No furniture, no nothing, except D’s gun safe in the closet and whatever else he stored in there.
Maybe Colt came by his penchant to cling to the pain of the past honest. The difference was he’d earned his. Mama hadn’t done anything to deserve her hurt, and her grief gutted him.
Cuffing his sleeves, he thudded down the stairs, carpet muffling his steps. In the living room, the aquarium hummed, and his parents’ low conversation murmured in the kitchen. Hell, this place was quiet. Between Ralph and Holly, he’d grown accustomed to joyful noise, and the funereal hush here crawled over him.
His kids would be allowed to be noisy in the house, for sure.
Rosetta slinked about his ankles and jumped up on the couch while he snagged his phone from the coffee table. The tabby had concealed herself while Ralph was in the house — she fascinated him and he bothered her. Colt rubbed an absent caress behind her pointed ears, earning a deep purr, his gaze dipping over Holly’s text.
He ignored the three more from Wally but thumbed open Holly’s thread.
This is taking forever and my next group isn’t here yet
I’ll be late for sure
Are you ignoring me?
Where ARE you
Sheesh, she was pushy. A smile tugged at his mouth. He remained raw all over, and he still had to get through seeing Tick . . . but she’d be here, steadying him.
And D would be here.
He blew out a breath, thumbing out a reply.I was in the shower
Instantaneous bubbles popped up.I hate I missed that
Pausing, he considered the possibilities. They hadn’t shared a shower yet, but she had a serious setup in her master bath, multiple heads and settings, a large cubicle with a bench and—
Later. Your place
A sweating emoji with a lascivious smile popped up on his screen, drawing a rusty chuckle from his throat. Crazy how his happiness with her could coexist with the sheer dread coiled up in his gut.
Hell, he loved her. That’s why she brightened up every dark place in him, why he lived for that smile and her clumsy enthusiasm and the dorky-ass way she snorted when she laughed too hard.
He’dalwaysloved those parts of her, the same way he adored her smart mouth and argumentative nature and the way compassion dripped off her.
He just lovedher, and now he could let himself believe she’d be there at the end of everything.
So he could trust his daddy and he could trust her. They saw him as he was, still cared about him, and the world wasn’t going to end when Tick looked straight through him again.
“Colt?” Sue’s soft voice dragged him from the frozen moments of realization.
“Yes, ma’am?” He pitched his tone even and steady, trying to sound normal and not like he stood on the precipice of life-altering discovery.
“Come help your daddy slice up this meat.”
He swallowed a snort. Like D would let him help carve — Colt might do something crazy like cut with the grain. “Yes, ma’am.”
Helping turned out to mean laying out meat on platters and wrapping them in plastic wrap and listening to Mama fuss about the kitchen, making sure every dish was perfect.
Filled with a surge of affection, Colt paused in putting the wrap away. She was in her absolute element, making things pretty and perfect for people. She had a lot more in common with Aunt Lenora than he figured either one realized.
The house filled up pretty quickly, Aunt Lenora showing up first to help, followed by Grandma and Grandaddy with Uncle Bill and Kevin in tow. Del and Chuck arrived shortly after their mama, with all the noise and movement that came with their kids.
Once Gene had engulfed him in a back-pounding hug and looked hard at his face, Colt shook hands with Uncle Bill and Kevin, who held onto him a moment, grasping his biceps. “Congratulations on that new job, son.”
“Thank you.” He didn’t have to force a grin. “Sure you don’t want me to call you Uncle Kevin?”
