by Sharan Daire
“Mom was a pretty private person,” Eleanor said. “She didn’t believe in burdening her kids about her finances, and honestly, even if we’d known, I’m not sure that she would have allowed us to help her. I’d always assumed she owned the trailer outright, but she still owed several thousand dollars on it. We were also behind on the lot rent, first because she hadn’t been able to work near the end, and then because we didn’t know that it was due. I mean, we were all kids, though I was getting ready to graduate from high school. Eddie and Elijah were in high school, but neither of them could drive yet.
“The park manager came by a month or so after the funeral and asked me about the rent. I was like, what rent? She sat down at the table with me and helped me go through Mom’s things until I found her checkbook and some of the other bills. I’m not much of a crier, but I bawled myself to sleep that night, worried sick.
“The bank account was empty. I had a pink slip from the electric company warning that they’d turn the power off in five days. We owed over five hundred dollars to the park to keep our spot. I had a part-time job at the convenience store on the corner, but I’d been using that money to pay for school stuff. I had no idea how I was going to buy food or keep the lights on.”
I couldn’t believe how similar their story was to mine. My heart ached and I gripped Everett’s hand tighter. I remembered the first time I met him at the lodge front desk. Dressed in a slick suit, looking so suave and comfortable in the expensive surroundings. How perfectly elegant and relaxed he was as his rich friend’s personal attorney.
He’d come so far from those meager beginnings. If my own kids could go half as far, then I’d be one proud mama.
“I wanted to keep the news from the boys so they weren’t scared, but it was dire enough that I needed to prepare them for the worst. I really thought we’d get split up into foster care. But then a miracle happened. A rich benefactor gave us a ten-thousand-dollar award. It was enough to catch everything up and buy me time to get a better job that could keep us afloat.”
“Chris?” I whispered, blinking back more tears. “But surely he was only six or seven years old too.”
“I was crying at school one day,” Everett said with a wry twist of his lips. “The teacher had me stay in from recess to talk to the counselor. Some kids were snickering, calling me a crybaby from the trailer park. Next thing I knew, Chris and the Anderson twins were waiting outside the principal’s office for fighting. They overheard everything I told the counselor. After school, the twins walked me home, which I thought was strange. I mean, I knew them, and we’d played together every recess since kindergarten, but they’d never gone home with me.
“When we got there, a shiny black car was parked outside our trailer. I mean, that car was loaded and brand new. It looked so out of place in the park. Chris did too, dressed in his perfect grown-up clothes. I was too embarrassed to take them inside, but we played catch outside until Eleanor came home from work. Chris ran over to the waiting car, and the driver handed him a huge, thick envelope. He gave it to Eleanor and then he and the twins got in the car and left.”
“I sobbed when I saw that money,” she whispered, smiling fondly and shaking her head. “I was astounded. How did a little boy have that kind of cash? Where had he gotten it? What did he want from us in return? I had no idea, but he saved us all with that money.”
“Later, he admitted some of it had been his allowance that he’d been saving up, and the rest had come from him selling a fancy watch to his driver. Evidently that had pissed his father off royally, but he said it was worth it. We’d been friends before, but that sealed it for me. They’d protected me at recess, and they’d saved my family. I told them that anything I ever had in my entire life was theirs. No questions asked.”
“So,” Eleanor drew the word out, pulling my gaze up to her face. She smiled, her eyes twinkling with secretive amusement. “When he says your relationship is ‘complicated,’ I know exactly what he means.”
21
Kaleb
I loved having my family all around me again, but the most important person was missing. I felt Shelby’s absence like a throbbing toothache deep in my soul. It wasn’t like her to duck out of a gathering, or to need alone time. Granted, she wasn’t alone. I saw Everett and Eleanor with her as they went upstairs. But my internal Spidey senses insisted that something was wrong.
I moved closer to Derek and whispered, “Did Mama say something to Shelby? Something to upset her?”
He scowled. “No, not that I noticed.”
I elbowed him, trying to get him to tone down his voice and his attitude before anyone else noticed. “I’ll go find her.”
“I’ll say something to Mama—”
“No,” I cut in fiercely. “Leave it alone until I find out what happened. Let Mama stay involved with Angela. She needs it. But if Shelby’s upset, we should probably have Mama stay with Angela, and let Eleanor take the kids while we’re gone.”
“Sounds good. Let me know what’s going on. If Shelby’s upset…” His tone went grim, his face locking down to the cold cop mask.
“Me too.” Inwardly, I was relieved he felt the same way, though not surprised. Mama was a lot of personality, and it’d always been a joke among the four of us to see how much we could rile her up. But that would change in a heartbeat if Shelby was upset. Maybe she just needed to understand our dynamic better.
Or maybe we needed to have a word with our mother.
Mama had never been outright rude to any of our girlfriends in the past, but she made it clear when she didn’t approve of our choice. Granted, she’d been right one-hundred-percent of the time.
This time…
I didn’t care what she thought. Shelby was ours. It’d kill me to lose the family get-togethers on holidays and the joy of having grandparents in our children’s’ lives, but I wouldn’t allow her to be unhappy. Not one moment. No matter how mad it made Mama.
I ducked out of the living room and took the stairs two at a time, slowing as I reached the top so I didn’t make them think we had an emergency. I heard voices from the second guest room.
The door was open, but I tapped on the door frame and then stuck my head inside. “Hey.”
Shelby had been crying. Her face was red, her cheeks streaked with tears. She clutched Everett’s hand and he looked as broken down as I’d ever seen him since we were kids. I didn’t know Eleanor all that well, but even she’d been crying.
It was a gut punch that sent me reeling toward blackout rage. “What the fuck did she say to you?”
“What?” Shelby leaped to her feet and rushed toward me. “Who?”
I dragged her into my arms, squeezing her fiercely. “I’m so sorry. She can stay with Angela. Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about a thing.”
“It’s okay.” Shelby’s voice was muffled against me, but she locked her arms around my waist. “We were talking about Everett’s vow. Your mother doesn’t like me much, but she didn’t say anything.”
Slowly, the rage cooled to a rolling simmer. “What do you mean she doesn’t like you? And what vow?”
“We told her what happened when Mom died,” Everett said. “I hadn’t fully explained our relationship to Eleanor. If you know what I mean.”
Eleanor snorted. “I told him I didn’t need an explanation. Seeing you all hugging on Shelby warms my heart. I’m so glad you finally found someone who loves you as much as you love each other.”
I tipped Shelby’s face up to mine, searching her eyes as I wiped her tears away gently. “What made you think Mama doesn’t like you?”
She shrugged sheepishly. “Just a feeling. She gave me the oddest look right before Angela and Marlo arrived. It made me feel…” She shrugged again.
“Bad.”
She shook her head. “Not bad, exactly. Just like she saw through me.”
Now it was my turn to scowl. D was the one to play bad cop, but I didn’t like what I was hearing. “What the fuck does that mean? Like
you’re fake? Or pretending? Nobody would ever think that about you.”
“Like I don’t belong here,” she whispered.
My heart crumpled all over again. I tightened my arms around her, this time joined by Everett, who pressed against her back. Sandwiched between us, she quivered like a kitten with a chill.
“If you don’t belong here, then I’m leaving too,” Everett growled. “We’re all leaving. Because we go where you go.”
“I just don’t want her to think I’m not good enough for her boys.”
Incredulous, I spluttered out, “Good enough for us? When we worship the ground you walk on like the goddess you are?”
Shelby tipped her head back against Everett so she could scowl up at me. “You don’t know what you have here. You don’t know how rare it is. People who actually care about each other. Family who wants to be there for each other. Who help each other. That’s so rare in this world. I can’t even begin to understand what your life has been like having that kind of support and love around you all the time. So why would you all accept me into that?”
I heard all the hurt and doubts that she didn’t voice.
The single mom who worked as a lowly waitress at a greasy spoon. Who’d lost everything, from her apartment to her family. Alone against the world, fighting to keep her kids safe. She was such a warrior. And she didn’t even know her own worth.
“The same reason they accepted me,” Everett said. “The six-year-old kid who lived in the trailer park. Whose mom barely kept a rundown roof over our heads until she died. The same reason Chris was willing to risk his father’s wrath to give us enough money to keep our home and get our feet under us.”
“The same reason Derek and I were willing to risk getting suspended from school to shut up those kids who were laughing at him and calling him names. Even then, we knew.”
Her head tipped slightly as she searched my face for answers.
I leaned down and lightly kissed the tip of her nose. “We knew he was family. Our family. The same way we know you’re our family too. Mama will understand that because she loves us. But even if she doesn’t, you’re ours, Shelby. Our heart. Our soul. We go where you go. Always.”
SHELBY
I won’t be kicked out of the family if his mother doesn’t like me.
That had been my unconscious fear all along. I hadn’t realized it until Kaleb had gotten so angry at the thought she might have hurt my feelings.
Shaken, but in a good way, I slipped into the master bathroom to wash my face before joining everyone. I’d seen firsthand how much Kaleb loved his family. Yet he’d just implied he would leave them all behind to be with me. If his mother didn’t like me…
I didn’t want to be the one who tore up the Andersons. Yet his steady promise to go where I went without question or hesitation healed something inside me that I hadn’t even known was hurting.
I had never considered myself a shy or fearful person, and I wasn’t going to start now. His mother hadn’t been overtly mean or judgmental. I’d just been braced for her to dislike me, silently fearing that she had the power to pack my bags and send me and the kids out into the world again.
She didn’t have that power. So I didn’t have to be afraid of losing her sons.
I tried to slip unnoticed back into the room, but Chris immediately lasered in on me and made a beeline straight to my side. Eyes glittering with malice, he gripped my chin. “Who do I get to kill for upsetting you?”
“Nobody,” I said tartly, making him scowl harder. “Just some reminiscing. Something about a boy selling a watch to save his friend’s home.”
He huffed and released the fierce grip on my chin, though he locked an arm around me that said I wasn’t going anywhere without him glued to my side. “Forgot about that one.”
“Did you get into trouble?” His jaw flexed and I immediately regretted asking him. I lay my head against his shoulder. “Never mind.”
“It wasn’t the first time my father whipped me with his belt. Certainly not the last. He made it clear he valued that fucking Rolex more than me. He bought it back from Alex, the man who drove me to school every day, because he said it wasn’t meant for ‘the help.’ Fucking asshole snob. When he died, I gave Alex every single one of his watches, and I donated all his fancy suits to Goodwill. I would have torn the house down too, but the city wanted to make it a historic site. So I gifted it to the historical society and gladly walked away.”
A ruckus alerted me that the kids were coming inside. Barking his head off, Wally raced in, wet from a dip in the creek, muddy paws and all. Allie was piggy-back riding on Taylen, squealing and laughing as they chased Bubby. She pretended to throw a lasso, and Bubby dropped to the floor, kicking like a wild animal.
“We got him!” Allie cheered.
Taylen neighed, pawing their fists like a rearing horse.
Wally jumped up on Mrs. Anderson’s lap and licked her face, getting mud all over her outfit.
I stood there, momentarily frozen with horrified glee, not sure how the older woman would take getting mauled by a dirty dog. Let alone how she’d deal with my kids.
“Wally! You old rascal.” She gave the dog a thorough scritch behind his ears. “Still getting into trouble, I see.”
Taylen trotted over, giving Allie a bouncy ride. “Grandma!”
“Look at you!” Mrs. Anderson pushed the muddy dog off her so she could hug Taylen. “I swear, you’re a foot taller than when I saw you last.”
Taylen laughed. “You always say that.”
Mrs. Anderson turned her attention to my daughter. “You must be Allie. I didn’t know you were such a good rider. Have you gotten to ride one of our ponies yet?”
Eyes wide, Allie looked over her shoulder at me. “Can I, Mommy?”
I hesitated, naturally. Allie was so little. Even a pony could be dangerous.
“Snowflake is the pony I learned to ride,” Taylen added. “She’s very gentle.”
“You’ll need to wear a helmet and be very, very careful,” I finally said.
Allie squealed. “Yay!”
Tightening their grip on Allie’s legs, Taylen hopped around the sectional and chairs, weaving in and out like an obstacle course. “We’d better practice a lot!”
Bubby sat up, smiling even though he’d been forgotten in the excitement.
“What about you, young man?” Mrs. Anderson asked. “Would you like to ride too?”
He gave her a skeptical look. “I like horses okay but they’re not really my thing.”
She nodded, tapping her chin as if she was thinking really hard. “I heard a rumor that you do like to fish, though.”
He brightened immediately. “Derek took me to his secret spot, and we caught enough fish for dinner.”
“Well, you’re in luck, then. Who do you think taught Derek all the best spots?”
His head tipped. “You?”
She snorted, shaking her head. “Nope. I hate to fish. I can’t ever catch anything and the water smells.”
Bubby looked over at Marlo, but the big man shook his head. “Not me. I’m a city boy, and I’ve only known Derek a few years.”
Bubby glanced around the room, trying to guess who the fishing expert might be.
Eleanor coughed and raised her hand. “I won the Bassmasters tournament two years in a row.”
“She was only twenty-five years old, too,” Derek added.
“It’s been forever since I was on the lake, so I might be a little rusty. But we can fish everyday if you’d like.”
“Yeah,” Bubby breathed out, his eyes shining. “I’ll be up extra early.”
“Bring a book,” she replied. “We’ll fish early, pull over somewhere and nap and read and have a little picnic, weather permitting. There’s nothing better than relaxing on or near the water.”
His two favorite things. Allie’s favorite things.
My worry about leaving them for a few days slowly unclutched its death hold in the pit of my stomach. They were
going to have so much fun they wouldn’t even notice we were gone.
22
Derek
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out, saw that it was our local dispatch number, and quietly pushed up from the table to step out into the hall, hopefully without interrupting dinner. “This is Derek. What’s up?”
“Hey, Sheriff. It’s Billy. We’ve got a bit of a problem here.”
“Yeah?”
“A man is here wanting us to make an arrest.” Billy gulped, telling me I wasn’t going to like his next words. “Someone I think you know.”
“Who?”
“A woman named Shelby Kent. You mentioned picking her up along the road a few weeks back.”
I leaned back into the room and locked gazes with Everett. Without a word, he stood and followed me into the next room Chris used as his secondary office, shutting the door behind us. I put the phone on speaker. “Let me guess. Robert Kent is there?”
“Yeah, how’d you know? He says she kidnapped his kids, took them out of Texas without his permission, and he has reason to believe they’re in our county.”
Everett smiled. The kind of shark smile that the world’s best attorney gives once the bait has been taken. “Excellent. Bring Mr. Kent on out to Canyon Rock. Play along real nice. We’ll take it from there.”
“Sheriff?” Billy asked, not sure who the fuck had just spoken.
“Yep, that was Ms. Kent’s attorney. Bring her ex-husband out here just like he said. Don’t let on who I am though, alright? If I need to step in, I will, but I’d rather you handle it if possible.”
I hung up, watching as Everett opened a file cabinet and took out a thick folder. “We should warn everyone, but especially her. I don’t want her blindsided by that asshole showing up.”
