Page 89 of Shattered Dreams

“Anything else to add?”

“No.”

“Alrighty. I’ll get this typed up if you would be so kind to stop by tomorrow or the day after to sign it.”

Nodding, I took another deep breath. “I can do that.”

“Thank you for your time.”

“Thank you and the rest of the officers for coming.”

“It’s what we do.” He flashed me a boyish grin and left the room.

I got up and went to the living room. As I looked around, I decided I’ll deal with the mess later. Right now, I needed to hold my babies.

Richard

This was not how I saw thanksgiving going. Maybe a small food fight. Maybe some cold weather making out in the treehouse. Asking Jo and the kids to spend the night with me over the garage and tomorrow we could fill out all the paperwork for our house.

But being cuffed in the back of a police car that I just tuned up wasn’t even close to any of those. I still heard that dumbass ranting and going on from the other car. Shaking my head, I sat quietly and waited until it was my turn to speak.

A light purple car pulled up, and I watched my brother and Olivia get out and walk over to the officer outside. I don’t know what Libby said, but she got the green light to go inside and the officer led Coop to me, opening the door so we could talk.

“You doin’ okay?” I asked before anything else happens.

Cooper chuckled and nodded. “Thanks for understanding.”

“Sit up, monkey-man.” The officer joked with me, and he removed my cuffs. “You guys do good work. My wife wants a car like that one.” He nods to Olivia’s sixty-five Mustang.

“Actually, we didn’t do that one. The girl you were talking with did most of it. That’s her baby.” Cooper beamed with pride.

“Damn.” He nodded. “Alright, keep it quiet and I’ll give you a moment.”

Cooper looked at the other squad car. “Has he shut up yet?”

“Nope.”

My brother handed me a cigarette and I have never been more thankful for something to do with my hands. He lit me up, and I took a long, deep drag.

“How are my kids?”

“They’re safe. They’re with ma, Jere, and Drew.”

“Were they hurt?”

“No. Only Tyler when he scraped the window and fell.” Cooper chuckled. “Those are some damn brave boys.”

“I’m so proud of them.”

“Richdad. That was cute.”

“They all slip here and there calling me dad. Jo doesn’t correct them, and I don’t. I know I should, but I love them so much.”

“Why? If she’s okay with it and let’s be honest. It’s not like fuckwit cares.”

“No. He doesn’t.”

“How bad was it?” Coop sighed and leaned against the car.

---