Page 19 of Fought and Freed

“I know, little one.” He hated the sadness emanating from her. "Come on. Let’s see your room. I think you’ll like it.”

He took her hand in his, and they ran up the stairs.

At Ryder’s door, they stopped to check to see if he was home, but his room was empty. They walked farther down the hallway.

Before, there was an extra room, the bathroom, then Jace’s room. Now it was all different. The doors weren’t even in the same place.

Cody stopped at the room next to the bathroom. “Open the door.”

Cody smiled. He couldn’t wait for her to see this.

Maddy opened the door and stepped into the massive new bedroom.

On the far back wall was a window. In front of that sat a king-size bed with a dark blue comforter and a white blanket diagonally placed on one side. There was also a desk and a dresser along one wall, with a chair and a footstool in one corner.

Whenever she turned or saw something new, she said, “Wow,” or, “How cute.”

Pride filled Cody’s chest at making her dreams of having a home come true. “We knocked down the wall between the rooms, and I moved the bathroom fixtures to where we wanted them, then added doors for your closet and bathroom.”

He gestured to the beautiful, light-colored hardwood floors that were laid wall-to-wall. “I put in the hardwood floors and picked this ash color, since it goes well with the future. It took a while, but we all agreed on the wall coloring, Spa Blue.”

He opened the first door. “This is your personal bathroom. Trust me, you don’t want to share with Skylar. He’s such a slob. The far door leads to your walk-in closet.”

She gazed into the bathroom, and the bathtub was the first thing her eyes landed on.

Cody grinned. “We know how much you like Ryder’s tub, so we got you one of your own.”

“Oh, Cody, what can I say? I love it all.” She turned wide eyes on him. “How did you get this all done in a month?”

“I had help.” He shrugged. “I’m glad you like it. Torr got you some basic stuff, but I believe she’s planning a girl’s day.”

Half of her mouth goes down in a grimace. “Great.”

He chuckled. She hated to go shopping. “Why don’t you take a bath? Then we can crawl into bed and watch a movie.”

Maddy sighed. “That sounds wonderful.”

She gave him a hug and a kiss before he headed for the door to the hall. “I’ll leave you alone for now.”

She walked behind him and shut the door.

He was glad that she was back home where she belonged.

6

RYDER

Ryder pulled himself upstairs after another long night. All he wanted to do was crash.

As Ryder’s foot touched the top step, Cody appeared in the hall, his dark-blond hair mussed and a scowl on his face. “Where the hell have you been?”

“Out.” Ryder snapped. “What does it matter?”

Cody had been up his ass recently, and Ryder was tired of it. He couldn’t take a shit without him asking about it.

Cody crossed his arms, blocking Ryder’s way to his bedroom. “Did you forget Maddy was coming home today? I waited around for you, which made me late to pick her up. She thought we forgot about her.”

“That’s tomorrow, isn’t it?” He took in Cody’s angry face.

---