“Hey,” I said.
Smooth, Isaac. Real smooth.
“Hey, Newt,” Maddox said.
“Hey, Mad,” Newt returned, though he didn’t look up from his coloring book.
Maddox approached the desk. Even with the piece of furniture separating us, I felt like I could feel him all around me.
It was the strangest thing. It was like there was this current between us that had a wire running to both my dick and my heart. Usually it didn’t matter what he said or did, both body parts responded accordingly.
“How’s your hand?” I asked.
He glanced at his bandaged hand and said, “It’s good.” There was an awkward silence between us before he leaned over the desk and said, “Listen, I wanted to talk to you about what I said in the small animal building the other day—”
My heart constricted painfully in my chest. “It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean it.”
I expected him to flash me a smile of relief, but instead, his eyes hardened just the tiniest bit, then he was leaning across the desk until he was practically in my face. “I meant every freaking word I said, Isaac,” he whispered. Then to my surprise, he brushed his mouth over mine. I was about to grab him and lay the mother of all kisses on him when he pulled back just a little because, come on, between that kiss, his words, and the fact that he’d deliberately chosen not to swear… a guy could only resist for so long.
But the sound of the office door opening had me keeping my hands to myself.
Maddox straightened as Loki got up from his spot and went to check out our guest. It wasn’t until Maddox moved out of the way that I recognized the man.
It was Jimmy Cornell’s brother.
I automatically stood up and began looking for Jimmy, but there was no one else with him. The man’s eyes landed on mine, but he didn’t seem particularly surprised to see me. I didn’t miss the fact that he had fresh bruises on his face.
“Hi,” he said to me.
Maddox looked between me and the man as I came around the desk. “Hello,” I returned. I liked it when Maddox automatically moved closer to me.
“My name’s Ford,” the man said. “Ford—”
“Cornell,” Maddox finished for him. “You’re Jimmy Cornell’s brother,” he said. His voice had gone cold and Ford automatically stepped back a bit.
“I am,” he murmured.
“You two know each other?” Maddox said to me.
“It’s nothing,” I said with a shake of my head. If it’d been Jimmy standing in front of us, I wouldn’t have hesitated to tell Maddox about the incident in town, but my gut was telling me Ford wasn’t like his brother.
Maddox eyed me, then Ford. To me he said, “Did he do that to your face?” as his fingers came up to skim the faded marks on my temple and cheek. “Your throat?” he said more softly. His voice was positively scary now. He was already stepping toward Ford when I grabbed his arm.
“He didn’t,” I said quickly. “It wasn’t him. He tried to stop it.”
Maddox hesitated, then eased up a bit. “It was Jimmy?”
I swallowed and nodded. “But I took care of it. Jimmy and his friends were hassling me after I left the thrift store.” My eyes flicked to Ford briefly. “But I knew Jimmy is nothing but a bully… his attack on Gentry proved that. So I pretty much told him and his friends they could go fu… fudge themselves.” I looked awkwardly at Newt and saw he’d gotten up and was holding Snotrod close to his chest while he listened in on our conversation. “Jimmy was going to take a s-w-i-n-g at me, but Ford stopped him.”
Newt had moved to my side while I’d been talking, but fortunately he hadn’t gotten the gist of the conversation. I had no interest in him knowing I’d nearly gotten attacked.
“Mad,” Newt said softly.
“Yeah, buddy,” Maddox said, his eyes on Ford.
“Someone hurt him,” Newt whispered as he looked at the other man, his eyes on the bruises on Ford’s face. Ford’s skin went bright with color, a sure sign he was embarrassed. “You should spit on it,” Newt added.
At that, Ford actually went wide-eyed and I couldn’t help but smile as I put my arm around Newt’s shoulders. “He means spit shake on it.”
“Yeah,” Newt said. “Mad can promise to keep you safe and you can promise him something and then you spit on it and it’s forever.”
Ford actually smiled briefly. “Good to know,” he said softly to my brother. To me he said, “I’m sorry about,” –his eyes fell on Newt and then came back to me– “that thing that happened in town. I wish there was something else I could have done.”
I sent him a nod because I believed him.
“What are you doing here?” Maddox asked. He still sounded suspicious and I couldn’t really blame him.
“Um, I came to see you, actually,” Ford said as he focused on Maddox. “This is, uh, for you. I… I got it done sooner than expected so I thought I’d hand-deliver it.” Ford stepped forward enough to hand Maddox the large paper shopping bag he’d been holding.
Maddox glanced in the bag and then pulled out what appeared to be some kind of receipt. He looked at Ford in surprise. “You’re Chaotic Creations?”
Ford nodded. “Yeah.”
I had no clue what either man was talking about. Maddox must have seen my confusion because he said, “I was looking for someone to design a special art project for me. I wasn’t expecting to find someone local, though.”
“That site you used,” Ford cut in. “It’s like that Fiverr site but for artists. I get notified for certain kinds of jobs. Yours stood out not only because of what you wanted, but because you were from here. I, um, recognized your name so I bid on it.”
“Why?” Maddox asked, clearly suspicious.
Ford shifted nervously back and forth on his feet. “I just, I… I know what my brother did to your brother, and I knew I couldn’t just come out here and tell him how sorry I was but I wanted to do something and then I saw your name on the design job and I just… I don’t know,” Ford said awkwardly. Then he was rooting around in his pocket and pulling out some money. “I, um, can’t give it all back to you because I needed to use some of it to buy the” –his eyes shifted to me, then Newt, then back to Maddox– “the, um, it and the art supplies because I didn’t have enough money to pay for that myself, but the rest of it is here, I swear.”
Ford thrust the money at Maddox.
I couldn’t help but feel sorry for how rattled Ford was. I wasn’t the least bit surprised when Maddox didn’t take the money. He studied Ford for the longest time and the younger man began to shift even more uncomfortably. I guessed Ford to be in his mid-twenties at the most. He was a really good-looking guy, the bruises notwithstanding. Unlike his brother, he was fit with short black hair that was neatly styled and a carefully trimmed beard that was just a little bit long to be considered scruff. His eyes were a really bright blue and his body looked muscular beneath his snug jeans and beige long-sleeved shirt. He was on the shorter side and his clothes, while clean, had a threadbare look to them.
Maddox suddenly handed the bag back to Ford, whose face fell as he had no choice but to take it. My stomach dropped out, but I held my tongue.
“It’s not for me,” Maddox said. Then he motioned to Newt. “It’s for Newt, here.”
I felt my brother shift next to me. “You got me a present?” he asked excitedly and then he was hurrying toward Ford. He suddenly remembered the kitten in his hands and did an about-face. But instead of handing Snotrod to me, he handed him to Maddox, then threw his arms around Maddox’s lower body as he hugged him. Before Maddox could even respond, Newt was rushing to Ford who knelt down and set the bag on the floor.
I felt like I was going to cry as I watched Newt’s excitement as Ford pulled out a large box and carefully opened it enough so Newt wouldn’t have to struggle with it. I couldn’t remember the last time anyone besides me had thought to give my brother a gift.
Ford held the box as Newt carefully opened it. I m
oved enough so I could see his reaction to whatever was in the box.
“Lightning!” Newt yelled as he clapped his hands together. Ford eased the item from the box and when I realized what it was, I did start to cry.
It was a soft-padded helmet, but it was painted to match the colors of Lightning, the race car from the Cars movies. Even the car’s number was painted onto it.
Newt let out a cry of delight as Ford turned the helmet so Newt could see all of it. “Here, look,” Ford said as he showed Newt the front of the helmet. “It’s like what all the race car drivers wear. It’s even got a microphone so you can talk to your pit crew.”
I knew the microphone wasn’t real, but Ford had definitely managed to make it look that way. It even folded out of the way for when Newt would be doing something like eating or drinking.
“Isaac, look!” Newt exclaimed, then he grabbed the helmet and brought it to me and began showing me all the features. I wiped at my eyes as I met Maddox’s gaze over Newt’s head.
“It’s amazing,” I said to Newt, though admittedly, it was hard to breathe with all the emotions that were clogging my throat. Newt ran back to Ford.
“Can I wear it now?” he asked.
“Of course,” Ford said with a smile. He seemed genuinely pleased that my brother loved the helmet as much as he did. He carefully began working the straps of Newt’s existing helmet loose. As he helped Newt put the new one on, I went to Maddox and just walked into him. I didn’t even wait for him to open his arms.
But he did anyway. He kept the kitten cuddled against one side of his broad chest and gave me the other as his free arm went around me.
“Thank you,” I whispered so only he could hear.
I felt his lips skim the top of my head.
“You’re welcome, baby.”
He held me until Newt came to show us both how the helmet looked on him. But it wasn’t until Maddox knelt down and began talking to my brother about how he was a real race car driver now that I made my decision and hoped like hell it wouldn’t come back to bite me in the ass.
Because there was just no way in hell Newt and I were going anywhere.
We’d have to leave at some point, but today wasn’t that day and I hoped like hell that day, whenever it was, was way off in the future.
Really way off.
Chapter Fifteen
Maddox
Okay, buddy, it’s way past your bedtime, I think,” I said softly as I stared at the small form curled against my chest. The kitten seemed to respond to my voice because it stretched a little and dug its nails into my shirt, all without opening its eyes. I ran one of my fingers over its little body. The kitten was smaller than all its littermates who’d already been adopted out, but Dallas had assured me the baby was strong. In addition to its size and general scrawny look, the kitten had been born with one of its back legs deformed and tucked up against its body. But it didn’t seem to slow the kitten down because he’d been following me all around the lower level of the house as I’d tried to figure out where to put the small box I’d found for his litter and the plastic containers acting as his temporary food and water dishes. I’d settled on putting the stuff in one of the lower-level bathrooms for the time being, since it wasn’t too far from the living room where I spent my evenings.
Snotrod had eaten quite a bit, then lumbered after me and crawled up my pant leg after I’d sat down in the armchair by the fire. He’d been asleep for hours now, and I’d found myself spending most of that time running my fingers up and down his back. The little rumbling sounds he made were oddly comforting, and I felt on the verge of falling asleep myself.
I still had no clue how I’d ended up agreeing to adopt the kitten.
Yes, you do.
I sighed because my inner voice was right.
Newt had talked me into it without even really talking me into it. After he’d gotten done hugging me and repeatedly thanking me for the “best present he’d ever gotten” I’d tried to hand him Snotrod back, but he’d told me I should take the kitten home with me so I wouldn’t be scared when he and Isaac weren’t around. He’d also said something about Snotrod not having a mommy and daddy but that I could take care of the orphan like Isaac took care of Newt. That was when he’d gone to his brother to hug him, and I hadn’t had the heart to turn down the suggestion.
In theory, I had no room in my life for a cat, but looking around the spacious, darkened living room, I realized I had more than enough room, both literally and figuratively. I was starting to think I had enough room for a lot of things that I’d never planned on before.
To say I’d been surprised to discover it was Ford Cornell who’d accepted my custom art request was a shock, to say the least. I had mixed feelings about the man, since he didn’t exactly come from a great family. Between his brother and the former sheriff, Curtis Tulley, who was Mrs. Cornell’s cousin, I had to wonder if Ford didn’t have some ulterior motive for what he’d done. But I couldn’t discount what Isaac had said–that Ford had tried to intervene when Jimmy had gone after him. The fact that Ford was sporting those bruises also had me wondering if he was less tormentor like his brother and more victim.
Ford had still been in the office when Dallas and Nolan had come in from feeding the animals their evening meal, and things had gotten pretty tense pretty fast when I’d told them who Ford was. But Newt, who’d been clueless about the situation, had been so excited to show off his helmet that it’d given Dallas and Nolan a few moments to process Ford’s presence and the bruises on his face. I knew next to nothing about Ford Cornell, other than he was a good five years younger than Jimmy and had ended up getting into some pretty serious trouble shortly after high school. My plan was to ask Alex if he knew anything about what exactly it was that Ford had done and if he thought the young man was a bad seed like his brother.
After Newt had finished telling Nolan and Dallas about his present and shown them the microphone that Ford had added on his own and which I thought had been a pretty clever idea, Ford had sputtered an awkward apology and promised he’d never bother any of us again before he’d hightailed it out of the office. Nolan had actually tried to stop him, but Ford had been out the door too fast to even try to get any more information out of him.
I hadn’t had time to talk to Dallas about any of it, but I definitely wanted to see how he was feeling about the whole thing when I saw him the following day, since I’d been the one who’d brought a member of the Cornell family back into his life, inadvertent as it was. I also wanted to talk to Alex about Jimmy’s attack on Isaac, though I knew I’d need to talk to Isaac first, because I still had no idea what he and Newt were running from and as much as I liked Alex, I couldn’t risk exposing Isaac in any way.
Not until he told me the truth.
But the truth was a long ways off. At this point, I couldn’t even get Isaac to spend more than a few minutes in my company unless I was in the midst of a raging panic attack.
I should have been more embarrassed by the fact that Isaac had seen me yet again at my weakest, but in truth, it didn’t bother me. I’d accepted that even though I saw myself as weak for not being able to just get over my fears, Isaac didn’t see me that way.
He wouldn’t.
He just wasn’t that kind of person.
I sighed as Snotrod stretched again before getting up and snuggling right up against my neck. “Okay, Snot, I’m calling it,” I said. “Bedtime.”
It wasn’t particularly late, but it’d been a long day and for once, I wasn’t interested in losing myself in half a bottle of alcohol.
I was in the process of getting to my feet when the doorbell rang. With Snotrod tucked against my chest, I went to answer it, assuming it was Alex stopping by to say hi. But when I saw who it was on the other side of the door, my breath caught in my throat.
“I come bearing gifts,” Isaac said loudly.
A little too loudly.
He held up what looked like a litter box, a bag of cat food, a plastic ba
g that had something in it I couldn’t see, and a plush cat bed with a mouse embroidered on the cushion.
“Newt and I went to the pet store after you left. You really should have let us drive you,” he said.
Since I’d figured I’d pushed the limits of my mental health with the one car ride already that day, I’d ended up declining the offer to be driven home, choosing instead to just tuck Snotrod into my coat and hold him against my chest for the walk home. The kitten had slept the entire time.
“And don’t worry, I didn’t pay for any of this myself. I used the money you kept telling Dallas to give me, so you paid for it. Not that I would have minded paying for it after what you did for Newt, which was awesome by the way. He wanted to sleep with the helmet on. I finally told Dallas and Nolan just to let him. They’re babysitting. Did I say that already? Because they are. Just until I get back. Dallas let me borrow his truck again and told me how to get here. I mean, I know it could have waited until tomorrow but I wanted Snotrod to be comfortable—”
“Isaac,” I cut in, since I knew he was so nervous he’d ramble on all night if I let him.
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to come in?”
Isaac looked past me as if expecting the house to be some kind of doomsday lair. He finally nodded. “Yeah, okay, thanks.”
Butterflies danced in my belly as he moved past me. He smelled really good and he’d swapped out the pink sweater for a teal and black top and was wearing purple skinny jeans instead of his typical black ones. There wasn’t enough light in the hallway to see his makeup, but I could see the tempting sheen on his lips, which told me he was wearing the gloss. I just didn’t know if it was the regular clear gloss or the one with the tint.
I really didn’t care.
Isaac stood nervously just inside the door. “Should I take my boots off?” he asked. “I should take them off,” he amended before I could respond. “Not because I’m staying but because I don’t want to mess up your floors.”
His show of nerves was both disheartening and exciting at the same time. On the one hand, he’d had this same level of verbal diarrhea when he’d been upset with me that day in the small animal building. On the other hand, I had to believe he’d made the trip out here to do more than just deliver cat supplies.
Sanctuary Found_Pelican Bay [Book 2] Page 17
