Page 26 of The Doctor

I was almost certain I listened correctly but I wanted to be sure. “Becky, I need you to repeat that slowly please.”

“I can’t have more children, Logan.” She inspected her cuticles as she continued. “Last year when Goose shot me, one of his bullets caused more damage than I let on. I just didn’t want anyone to know. And now I can’t be a mother.”

It was her right not to talk about it with anyone. I just want us not to make the same mistakes by keeping secrets. “Do you want to talk about this now?

“No. You asked, so I answered. But I think I need to.”

“Okay, but Bex, you are a mother. You made sure your son grew up with two loving parents. We both know I was not capable of making that decision. And I watch you with Vicky and your patience with Landon’s communication problem. You are exactly what Liza would want for her kids. And then with Dom. You have handled all that attitude and resentment so well. And still made sure he formed ties around here, despite how he’s treated you in the last two weeks.”

“I know that, but still.”

“Bex. Whether or not we can have kids will not change how I feel about you. You’re the one I want. And if we can convince a judge and social services, we’ll have the family we want. But I want that with you and no one else. It’s been a while since I said it. But I still love you.”

She opened her mouth to speak but I stopped her.

“You don’t need to say it yet.” I smiled and took her hand. “I want you to say it when its perfect for you.”

She let out a small sigh. “Thank you.”

It seemed Bex had taken more of everyone's resentment than what I had. Her family was still giving her the cold shoulder. Dom would rather come talk to me than her. And not once had she let him know how much it affected her. I knew it did. She was human, and she had one of the biggest hearts. And it was heartbreaking knowing how many people she had hurt while she made the only choice she thought she had.

“He’s hurting, Lo.” She held even tighter onto my hand. “He’d probably just gotten used to a world without his dad in it. And then he loses his mother and his stepfather. Though, I don’t think there was much love lost between him and Bill.”

That was obvious. I got the distinct impression Dom knew what Bill’s problem was with him, but he didn’t want to talk about it. Maybe he thought we would have similar issues. Or maybe he just didn’t trust us enough to talk about.

We finished our burgers, doing what all parents did when they found time for a date. Talking about our kids. It was the best kind of date in my opinion.

I was paying the bill when Bex’s phone rang. I saw Nick’s name flash across the screen and I immediately tensed. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Bowzer hand over keys to the kid behind the bar and take off his apron.

“They did what?” Bex’s loud shriek drew my attention back to her. “We’ll be right there.”

Bowzer came storming past us “Let’s go. I need a lift with you to the farm, please.”

“What happened?” My eyes darted between Bowzer and Bex.

She sighed and shook her head. “The kids trashed the PaintBall course.”

16

LOGAN

We drove in silence back to the farm. Bowzer, in the backseat, didn’t utter a word, either. He looked furious. Bex and I were more confused. I supposed that had more to do with experience than anything else. Bowzer was used to kids causing shit and getting into trouble.

I wanted to get there and see what exactly Nick meant by trashed before I rushed to judgment. The Salinger family was filled with drama queens and for all I knew things weren’t nearly as bad as Nick made it out to be. Then again, we were the temporary guardians to a very angry teenager who had been through a fair amount of shit. Maybe I was just being naïve and not wanting Dom to cause trouble and keep the peace.

As usual, I parked at the office side of the property. At Bex’s instruction, the three of us used a golf cart to get to the PaintBall building at the other side of the property. By the time we arrived, the other parents were already there. Bowzer went to stand next to his wife while I stood between Jared and Noah, and Bex went over to Everly and another woman. We arrived just in time to hear the end of Nick’s lecture to the kids.

“For the next week, all of you will be here when you’re not at school or at other obligations,” he continued. “Between all tenof you, you will clean out the paintball room. And, as additional payment for the stress and the fact we will not be able to use that room for the rest of the week and weekend, you will clean the gym area, mow the lawns and do whatever is needed over at the B&B as well.”

A chorus of utterly depressing ‘yes, sirs’ were mumbled and I caught Dom looking intently at the ground. Each of the kids was smattered in a rainbow of colors indicating they used more than their own allotted colors.

The look of stone did not waver from Nick’s features. “Now, you all will sit out here while I show your parents around our newly decorated PaintBall course.”

Each of the kids sat down with crossed legs and Nick gestured for us to follow him.

As a group, we entered the course and with all the lights on we couldn’t miss the damage. There wasn’t barely any clean space left on the walls.

Bex shook her head and turned to Nick. “Any idea how they managed this?”

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