Page 91 of Something Like Sunflowers

Hunter launches himself from his truck, slamming the door. His eyes darken as he takes me in, pinned beneath Garrison, and his lip curls up, seething.

“Gary! Get the fuck off my wife!”

Chapter 34

Hunter

Papa!” Ellie screams, running into my arms. I squat beside her, raking my eyes over every inch of her tiny body to make sure, but then—” Anger burns from within me as I take in the blood on her face.

Garrison has smartly shoved away from Devyn. I was about ten seconds shy of beating his entire fuckin’ body through his own damn door if he hurt a single hair on her head. And that’s how I feel again when I see the blood on my little girl’s cheek.

Blood that was put there by his son.

“Your boy do this to my daughter?” I spit at Garrison, peering around a sickly calf to get a look at the Presley boy. It’s always that same boy. But my feet stop their crunch along the gravel when I see he’s covered in bruises and cuts worse than hers.

“Ellie?”

“She did it to him,” Devyn says. I don’t miss the way she clutches the railing. He’s scared her shitless. From the looks of it, he’s been in one of those drunk throes he finds himself in once or twice a month.

Crumpled on the steps, tears and dirt coating his swollen eyes, red-faced and shaking.

He thinks his wife is burning alive.

Because of my fuckin’ brother. I clench my fists so hard I wouldn’t be surprised to find blood on my palms when I open them.

None of it gives him any excuse for who he’s become. It just…it is why he’s become this person. The reason our families have never aligned.

Why he can’t stand the sight of my kid. Or his own.

Not after what Samuel did.

A low growl forms in the base of my throat, and I force myself to look Ellie in the eyes.

“Did you beat up the Presley kid?”

She nods, and I curse.

“This is just what we need right before custody.” An assault to the mayor’s great nephew under my guardianship. I can’t lose Ellie. And even though this is all a technicality, and I’m surer than shit the kid deserved it, I can’t condone this behavior either. I’m no better than Samuel if I don’t steer her in the direction she needs to break the generational curses that stain us.

She’s supposed to have everything we couldn’t.

How can I give her that if she’s not under my care?

My heart pounds in my chest. Anxiety? Fear? I’m certain it’s both, but I can’t rein it in. I’m broken when it comes to Ellie.

I can’t go through the loss of a child again.

And no, it’s not fair to blame anyone for this, but somehow, I do.

I blame her.

I blame Devyn.

My eyes roam the scene wildly. Bloodied children, stolen livestock, Garrison-fucking-Presley, drunk and throwing accusations at my nine-year-old, who is already walking a tightrope frayed to bits when it comes to social services and their rules. My mouth foams. Words are coming out, but it hardly feels like I’m the one speaking them. Words that sting.

“How could you let this happen?” drops from my lips.

“Me?” She gapes. “I showed up after all of this happened. I’m helping.”

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