“You can’t do that!” The whiny little girl was back.
“I’m going to give you one warning. Do not contact my children again. You’re blocked on Luke’s social media now and on his phone, too. I’m going to have Holt running checks on you regularly. You even blink in our direction, and I won’t be so forgiving.”
“Fuck you, Law!”
Melody hung up before I could get another word out. But I knew her. She wouldn’t risk seeing the inside of a cell again. Especially for kids she couldn’t pull her act together for anyway.
I let myself sink to the couch and dropped my head into my hands.
Pain and regret swept through me in angry, choppy waves. I couldn’t have made more of a mess of things if I’d tried. All I’d wanted to do was protect my boys. The beings that were my whole world. I’d thought them forgetting what had happened was a good thing. Instead, it had only built secrets and lies between us.
The door to the cabin squeaked, but I didn’t look up. It was as if my head was too heavy to even lift.
Light footsteps sounded, and then Hallie lowered herself to the coffee table in front of me. I smelled her before I saw her, that orange-blossom scent wrapping around me. She dipped low so my head dropped to her shoulder, her body taking the weight. Then she simply held me.
How long had it been since I’d had this? Never, I realized. I’d had elements of it when I was a little boy, and my parents would soothe a nightmare or illness. But that wasn’t the same. That wasn’tthis.
I breathed Hallie in, letting her scent wash away the worst of everything that had happened. “Luke okay?”
Hallie’s fingers ran over my scalp, stroking and massaging. “He passed out hard. Adrenaline dump.”
That was good. He needed to sleep off whatever he could.
“Did you call her? Or someone who can talk to her?” Hallie asked.
She knew me so well. Knew I’d instantly need to try to fix this mess to the best of my ability. “I called. Haven’t spoken to her in five years.” The same year I’d rescued Hallie. Thinking back on it, she’d been a reminder that, as humans, we can handle far more than we think we can. She’d been a beacon of hope.
“How’d it go?” she asked cautiously.
“She told me to fuck off, but I think she got the message.”
Hallie pulled back so she could meet my eyes. “I try not to let myself hate people, but I’ve got some strong dislike going for her.”
My mouth tried to curve but couldn’t quite get there. “You’re damn cute, Little Minx.”
Hallie’s cheeks blushed that pretty shade of pink. “I’m scrappier than I look. I could take her in a fight.”
“I have no doubt. But I think one broken nose today is enough.”
She winced. “You might have a point there.”
We were both quiet for a moment.
“Are you going to keep Luke’s punishment in effect?”
I sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t want him decking kids, but I understand where he was coming from.”
“We could split the difference. No cell, but he can use the house phone to talk to friends. No video games, but he can watch TV or movies with Drew and Charlie once they’re home.”
I reached out, wrapping a strand of her silky blond hair around my finger. “How’d you get so good at this?”
A smile tipped Hallie’s lips as she shrugged. “Guess I’m learning from the best.”
“Don’t feel much like the best right now,” I grumbled.
Hallie leaned forward, cupping my face with her hand. “You’re the best man I’ve ever known.”
Her lips ghosted across mine, featherlight, but a buzz lit beneath my skin, embers stoked somewhere deep.
