Chapter 26
A coffee cup was slammed down in front of my computer, pulling me from the report I was typing up.
“Are you going to get your head out of your ass or what?”
Dylan plopped his ass on the corner of my desk, arms crossed over his chest.
“Good afternoon, Dylan. How are you?”
“Fuck off with the pleasantries. Do you, or do you not, love my sister?”
“The hell kind of question is that?”
I sat back in my chair mirroring his crossed arms.
“I don’t know, you tell me. I certainly never thought I’d have to ask it of you.”
If looks could kill, I’d be burning at the stake.
“Of course I love her.”
“Well, you’re doing a terrible job of showing it this past week,”
he countered, still glaring at me.
I shot out of my chair, throwing my hands in the air in defeat. “Goddammit, Dylan! How would you feel if Josh was so drunk one night he killed Allison’s husband?”
“I’d be thrilled. That fucker should be six feet under already,”
he bristled.
I threw my pen at his chest. “You’re missing the point!”
“No, you are. Lucy loves you, but how long is she going to give you to figure your shit out? She never judged you or felt like you failed. That’s all you and your self-imposed notions.”
“It was my brother! I took him there!”
“There are alcoholics everywhere. DUIs happen every day. It could have been anyone.”
“But it wasn’t anyone. It was Graham!”
I buried my head in my hands, shoulders heaving as I wept.
Dylan’s hand found my shoulder. “And that sucks, man. It really does. But you didn’t fail. This wasn’t some big test. Your brother made his bed, and you have been saving him for laying in it time and time again. Eventually, he had to learn his lesson, and in a way you should be proud. He confessed. That’s progress. David’s time came. If it wasn’t your brother, it would have been someone else, when our time comes, that’s it. David’s time had come. No one blames you for David’s death, so stop wallowing and go make up with my sister. She’s sad and I’d give anything to never see that look on her face again. I’ll fight you if I have to, but we know I’d lose and have to call in Brett and Josh for reinforcements, then everyone would be bloody, and Lucy would never forgive any of us.”
I chuckled despite everything.
The dispatch phone rang, pulling our attention from one another. Nancy was out with the flu, so Dylan and I had been taking turns answering calls.
“911 what’s your emergency?”
I answered.
“Garrett?”
Eve’s voice was frantic on the other end.
“Eve? Where are you? What’s wrong?”
I was already standing from my desk, pulling on my duty belt.
“I had a big fight with Kaley. Gran went to the store. I said I was old enough to watch Kaley and Liam. I’m going to be in so much trouble.”
“Eve, I’m going to need you to take a deep breath.”
She breathed into the phone, rattling the speakers. “Mom is still at your parent’s house. I was supposed to be able to watch them. It was only ten minutes.”
“Eve what happened?”
Dylan was grabbing his coat as we made our way to the cruiser.
“We were arguing and she just bolted out the back door. I can’t leave. Liam is asleep!”
“Which way did she go, Eve?”
“I think she went into the woods behind our house.”
I nodded. That made sense. “Okay, she’s probably headed to the farm. That trail connects. Deep breath, Eve. We are on our way.”
“I shouldn’t have called you. I should have called Uncle Brett,”
she fretted.
“Your Uncle Dylan is right next to me. You did the right thing. Stay where you are, and we will go find her.”
I hung up as we buckled into the cruiser, flipped the lights and sirens and rushed to my house, weaving in and out of traffic.
“It’s fucking cold out,”
Dylan cursed as he glanced at the temperature gauge that read two degrees Fahrenheit. “She had better have grabbed her coat and gloves.”
I swallowed and prayed she had.
We pulled into my driveway. Charlie came running out of the barn, barking at the sirens. Kaley was right behind him, wearing winter boots and pajamas. Her blonde hair was a rat’s nest from the wind. Those big eyes were bloodshot as she covered her ears and ran towards us.
I flipped the siren off and bolted out of the car, pulling my coat off and wrapping it around her tiny shoulders. I scooped her up and held her in my arms.
“Half-pint, you and I are going to have a long talk about appropriate ways to handle big feelings.”
I hugged her close to my chest.
She shivered in my arms. “Eve said you probably weren’t coming back, that we probably made you too sad.”
I sighed and glanced over at Dylan who couldn’t seem to decide whether or not to take the situation seriously or laugh. “I’m not leaving you guys, Half-pint. I love you all too much. But I was really sad and angry at my brother. I had to work through that.”
Her red-rimmed eyes looked up at me. “But why did you have to stay away from us while you worked through it?”
I swallowed and shook my head. “Because sometime grownups don’t know what to do with big feelings and we run away, too.”
“Can you be done running away now?”
Her teeth clicked as she shivered.
“Yes, if you promise never to run away again, especially in winter without your coat.”
She curled into my chest. “I promise.”
Dylan shook his head as I buckled her into the back of the cruiser, blasting the heat. “You sure know how to scare a man, Kaley.”
She shook as she warmed up and I drove her home. “Sssorry.”
By the time we pulled into Gran’s driveway, Lucy was standing in the driveway, holding a very distressed Eve.
Lucy spotted Kaley in the back seat and ran to the car, throwing open Kaley’s door. “Oh, thank God. Thank you, Garrett. Thank you, Dylan.”
“Eve,”
I called out to my little hurricane. “You did the absolute right thing. Come here.”
I wrapped her in a hug, her shoulders sagging as she allowed herself to cry tears of relief. “You did good, kid. I’m proud of you for calling.”
Lucy cradled Kaley against her chest, eyes watching me hug Eve. “Let’s get inside.”
I guided Eve up the porch stairs, and we gathered around the fireplace.
“I’m so sorry, Mom,”
Eve whispered.
“I’m not mad at you, Eve. You did the right thing. Kaley, we are going to have a big discussion tomorrow.”
Kaley looked away. “Yes, Mom.”
“Daisy,”
I said, reaching out to place a hand on her knee. Her eyes snapped up to mine. “I’m sorry.”
We both knew it wasn’t just about the current situation.
Her bottom lip quivered as she leaned her cheek against Kaley’s forehead. “I don’t want you to be sorry.”
I dropped to my knees before her and the girls. “No, I’m sorry for running away, for pulling back.”
She swallowed. “That was dumb, and you should apologize for that, but not just to me, but the girls, too.”
I chuckled and nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry, girls. I should have handled everything better.”
I glanced at all of them. “I love you. All of you. I was ashamed of my brother, but I never meant to hurt you all.”
“It’s okay,”
Eve said as she leaned her head on my shoulder. “Does this mean you’re back? Like for good?”
I looked at the woman who has been the center of my universe for the last twenty years. “If your mom will have me, then yes.”
Lucy rolled her eyes. “I never stopped loving you, Garrett. But if you put my kids through that again, I’ll have to castrate you.”
I barked a laugh. Even Dylan laughed from the foyer. “I promise, it will never happen again.”
Lucy smirked. “Good.”
I leaned forward, ready to beg for a kiss when the dispatch phone rang.
I pointed at Lucy. “We’ll pick this up later.”
She nodded. “We’ll be here.”
Hope sparked in her warm brown eyes and dammit if it didn’t spread in my chest too.
***
I pulled into Lucy’s drive after ensuring Mom and Dad got to bed okay. The porch light was on, and the door pulled open when I got out of the truck.
Lucy was dressed in tight leggings and an oversized sweater with a polar bear drinking hot cocoa on the front. She smiled timidly as I made my way to her.
“Sheriff,”
she greeted me with arms crossed over her chest.
“Daze,”
I copied her tone, placing a kiss on her cheek.
“We need rules for when something big happens. I won’t tolerate you hiding away for a week again. I want communication, even if you need space. I want to handle things together.”
“Done.”
I kissed her other cheek.
“It wasn’t your fault,”
she said tersely.
“I know.”
I kissed her forehead.
“If you’re going to be a father figure to the kids, then you have to communicate with them, too.”
“I will.”
I kissed the side of her mouth, earning a small smirk.
“Good.”
“My turn?”
I asked as I placed a final kiss on the other side of her mouth.
“Your turn?”
She pulled back to look at me perplexed.
“Yes, my turn. If we are going to move forward and I am going to be a father figure to your amazing children, then I have one demand.”
“Oh?”
She raised a defiant brow. “What is this demand?”
“Move in with me. There is enough room for the girls to each have their own room, in fact, that was something I was preparing during this last week. I never gave up on us, but I did have to work through my feelings for my brother. So, move in with me and help me start an equine therapy service at the farm.”
“Garrett,”
she breathed, prepping herself to argue.
“No. Before you say no, I assembled a crib for Liam this morning and hired someone to paint Eve’s room to look like a scene out of a Tim Burton film and Kaley’s room will be painted to look like a unicorn threw up. I want you. I want all of you, that is if you will forgive me.”
She sucked in a steadying breath and threw her arms around my neck, laughing as she said, “We literally just unpacked everything.”
I hugged her back. “I’ll hire movers this time.”
“I love you, Garrett.”
“I love you too, Daze.”