Page 36 of Needing Your Love
Heart heavy and lips in a grim line, I eyed the two men who continued to glare at each other. “Do I need to arrest you both and drag your asses to the station?”
“He started it,” Stefen muttered like a middle school brat. “Came tearing in here with accusations and hit me first. I was just trying to defend myself.” He pointed at his cheek, and sure enough, a bruise had begun to discolor his skin.
“You going to press charges, Stefen?” I asked, and it took him a few seconds of glowering at Kurt before shaking his head.
“Get Kurt out of here,” I told Jamie, who’d watched on in silence. “He can sleep it off at the station.”
Wouldn’t be the first time Kurt Wallace crashed on the cot, and I doubted it would be the last.
My thoughts went to Jimmy’s dad, then the boy himself who’d always managed to get into trouble. He’d been behaving since coming back, and I hadn’t heard a single complaint from anyone about public drunkenness or disorderly conduct on his part. Frenchie said he visited the bar to chat with her occasionally but rarely had more than two glasses of pinot noir.
Perhaps he’d learned his lesson of what too much alcohol did to a man and possessed the self-control his father never had.
I slipped Sarah one of my cards without Stefen being aware and left a few minutes later, my questions over their marriage unanswered and concern for the woman heavier on my mind.
Checking in on Kurt via radio with Jamie, I headed toward Mary’s for a little chat.
Jimmy’s red BMW sat in her driveway, and I pulled in alongside, my pulse kicking up even though I had expected him to be there. If he wasn’t at his dad’s place or The Moose, this was where he could be found every damned day, and I would know, because I couldn’t help but keep tabs on his daily whereabouts.
I no longer questionedwhy. The interest every part of me took in him was clear as a summer sky and just as alluring no matter the instinct to flee far, far away from the pain that boy would bring me. Sure, he’d gifted me with a bit of truth that had spun my head, but he still hid himself and lied about his emotional well-being. Attempted to manipulate me into bed.
Darla fucking incarnate.
Mary answered my knock on her front door, her eyes harder than I’d expected while glancing behind me at the empty cruiser. “Kurt?” She snipped his name like anger more than worry filled her mind.
“Sleeping off the booze on the comfy cot in our holding cell,” I stated sternly, happy to have something other than Jimmy to focus on.
Lips pressing tight, she nodded and stepped back, allowing me inside. “I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault, Mary.” I peered down the hallway but didn’t see or hear Jimmy.
“Coffee?” She headed for the kitchen before I could reply, but this wasn’t the first time I’d shown up at her house to discuss her son’s issues.
“How much trouble is he in?” she asked while retrieving a mug from the cabinet atop the coffee pot.
“No jail, but it’s not good.”
She muttered a curse and handed me the coffee but still didn’t seem all that concerned for her son.
I sipped, eyeing the window overlooking her backyard. “What do you know about Kurt’s affair with Sarah Kaufman?”
“Sarah?” Gram echoed, her tone high with surprise. “She’s a married woman—Kurt would never…” Her voice trailed off, and she sank into one of the kitchen chairs as though exhaustion liquified her bones. “What has that boy gotten himself into?” she muttered to herself, disgust leaking into her voice.
I stepped past her, lightly grasping her shoulder briefly before moving closer to the window.
Jimmy was shooting hoops with DJ. Both were laughing, and Jimmy ruffled the boy’s hair with fondness.
He seemed…real in the moment. Pink flushing his face, eyes bright with happiness I longed to see on a daily basis.
An ache spread over my chest, longing to linger in watching this alluring version of my obsession, but I turned away and sat across from Mary, determined to give her my undivided attention. I explained the altercation her son had gotten into and how I had more questions than answers.
Mary studied her arthritic hands, rubbing gently at swelled joints. “Not that it’s an excuse for his drinking, but Kurt’s got some personal issues going on.”
“Can you share specifics so I can figure out how to help?”
“He and Carrie are constantly arguing these days. DJ told me he screams at her over the phone, calls her names.” Mary pursed her lips and sighed heavily. “It’s not healthy for any of them, and here I am selfishly dreaming about moving to Florida because of my aching bones.”
As far as I was aware, Carrie was a good mom and had a steady job in Berlin.
