Rumi: The Hawthornes

The Hawthornes Rumi An Aces MC Story By Nicole Jacquelyn Rumi Copyright ©2023 by Nicole Jacquelyn Kindle Edition All Rights Reserved This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite e-book retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. Dedication To my eldest, You’re wonderful. Smart. Kind. Beautiful. Strong. Thanks for holding down the fort while I raced to get this story out of my head. Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Epilogue Acknowledgements Prologue Nova “You two go on and play in the grass,” Nana ordered as she turned off the car. “I just need to get Pop’s clothes out of the hamper in his room, and then we’ll head out.” She climbed out of the car, making a shooing motion with her hand while I reluctantly unbuckled my little brother and dragged him out into the sunshine. It was nap time, and he was tired and cranky, but Nana didn’t seem to care. She’d said he’d sleep in the car, but if she would’ve asked me, I would’ve told her that he’d stopped sleeping in the car when he was two and a half. Now that he was five, it took two songs and running your fingers through his hair for a good fifteen minutes before he’d even close his eyes. I didn’t understand why Pop even had a room in this place anyway. He lived with Nana. He’d always lived with Nana. People didn’t live in two different houses. That was just stupid. I glanced at the big gray building as I followed Bird over to the grass. There was music coming from the huge open doors, but I couldn’t see anyone inside. It wasn’t even a house. Pop shouldn’t be leaving his dirty laundry here. “Wanna jump?” Bird asked, eyeing the picnic tables. By the look in his eye, I knew I wouldn’t be able to dissuade him. I debated for a second whether or not I wanted to try before shaking my head. “Only off the benches, okay?” I said, plopping down onto the ground. “The table’s too high.” “It’s not too high,” he argued as he climbed onto a bench and jumped off, yelling like a maniac. “If you fall and break your arm, it’s gonna hurt,” I warned. Bird ignored me and climbed back onto the bench. With a sigh, I looked around me, plucking a couple of tiny daisies from the grass so I could pull off the petals. I’d made a few daisy chains before, but I didn’t really feel like trying to make anything. Pulling off the petals felt far more satisfying in my current mood. “When you think Mama’s gonna pick us up?” Bird asked, jumping off the bench with a dramatic twist. “Maybe tomorrow?” “Yeah, maybe,” I lied. She wasn’t going to pick us up. Not ever, maybe. Nana told me that morning that our mom had decided that we should start school in Eugene when summer was over. Nana had tried to make it sound like the schools around their place were better or something, but we both knew the truth. Mom just didn’t want us anymore, and Nana and Pop did. It was as simple as that. “You think Nana will take us to ice cream?” Bird shouted, punching the air as he jumped again. “Doubt it,” I grumbled, my hands fisting in the grass. “Where my kids at?” a loud voice boomed from behind me. My lips twitched as I twisted to find Pop striding toward us from over by the big open doors. “Here!” Bird shouted, climbing up onto the picnic table so he could wave his arms. “We’re over here!” “Yeah?” Pop replied, getting closer. “Didn’t see ya at first. Where’s your sister?” I giggled as he dramatically came to a stop a few inches from where I was sitting and looked down at me in mock surprise. “Hell, thought you were some woman your nana hired to babysit!” I wrinkled my nose at him as he laughed. I loved Nana, but I adored Pop. He was quite possibly my favorite person in the entire world. He was always teasing and joking and bringing us home little goodies after work, but even better than that, he was steady. He came home when he said he would, followed through on his promises, and treated me and Bird like we were the most important people in the world, which I thought was pretty cool because he wasn’t my mom’s dad, and we weren’t even his real grandkids. “You two havin’