Page 57 of Overstaying His Welcome

“Of course, of course. Tank it is then. How have you been, son? You look fit as a fiddle. Always knew you’d grow up to pack on some muscle once you started eating more,” Brock joked.

Chelsea smacked him on the arm. “Don’t tease the boy. It’s only been a million years since we’ve seen him.” She turned my way. “You know we tried looking for you. Filed a report and everything. The police gave us a year, then gave up. It’s good to know you made something of yourself.”

I give her the softest smile I can manage. My heart aches a bit for them now. There was no way I could have stayed back then.Yet at the same time, I understood how devastating that must have been.

“While I hate that it brought you both problems, I can’t say I regret how things turned out. I’ve built myself a new family, and I did manage to find success doing what I always wanted.”

“You’re in security, aren’t you?” Brock asked with a knowing glint.

I nodded. “Yes, sir. I get to protect those who can’t protect themselves.”

“Always with that big heart of yours,” Chelsea agreed. “As much as I love the catching up we’re doing, I have a feeling you’re here for more than that. The Orion fellow alluded to as much.”

Orion took that as his cue to join in. “Yes, Chelsea. May I call you Chelsea?”

She blushed at his wide smile. He was charming when he wanted to be.

“Sure thing, hon. Call me Chelsea.”

“Don’t go flirting with the boy’s friends now, Chels. Let’s hear them out without the heart eyes,” Brock teased. She shook her head at him, though she did manage to focus more on his words rather than his looks after that.

“We’re here because Tank is trying to remember some parts of his past that are a bit unclear. Someone we think might have been around during the time he was here has reentered the picture. We just can’t connect the dots yet,” Orion told them. “While our tech guys were able to gather some information, there wasn’t much to tell us the day-to-day stuff.”

Chelsea nodded, humming a bit. “So you want to know if Tank was close with anyone?”

“That and if anyone might not have liked him. Maybe expressed some dislike even after he was gone.”

Brock grunted. “Well, yeah. There was definitely some dislike in there by a couple of the kids. Didn’t like that he never wanted to play with them because he was so sad. And when he did play, he was always better at stuff than them.”

“Hey! I tried to play fair. When I let them win, they’d be just as mad,” I argued.

“We know, sweetie. It was just hard for you to make friends with everything else going on. You didn’t seem to be all that social before you came here. It was hard trying to keep everyone happy, especially with the teenage hormones.”

Chelsea’s words reminded me of how tough those years were. I still couldn’t remember much, but the feelings of frustration were familiar enough to surface. Maybe being in the house itself would be enough of a reminder if we stayed long enough. I was already learning more than I thought I would.

“Anyone in particular bring cause for concern?” Arick asked, interrupting my thoughts. “Someone who may have been violent or spoke out against Tank?”

The couple glanced at one another, then turned back to us. Chelsea seemed to hesitate, but Brock wasn’t holding back.

“First thing you have to know is that we always wanted kids. It wasn’t in the cards for us the natural way, so we fostered for a while. The thing they don’t tell you about fostering is how those first few cases can determine what the state thinks of you,” Brock said.

Chelsea continued where he left off. “And since those first ones were all hard cases, with kids from broken homes, we became known as the couple to take on the difficult kids. We found a sort of peace giving those kids love who didn’t really know what it was like before showing up on our doorstep.”

“Which meant that not everyone had the best coping mechanisms.” Brock rubbed his jaw. “During Tank’s time here, there were kids who were jealous of him, sure, but the problemsdidn’t really come until after he left. The investigation took a lot of our time. And admittedly, we were heartbroken at his running away. He was the first child we’d considered adopting.”

My hand flew to Chance’s thigh at his admission. He laid his on top, reassuring me with the gentle touch.

“Adopt me?” I whispered.

Chelsea nodded. “Something about you always drew us in. You felt like you belonged here from the minute I saw your sad eyes. Losing you tore me up something terrible. I still gave those kids my best, but the ones who’d been here before saw the difference. A couple wondered why you meant so much.”

“Do you remember which kids they were? We’d love to check them out to see if maybe they’re connected to this somehow.” Orion leaned forward, smiling at Chelsea and Brock in that way he used to convince people to do things. The man was a wizard with his social skills.

Chelsea jumped from her seat, gasping as she looked around. “I didn’t even offer you anything to drink. Where are my manners?”

She left the room to the sound of Brock’s broken laugh. He shook his head, leaning over the side of the chair to watch her leave.

“Always wanting to take care of others. That’s my Chels.”

---