Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18
CASSIDY
T he boy had warmed up a little. He was conscious and sitting on the couch between me and Don. Bodie had made a pot of his very rich hot chocolate. The sugar content was enough to wake a dead man. The boy clutched the mug of cocoa like it was his lifeline. He stared at the fire but had yet to say a word. We were all giving him time to settle.
Bodie had brought an assortment of food, including bacon and hot buttermilk biscuits. So far, the boy didn’t want to eat. I knew he would eventually. He hadn’t fully grasped that he was safe now. I didn’t know what brought him to the driveway or right up to death’s door, but it was still haunting him.
Karen came back downstairs, dressed in a warm sweater and jeans. I had barely noticed the fact she was wearing very flimsy pajamas earlier. My attention had been focused on the boy, but I noticed. I’d be thinking about that later.
For now, I had to try and figure out what brought the young man to us. I realized who he was a few minutes ago. I hadn’t recognized him when he was blue, but now I did.
He was Carson Hoyt. Earl Hoyt’s son.
I watched him stare into the cocoa, barely sipping it, his small frame wrapped in a thick wool blanket. He’d stopped shivering, but the tension hadn’t left his body. I leaned forward, my elbows resting on my knees, trying to find the right words. I didn’t want to spook him. Part of my outreach with the Rocking Horse Club put me in touch with kids suffering from all kinds of different problems. And I remembered myself at that age. Coming on too strong would have the boy running right back into the cold, hypothermia be damned.
But I had to ask. I had to try and understand exactly what we were dealing with. If he was in danger, we needed to get the sheriff involved.
“Carson,” I said.
He looked at me like he was surprised I knew his name. Then he quickly looked away, staring into his hot chocolate once again.
“What were you doing in the middle of the road?” I asked. “How long had you been out there?”
His fingers tightened around the mug. “I left my house around midnight,” he said softly.
I nodded. “Why?”
“I wanted to get to Rocking Horse Ranch but it was too cold. I couldn’t make it. I had to rest. I just sat down for a minute…”
I closed my eyes, the words hitting me like a punch. He’d been out there for hours in the freezing cold. Another five minutes and we could’ve found him too late. I swallowed hard, trying to keep the anger in check. “That was a very dangerous thing you did, Carson. What were you thinking? You should know better than to be out in that kind of cold.”
The boy nodded, his shoulders slumping. “I know,” he whispered. “But I had to get out of there.”
My jaw clenched. I didn’t need to ask what he was running from, but I had to hear it from him. “Get out of where?” I asked gently.
“My house. Dad was on a bender again, drinking with his buddies like usual. They were throwing stuff, yelling. It scared me. They were cussing a bunch and just acting crazy.”
I felt a rush of anger so fierce it almost made my hands shake. Earl Hoyt. The man had always been a bully. He’d been a thorn in my side since we were kids. He used to push me around back when we were both in the orphanage, but this was too much. He was terrorizing his own son. What kind of sick fuck terrified his own kid?
“Some of my friends are in the program here,” Carson said. “I thought maybe this was the safe place to go. My friends said you guys were cool. One of them said you always tell them they can come here if they’re in trouble.”
I had to look away, clenching my fists to stop myself from running out of the lodge and going to find Earl. I always told the kids in the program to think before they acted. Earl wasn’t just a bully. He was a coward, taking out his anger on a kid who couldn’t defend himself. My mind raced through options, all of them leading back to the same thing—Carson couldn’t go back to that house.
“You’re welcome here,” I said. “I need you to eat something, okay? One step at a time. You’re going to finish that hot chocolate and then you’re going to try eating something. I want you to get some energy back. Got it?”
He nodded but didn’t seem too excited about the prospect of food.
“Come on, Bodie is a hell of a cook. Trust me, when you get a bite of his waffles, you’re going to want twenty more.”
I led him to the table. Bodie appeared out of nowhere with a fresh plate of food and a basket of biscuits. “Thanks,” I said to Bodie. “Can he get some juice?”
“Coming right up,” Bodie said and rushed back into the kitchen.
Karen cleared her throat. I glanced over at her. She offered a tight smile. “Cassidy, can we talk for a minute?”
“I’ll be right back, kid. Eat up.”
He didn’t look up, just nodded silently. I followed Karen toward the kitchen. Once we were out of earshot, Karen turned to face me, her expression serious but calm.
“Yes?” I asked.
“We need to think this through,” she said. “Legally, we have to let Earl know that his son is here.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but she held up a hand to stop me.
“Hear me out, Cassidy. I know how you feel, but if we keep Carson here without notifying his father, this could blow up in our faces. You’re harboring a runaway. If Earl is as untrustworthy and as dangerous as you’re saying, he could use this against us. He could claim we kidnapped his son. It’s a nightmare waiting to happen. He could sue the ranch. My uncle would lose. There is no defense.”
I rubbed my hand over my face. She was right. I knew she was right. But the thought of handing Carson back to Earl made my stomach turn. The kid had come here for safety, and now we were talking about sending him back into the lion’s den.
“I don’t want to send him back,” I said. “His dad scared him so bad he thought he had to walk here in the middle of the night in a snowstorm. What kind of man does that to his own son? Does that kid look unhinged? Does he look like someone that would walk miles in the dead of night in below freezing temps just for shits and giggles?”
Karen reached out and placed a hand on my arm. The touch was gentle, grounding me in a way that I didn’t expect. “Cassidy, I know this is hard. Believe me, I do. But it’s not our decision to make. At the very least, we need to call CPS. Carson has to tell someone else the story. The police aren’t going to be able to do much. It will go to CPS. You have to get a report on file. That’s the first step.”
I let out a long breath, staring past her for a moment. I knew she was right, but that didn’t make it any easier to swallow.
“Alright. We’ll call CPS. But if they decide to put that kid back in that home, it’s on them.”
It made my blood boil. How many times had I been in his shoes, terrified of someone bigger and stronger than me?
“I’ll go sit with him,” she said. “You call. Give them the facts. Try not to express how you feel about the kid’s father. They’ll think you’re lashing out or trying to get back at him.”
I nodded, but I still didn’t like it. I grabbed my phone and walked into the back room to make the call. I didn’t want Carson to overhear the conversation.
After a long, frustrating call with the CPS, I hung up, feeling even more agitated than before. I leaned against the wall, my head in my hands. Carson was just a kid trapped in an impossible situation. Why did adults always have to make everything so damn complicated?
The call left me with a bad taste in my mouth. They said they’d send someone to Carson’s house to investigate, but I didn’t trust it. They promised to make sure Carson was safe, but again, how could I trust that? They couldn’t be there twenty-four-seven. Sending someone there could put him in danger if Earl realized Carson had spoken up.
And when Earl figured out where Carson was, he was going to come to the ranch. I liked to think I had some self-control, but if that asshole showed up, all bets were off.
When I returned to the dining room, Carson was picking at his food. Karen looked up, questioning me with her eyes. I shook my head and moved to sit down beside Carson.
“Listen, buddy,” I said, my voice as gentle as I could manage. “If you ever need help, you come to me. You understand?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve been where you are,” I said. “I know what it means to be afraid of someone who’s bigger and stronger than you. But I can make you a promise.” I paused, making sure he was listening, really listening. “That fear? It doesn’t last forever. And he won’t be bigger and stronger than you forever either.”
“I know.”
I didn’t say the other thing I was thinking. I didn’t dare tell him if Earl ever laid a hand on him again, I’d be the first one to make sure he paid for it. I didn’t need to. Damn Earl Hoyt. Once a bully, always a bully. Now he was terrorizing his own kid.
“I don’t want to eat any more,” Carson said. “Do I have to go home now?”
“Yes,” Karen said.
“Not yet,” I said. “You can rest up. Why don’t you lay down on the couch for a bit? We’ll figure out what happens next.”
He got up and walked to the couch. Karen covered him with a blanket. She pointed toward the kitchen. She was going to lecture me, remind me I couldn’t get involved.
“I can give him another hour,” I said as soon as we were in the kitchen. “I doubt Earl even knows the kid is gone.”
“I agree.” She stunned me with the response.
“Really?”
“He needs to rest,” she said. “He’ll have to go home, but he can rest and get ready to face his father. You did the right thing.”
“I know,” I said, my voice rough. “But it doesn’t feel like it. I don’t want him back in that house. It’s so unfair.”
“You’re doing what you can,” she said softly. “And that matters. He trusts you. If something happens, he knows he can come to you. That’s a big deal.”
I let out a long breath. “Thanks, Karen.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, smiling gently. “You’re doing a lot more than most would. The world needs more people like you.”
“And that’s the problem,” I said. “Kids like him are out there to face that shit alone.”
“I know. It’s terrible, but you’re helping. One kid at a time, you’re helping.”