Chapter 14 #2
“Hey, bud. Good morning. Do you want some juice? That we have.” Her voice was clipped.
I turned to face the little boy. He had his eyes narrowed, shifting his gaze from one to the other.
Meanwhile, Violet was trying to keep from laughing while she poured him some OJ. “Here you go. We’re going out for breakfast. Do you want to see if Zorro needs to go outside?”
“Sure, Mom.” His brows were knitted together much like what I’d seen with Violet a few minutes before. His actions were also remarkably like his mother’s, overly exaggerated. He stomped by me like a soldier, then turned and stopped right in front of me.
As he lifted his head, staring me in the eyes, his expression was completely serious. Then he stuck out his hand like a man would do. “You are going to treat my mother right, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good because I’m going to be eight in two weeks and that means I’ll be the man of the house then. So if you’re not good to my mother, I will need to hurt you. I’m sorry, but I will.” His little head cocked, his expression oh-so serious.
I took his hand into mine, allowing him to give me a hearty shake. The kid had muscles. “Don’t worry, Damon. I won’t hurt her. I promise you. At least not intentionally, but adults can be difficult sometimes.”
“Tell me about it. She deserves someone special, but I’m picky.”
“Yes, sir. She deserves the best.”
When he pulled his hand free, the child inside returned again and he raced to the door with the pup jumping at his heels.
Only when we heard the outside door close did either one of us respond.
Both laughing.
There was something special when a child was concerned for his mother. I briefly thought about how lucky Axe was in becoming a father. In lifting my gaze, I saw so many emotions in her eyes, the kind that had me wanting nothing more than to be that special man in her life.
“He’s a handful,” I mentioned, rubbing the scruff on my face as I did.
“He’s very protective. I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be sorry. He has every reason to be protective of his mother. I’m glad to see it. He’s got a good head on his shoulders.”
“Yeah, well, you might not think that if you know how naughty he can be.”
“Worse than setting fires?”
“Oh… yeah.”
Every time she wrinkled her nose, I wanted to grab it like my mother used to do when I was a kid. How strange. “My mom could tell you some stories about when I was a kid.”
Her eyes lit up. “Really? Maybe hearing a few would help.”
I pointed my finger at her. “You’re not going to ask. Period.”
“Now I really need to meet your mother.”
“Oh, no. I’ll make certain you don’t.”
“You’re terrible. Just terrible.” She brushed hair behind her ear and I could tell she had something on her mind. “I need to talk about something.”
And wouldn’t you know it, my phone rang. When an early call came in, that usually meant there was a fire or an issue. “Hold on a second.” When I pulled my cellphone into my hand, I groaned. “Cap’n. What’s wrong?”
“Since you didn’t respond to your email last night, I thought I’d give you a call.”
“Sorry. I was busy.”
“No problem. The chief of police and the fire chief are swinging by in about an hour. They need our help in a situation.”
“A situation? What’s going on?”
“I honestly don’t know. But you need to be here. All hands on deck.”
I glanced at my watch. “I’ll be there.” With the call ended, I shoved the phone into my pocket. “I need to get out of here and head to the base.”
“A fire?”
Chuckling, I shook my head. “Nothing that dramatic. Just a required meeting.”
“I really need to talk to you about something.”
“Don’t worry, Violet. I already know what it is. You don’t want Damon to become too attached. I got it. But tonight is still on. Right?”
Her entire face scrunched up. “Yes, tonight is definitely on.”
“Good.” I moved toward the door, stopping long enough to take another look.
Damn, the woman could easily manage to slide under my skin.
That wasn’t allowed to happen.
* * *
“Alright, ladies and gentlemen, gather around.” The captain had obviously been apprised as to the subject matter of the meeting.
“Any idea?” I asked Viper as I joined him in the main room. I could see a hell of a lot of disgruntled faces from being called in on their day off.
“There’s a gang in town. Imagine. In Missoula.” He lifted his gaze. The man had once served time in prison for avenging his sister, killing her abuser, and he could joke about every other crime we’d come across.
Not only arson.
“A gang. Huh? What kind of gang? Girl Scouts trying to sell cookies?”
My voice was a little louder than I’d intended, half the group laughing their butts off. I thought about the gang Axe had mentioned before.
My little outburst annoyed the captain, who was in the middle of an audit with the forestry service and their federal auditors, a regulation that he endured every year. And the one task that always put him in a grouchy mood.
They were already sequestered in the conference room, which is why he was on pins and needles.
He offered me a look that could cut through glass first before shaking his head. “Maybe we should take a step back first since there are some massive heads in the hangar today. I understand we have two heroes in our midst. The Beckett brothers strike again.”
Wow. He was in a worse mood than usual.
Cheers and applause erupted, even whistles from some of the guys. Viper punched me on the shoulder and I threw a look at my brother. The subject of being brothers was still a touchy subject. Not because we were two entirely different people.
Which we were.
Not because there was competition between us.
Which there would always be.
But because the phrase had been brought into existence when Axe had joined the Zullies team. And then there’d been three. Three brothers to create stories, antics and to make history.
Now there were two.
“Well, all I can say is good job in representing the team,” the captain continued while being forced to yell over the crowd.
“Television stars,” Denver threw out.