next morning, Shiloh answered the door to find Bobby standing on her doorstep with a grin on his face. He held his hands up and chuckled. 

"I come in peace, darlin'."

Shiloh sighed and stepped back to let him in, shutting the door before turning to the big man standing in her living room. "I suppose that I owe you an apology for the way I acted yesterday. It's just that... "

Bobby held up a hand and shook his head. "No, sweetheart, I'm the one that's sorry. I shouldn't have been so overbearing. We really were just concerned." He reached into the inside pocket of his kutte and drew out an envelope that he held out to her. "With the funeral and everything, we forgot to give you the money Jake had coming as an employee." When she frowned at him in question, he shrugged. "We have a funeral fund. The club realizes that any time there's a death in the family, there's bound to be a need for extra funds, so we keep some money back for just such an occurrence. Now, it's only five grand, but I'm sure you'll find a use for it."

Shiloh looked down at the envelope in her hand then back at Bobby with wide eyes. "Five... thousand dollars?" When he grinned and nodded, she shook her head. "I... I don't know what to say. This is very generous but I... "

Bobby again held up a hand as he took a step closer to her. "Now, before you say that you can't accept it, I want you to understand something. Jacob is family to us now, which means that you and Dani are too. You wouldn't be rude enough to turn down something a family member gave you, now would you?"

Shiloh sighed as she looked into his eyes and saw the sparkle of amusement that took away some of the sting from his words. She finally nodded. "No, I wouldn't. Thank you, Bobby." She bit her lip before nodding to herself. "Would you be able to help me with something?"

Bobby nodded. "Sure, sweetheart. Anything you need."

"I understand that Jacob wants to prospect with the club." When Bobby nodded, she continued. "He'll need a motorcycle. Would you be willing to help me find him one? If you're too busy, I understand. I just don't know where to begin to look. If you could just point me in the right direction?"

Bobby chuckled and shook his head. "I'll be happy to help. As a matter of fact, I have some free time right now. If you're free, we can make a run to Lodi, look around at some shops that I know of."

Shiloh thought for a moment before nodding. "I actually have the day off today from everywhere so sure, why not? You want to ride with me or I can follow you?"

Bobby grinned as he took her arm in hand. "Nah, you can ride with me."

Shiloh pulled back and shook her head. "Uh, that's not a very good idea. I've never ridden before."

Bobby chuckled and shook his head. "There's nothing to it, sweetheart. You just gotta hold onto me."

Shiloh blushed as she reluctantly followed him out of the house, locking up before joining him beside his motorcycle. When she reached him, he handed her a helmet that he had taken out of his saddlebags. When Shiloh just stared at the plastic in her hands, he chuckled and took it from her, quickly plopping it on her head and fastening the strap. Once he was settled on the bike, he motioned for her to join him. She took a deep breath and climbed on, using his shoulders for leverage. When she was seated, he turned his head to speak to her quietly.

"You're gonna want to sit close, darlin'. As close as you can get, preferably touching. Wrap your arms around my waist and hold on tight." He winked at her, making her blush more. "Old Bobby will get you there and back in one piece."

When he turned to face forward, she did as he instructed, feeling his body heat through his kutte and the old baseball jersey she was wearing. She stiffened up when he started the bike, but after a few minutes of being on the road, she started to relax, letting her head rest on his back as his body blocked most of the wind from her smaller frame.

She found herself wondering if there was a woman who's spot she was currently riding in. Luann had said that he didn't have an old lady, but that didn't mean that there wasn't someone special to him. She knew that these guys probably had women standing in line, Bobby being no exception to that rule just because he wasn't young and built like some of them she had seen on the lot of TM. Bobby had a quiet charisma that she could feel herself being pulled toward like a center of gravity.

She shook her head at her foolishness. It wasn't like someone like Bobby would be interested in a woman like her. She had children to finish raising and she wasn't exactly the party girl type. She preferred staying at home to going out, and she didn't see that side of her changing all that much. It had been a long time since she had turned a man's head and she knew that those days were pretty much past her. 

Years of taking care of Steven and the kids, working all hours of the day and night, had added up to her being tired and plain. There was beginning to be more silver in her hair than the original chestnut color she had been born with, and she had lines around her eyes from years of stress.

No, Shiloh supposed that she was better off focusing on her kids and their future and not thinking about men. That didn't stop her from holding onto Bobby tighter as they hit the highway.