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“He’s going to get that horse pregnant, you know? And then I will have spent all that money on that trainer in Lake Forest⁠—”

“Calm down. She’s not in heat and it won’t be that long until I come up with a solution, Brynn.”

“Such as? What is the backup plan here?” She threw her hands up. “This whole thing is so ridiculous⁠—”

“Brynn,” I sighed. “I will figure something out.”

I had no idea what the backup plan was, but how could I? Three hours ago, we'd narrowly survived an EF-4 tornado that had left more than a million dollars of damage in its wake. It was insane! What did she expect from me?

“Brynn, this isn’t helping,” Felix, her husband, tried talking her down. “I am sure Cole will have it all… sorted out.”

Despite the fact I should have hated Felix, I didn’t. The only way I stayed civil with Brynn these days was to communicate through Felix. I had the right to take the moral high ground and hold it against her, but didn’t for Piper’s sake.

“I don’t want to go back with you,” Piper approached us.

“Sweetheart, there isn’t enough room for us at Uncle Kevin’s. Your mom is scared for you. She wants to know you are safe.”

“Fine, whatever, just don’t bone loudly. It’s so fucking gross!” Piper declared.

“Piper,” I groaned. “Language, sweetie!”

“I am out of fuck’s, dad. I almost died!” She shouted. “Call me in the morning, okay? Tell me how Cash and Opal are.”

“I will try,” I promised. “But I need to be back here early enough to fill up those troughs. That’s still got to be the first thing I do.”

“Take care of my girls,” Piper hugged me tight. “And please come save me as soon as you can.”

“I love you, sunshine. Try to have fun at your mom’s. It will be like a sleepover.”

Her sour face told me she’d rather be anywhere but.

“We’ll go get breakfast in the morning at that place you like,” Felix offered, trying to buy her silence.

I had to hand it to Felix. He tried so hard even if Piper gave him nothing in return. He was young—only thirty-five—and out of his depth, but cared about Piper. Unfortunately, she still viewed him as “the other man”. No matter how many times I told her that wasn’t an accurate representation of his relationship with Brynn, Piper refused to listen. She was at that precious, angsty teen stage when the papers were signed two years ago. I was the good guy. Her mother and Felix were bad.

“What are you going to do, man?” Kevin asked as they pulled away.

“I have no fucking clue,” I sighed. “The first priority is building another shelter. I can probably do it with some tarps and a few posts for now.”

“You gonna attach those supplies to a bike? Gonna drive the Gator to Home Depot?”

“Okay, fixing the cars is the first thing. I will try to get a beater from Mom and Dad in the interim. Anything will do.”

“And a place to stay? Fi is not going to handle you sleeping on our couch forever.”

I sighed. Kevin was married to Fiona, a hotshot attorney. They lived in this tiny, expensive River North condo.

“I know. And trust me, it’s no help. Commuting out here from you is going to be a fucking nightmare. I will only stay a couple days at most. Let’s hope we can get a crew out here soon. I’ll stay in the living quarters of the trailer if we can replace it quicker than anything else.”

“You think a judge is going to sign off on you living in a horse trailer with that kid for months?”

“It’s basically an RV, man.”

“Even so. Are you crazy?”

He was right. I had to come up with a better idea. Losing primary custody to Piper would end me. In a few weeks, her sophomore year started. She deserved better than disorder right now. I wanted her to have the best of everything—even if that meant she lived with her mom, at least she was alive and safe tonight. That was all that mattered.

6. A SIGN