Page 31 of I'll Carry You

As Colby cried, Dan’s face softened. “For God’s sake, don’t punish the kid because you’re mad at me. I can drop him off at the church on my way to work.”

She couldn’t control much right now, but she could control this. Forgiving Dan didn’t mean that she had to forget the havoc his actions had wreaked on her life. Letting her anger get the better of her, she said, “I’m not punishing anyone. He’s just going with me. He’s my responsibility, end of story.” She picked Colby up and stormed out, leaving Dan behind.

ChapterEleven

For the thirtiethtime in the past ten minutes, Jason checked the notifications on his phone. After a night of messaging that had kept him up most of the night, Jen hadn’t replied to his last text for a few hours.

Turning it off, he plugged the phone into the charger on the nightstand and got out of the bed, where he’d been working on his laptop. He could use a few hours away from his phone. Most of the time, it felt like an electronic leash that he couldn’t get away from fast enough. Now he was like a teenager staring at his message app, willing for three little dots to appear and let him know she was talking to him again.

How in the hell had this happened?

He didn’t believe in love at first sight but definitely lust at first sight. And he had a severe case of lust.

Not that it was even at first sight, really. But it hadn’t taken long.

This had to end. He’d come to Brandywood to talk to Mildred, not get involved with his brother’s ex-girlfriend and her kid.

Last night had only made it worse. A thousand times worse.

He dressed in his gym clothes, feeling a bit like someone had kicked him in the balls, and pulled the hood of his sweatshirt onto his head. No amount of fantasizing about her had helped last night. Without a car or a phone, his options were limited. He felt driftless and completely displaced.

As he stepped outside, he sucked in a deep breath of chilly mountain air. Some of the other cabins had fires going, and it perfumed the air with the scent of wood smoke.

He considered going for a run, but a run would probably end up taking him into town again. He didn’t want to go into town, didn’t want to be wandering the streets of Brandywood if Ned was skulking around. TJ had promised to find out where Ned was staying and keep tabs on his activities, but the chance of leading him to Jen and Colby was stronger now that he’d gotten involved with her. Come to think of it, TJ probably wouldn’t want him turning his phone off.

But he needed the mental break. Nothing about that inheritance was clear anymore. Maybe Jen did deserve something. She was clearly struggling financially.

He headed into the woods, where dried, fallen leaves crunched under his running shoes. He nodded a hello at a couple walking their dog nearby.

If he could trust her, maybe Jen could help him do what he needed to do with the money for the business. Getting her on his side might be the safest way to go about everything. He’d set her and Colby up comfortably.

The sound of moving water up ahead made him freeze. He searched for the source. Just a stream. Nothing to get his heart beating as abnormally fast as it was. The water moved quickly, the ground near it muddy, as though the rain levels were higher than normal, and the stream couldn’t absorb it. With how deep it was, there had to be a river nearby. Or it led to the lake.

He exhaled slowly, refocusing his brain away from the black thoughts.

Fucking ridiculous. He was thirty years old. A stream shouldn’t do this to him.

When Amanda had found out he hated the water, she’d purposely scheduled the company picnic at Promontory Point on the shores of Lake Michigan. She said she wanted to help him get over his fears. Except she hadn’t put it so nicely.“It’s embarrassing that you won’t go boating with my friends. You’re a grown-ass man.”

He headed back toward the cabins. A run into town might be preferable, after all.

A cop car was sitting in front of his cabin.

He put his hands in the front pocket of his sweatshirt and casually walked up toward the cabin. A cop was standing on his front porch in full uniform. He was a tall, intimidating man with a strong square jaw.

“Can I help you, Officer?” Jason approached the porch.

The cop turned and stared at him with a look that seemed to bore through his skull.

“You Jason Cavanaugh?” the cop asked.

“Yes, sir.” The formality of his response was second nature. His grandfather had been a stickler about that sort of thing.

“Mind if I ask you a few questions?” The cop shifted his weight, the floorboard creaking under his feet and his black work boots.

Jason didn’t love the idea of inviting this guy inside his cabin, but he didn’t want to have a conversation out in the open, either. Had he broken some law he didn’t know about?

He nodded and unlocked the cabin, letting the officer in. He flipped on the light in the living room and pulled open the blinds. Dust motes swirled in the streaming sunlight, bouncing against the warmth of the wood-paneled walls.

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