“No! I’ll have it to you, I promise. I just need the missus to tell me where the money is.”
A deep laugh sounded, but it was a strange sound. Kind of like when a bully found someone to pick on. “I’m starting to think she cut you off. Which means we might have a problem. And do you know what we do with problems?”
“No, please—”
A pained shout came from his father. Colt slammed his empty hand over his ear and pressed the other to his shoulder, scrunching his eyes. He wasn’t sure how long he stayed likethat. It could have been minutes. It could have been hours. He started counting in his head. Long, slow counting that took his mind off whatever was going on in the library.
Suddenly, the panel opened.
Colt wrenched his hands from his ears and grabbed the knife—only to freeze at the sight of his mother.
Her eyes were wide and fearful. “Colt…baby! You’re okay.”
“Mom?”
She reached in and tugged him out, immediately pulling him against her chest. “Baby, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know he was coming home early. I saw him on the camera. Are you okay?”
He nodded. He wasn’t sure if it was a lie. Maybe. He wasn’t hurt. But he didn’t feel okay either.
“I was so worried.” She pulled back again and studied his body. “Your father isn’t here. And I’m going to make sure he doesn’t come home ever again. I’m calling someone for help. His name’s Ben. He’s going to protect us.”
Colt nodded. He wanted to believe her. But he’d heard that promise before. And at just eight years old, he understood the threat that was his father. Knew the man wouldn’t leave so easily.
And even if he did, he wouldn’t stay away.
CHAPTER 21
“Hey! They’re mine.”
Colt took his gaze off the new lock he was installing on the cabin door to see Indie pulling her bag of M&M’s out of Noah’s hand.
“Really?” Noah asked in disbelief, making a grab for it, only for Indie to yank it farther out of his reach. “You’re not going to share?”
She scoffed. “You just ate half the bag. I’ve shared. The rest are mine.”
Colt chuckled. Indie had been editing photos on her laptop all day, while he and Noah worked on the cabins and Randy’s crew had come and gone. The two of them had spent fifty percent of that time arguing and the other fifty percent joking like they were best friends.
It was a complicated relationship.
“Does she treat you like this?” Noah yelled over his shoulder.
“He doesn’t steal my M&M’s,” Indie answered before Colt could get a word in.
“I once made the mistake of taking a chocolate egg from her Easter basket,” Colt said, as he held the faceplate against the wood before driving in a new screw. “She yelled at methat it wasn’t mine to take, that the chocolate had already been emotionally allocated.”
“Hey, that was mid-IVF; it was a tough time. I may have cried.”
Noah frowned. “What does ‘emotionally allocated’ mean?”
“It means it had been emotionally reserved for a future time when I might need comfort,” Indie answered.
“I had to buy new chocolate.”
“But Easter had passed,” Indie added sadly. “So it was just normal chocolate.”
Noah looked back at Indie. “Would you like me to buy you more M&M’s?”
“That would be great. Thanks.”
