Free Cadence Reflection (Wheels & Hogs Book 2) by D. M. Earl

walk over to Fern, crouch down and gently lift her chin, “Sweetie, you’ve been fighting so hard and we don’t want you to fight alone any longer. You and Doc are family, and this is what family does for each other. ”
    Fern wipes her tears on her sleeve, “Des, you have torn my heart apart with your actions.  It is so full of love for all that you have done. I have never known this kind of unconditional love, besides Gabriel, in my life. I’ll admit I’m struggling with the idea of all the work this will put on everyone in this room. We will never be able to pay you back for taking on such a darn... oh, I can’t even think of a word to express the size of this undertaking.  I don’t understand why you have always gone the extra mile for Gabriel and me. Our own blood hasn’t been there for us, but you always seem to be the one to carry the load for all of us.  You took Doc on as an employee, knowing he had limited skills and that I was sick, wanting and needing the medical insurance.  Never have you once given him a hard time with all his coming and going to be with me during my time in and out of the hospital.  Thank you seems to be such inappropriately simple words and do not express our eternal gratitude. Both of us are forever in your debt, Desmond.”
    I go to stand up when Doc grabs my shoulders, “Brother, I have no fucking words.”
    “None needed, brother. I already know.” I then walk to the center of the room and ask my crew, “Are you all in or what?”  They all raise their hands, ready to do whatever they can to help. These people are my family.

Chapter 10
    3 Months Later

~Des~
    M y life has taken a couple of turns, personally and professionally. My relationship with Dee is going great. We spend as much time together as we can.  We finally told her kids who were as happy as pigs in shit. They both like me and want to see their mother happy. Everyone at the shop seems to know what is going on with us but they have kept their comments to themselves.
    The announcement of the Charity Ride for Fern has really taken off.  I was pleasantly surprised at how everyone started working together to get this ride organized. Everyone has contributed. No matter how small or large, all have been a blessing. The raffle has things from haircut gift certificates to the local Harley dealership offering a full set of leathers, along with a gift certificate for new tires and a tune-up. The biggest donation came from the local car dealership, raffling off a base model car. This was huge. If you can name it, it was donated.
    Now that the Registry for Bone Marrow was on board, they were advertising the ride, also asking people to stop at certain stops along the ride to register and be tested.  Even if a match wasn’t found for Fern, their donation might save someone else’s life.  The people I’ve been dealing with at the Registry are truly wonderful folks. 
    With this entire undertaking of the Charity Ride going on, I’m always watching Fern. She’s not quite getting worse, but she’s not getting any better, either. Her health hasn’t been strong for a while, but she’s really trying to be strong, trying to show everyone if they think she’s worth fighting for, then she’s gonna keep fighting.  Between her treatments not working and her body breaking down on her, this event couldn’t be happening at a better time.
    “Have you heard anything from Trinity, boss?” The question catches me off guard so I have to take a minute to think of who Trinity is, and then it hits me. She was the hook-up I walked in on about three months ago. 
    “No, as a matter of fact I haven’t, kid. I told her to get in touch with me if she needed anything, but I haven’t seen or heard from her, so I assumed everything was okay. I also never thought to check with everything going on around here. What’s the reason for you to ask me now?”  The kid drops his head and looks defeated, so I ask again when he doesn’t