Chapter Twelve – What I Want #2
“I-I’d been thinking of getting one,” she said, and when I scoffed, she gave me the first small smile I’d seen since the glowing one I’d wiped away in the backyard. “I really had. It’s the truth. But Luca did put in a good word for Akela.”
“I guess this is why my son has been a model citizen for nearly a month. He’s hoping if he keeps his nose clean and can prove the dog won’t destroy any more of our furniture, that I’ll let him keep it.
” Andie didn’t confirm or deny, and my heart softened against my will.
“But he hasn’t really thought about what that means for you. ”
“Me?”
“You and Akela…you’ve formed a bond. He was pressed up tight against you when I came in.
Guarding you. You held on tight to him when you came to.
” I wouldn’t talk about the way she’d kicked and scrabbled and pulled into herself just like dozens of other abuse victims I’d seen.
She’d clung to the dog as if it were an anchor.
Before she could respond, a knock on the door was followed by Luca’s voice and the sound of hinges squealing. Two seconds later, my son bounded into the kitchen with Wysteria.
“We’re here for Akela,” Luca announced, his voice light, a smile on his face.
He’d been so fucking happy the last few days. I just hadn’t realized it was because of the dog, and now I was going to ruin it all, but it had to be done. Sometimes, being a parent was a shitty job.
“You need to apologize.” My tone brooked no argument, and it, more than anything, had his body stiffening and going immediately on the defensive.
“Apologize? For what?” His brow creased.
I threw a hand toward the pantry. “You scared Andie to death, sneaking in here, eating her cereal, and leaving a mess behind.”
Luca’s gaze followed my hand to the pantry. His eyes went wide, and he turned to Andie with hurt in his voice, “You think I broke in here? That I came in while you were gone and…what? Ate your cereal?”
She didn’t even get a chance to respond before he whirled around and grabbed Wysteria’s hand, heading for the door.
“Screw this. I’m out of here.”
The dog bounded after him, and I followed them into the living room.
“Stop right there,” I commanded, and Luca did, but for how long would he? “Apologize to Andie. Promise it won’t happen again, and then apologize to Wysteria because there’s no way I’m letting you gallivant around town after this stunt.”
It had been a long time since I’d seen Luca actually cry.
But his eyes welled and spilled unchecked.
“I didn’t do this, Dad. I wouldn’t. I like Andie.
I know I’ve been a shithead. I know I screwed up and that my word doesn’t mean anything to you right now.
But I’ve done everything you asked this month.
I wouldn’t steal some dam—dang cereal, especially when we have a box at home, and risk getting Ak—your trust back. ”
Fuck, did I want to believe him. I wanted the happy kid I’d seen for the last few days.
I wanted that so much I was almost willing to risk another five-thousand-dollar sofa and give him the dog.
But the problem was, even if I believed he hadn’t broken in here, Andie was as attached to the behemoth as my son was.
What were they going to do? Organize a shared custody arrangement where they each had the dog for two weeks at a time, like I’d once split my time with my son?
I felt a hand on my arm and looked down to see Andie had come to join us. Moments ago, her eyes had been emotionless and guarded, but now they were full of sympathy or pity or a mix of both. For me and for my son.
“Cooper, I believe Luca.”
“That’s because he hasn’t lied to you for the last two years,” I told her.
Luca let out an exasperated breath. “I’m not lying now. To you or Andie.”
I landed my steeliest look on him, and my son dotted at the tears that had trailed through his white makeup.
“When was I supposed to have done this great cereal heist? Because if it was today, you dropped me off at school, I stayed in every stupid class, and Wysteria walked home with me. She’s been with me all afternoon. We were redoing our makeup, adding all the blood and sh—stuff.”
“I was with him, Sheriff, and I swear, I’d never break in here. Or anywhere. My mom would skin me alive if she thought I was getting into that kind of trouble.”
I wanted to believe my son. But then, I’d wanted to believe every promise he’d given me, every truth that had turned out to be a lie. The war inside me nearly tore my soul in half.
The criminals who actually reformed always had people who supported them.
Believed in them. Gave them the grace to prove they could be trusted.
If I couldn’t be that person for Luca, if I couldn’t believe he could make amends for his past mistakes at a mere thirteen fucking years old, would it doom him to a life of petty theft that bled into felonies?
Would my lack of faith be the reason he didn’t make it out of the hole he’d dug himself into?
I closed the distance between us and put a hand on his shoulder. “Look me in the eye, Luca, and swear to me this wasn’t you.”
He did just that. “I swear I didn’t break in here. I swear this wasn’t me.”
The tears had made a path in the white and red makeup he’d so carefully applied, and I felt even more like shit. Like the biggest heel of a father who had ever existed.
“Okay, then.”
He surprised me by throwing himself into my chest and hugging me. “I’m not going to mess up again, Dad. I won’t.”
He stepped back and looked from me to Andie with a wariness that was far removed from how I’d found them all when I’d gotten home. More pain seared me.
“Is it still okay if we take Akela with us?” he asked.
“Of course. I’m okay with it as long as your dad is.”
“On the leash. And home by eight-thirty.”
Luca smiled. It wasn’t with the same exuberant energy as he’d bounded into the house with, but it was at least a smile.
“Come on, boy,” he said to the dog, who trailed after him with heart eyes.
At the door, Luca hooked the leash to Akela’s collar and glanced back at Andie and me. “I’ll take real good care of him. I promise.”
Then, he and Wysteria were out the door, and a good chunk of my heart went with him. Maybe all of it.
In my job, I’d done dozens of good things. I’d brought killers to justice. Rapists. Thieves.
Tonight, believing in my son, at the moment he’d needed me to do so, felt like the best thing I’d ever done in my life.
But it also meant someone else had been in Andie’s house.
Someone had broken in, and that someone could have easily hurt her or Luca.
So now it was my job to figure out who and why and stop it from happening again, regardless of whether she wanted to open up about her past or not.