Chapter 28 Violet
Violet
“Thank you for bringing him home.” I reached out and took the bag from Beau’s hand, turning for the kitchen. “I don’t want to keep you guys. I’m going to put some supper for you on a plate, okay?”
“You don’t have to—”
“Stop. You brought Colt home. You made sure he was okay. This is the smallest way possible for me to say thanks, but it’s all I have right now.”
Beau nodded. I shuffled around the kitchen, serving two portions of the meatloaf and mashed potatoes I’d made. Securing them with plastic wrap, I handed them both to Beau.
“Make sure Hayes gets one for me, will you?”
“Of course.” Beau cleared his throat. “Call either one of us if you need anything, okay?”
I knew how much that offer must have cost him. He didn’t want to hear from me, and I knew he only made it to help out his brother, but it still meant a lot to me.
“Sure.” Crap. I was starting to lose to the panic threatening to pull me under. I could hear Colt’s voice becoming more animated in the living room, and I knew the discussion was around me and my safety.
I turned away from Beau, grabbing the bag with Colt’s shirt. I opened it, not surprised to find blood on the collar. In the laundry room, I stood on my tiptoes, belly pressed against the washing machine, trying to reach the detergent he kept on a shelf.
The noise of his brothers saying goodbye filtered into the room. I turned the tap on, trying to make sure the water wasn’t too hot, but also not wanting to freeze my hands while I scrubbed the stain out.
I noticed the flap on his chest pocket was open, the button no longer through the loop holding it closed. Not wanting to put loose change or a battery through the wash, I slipped my hand inside the pocket.
A folded piece of paper slipped between my fingers. Probably notes he was taking during the shift, good thing I checked.
I pulled the piece of paper out and set it on the dryer. But my husband’s handwriting wasn’t on it. No. In fact, I didn’t know whose handwriting it was, but the message they were sending to Colt was clear.
SHE’S MINE.
“Hey, what are you doing in here?” Colt stood in the doorway, his arms folded across his chest.
“Did your brothers leave?” I asked, working overtime to keep my voice steady.
“Yeah, after reminding me to check in with them tomorrow about how I was feeling forty-five times. They said thanks again for sending dinner along.”
I ran the collar of his shirt under the water, adding detergent and scrubbing the fabric between my hands. Streams of pink water swirled down the drain and made my stomach churn.
“Vi?”
I sniffed, not turning around to face him. “You should go up to bed. I’m just going to get this in the wash and pick up from supper. Are you hungry? Take a plate up with you, and I’ll be up when I’m done.”
His arms slid under mine, resting in a hug with his hands on my belly. The scratchy stubble from his beard scraped against my cheek as he pressed a kiss there.
“I have more of those shirts. Let’s just throw it out. And then we can both have some dinner and go to bed.”
I shook my head. “I’m not hungry.”
The pressure of his hands left, and he turned off the water, taking the shirt from my grasp and draping it over the edge of the sink.
“Turn around, baby.”
“I can’t,” I whimpered. “I don’t want you to see me fall apart.”
“Breathe, darlin’. It’s okay. Everything is going to be okay.”
Anger surged, burning red hot across my skin. “It’s not. I brought him here. He threatened my dad, and now he’s actually hurt you! It’s because of me.”
Colt slipped his hand around mine and turned me around so my back was resting against the sink.
“We don’t know that what happened today was connected to you. And no matter what, you don’t take that on. Someone is stalking you. Someone is threatening you. We’re going to figure it out, and I’m going to keep you safe.”
I grabbed the paper off the dryer. “We do. This was in your shirt pocket.”
Colt unfolded the note, his eyes wide as his body vibrated with anger. “This doesn’t make it your fault, and you will not take that on, you hear me?”
I nodded. “I need to put the food away.”
“Go upstairs, get ready for bed, and relax. I’ll take care of things down here and be up in a minute.”
What else could I say? How much more could I argue? I slipped past Colt and the messy kitchen, wishing more than anything the night had ended with cupcakes and kisses.
Colt shuffled into the bedroom just as I reached over to turn off the lamp on my nightstand. “I bagged the photo up and the note you found. A deputy is coming out in the morning to get it.”
I was sitting in bed with my back against the headboard, trying to not let my mind wander with all the possibilities about how far this could all escalate.
“How bad is your head hurting right now?” I asked.
“I’m fine.”
“I know you are. Now, how bad is the pain?”
“Barely there. I promise.”
“Good. Come lay in bed.”
He pulled his shirt over his head, and then stepped out of his pants before sliding under the sheets.
“You don’t have to ask me twice.”
I grabbed his pillow just as he was sitting down and laid it over my lap. Colt didn’t ask a single question. He just laid down, resting his head on the pillow over my legs.
My fingers went to work, combing through his hair, careful not to come close to the spot where he was stitched up.
I massaged his temples. My fingers gently moved to his eyebrows, and down his jaw.
They traced over the violets on his chest. He melted further into the mattress as his body went lax under my touch.
“I forgot about this,” he muttered at one point.
“It always made you feel better after a stressful day.” Colt turned his head towards me, moving just enough so he could kiss my belly.
“How long are you out of work for?”
“Seven to ten days for my head, but Hank agrees it’s best if I start my paternity leave now. John Boone will fill in until Hank comes back in a few days.”
We hadn’t even talked about him taking a leave once the baby came, but I should have known he was already planning on it. “Paternity leave? Don’t you want that for after the baby comes? You won’t get as much time with him…”
“It’s fine. This doesn’t count towards my time after. Hank is a family first guy. He’d make it work for anyone.”
“That’s really nice of him. So, no more deputies in the driveway?”
“Nope. Just a deputy in your bed.”
“Jackpot.” I giggled. “As long as it’s only this one deputy I’ve had my eye on for a while now.”
“Ma’am, if you describe him to me, I might be able to put in a special request for you.”
“Well, you see, he’s older.”
“Ouch.”
“Excuse you? I’m older, too. Older is wise. Older is understanding. Older is hot.”
“Well, when you put it that way…continue please.”
He smiled as my fingers made their way back to his jaw. He was carrying so much tension in his body. I pressed firmly into the joint, loving the groan that resonated in his chest.
“And he’s got these two incredibly sexy salt and pepper patches of hair starting at his temple.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“What else?” Colt egged me on.
“Well, he wears the hottest reading glasses known to mankind. Seriously, the government should look into labeling him a weapon of mass destruction when he puts those things on.”
“Mm.”
“And he has a lot of tattoos, but you’ll know it's the right guy because of one very special tattoo.”
“Right over his heart?”
“Right over his heart.”
“Sounds like the kind of man you’d want to keep.”
I knew he was joking, but when one eye popped open, I couldn’t help but answer truthfully.
“He’s the kind of man I never wanted to let go of.
The kind of man who is so good, so safe.
He makes everything scary and bad fade away.
He makes me believe that no matter what, good things are coming for us.
” I dropped my voice to a whisper, scared out of my mind to keep speaking.
But I did. “I’ve loved him my whole life. ”
Colt’s hand came up off the mattress and captured mine. I melted as he pressed his lips to the center of my palm. “He’s loved you his whole life too, darlin’. I promise.”