Chapter 16
BODHI
“As soon as you get back, make sure that you wake me up. You’ve been gone for far too long.”
My lips twitched as I took the next turn through the mountains.
It was getting late, the sun was already setting, and I didn’t like driving on this winding road at night, not with so many idiots out there.
But I would get there soon. My heart was home after all.
“I’ve been gone for less than twenty-four hours.
I’ll see you and the kids soon. Promise. ”
“You’d better. Promise me? I miss you.” Courtney’s laugh over the phone made me grin as Henry started babbling about something, and Josie made a little squeak of happiness.
I was heading home to my family, and it was about time.
I needed to drop off a few things for one of my clients, and it wasn’t something I could just mail.
Courtney and the kids used to usually come out with me for these kinds of trips, but we’d had to deal with a few issues along the way, and Josie had needed a checkup.
So Courtney and the kids had stayed behind.
Next time, they would come with me. After all, road trips were a family affair.
“I’ll see you soon, baby. I love you.”
“I love you too, dork.”
I rolled my eyes and hung up, letting the call end, turning up the music so I could stay awake.
It’d been a long summer, and I was exhausted.
It was hard to try to find peace these days, knowing Malcolm was gone.
Between that, and my sister now a new mom down in Texas, everything felt as if it were changing so quickly that I couldn’t keep up.
I ran my hand over my heart, knowing that Malcolm would hate the fact that I was even dwelling on missing him.
He always used to give me shit for carrying as much as I did.
Then again, he cared more than anybody let on.
I missed my brother. I missed his laugh, his talent, and the way that he made others laugh.
I didn’t know what was going to happen to the band now.
I heard that they were possibly looking for a replacement drummer, but that wasn’t my business anymore.
I wasn’t even sure I could listen to them again.
And I knew Malcolm would hate me for it.
I pulled into the driveway of our modest home and smiled at that.
We were still working on updating a few things.
It was a fixer-upper for sure, but Court didn’t mind me being an idiot, and figuring out how to make our house better for the future of our kids, without breaking something along the way.
I turned off the engine, rolled my shoulders since I hadn’t bothered to take a break on the entire trip here, and got out. The door opened, despite the late hour, and I laughed.
“I thought I was supposed to wake you up.”
“Like I could do that. Somebody wanted to see you.”
My baby girl waved to me from her mother’s arms, as Henry ran toward me on his little toddler legs. He leaped off the porch, even as Courtney gasped, and I picked him up, crushing him to my chest.
“Look at you, a superhero. But you know better than to jump like that.”
“You caught me. Always.”
My heart swelled, and I kissed his cheek, loving the way that he laughed. I moved forward, held Courtney to me, and kissed her cheek. Then I rubbed my beard along Josie’s cheek, relishing the way she giggled.
“Welcome home, husband.”
“It’s good to be home,” I whispered. I kissed her softly and then led my family into our home, knowing that this was the perfect moment in my life. And nothing could ever change that.
Later, I stood in the small workhouse that Courtney had let me build in the backyard and worked on my next project.
I was far enough away that it was a trek to the house, but thanks to the land that we currently resided on, I could still see it from here.
I wanted to move it closer, but this was the best place for the foundation.
I turned on the saw and got to work. I had more than a few pieces set up and wanted to get this cabinet done by tomorrow.
Hopefully, Courtney and the kids would be able to come with me and deliver it to its new owners.
I had the radio on as a news segment broke, and I ignored it, since it wasn’t breaking news, and just a regurgitation of the normal parts of the day.
There was a serial arsonist on the loose in the northern part of the state, and authorities were still looking for him.
I shook my head at that, hoping like hell that they found him.
Nobody had gotten hurt so far, but any one of those fires could spread and cause a lot of damage and pain.
I was just glad that he was far enough away.
The news changed to something else, another political issue that angered me to no end, because, of course, the people in power never cared about those beneath them.
I put my frustration into my work, and another hour passed before I frowned, the smell of smoke filling my small workhouse.
“What the hell?”
I took a step out of the small building, and my heart raced.
“No. Fuck. No.” I was running before I could even think, trying to pull up my phone to call 911. But everything blurred after that.
The guttural scream ripping from my throat, the smoke singeing my nostrils. The flames licking at my skin. I screamed for them. But nobody called back. Nobody reached for me until the end. Not until strong arms wrapped around my waist and dragged me out of the burning house.
“No. No.”
“You can’t go in there, Bodhi.”
I ignored Thatcher and Captain Carter as they dragged me toward the ambulance.
“Somebody give him oxygen. Tell them we have a burn victim. At least third-degree burns on his side, second degree on his other.”
I ignored Mr. Carter’s words as I looked up at Thatcher. “Courtney? The babies?”
Thatcher gave me a look, and I roared, my heart shattering into a million pieces. The crevasse that had once been the crystalline shelter for my soul whispered to dust, and nothing left could be salvageable as a person.
Nobody else would be going inside that house. Even as my body began to shake, the pain finally hitting me since I had been numb to it before, I realized that my best friend was trying to tell me something. But I ignored the pain, ignored the words, and reached for Thatcher.
“Where are they?”
“Bodhi.”
“Thatcher. My family.”
“Bodhi.”
I blinked, realizing that I was no longer in the past, that flashback was a recurring nightmare that didn’t feel like it was recurring. It had felt too real.
I leaned against the brick facing of the hospital and stared into Thatcher’s familiar eyes.
It was nearly the same look that he had given me when I had realized I hadn’t been enough. That my best friend hadn’t been enough.
“Thatcher.”
“Where were you just then?”
I shook my head. “Nowhere.”
“I don’t know if I believe you.”
I let out a breath and stared off into the distance, the moon high in the sky, stars blinking in and out on that velvet blue sky.
I had been downtown with Atlas, going to meet the guys since I had promised them I would start to leave the house again.
Being with Kiera had reminded me that I needed to start living again, a stark contrast to this moment in time.
When we had heard the scream, Atlas and I had started running, not knowing who it was.
It was a reflex, somebody was hurt, in pain, and we went to help.
Then I had seen Kiera on the ground, covering her body as the drugged-up asshole kicked her repeatedly.
I hadn’t even thought twice before throwing myself at the man, Atlas right behind me.
I’d let my fists connect with Jeremiah’s face once, before I staggered back and went straight to Kiera.
I had only been able to do that because I had known Atlas would be there.
The man had risked his body—the one that the NHL required to be healthy at all times—in order to save Kiera.
And for that, I would always be grateful.
The man had only a few hours before he had to go back, but he had been there for me.
And yet I couldn’t focus, not right now. I couldn’t go back into that hospital. Not the same hospital that had declared my babies and my wife dead. The same hospital I had been laid up in for months, and I had learned to heal from the wounds that still covered my body.
“Kiera should be discharged soon. She has a few stitches, and I’m sure the paparazzi and media have already heard, so they’ll be on their way soon.
But she’s going to be fine. Looks like her fist was the one that broke the man’s nose, you and Atlas added on a broken jaw, and a possible broken rib or three. ”
I blinked up at Thatcher, trying to stay in this moment, but everything blended. Courtney’s scream that I hadn’t truly heard, and Kiera’s real one.
“She’s going to be okay?” I asked, even though Thatcher had just said so.
“She will. Going to be a little sore. But neither one of the wounds was deep. In fact, she might not have needed stitches on her jawline at all, but a plastic surgeon will do his best to minimize scarring.”
“I should have killed him.”
“I wouldn’t have blamed you, but I heard you went right to her and let Atlas deal with him. That’s good, Bodhi. Kiera needed you.”
“I wasn’t fast enough. She was still bleeding.”
“But that asshole is going to jail for a long time. Probably attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon. Not to mention he had enough meth in his system and on his body to kill a large animal.”
My eyes widened. “He was on meth?”
“Meth and I believe fentanyl. But that’s just hearsay at this point.
The only reason I’m telling you anything about Kiera’s medical status is that she told me I was allowed to.
You haven’t gone in there since they first rolled her in and kicked you out of the room. You’re going to go back in there?”