Chapter 4: The Open Road Ahead
By late afternoon, the diner began to clear out as the motorcycle rally moved toward the county fairgrounds. Jax walked outside onto the gravel lot, Leo trailing closely behind. Jax’s custom matte-black cruiser sat parked under the shade of a faded oak tree.
Jax stopped beside the bike and looked down at his son. "I live on two wheels, Leo. I don't have a house with a yard. I don't have a kitchen full of groceries."
"I don't care about a yard," Leo replied, adjusting the strap of his backpack. "Mom said home isn't a place anyway."
Jax let out a long breath, a mixture of a sigh and a surrender. He reached into his saddlebag, pulled out a spare leather jacket he used for storage, and wrapped it around the boy’s shoulders. It was far too big, but it offered warmth against the cooling mountain breeze.
"We need to get you a proper helmet," Jax said, resting a heavy hand on Leo's shoulder for the first time. "And then we're going to figure out what comes next."
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Leo looked up, a small, genuine smile finally breaking through his tired face. "Where are we going?"
"To a place where we can start over," Jax said. "Step one is finding a roof that doesn't leak."
