Jules’s stomach tightened, and she set aside her bowl of cobbler. “Um…”
“It’s just that I can see how much Cal cares for you. I think he’s got some real feelings for you. Serious feelings.” She paused. “And excuse my being blunt again, but…if you don’t feel the same way for him, I hope you’ll let him know now. Let him down gently and—”
“I do—” Jules blurted before she’d stopped to analyze what bubbled up from her core. “Uh…care about him. A lot. He’s beenvery good to me, and…” Her heart thrashed in her chest. What was she saying? Had she already fallen for Callum Colton?
Kelly leaned forward, her eyebrows lifting. “And?”
“I’m scared,” Jules admitted, her hands starting to shake. “Or I was. I don’t trust easily. Too many people have used and betrayed me in the past.”
“You can trust Cal. My brother is one of the good ones.”
Jules nodded. “I’m learning that. More and more every day.”
Joy waddled close to Jules’s foot, and she scooped the kitten up to hold in her lap. She smiled as she ran a finger down Joy’s small back. Like Joy, she’d begun to feel safe around Cal and the Coltons. Optimistic. She’d begun to believe theywouldcatch Hamilton. Abbywouldget her life back. And she might—maybe—have found someone to build a relationship with, someone to love. And the prospect of sharing herself with Cal didn’t frighten her. It gave her hope. It gave her joy.
Chapter 26
“What are you doing here?” Cal frowned at the woman across the lobby of the police station.
His youngest sister, Matti, turned in response to his impertinent question. She arched an eyebrow and tossed her mop of curls back from her face. “I could ask you the same thing,Sheriff. This is Wyatt’s domain, not yours.”
“True,” Cal said, stepping close enough to give his baby sister a hug. She might be twenty-six years old now, but Matti would always be the baby of the family in his eyes. He’d helped look out for her from an early age, especially when it was clear their dad put his hospital duties over his family responsibilities. “But if you’ve been paying attention in recent years, you’d know Wyatt’s department and mine often collaborate on big cases that cross jurisdictional lines. Besides, it’s late. Police stations are not fun places to be late at night.”
“And if you’d been paying attention to me in recent years, you’d know that I often have business at the police station related to my cases. Even late at night. Often late at night.” She frowned. “I’m here to pick up a little boy that was found alone at a motel. The desk clerk saw him rummaging in the trash for food and asked him where his parents were. He only shrugged and said they’d been gone since the day before.”
Cal pinched the bridge of his nose and mumbled a curse word. “Poor kid.”
“Mmm.” Matti tugged his arm, pulling him aside and settling in the formed plastic chairs against the wall in the station lobby.Lowering her voice, she continued, “The desk clerk said when she took the kid back to his room, with some fruit and cookies she scrounged from her own dinner and the vending machine, she found a mess in the room. Drug paraphernalia, dirty food wrappers strewn around, unmade beds and no sign of the kid’s parents.”
“Drug paraphernalia, you say? What is the kid’s name?”
Matti checked her notes. “All he told the motel clerk was Sam. He said he’s six.” She showed him the thin file in her hand and the database pulled up on her iPad. “I’m scrambling to fine emergency foster care for him. At least for tonight. Tomorrow, if the cops can track down his parents, I get to open a whole new can of worms. But for now, my job is to wait here for the responding officers to bring him here. Once I have a foster home arranged, I’ll escort him to the emergency placement and help ease his transition.”
Cal placed a hand on his sister’s shoulder and squeezed. “Matticake,” he said, using his childhood nickname for her, “have I told you how proud I am of what you do? I thought I saw the dregs of society in my job, but you see the victims of the worst of humanity.”
“Thank you, Cal. I’m kinda proud of you, too.” She leaned into him, bumping his shoulder.
They both glanced to the front door as a female patrol officer entered the lobby through the front doors, leading a small boy with wide dark eyes and shaggy light blond hair. Cal took in the boy’s bedraggled appearance. He clearly hadn’t had a bath in several days, and his lean frame and small size gave him the appearance of being younger than the six years Matti said the child had claimed to be. The terror and trauma in his expression were heartbreaking. Here was a child who had seen and heard far more in his short life than any person should.
Cal heard Matti’s soft gasp of dismay before she schooled her expression, fixing a bright smile on her face and moving to greet the child with a calm and warm demeanor. “Hello, Sam. My name is Matti Colton.” She held out a hand as if to shake Sam’s. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Sam only stared at Matti’s hand and inched closer to the patrol officer.
Cal hung back, watching his sister work. Clearly the boy was already overwhelmed and frightened without adding another adult face to the mix.
The patrol officer crouched and coaxed gently, “Sam, this nice lady is going to take you to a safe house, where you can eat something good and have a warm bed while we find your mom and dad. Okay?”
Sam ducked his chin and slanted a wary look at Matti.
“I know this is all kinda strange for you, but I promise to take good care of you and make sure you are safe until we get everything sorted out with your mom and dad,” Matti said.
The boy stuck his thumb in his mouth, and his nose was running a bit, evidence he’d been crying earlier.
Matti reached in her pocket and pulled out a small lollipop. “I almost forgot! I brought this for you. Do you like green apple suckers?”
The boy perked up and reached for the candy. “Red is my favorite.”
Matti brightened. “Really? Red is my favorite, too! Cool!”
