“Lorne?” I choked.
“Hey, buddy.” Lorne’s voice—which I hadn’t heard in a year—slammed into my chest, clamping around my heart like a vice. “There’s no need for all the manhandling.” His laugh was easy, as if he thought it would placate Jeff. Nope. Jeff dropped him to his feet so hard he tripped forward, almost falling on his face before righting himself. “Sheesh!” He laughed again but it was all a cover. He was scared, eyes on the concrete floor like he didn’t want to look at me.
My fingers curled into fists and I strode toward him, ready to light him up. But Cash cut in front, blocking me with one arm, like he could stop history from repeating itself. His eyes were wild and worried. And full of questions: Will you leave again? Will you pick him over me? “Do you actually want to see this tool?” he asked like it was a personal offense if I did.
If someone told me they’d spotted Lorne down at the local Food Lion, I wouldn’t drive the ten minutes to see him. I’d have sent Holden with the divorce papers without me. But standing here in the barn? I had a few choice words to say.
“Cash…” I said softly. “I need to.”
His shoulders fell in defeat and his arm dropped, letting me pass.
As I stepped around him, the barn door rolled open again. Backlit by the fading sun, Ford and Holden walked in like the good guys, showing up to save the world.
And it incensed me.
Lorne kept his eyes on the ground. There was no need. I strode past, walking straight over to Jeff.
“What’s up, Chuck?” Jeff’s voice was gentle, his expression anything but.
“Can you take Lorne outside for a minute? I need to speak with my uncles real quick.”
“You got it.”
I didn’t turn to watch. But Jeff must’ve manhandled Lorne because he let out a muffled squeal like a piglet being stuffed into a pillow case.
“Cash?” I said as I heard him move in behind me. “I need you to wait outside too.”
“Charlie.” He sounded hurt.
“Just…” I held up my hands, warning him off. “I need a few minutes.”
“Fine.”
Once he was gone and the door shut behind him, I turned to my uncles, wishing I had the kind of stare that could slice through stone.
Ford was in his usual getup: jeans, cowboy boots, a fitted button-down, and his black hat, not seeming the least bit guilty. Holden, on the other hand, was in a light gray suit like he’d come straight from work, an official-looking green folder in his hand.
I aimed my puny, powerless glare at Holden. “I can’t believe you told him. What happened to attorney-client privilege?”
Holden’s jaw twitched. “I didn’t tell anyone anything. Ford just texted fifteen minutes ago and said to meet him at the barn—STAT—with your divorce papers.” He held the folder out like an offering. “Here you go.”
I ripped it from his hands and swung my glare at Ford, still coming down from my anger. “What? No, why?” Still the wrong question. “Where’dyou find him?”
Ford had the gall to snort. “Florida. Shocker, right? He joined a circus. Literally.”
I blinked. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.” He chuckled. “Lorne is a bona fide juggling savant. A maestro of midair mastery.” His expression deadpanned. “I had to pay the bounty hunter an extra thousand because he wouldn’t shut up about it the entire flight here.”
Holden couldn’t hold back his laughter, fist to his mouth, nostrils flared.
I rubbed my temple. “That actually tracks.” Lorne tried to juggle everything he could get his hands on. Baseballs, bananas, car keys. Those survived. The casualties? At least five dozen eggs, my favorite mug, and a snow globe we got on our trip to Hawaii. And guess who got to clean it all up?
It was the kind of behavior you learn about your future spouse when, you know, you date them for longer than three weeks. I wiped a hand over my forehead, once again furious with myself for marrying such a ridiculous person. Lorne was a child. A weak, spineless, care-about-no-one-but-myself toddler.
“Joined the freaking circus,” I muttered as I stared at Ford’s Adam’s apple. “Did you do this for Cash?”
“Yes.” A muscle in his jaw pulsed. “My boy has been hurting since the day you married that fool.” The acid in his words burned my cheeks with embarrassment. Lorne wasn’t the fool. I was. For thinking he was a diamond in the rough, when in actuality, he was just a dirty lump of coal. Ford was right, I’d hurt Cash. So much. I’d hurt my whole family. “So if there’s something I can do to put an end to that pain, I’m going to do it. It’s what parents do.” But then he picked up my side braid, playfully tickling my nose with the ends. “But mostly, Charlie girl? I did it for you. Becauseyou’rehurting and I love you too—just like I love Cash. I always have. You know that, right?”
