“Then you’re not okay.”The rumble of an engine was audible.“I’ll be there soon.You hang in there, okay?”
“Okay.”She nodded, still staring up at the ceiling.“Thank you.”She disconnected and slid her phone back into her pocket.“He is coming.”
Cody nodded, his chin jutted forth in defiance.“Can you go now?”
“Sure.”Every instinct told her to reach out to him, but when she did he pulled away.
“Leave,” he yelled.There was so much frustration on his face—so much sadness.But his voice was loud and clear.“I want you to.Get on an airplane, like you always do.Go away.Leave.”His words were like buckshot, a hundred tiny bullets peppering her all over.
“Okay.”She hurried from the room, wincing when he slammed the door at her back.She pressed her hands to her chest.It hurt so badly.
“Mags.”Mike stood in the hallway, anguish etched into every feature of his face.
“Not right now, Mike.”She brushed past him and to her room.It was only there, with her door closed and her face buried in her pillow, that she gave in to her tears.Once they started, she couldn’t stop.Each sob was rawer and more broken that the last.She’d hurt her son.She’d made him doubt her love for him.He’d lashed out in anger, but his words were no less cutting.Did he really want her to leave—to go far away and not come back?That thought unleashed a hurt she wasn’t prepared for, shattering her heart and bringing her whole world crashing down around her.
* * *
Braden struggled to stay calm on the drive to Maggie’s.He didn’t know what he was walking into, only that they needed him.As much as he hated leaving Delilah two nights in a row, there’d been something about Maggie’s tone that panicked him.
Renee didn’t have any clients for her mobile-grooming business so she’d offered to watch Delilah.She hadn’t asked many questions but promised that, with the help of his parents, she’d take good care of her.Which meant he didn’t need to worry about anything other than Cody and Maggie.He parked and hurried to the front door, slapping at the dust coating his jeans.He was a mess, but he got the feeling time was of the essence.He was ready to knock when the door opened.
“Mike.”He could feel the tension rolling off the other man.
“Braden.”Mike waved him inside.“Cody’s in his room.”
“And Maggie?”
“She’s in her room.”Mike ran a hand along the back ofhis neck.“It was bound to come to a head sooner or later but…” He swallowed hard.“Cody wasrealhard on her.”
Braden hesitated.“Which way to his room?”He followed Mike, nodded his thanks and knocked on the boy’s bedroom door.“Cody?It’s Braden.”
“Come in.”
Braden walked in to find Cody sitting on the floor in the corner of his room.The boy’s face was red, his eyes were puffy and he kept wiping his nose on his sleeve.Maggie was right—Cody was not okay.He sat on the floor beside the boy but stayed quiet.This was all new to him.Maggie wanted him here.Cody wanted him here.So he was here.What he was supposed to do now that he was here, he didn’t know.But he figured it was better to let Cody talk when he was ready to—even if that meant they would sit there for a while.
Cody sniffed and took a shuddering breath.
Braden looked at him.The boy was hurting—he saw it and felt it.And, dammit all, Braden couldn’t take it.He reached out and patted the boy on the back.It wasn’t much but it was some form of comfort.The boy needed comforting.
“Braden.”His voice wavered.“I was real mean to my mom.”He sniffed, swiping away the tears on his cheek.“Real mean.”
“She will forgive you.”Braden kept on patting Cody’s back.“Don’t you worry about that.”
“I d-don’t understand why grown-ups do stuff.”He rested his chin on his knees.“Ma says stuff but it doesn’t make sense.I g-get s-so angry.”
Braden rested his hand on the boy’s back.“Getting angry is normal.I got angry a lot when I was growing up.”
Cody looked up at him.“Did your mom leave you lots, too?”
Braden felt that blow, hard and fast, right in the gut.“No.”He swallowed.
“You still have your dad?”He sniffed, watching as Braden nodded.“My dad left my mom cuz he wasn’t ready to be a dad.It’s okay, I guess.I never met him so I can’t miss him.”
Well, hell.He was way out of his element.At this rate, he was going to be crying, too.This little boy was hurting something fierce.“Do you want to meet him?”
“Nah.I don’t like him much for leaving Ma that way.Grampa says a real man takes care of his responsibilities.But he didn’t take care of me or Ma so he’s not a real man.”Cody glanced at him.“I do want a dad, though.I was hopin’ it’d be you.Ma said she wants to marry someone who will love me and put us first, forever.”His face was going red again.“Can’t you do that?If you marry her, I bet she’ll stay here.And I’m good, mostly.Ask Uncle Mike or Grampa.”
That was a whole lot of information and all of it put a pain in his heart.“Cody, I know you’re a good boy.And you have a big heart—just like your mom.”
