CHAPTER THREE #2
Trace set down his knife and sighed. “Seriously? Keely’s teacher is already concerned because she suggested riding cowboys instead of horses on their field trip to the animal rescue.”
“Supergran said it was a good idea,” Keely argued.
Lolli lifted her cocktail glass. “It’s the best idea.”
It was then that I fully took in her outfit.
She wore tie-dyed bell bottoms in every color of the rainbow, bedazzled high-top Chucks, and a T-shirt that made me blink a few times.
Across the front was a rhinestone heart with a pot leaf in the center, and below it, in artful script, were the words: Keep Blazing Stay Amazing.
“Lolls,” I said, struggling not to laugh as I made my way to her. “You are amazing.”
She beamed at me. Once I was within arm’s reach, she pulled me to her and kissed my cheeks. “You’ve always been my favorite.”
The room erupted with shouts of protest. Lolli just winked at me.
I carried plates into the kitchen with Shep’s help as everybody else talked over pie in the living room.
That was the thing about our family. We had a good cadence.
Whoever cooked never cleaned, everyone helped out with whichever kids were around, and no one left a family dinner feeling like the rest of the crew hadn’t checked in on them.
So, it wasn’t surprising when Shep asked, “How’s the caseload?”
“Kye say something?” I grumbled.
“He might’ve mentioned that you’re almost ten cases over the recommended number.”
Of course, he had. I knew he was only concerned, but having my entire family on my case wouldn’t help.
Shep knocked my shoulder with his. “Go easy on him. He’s worried about you.” Shep’s gaze flicked to where Ellie was curled into Trace’s side, Keely at their feet. “And I think what happened to Trace triggered him.”
Only a handful of weeks ago, Trace had been targeted by his father—recently out of prison and hell-bent on revenge.
Trace and Ellie had nearly lost their lives, thanks to Jasper and the people working with him.
I’d seen the toll it took on Kye, but as I searched him out now and noticed the shadows beneath his eyes, worry gnawed at me.
“He’s not sleeping,” I mumbled.
Shep handed me a plate. “Not much. He talk to you?”
I shook my head as I rinsed the dish. “No. I’ve tried.
He just won’t go there.” The most Kye would give me was quiet, where the two of us simply …
were. A trip out to the river or a nearby creek.
Anything with water, nature, and peace. He occasionally let something slip.
But lately? He wouldn’t say a word about what was actually swirling in his head, and he disappeared often, sometimes for days.
“Give him some time,” Shep encouraged. “If he talks to anyone, it’ll be you.”
An invisible fist ground into my sternum. I wanted to believe that. But more than anything, I wanted Kye to be okay. “How are you and Thea doing?” I asked, trying to steer the conversation away from things that might have me revealing too much.
A soft smile overtook Shep’s face as he searched out Thea in the room.
Her brown hair was slowly giving way to her natural blond tone now, and her green eyes shone as she animatedly talked with Rhodes.
“We’re good. Better than good. She’s been helping me more and more with landscape designs for my builds. It’s been great to have her input.”
“Love that you guys can do that together.” But it was more than that. I loved that they had each other. The two of them had brought healing where neither had thought they would find peace.
“Me, too,” Shep agreed.
My cell phone buzzed in my back pocket, and I pulled it out, glancing at the screen before swiping my finger across the device to answer. “Hey, Rose.”
“Sorry to bother you after hours,” Rose said.
“That’s okay.” It was the nature of the job. You were rarely off the clock. “What’s up?”
“Remember the little girl and her sister that you flagged for us? Gracie and Hayden Jensen?”
I stiffened. “Sure. You said Noah didn’t find anything.
” Gracie was a friend and classmate of Keely’s, who had always seemed on the shyer side.
The fact that her older sister always picked her up from school had flagged something for Trace.
When Cope was in town this past summer to teach a hockey camp, he’d gotten to know Hayden, who played girls’ hockey.
He’d mentioned that it seemed like she was more a mother than a sister to the little girl.
“At the time, he didn’t,” Rose said. “Teachers said homework’s always done for Gracie, Hayden, and their middle sister, Clementine.
Clothes aren’t the nicest, but they’re always clean.
They have lunches. No one has seen any physical injuries on the girls, besides one or two bruises on Hayden that she said were from hockey. And we know she plays the sport.”
“But?” Because I knew there was a but.
“There was an incident tonight,” Rose went on.
My stomach pitched. The word incident could mean anything. But it was never good. “What happened?”
“Mercer County Sheriff’s Department got a call about a fight in one of the trailers at The Meadows.
” The RV park and cabins were in an area of Sparrow Falls that wasn’t always the greatest. There were hardworking people struggling to get by, but there was also a fair amount of drug activity in the area.
My fingers closed tighter around my phone as I moved away from the noise of my family. “What’d they find?”
“Lieutenant Rivera is on the scene, but he didn’t tell me much other than it’s clear Hayden’s mother hit her.”
I bit the inside of my cheek so hard that the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. “I should’ve pushed harder. Both Cope and Trace knew something was off.”
“Fallon,” Rose said gently. “You know it doesn’t work that way. You can’t remove a child from a home just because you have a bad feeling.”
“I could’ve asked Noah to stop by the home again. Keep checking in,” I pressed. He might not have been able to get inside without due cause, but we could’ve worked harder to find it.
“And opened us up to a harassment suit? You know better than that.”
An invisible fist squeezed my heart. Sometimes, it felt like there was no winning in this career. Like you were trying to help with a blindfold on and both hands tied behind your back.
“What can I do?” I might not be able to go back and change the past, but I could do whatever I could to help now.
“I know you’re already over your max caseload, but do you want to be their caseworker?”
“Yes.” The word was out of my mouth instantly.
“Case is yours. Noah’s on his way. As I said, the sheriff’s department is on the scene.”
“Okay. I’m leaving the ranch now. It’ll take me about twenty minutes to get there.”
“Sorry to interrupt your family dinner.”
I shook my head, even though she couldn’t see me. “You know it’s worth it every time.”
“Call me if you need anything.”
“Thanks, Rose.” I hit end on the call and turned around, only to come face-to-face with two hulking forms sporting stormy expressions.
I might’ve been intimidated if I didn’t know them and hadn’t seen them playing tea party with Keely or nursing an orphaned calf.
But I had. So, instead, I simply said, “I need to go.”
“What was the call?” Trace asked, his worried brow furrowing deeper.
It would cut him the same way it had me. I wanted to save him that. But I knew he’d find out first thing in the morning anyway. “There was an incident at Gracie’s house. Her mom struck her older sister, Hayden.”
Energy crackled through the air like tiny whips of pure electricity lashing at my skin. Kye’s hands fisted, making the ink on his knuckles ripple while Trace’s dark green eyes deepened to a stormy shade.
“I’m coming with you,” Trace said instantly.
Kye jerked his head in a nod. “Me, too.” But those two words were wound so tightly, I knew he was battling his demons. His memories.
That place between my breasts, the bone that kept me together, ached like something was eating away at the marrow. Because I couldn’t handle Kye being in pain. Would do anything to stop it. But I had to deal with Trace first.
“Gabriel’s got this. You know you can’t work the case, given you have a personal relationship with one of the potential victims.” My words were gentle, but I didn’t lose Trace’s eyes.
He let out an indiscernible grumble, then his gaze moved to his daughter, who was blissfully ignorant about what was happening. Ellie cast a concerned glance our way every so often, though.
I squeezed Trace’s forearm. “Go be with your family. I’ll call as soon as I’m done so you can prep Keely. Gracie’s going to need her.”
“Okay.” The word was more an expulsion of air than anything else. But he was already moving. Heading back to his girls—the ones his whole world revolved around. And wouldn’t that be nice? To be someone’s anchor in that way.
My fingers twisted in my necklace as I turned to Kye. His whole body almost vibrated, and I had to fight back the instinct to touch him. “Tell me.”
It was always my gentle command. Not a question, but a deep need to know what swirled inside Kyler’s mind.
“Don’t want you walking into a volatile situation,” he ground out, his pinky curling around mine.
“I’m not,” I assured him. “The sheriff’s department is already there. I’m just going to support the girls and get them settled in their temporary emergency foster placements.”
Kye’s jaw clamped tighter, and a muscle pulsed like an early warning system. “You never know when something could turn.”
My brows pulled together as I tried to look deeper. As if I could peel back every layer of this man and uncover what he was truly feeling. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”
He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. He just stared at me like he was searching for something, too. Like I was his lifeline, and he needed to make sure I was still there. “It’s been bad lately.”
My fingers twisted tighter in my necklace. “I know.”
“I don’t know how to silence all the darkness. It’s just … it’s drowning me.”
The ache in my chest turned into a blazing pain, and I couldn’t hold back any longer.
I locked my pinky with his, squeezing tightly.
“I’m here.” It was all I could give him.
I couldn’t erase his pain or stop the demons that had flared to life after everything Trace went through.
All I could do was weather the storm with him.
“I know.” Kye’s eyes held mine, and for a moment, I thought he might pull me closer. He didn’t. “Thank you.”
“I’ll call you after I’m done,” I promised. “And I’ll be with Gabriel the whole time.”
He jerked his head in a nod. “I’m going to Haven. Get a workout in.”
Trying to fight back those demons.
“Okay. Don’t push yourself too hard.” I didn’t want him to get hurt or worse.
He ignored that and said, “You have your location on?”
“You’d yell at me if I didn’t.”
He tried to smile but didn’t quite get there. “I like knowing where you are so I know you’re safe.”
I gave his pinky another squeeze. “Trust me to take care of myself.”
Kye’s amber eyes swirled with varying hues of gold and rich brown. “There’s no one I trust more.”