Page 35 of Reclaiming Kendall

Weekend Vacation

The next day, I pick Will up after school to go with me to get groceries and some other things we need around the house. Figured it might be a good idea, so he can get whatever he needs, too, without having to feel out of place and ask for them. We spend the day in companionable almost complete silence, only saying a few words here or there.

By the time we're strolling into the house, there seems to be an acceptable peace settled around him. We ditch our bags on the counter before separating everything for where it needs to go. He thanks me quietly before retreating upstairs with his stuff, and I let loose the smile I've been holding in for the past hour or so. As I take in the quiet of the house, though, it drops from my lips. All the guys’ cars were in the garage and normally at least one of them is waiting on me when I walk through the door.

Muffled voices flow up the stairs. Following them down, I find all of the guys stationed around the room in front of the TV. Teagan is the closest with his back to the door and hands in the pockets of his slacks. He must not have been home long, since he's still in the dress clothes he wears to school.

Sneaking my arms in the gaps his leaves beside his hips, I circle his waist from behind before pressing my fingers against the hard muscles of his stomach. One of his hands comes out to rub the top of mine distractedly. When I peek at the others, their attention is devoted to the screen in front of them. Lucas and Mav rest on the couch, eyes straight forward. Grant sits in one of the chairs off to the side, and almost as if he can feel me looking, turns to mouth ‘I love you.’

I mouth it back to him before stealing a glance towards the TV around Teagan's elbow. There's some kind of stock market thing scrolling across the bottom while the announcer rambles about the crash of a company called Pentabyte. I try to keep up with the jargon, but it's nothing more than a foreign language to me.

There could only be one reason that it would hold the interest of the guys like this, "Did we hold a lot of shares in the stock of that company or something?"

Teagan shrugs, but Mav is the one to answer, "Not really. We own enough for it to make a little bit of difference, but not much."

"Why are they all over the news like this? What happened?" I ask, trying to understand.

"We're as lost as you are, baby," Lucas replies. "As the entire world is. There's something big going down, and no one is saying anything."

The screen switches from the monotone news caster to show men in suits storming a tall building. Teagan's hair tickles my face with a small shake of his head, "I'm telling you. This whole thing smells fishy. If I was a gambling man, I'd bet on this being a set-up by the government or another company."

"This isn't conspiracy theory," Mav argues.

I feel the deep breath Teagan takes for his retort, but it dies in his throat as the sound of the doorbell echoes around us. Hugging him tighter for a second, I let go and race upstairs to answer it. Will's shadow moves away from the top of the second floor as he hears me coming, almost as if he was going to grab the door but thought better of it.

A hand is reaching out to ring another time as I pull the door open. The woman with golden hair and blue eyes lets it drop back down to her pencil-suit-covered side.

"Can I help you?" I ask.

She adjusts the bottom hem of her jacket like she's nervous. I know for a fact she must be burning up, because even in the late fall evening like this it's sweltering outside. I don't want to be rude and not invite her into the air conditioning, but she doesn't receive an invitation like that until I find out who she is.

"My name is Ms. Parks," she replies. "I'm with child services, and I'm looking for Maverick Phillips regarding William Hayes."

I figured it was something like that, but it still makes my hackles rise. Letting her inside, I catch another shadow from upstairs. I don't call out to him or make his presence known. Instead, I lead Ms. Parks into our formal living room. The same one I laughed at Mav for making such a fuss over.

"If you'll give me just a second, I'll go get Maverick," I tell her before remembering my manners, "Would you like something to drink?"

With thanks, she asks for a glass of water, and I leave her with the promise of returning quickly. The guys' heads all turn to me when I race back downstairs, and Grant presses a button on the remote to flip the TV off.

My face must show the panicked feeling sitting in my chest, because before I can explain, he's out of his seat, "Who was it, sweetheart?"

I look to Mav before saying, "It's child services for Will."

He nods once as if this is the answer he's been expecting all along. I scoot to the side to let him go first. One by one, I hear the sound of the guys following us. Mav turns to the left to go introduce himself while I detour into the kitchen to get Ms. Park's water.

Lucas meets me at the fridge, rubbing small circles on my lower back, "It'll be okay, baby. Mav's mom had a court appearance today, so this is no doubt a check up to see how Will is since she was his legal guardian."

"Shit," I curse while letting the door slam shut. "I didn't realize that was today. How did it go?"

With one quick shake of his head, my stomach drops to my feet, “That bad, huh?”

"Well, it won't be so bad if Frank will drop the charges against her for what he says is attempted murder, claiming she came after him with one of their knives. Doesn't help that the kids were there, too. They could get her for child endangerment on top of that. If he'll drop the charges, then they'll give her a slap on the wrist and send her to a rehabilitation center and just charge her with domestic dispute," he replies.

I don't realize I'm twisting the water bottle in my hands until he reaches out to stop me then lifts my chin with his free hand, "Everything is going to be fine. It's just a waiting game right now. One step at a time, yeah?"

He leans down and presses a kiss against my lips, but backs away before either of us can get really sucked in. It's disappointing, but hardly the time. Saving that feeling for later, I lead us back toward the living room where Mav and the guys are already sitting with Ms. Parks.

"Here you go," I tell her quietly as I hand her the bottle of water.

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