CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT #2
I don't know what the fuck we're doing anymore, or if there's a chance we'll ever be more than we are right now.
Partners. For the business. For the kids.
Maybe that's all we should be. Maybe tempting fate after everything that's already gone to shit and been lost is too great a risk.
Or maybe all the loss is precisely the reason we should risk it.
I don't know. But for now, I'm going to revel in the feeling of being inside her circle, one of hers. The people she'd stop the world for.
"She really got video footage of Nika getting injured before he ran her out of the box?" Cas asks as he comes into the tack room behind me, putting up the last of the bridles we used tonight. Cas has been helping out more and more around here. And if I can get the business to turn the sort of profit soon that I think it will, I'm considering asking him to come on in some official capacity here. I know he’s got his own place he’s building, but it’ll be a while yet before it’s up and running.
"And it's not the first time she caught him putting Nika in a dangerous situation either," I tell him, still marveling at her brilliance.
I had no idea she'd taken it upon herself to start collecting data against him. When she filled me in between rides tonight, all I could do was grin at her like a complete idiot.
The high of hearing her tale had me riding better than ever. Everything felt so in sync. Me and the horses. Me and Liz.
"I think it's safe to say he won't be making any threats against Serendipity again anytime soon." Or ever, if Liz has anything to say about it.
"Well, I'm gonna do my part to keep spreading the word about the work you do out here. Maybe we can't shut him down completely, but I'll do whatever I can to keep other horses out of his care."
I nod. "I wish there was more we could do."
He leans against a rack of saddle blankets, facing me as he folds his arms in front of his chest, and crosses one boot over his ankle. "I have a feeling your woman ain't done with him yet."
I grin. It's automatic. And I'm not sorry about it. Though I do correct him. "She's not my woman, but I think you might be right. The way she was going on about it, she may well still be searching for an angle to get at him."
I wish she'd apply even half this much outrage on her own behalf. The fact she was willing to fold to Tammy—the fact Tammy had the gall to come after her, to make those threats—when she knew what it would mean, knew where Liz was vulnerable and where to hit her to make her break.
I shake my head. "You gonna hang around for a bit more?" I ask him, backing up toward the door.
"Nope." He pushes off from where he's been leaning against the rack. "All done here and ready to get my boy." He rubs both hands together. "It's Friday s'mores night."
"Is that a regular thing?" I ask, hitting the lights as we walk out together.
"Starting to be," he says. "Watching Liz with the kids, the different routines she's created for them, got me thinking about ways to bring some stability and fun into our schedule. Wyatt hasn't had much of that in his life."
"Friday s'mores night sounds like an excellent way to start.
" I smile when we reach our trucks, the only two left parked out here.
The old Ford's been good to me since I started driving it around. Admittedly, it wouldn’t matter if it was breaking down every few feet, I'd still choose to drive it knowing Liz was riding in my truck instead of her shitty old car.
"You heading out?" A slight frown wrinkles his forehead.
"Just for a bit." I grip the handle and pull open the door. "Tell Liz, would you? I don't want her to worry if she sees my headlights coming down the drive later tonight."
He nods before he waves me off and I climb into the driver’s seat, pulling the door shut behind me.
It's after ten when I drive up in front of Trent's parents’ house. The place is as familiar as my mom's, a second home to me for many years. And yet, I can't conjure a single warm feeling as I kill the engine and get out of the truck.
I say a silent apology to Trent as I make my way up to the front door.
Up until today, I'd never have dreamed of disrespecting his mother. And I'd have pounded anyone who dared to.
But things are different now.
The loyalty that's always extended from Trent to her is still there, but my priorities have shifted.
Outside of my family, Trent was always the most important person to me, and so, without question, the most important people to him rated equally high for me.
But Trent no longer holds that top spot.
And it's not because he's dead. I know, because the person who matters most outranks my fucking family too. And they're still very much alive.
I don't hesitate to knock when I reach the front door.
The lights are still on downstairs, so I know they haven't gone to bed yet.
Probably sitting in their recliners reading and sharing a bag of pretzels like they do every night.
The sound of muffled footsteps travels toward me and a second later the door swings open.
"Jovi?"
"Did you know?" I ask Abe not bothering to greet him or explain my presence at his house at this time of night.
His surprise turns to confusion. "Did I know what?"
"That Tammy is suing Liz for custody of the kids."
Before he can answer me, Tammy comes marching down the hall toward the foyer, book still splayed open to save her spot in one hand.
"I'm only doing what's best for those kids," she damn near screeches.
"Trent wouldn't want them growing up like that.
He would want them to have a proper home.
With good values. And two parents. Like he had. "
"Trent wanted them to be with Liz," I remind her, my voice strained from anger. "That's why he and Lena put her name in their will. Don't act like you're doing this to honor him when it's the exact opposite."
Abe steps between us, lifting his chest as though that makes a lick of difference to offset his obvious disadvantage in height between us. "Don't you talk to my wife like that."
"Then tell your wife to stay away from mine." The slip should slow me down, snag somewhere in my raging thoughts, but it feels too damn natural to do anything but spur me on.
Liz is mine. Maybe we're not married. Hell, maybe we're not a couple or even friends. It doesn't change the fact that I've been caught in her gravitational pull since the day I met her. Or that I knew the second I stopped fighting it, that I was home. With her.
It's a truth I feel down to my bones. She's it for me. Liz is mine. And whether she's ready to admit it or not, I'm so fucking hers it hurts.
"You know me, Abe," I go on, this time calmer.
"You both do. I will break myself open and bleed out before I let anyone, you included, hurt my family.
" I let the words settle before I say, "Liz is my family.
Gavin and Remmi are my family. And you can still be a part of that.
We want you to be a part of that. But those three?
They're mine now. And I'll do whatever it takes to keep them safe. Even from you."
I wait for either of them to respond. To fight me, to say that they understand. Anything. But all I get is a baffled, curious look from Abe and a bitter glare from Tammy. And silence.
So, I dip my head in an unspoken goodbye, walk back to the truck, and leave.