Page 41 of Keepsake

“She doesn’t want to eat vegetables that—”

Before my thoughts were even out, Logan was shaking her head. “Changes are hard for kids,” she whispered, as if Vienna could hear us over her own wailing. “They have different ways of dealing with it.”

My skin crawled, wanting me to walk away. I never stopped to overthink my actions. If I saw something I didn’t want to deal with, I walked. I was a simple man.

At least I thought I was. Because right there, Logan watched me, blinking fast as she endured what Dash thought was her dues. And I wanted to walk away and have a shower, but instead, I sat down.

I had to force myself to crouch, taking a seat with my back to the wall too, only Vienna’s door separating us.

“And you think that’s what Vienna does? She has a tantrum to deal with changes?”

Vienna let out another stream of “I’m not going to eat it!” We both looked at the door and then at one another.

“Kids have a lot of feelings, but they don’t know what each means,” she explained, her hand over the book. “Sometimes it comes out in a burst. Of course, some children are just trying to test your patience, but in this case…” she trailed off, looking at the door.

I nodded, tipping my head back. “Dustin thinks we need to send the children to a therapist.”

My head turned when I felt movement. Logan’s leg folded under her butt, and she turned completely to watch me.

“I was thinking the same,” she said quietly. “Especially for Lachlan. He’s not talking.” She frowned and gulped, her voice going even lower. “I have a name already.”

My lip twitched, but I held the chuckle back. This woman. Of course, she already had a doctor’s name.

We stayed in silence for a little bit, the only noise coming from Vienna’s room when Logan asked, “Who is Dustin?”

I chuckled. “He’s my business partner.”

She hummed. “I thought you owned Castillo Construction.”

It was right there in the name, right?

“I started it. It was right after I finished my last fight. I had money to start something, and I went for it.”

“Did you know anything about construction?”

I nodded. “I’d been doing jobs for years. It was just not full time. MMA was my life. But this was Plan B. There’s a clock over every impact sport athlete’s head. You know one day your body won’t handle anymore.”

“So you were preparing for that?” She sounded pleased by my preparedness.

“I was.”

“And how did Dustin get into business with you?”

I released a breath. “He’s younger than me. When I met him, he already had a child and no way to take care of him, so…” I shrugged, “I taught him the trade.”

“Like someone did for you. Passing it on.”

I chuckled. “It’s not that poetic. Dustin worked his ass off. He’s good, he’s reliable. Then five years ago he asked to buy in. He put money into the business and now he’s my partner.”

We stayed in silence for a little longer. And she talked again.

“I didn’t want to bring up the therapy. I don’t think Dashiell is going to like it.”

I faced her. “Isn’t anywhere in that book of yours saying teenagers aren’t supposed to make the decisions?”

She sighed. “I don’t want to make him angry. He’s already…”

“I know.” I nodded. “I’m going to have a talk with him.”

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