Golden Trail

Chapter Fifteen Live It with Me

Layne’s body jolted awake when the doorbell went and kept going, a long continuous set of very annoying peals.

What the fuck?

Rocky moved, the weight of her head coming off his shoulder, her arm around his abs sliding to become a hand at his gut, she went up to an elbow and, in a drowsy voice, started to say, “What –?”

She stopped speaking because the bell stopped and then it started right up again.

“Fuck!” he hissed, sliding from under Rocky, not happy that his first morning waking up with Rocky after getting back together started with the goddamned doorbell and not happy that his first morning waking up with Rocky after getting back together started with the first thing he did was get out of bed and also not happy the next thing he was going to do was rip someone’s fucking throat out.

“Layne, are you expect –?” Rocky started to ask as he rounded the bed, looking for his pajama bottoms.

She stopped again because the doorbell also stopped again then it started right back up.

“Baby, where’d you throw my pajamas?” he asked over the bell.

“What?” she asked back and he looked at her. She was out of bed, standing at his side of it, her hair tousled, looking adorably mystified as her eyes scanned the floor in the weak light coming through the curtains. “I don’t know, um…”

Layne saw them in a fold of the comforter, yanked them free, spied her panties also caught in the bedclothes, freed them and tossed them to Rocky who caught them then he tugged on his pajamas as he heard from below, “Jesus Fuckin’ Christ, keep your goddamned pants on!”

Devin. Great.

Then he heard a loud bark.

Blondie. Even better.

Devin would probably shoot whoever was at the door and Blondie would likely lick the wounds clean.

He moved to the bedroom doors, Rocky moving behind him and he was three steps down the stairs when he heard a shrieked, “Oh my God! Who are you? What are you doing in my son’s house? And why do you have a gun!?”

Fuck, fuck, fucking hell.

Vera Layne had come calling.

And, as suspected, Devin had answered the door with his gun.

Blondie started barking.

Layne moved faster down the stairs, turned the corner and saw Devin in wife beater and boxer shorts, carrying his nine millimeter and standing three feet from the front door just to the side, scowling. Layne’s mother was just in the doors looking pissed. And Blondie was prancing between both of them wondering who was going to let her out.

Vera’s eyes came to Layne, her face started to gentle then her eyes went beyond Layne and her face went instantly hard.

“I knew it!” she shrieked, her hand shooting up and she pointed at Rocky. “Flo told me and I knew it!” she went on, dropping her hand, stomping in four feet then stopping and rocking back. “You’re not back home a few months and there she is!” She exaggerated and threw her hands out to the sides in apparent disgust.

Layne scratched Aunt Flo on the top of his mental shit list before he started, “Ma–”

Vera’s eyes narrowed on Rocky. “Didn’t you do enough damage the first time around?”

“Ma –”

“And aren’t you married?” she shouted at Rocky.

“Ma,” Layne clipped. “Shut it.”

Her narrowed eyes went to Layne. “Do not tell me to shut it, Tanner Preston Layne! Do not!”

“Maybe I should –” Rocky whispered from behind him and Layne turned to see her edging back along his wood floor in her bare feet; her hair down and mussed; her face free of makeup; her body covered by his big, maroon t-shirt and he remembered, not long ago, Rocky walking in his house for the first time, hair perfect, makeup perfect, outfit perfect, her high heels sounding on his floors.

Now she’d cooked in his kitchen; she’d watched TV with him on his couch; she’d let out his dog; she’d laughed with his sons; she’d toasted with the only man who was even close to being a father to him; she’d slept in his bed; he’d gone down on her, she’d returned the favor and he’d fucked her twice.

All in this house. His house.

Rocky, his Rocky, was back and in his house.

And she was not going to be made uncomfortable there. Not even, as much as he loved her, by his mother.

“Roc, come here,” he ordered and her eyes flew to his.

“Layne, I think I should probably –”

He cut her off on a growl. “Sweetcheeks, get over here.”

Her eyes held his and then, slowly, she moved to him. When she entered his reach, he tagged her around the waist and pulled her into his side, turning them both to his mother.

“Maybe you’d like to try this again, Ma.” His voice was still a growl. “This time, you might wanna start over by welcoming Rocky back.”

“I will not welcome that woman back into my son’s life,” Vera announced.

Blondie barked.

Layne turned to Devin. “Do me a favor, Dev, put your pants on, put down your gun and let the dog out. Not in that order.”

“She escape from an asylum?” Dev asked instead of doing what Layne requested and he asked it with a tilt of his head to Layne’s mother.

Layne closed his eyes.

“Well!” Vera huffed. “Who are you?”

Layne opened his eyes.

“Devin Glover, friend of your boy’s, retired PI and good judge of character,” Devin shot back then turned away and started walking to the backdoor, making his point by saying on a huge smile to Rocky, “Mornin’ darlin’, hope you slept okay.”

“I did, thanks Dev, hope you did too,” Rocky replied quietly, her body as tight as a bow.

“Couch sucks,” Devin muttered as he kept moving, Blondie crowding him. “Too soft.”

“Hello!” Vera called loudly, “I came all the way from Florida to stop my son from making a grave mistake, again. Anyone?”

Layne’s eyes sliced to her. “Ma, seriously, no more of that shit.”

“Are you kidding?” she returned then crossed her arms on her chest and finished. “Seriously.”

Rocky started to pull away, murmuring, “Layne, I really think I –”

“His name is Tanner,” Vera spat out and Rocky stopped moving. “Tanner. It isn’t hard to say. It isn’t hard to remember. I would never understand why you always called him Layne. Before, I didn’t mind, because I liked you. Now,I do not like you.”

“She calls me Layne because you told me when I was seven that my father named me Tanner,” Layne put in, Vera’s back shot straight and her eyes shot to her son. “I don’t hate the name, I don’t like it. But anytime someone says it, it reminds me it was the only thing he gave me and it wasn’t worth much.”

Vera’s eyes had grown wide and her voice grew soft when she said, “You never told me that.”

“I never told anyone except Rocky,” Layne replied. “She used to call me Tanner until I told her that. After I told her, she never said it again. I didn’t ask her to call me Layne, she just did.”

Vera’s eyes moved to Rocky for a beat then came back to Layne and Layne kept talking.

“Now, Ma, I’m happy to see you. The boys’ll love it that you’re here. It’s even cool why you’re here, comin’ home to look after your boy. But you don’t know what’s going on, you don’t know what went on and you’re not gonna know. All you gotta know is, what you see is the way it is. You don’t like it, I don’t care, you’ll have to learn to hide it. You can’t learn to hide it and keep actin’ like that, I hate to say it because I love you but I’ll show you the door. Is that clear?”

Vera’s hand went to her throat and Rocky went solid beside him.

“Layne,” Rocky whispered.

“You’re choosin’ her over me?” Vera asked on a breath.

“No, you’re choosin’ to hold onto something that isn’t there over Rocky. You never had a daughter, you told me when I hooked up with her you were glad I gave you a good one. Look close Ma, she’s back.”

“She –” Vera started.

“I know, Ma, it happened to me. It’s over. We’re movin’ on. That’s all you’re gonna get because that’s all you need,” Layne stated.

Vera’s eyes moved back to Rocky then to Layne.

“I just –” Vera began.

Layne cut her off. “I know, now you can just cool it.”

Vera stayed silent. Rocky remained unmoving against his side.

Devin closed the sliding glass door and called, “Anyone gonna go get donuts?”

“I’ll go get donuts,” Rocky said instantly.

“No, I’ll go get donuts,” Vera returned.

“Fuck me,” Layne muttered.

“Jesus, I’ll go get donuts,” Devin stated and Layne heard a belt buckle clink.

“Then I’ll go get dressed,” Rocky whispered.

“Excellent idea,” Vera retorted.

“Ma,” Layne said warningly and then looked down at Rocky. “Make coffee, yeah?”

She looked back at him and replied, “Sure, but I’ll get dressed first.”

“It’s Saturday and there’s a law that on Saturday, you don’t get dressed until at least noon,” Layne told her.

She bit her lip, let it go and said, “Layne –”

“Make coffee.”

“Layne –”

His arm gave her a squeeze. “Sweetcheeks. Make. Coffee.”

“Someone make coffee, I’ll be back in ten with donuts,” Devin declared and, without looking at a soul, he walked through the bodies around the front door and out of it. While the door was opened, Layne saw he’d parked at the curb.

Fucking Devin.

“I’ll make coffee,” Vera declared, stomped into the house and rounded the corner into the kitchen.

Rocky watched her, going so far as to twist her neck to look over her shoulder.

“Baby,” Layne called gently and Rocky’s eyes snapped to his.

“I need to go home,” she whispered and he turned her full frontal into him and wrapped both arms around her.

“You don’t need to go home,” he replied.

“I need to go home,” she repeated.

“Okay, well, you’re not goin’ home and you can’t get home anyway, you don’t have a car.”

“I’ll walk,” she returned, Layne grinned and dropped his face close to hers.

“You think, after last night, I’m letting you out of my sight until you have to leave Monday morning to go to school, think again, sweetcheeks,” he murmured, pink came into her cheeks and her body shifted into his even as her hands came up to his biceps and gripped.

“You said we’d talk,” she told him and his grin turned into a smile.

“Well, that’s not gonna happen with Ma here, Devin here and donuts comin’.”

Her fingers gripped harder even as her body pressed closer. “Layne, we need to talk.”

He dipped his face closer, veered to the side and whispered in her ear, “I’ll talk and I’ll use my mouth but what I say won’t be words and how I use my mouth, baby, I know you’re gonna like.”

“Layne,” she breathed and his cock twitched.

Christ, he liked it when she breathed his name like that. That was new, that was this Rocky in his arms. She didn’t do that before. She might moan his name but that sweet, breathy hunger he’d never heard. And, fuck, but he liked it.

He lifted his head and his hands, gathering her hair in both palms, he held it loosely behind her head, resting his forearms gently on her shoulders and went on. “Live this with me, just live it, whatever happens, however it happens, live it with me for two days. It doesn’t go the way you like, we’ll talk Monday night. It goes the way you like, we live it real and ride it out. Will you give me that, honey?”

Her brows drew together. “Live it with you?”

“Live it with me, Roc, live it here, with me, make it real, as real as it can get for two days.”

“Make it real,” she whispered.

Layne nodded. “For two days.”

She stared up at him and he knew he had her when her fingers uncurled on his biceps and her hands moved to his chest.

She confirmed it by saying, “Okay. Two days.”

“Promise,” he pushed and she hesitated so he tugged gently at her hair and repeated, “Promise.”

She gazed into his eyes and then whispered, “Promise.”

He dropped his forehead to hers, ran her hair between his hands, his hands travelled down her back then he wrapped his arms tight around her and trapped her close.

“Thanks baby,” he whispered.

“Coffee’s brewing!” Vera shouted.

Rocky jumped.

Layne grinned.

Then he heard the garage door go up, his forehead left hers, he turned his head and listened.

Only he and Jasper had a garage door opener. Devin had the key to the front door. And Jasper had no reason to be there.

Shit.

“Is that –?” Rocky started and Vera appeared around the corner, she’d lost her antagonism, her face was beaming.

“I think the boys are here!” Vera shouted.

“Now I definitely need to get dressed,” Rocky murmured and it sucked but she was right. At this juncture, Rocky wandering around his house on a Saturday morning in his tee was not cool when both his sons were getting used to a new woman in his life as well as the fact that they both went to her school. It’d take awhile before it was cool.

He decided he’d give it a month.

They heard the backdoor open and Rocky shot out of his arms, her bare feet sounding on the floors as she dashed to the stairs, turned and disappeared while Vera threw both her arms up and yelled, “My babies!”

“Grandma!” Tripp shouted and Layne saw his son connect with his grandmother, his tenuous hold on cool slipping, he threw himself in her arms and gave her a big hug.

Layne moved toward the kitchen and saw Jasper hanging back, his eyes on his grandmother, a smile on his face.

“Come here, handsome,” Vera ordered and Jasper moved forward, his hold on cool firm and strong, he muttered, “Hey Gram,” and kissed her cheek while she still had hold of Tripp.

“What’re you doin’ here?” Tripp asked, stepping back and looking down at Vera.

“You’ve grown, like, seventeen inches since the Fourth of July,” Vera noted, giving Tripp a head-to-toe, skipping past the visit she’d made two months ago when Layne was shot and not answering his question.

“What’re you doin’ here, Gram?” Jas repeated Tripp’s question, Vera looked up at her older grandson and Layne could see she was searching for a lie.

She found it and it was lame.

“Surprise!” she shouted.

“Cool!” Tripp didn’t think it was lame.

“Surprise?” Jasper saw right through it.

“Surprise,” Vera repeated. “Can’t a Mama and Grandma surprise her boys?”

“Totally! Anytime!” Tripp replied enthusiastically but Jasper’s eyes cut to his old man.

Layne gave his son a “Later,” shake of his head and Jasper gave him a chin lift.

Vera cupped Tripp’s cheek, smiled big at him then walked into the kitchen and went to the cupboard over the coffeemaker, saying, “That Devin man is going to get donuts. I hope he’s smart enough to get them at Hilligoss and not a grocery store. The grocery store donuts are okay but nothing beats Hilligoss.” She opened the cupboard, looked in it, appeared confused for a second then shut it, moving across the kitchen, muttering, “I forgot. You keep your mugs across the kitchen. Crazy. Mugs should be close to the coffeemaker.”

Layne tipped his head back and looked at the ceiling not knowing whether to laugh or shout.

He righted his head and looked at Jasper. “Family reunion over, boys, what’re you doin’ here?”

Tripp looked at Layne then at Jasper then he ducked his head and moved to the door. “Gotta let Blondie in.”

Layne’s eyes sliced to Jasper and Jasper jerked his head indicating upstairs. Layne nodded and Tripp slid open the door. Blondie bounded in then ran back and forth between Tripp and Jasper, jumping up on both of them but not giving either of them time to greet her before she pushed off and headed back to the other one. All this company and all her boys home equaled heaven in the form of a house in sea of similar houses in a small town in Indiana and she didn’t know what to do with herself.

“Hey, where’s Rocky?” Tripp asked, sliding the door shut, crouching and capturing Blondie with both hands to give her a rubdown.

Vera’s eyes shot to Layne and her face set straight to disapproval.

Layne ignored his mother and answered his son. “Upstairs, gettin’ dressed.” He moved to the stairs and ordered, “Feed Blondie, Pal, okay? Jas and I gotta have a chat.”

“Sure Dad,” Tripp replied, straightening and heading to the kitchen.

Layne ignored Vera now giving him an assessing stare as he turned and headed upstairs and to Jasper’s room.

Jasper followed, closed the door behind him and Layne surveyed the room and tried not to breathe too deeply before he turned to his son.

“Do me a favor, Bud, take some time and pick up in here, change your sheets, vacuum and open a window to air this shit out. It smells like a fuckin’ locker room in here,” Layne said to his boy.

“Smells okay to me,” Jasper returned.

“Yeah, well, you eventually wanna study with Keira in here, it won’t smell okay to her,” Layne replied, Jasper held his eyes then he nodded and Layne realized Keira being Jas’s girl was going to make life a little easier on Jasper’s old man. “Now, tell me what you two are doin’ here,” Layne ordered.

Jasper pulled in breath before he said, “Mom’s workin’. She wasn’t supposed to but someone called in sick.” Layne nodded and Jasper went on. “Stew’s home and I didn’t want to be around Stew today and didn’t want Tripp around him.”

The muscles in Layne’s neck contracted as he asked sharply, “Why?”

Jasper didn’t delay in answering. “Stew got home late last night. He does that a lot. Sometimes Mom is cool with it, sometimes they fight. Last night they fought. It wasn’t good. It’s never good but last night it really wasn’t good. I think he’s steppin’ out on her.”

He’d be right.

“So you’re here to hang rather than bein’ there and hangin’,” Layne stated.

“No, we gotta go to the school and swim with the team and then we gotta go to Youth Group. There’s another reason why we’re here,” Jasper replied, Layne was silent and Jasper went on. “When they were shoutin’ last night, in the middle of it, Mom freaked. Said somethin’ about blood on Stew’s clothes.”

Layne took in a deep breath and let it out.

He wasn’t surprised that there was blood on Stew’s clothes. He’d beat the shit out of someone and then shot him at close range. The blood splatter was bound to hit him.

Gabby was cottoning on. Layne didn’t have much time.

“You say Stew is home?” Layne asked, Jasper nodded and Layne continued. “And your Mom is out?” Jasper nodded again. “How long’s Stew stay home on a Saturday?”

Jasper shrugged. “Stew doesn’t have a schedule but he got home late and they fought, like, for-freakin’-ever. I reckon he’ll sleep in.”

Layne nodded. “Good call, comin’ here, Bud. It’s showtime. I’ll do my thing today.”

“What do I do?” Jasper asked.

“Keep your phone close. Once I’m done, I’ll give you a brief.”

Jasper nodded as he said, “You got it, Dad.”

Layne looked at his son and made a decision.

Therefore, he shared, “You remember I told you Rocky didn’t know it wasn’t fake anymore?”

Layne watched his son’s eyes grow intense before Jas said, “Yeah.”

“Well, she knows it isn’t fake anymore,” Layne finished and Jasper grinned instantly, his grin huge.

“Cool,” he murmured.

“Your Grandma isn’t here as a surprise. She’s here because she heard about Rocky bein’ back in my life. She and Rocky used to be tight, she loved her like a daughter. She was not happy when Rocky took off, mostly because of what it did to me but also because she missed her. So that means she’s not happy that Rocky’s back. I need your help with that,” Layne told him.

“How?” Jasper asked.

“Roll with it and make whatever plays you feel you need to make. I trust you to make the right ones. But Rocky’s ridin’ the edge of this reconciliation. It’s good, she knows it but somethin’ isn’t right. Until I know what that is and sort her head out, we all gotta tread cautiously. She gets an excuse, she’s gonna make a break for it, from me, from you and Tripp, and when Roc breaks, she breaks hard.”

“It’s her Dad,” Jasper stated and Layne stared at him.

“Come again?” he asked.

“Everyone knows her story. Everyone at school. Everyone thinks she’s cool because she’s cool. Everyone thinks she’s cooler now because she’s with you. But everyone likes her because she’s how she is even though she went through what she went through. She’s hot, she dresses nice, she smells good, she smiles a lot, she takes care of the kids and not just the ones in her classroom. She knows everyone. She talks to ‘em. Gives a shit. She’s totally got it together. Lotta people who went through what she went through wouldn’t be like that. But that’s what she shows the kids. I see the way she looks at you, it’s the way Mom always looks at you when you don’t know she’s lookin’, but it’s more. She likes you but you’re like her Dad, like Merry. Doctors don’t get shot at, Dad.”

Layne stared at his son for a beat before he said quietly, “I ever tell you you’re sharp?”

Jasper stared at his old man for a beat before he replied quietly, “No.”

“As a tack, Bud,” Layne whispered.

Jasper swallowed but his son, being his son but also being all Jasper, didn’t look away.

And because he didn’t, Layne walked up to him and put both hands to his son’s neck, giving it a firm squeeze, he looked him in the eyes and whispered, “Fucked up with you, know it, but you’re a fuckin’ good kid despite that and, even though I didn’t have much to do with it, I’m proud of you.” He gave his son’s neck a gentle jerk and finished. “Love you, Bud.”

Jasper swallowed again but didn’t take his eyes from his Dad.

He also didn’t pull away or slide into his asshole teenaged kid attitude.

Layne let that golden trail sweep through him before he went on.

“You got time before swimmin’, clean up this room, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Jasper whispered.

“I’m gonna be doin’ somethin’ at the computer in a minute. You keep Tripp downstairs. Got me?”

Jasper nodded.

Layne gave him another squeeze and walked out of the room. He went to his room and found the bed made and Rocky at his sink, her ass in her gray cords tipped back, her torso bent over the counter, a makeup brush in her hand, bristles at her cheek, she was wearing her cords and a deep purple bra. This bra was satin and lace, mostly lace. There was a wet towel on the rack. He’d heard it and knew she’d taken a quick shower. He lived any other life, he’d be in that shower with her and they’d probably still be in it.

Another time and he was looking forward to that time.

She hadn’t washed her hair and it was up in a messy knot secured by a band at the top of her head. Seeing it, he determined, when her clothes hung in his closet and her shit was in the drawers under that counter, when she was at work, he was going to take scissors to every one of those fuckin’ bands, melt down her pins and snap her clips.

Now, he took advantage of it.

She stayed bent over the basin but her eyes came to him as he approached. He moved in behind her, ran his hand across her ribs just under her tits and pulled her up.

“Layne,” she whispered as his head went down and his lips went to the skin on her neck. “Layne,” she breathed and when she did his other arm wrapped around her belly and he pulled her deeper into his body as he ran his tongue up her neck to behind her ear. “Baby,” she whispered and his head came up and he looked at her in the mirror.

Eyes half-mast, mouth soft, beautiful.

“Like this bra,” he murmured in her ear and his thumb slid along the satin at the underside of the curve of her breast.

“Thanks,” she murmured as his thumb slid back and he felt a tremor glide through her body.

“Hate to say this, sweetcheeks, but the boys bein’ home means my mornin’ just got more complicated,” he told her.

She held his gaze in the mirror but she lost that look as she did it and the instant it was gone, he missed it.

“Seth?” she guessed.

“Stew,” he replied and she bit her lip but nodded. “Need to give this my attention, have some work to do here then I gotta go but I’ll be back as soon as I can. I’ll talk to Devin, ask him to take you home so you can pack up some shit, enough for the weekend and to get to work on Monday. That cool with you?”

She nodded.

“Ignore Ma,” Layne went on. Rocky bit her lip again and Layne’s arms gave her a squeeze. “Ignore her, Roc. She spends time with you, she’ll come around.”

“Okay,” she whispered but he could tell she wasn’t buying it.

“Stay strong for me, two days, you promised,” he reminded her.

She held his gaze again then she nodded and said, “I promised.”

“Good,” he muttered, bent his head and kissed her neck before he let her go and said, “I gotta get dressed.”

He saw her eyes follow him then she bent over the basin again and went back to her makeup.

Layne went out to the weight room and turned on his computer and printer at his desk. Then he went back to his room and Rocky had her face so close to the mirror she could kiss it as she applied mascara. Her ass was tipped way back, her neck bent, her back arched and, seeing her like that, Layne loved his boys, he loved his Ma and he loved Devin but he wished they were all on another planet.

He shook off his thoughts, pulled on clothes, crowded Rocky as he brushed his teeth and then walked to his desk. He was sitting down and transferring the images from the memory card to the hard drive when Rocky walked out of his room wearing her turtleneck, her hair still in a bunch at the top of her head, her arms full of dirty towels.

Layne looked at the towels then at her.

“You seriously need to do laundry,” she announced and didn’t wait for his reply, she walked down the stairs.

Layne turned and grinned at his computer.

Playing this real meant, for Rocky, having free reign to do his laundry.

Bonus. Big time.

He was printing images on photo paper and saving them to a data stick he would put in his safe at the office when he heard her come back. He was busy and didn’t turn to her until he saw a mug of coffee slide onto his desktop, scrunched next to it was a Hilligoss cinnamon roll wrapped in a paper napkin, his favorite. He bent his neck back to look up at her and saw her hands wrapped around a mug, her eyes were on the computer screen and her face was perfectly blank.

He looked to the screen and it displayed a picture of Stew landing a kick on his mark and seeing it, and knowing Rocky saw it, Layne had to make a decision. Protect her from his work or let her in and help her to understand and cope.

So he made his decision.

He wrapped an arm around her hips, swiveling his chair toward her, and guided her carefully into his lap. She didn’t resist and settled in as he bent forward and grabbed his mug.

“Wasn’t pretty, baby,” he muttered against the rim before taking a sip.

She slid her mug on the desk and reached out to grab the photos from the printer tray. He watched her bend her neck to look down at them and fought the urge to take them from her hands and protect her from what she’d see as she shuffled through them.

“Stew’s an asshole,” she whispered, her eyes scanning the photos.

“Yep,” Layne agreed, watching her face and, unfortunately, not paying attention to the photos so when she sucked in breath and her body got tight, he wasn’t sure why.

He assumed it was a shot of Stew drilling a round into the man’s thigh.

It wasn’t. It was a shot of Stew drilling something else.

Layne put his mug down and tugged the photos out of her hands. He turned them face down, dropped them to his desk and looked up at Rocky to see her eyes wide, her face pale and her lips parted.

Then she whispered a hilariously disgusted, “Gross.”

She was okay. Thank God.

Layne smiled and remarked, “That about sums it up, sweetcheeks.”

Her eyes caught his. “That wasn’t Gabrielle,” she informed him of something he already knew.

“Nope,” he agreed.

“Women put up with a lot of shit,” she noted.

“Yep,” Layne agreed again.

“Not many would put up with that,” she went on.

“You’re gettin’ it, baby.”

Her eyes slid to the pictures and then back to him.

Then she said, “I bet that wasn’t fun.”

“You’d win that bet.”

She held his gaze for a moment then her hand came to his jaw and she dipped her head and touched her mouth to his.

She moved away an inch and said softly, “She won’t agree but she’s lucky you’re looking out for her Layne. This isn’t fun but it’s the right thing to do.”

Yes, she was all right. More than all right. Thank fuck.

“Thanks, baby,” he said softly back, giving her waist a squeeze.

“I’ll leave you to it,” she muttered, turning away to nab her coffee mug and then moving out of his lap.

He didn’t want her to leave him but if she did, he could get this done and then it’d be over so he could concentrate on the other thousand things happening in his life so he had to let her leave him to it.

He felt Rocky’s presence glide away as she moved down the stairs. He pulled out the data stick and slipped in another one. One was for his safe, insurance. One was for Colt, retribution. He’d make another one and give it to Devin, more insurance.

He did his work, ate his cinnamon roll, called good-bye to his sons when they went swimming and hoped to God Devin could play peacemaker downstairs between Rocky and his mother.

Then he shut down his computer, locked two of the data sticks in his cupboard, put the photos in a folder, went to his room and pulled on socks and boots, went back to his chair and tagged his leather jacket and walked down the stairs.

He gave the data stick to Devin.

He gave his mother a kiss on the cheek.

He gave Rocky a touch of the lips.

Then he went out the door, swung into his truck and drove to his ex-wife’s house.