Page 72 of Out of the Shadows
Margo pretended to zip her lips and throw away the key.
She had arrived five minutes after the police, and two minutes before the ambulance. She was relieved that no one—except Aberdeen—was seriously hurt. Jack had a nick, hardly worth a Band-Aid, but it could have been worse.
Once the police were gone, everyone pitched in to clean up the mess in the living room, and Jack and Margo secured plywood on the front window, while Logan arranged to have it replaced as soon as possible. They swept all the glass, then vacuumed, then swept again—and still Obi got his paw cut on a shard they’d missed. Laura removed the glass and bandaged it up. The kids didn’t fall asleep until after two—they slept in the den with the dogs. Luisa drove Charlie home, Logan crashed in Cody’s room, and Laura finally went to bed at three.
Margo and Jack had stayed up because Margo couldn’t sleep. They talked about Jack’s observations of Luisa; Margo told him not to worry, that their sister was fine. But she made a note to spend more time with her. Jack had been a cop so he would understand some things, but being in the military was different. Luisa wasn’t the same kid who had left home at eighteen for adventure and purpose. She had found both... but sometimes in the discovery of self, truths emerged that you didn’t expect.
Margo asked Jack about Laura, and he admitted he had feelings for her and that Laura was open to exploring them. Margo was thrilled—she wanted Jack to find someone who deserved him. He wasn’t a man who wanted to be alone, and his failed marriage had broken him. He was better now, but if he found someone to share the rest of his life, he would be complete. She gave him two thumbs-up.
Now she was beat and ready to go home and sleep all day, but Cody wanted to show her kittens. “I wish Lu could have stayed,” he said wistfully, in a tone that Margo heard as,Butyou’ll do.
They walked down the aisle and Cody touched each horse that had its head out. Margo marveled at how this kid bounced back after the last couple days of intense stress.
In the last stall, Cody motioned for Margo and Jack to stand in the opening, then he entered and squatted in the middle.
“Good mom you are,” Cody said in a soft, cooing voice. “Good mom taking care of your babies.”
A gray-and-white cat lay on her side while one... four...sixkittens nursed. They had no fur and their eyes were closed and they were very, very small.
“My mom will come out and check on you later,” Cody told the cat. “But she says you know what to do.” He poured fresh water into her bowl. Then he took a can of kitten food from his pocket and emptied it into her food bowl. “Mom says you can have this.”
He then got up and slowly backed away.
They left the stall and Cody said, “I’m going to take the horses out to the field to graze. They didn’t get to exercise yesterday. You can come if you want.”
“Do you need help?” Margo asked.
“Naw, I’m good. I like taking them out.”
One by one, Cody brought out the horses.
“He’s a pretty cool kid,” Margo said.
“The whole family is,” Jack agreed.
“Speaking of Logan,” Margo said. “He needs to know about Brittney.”
“What about Brittney?”
“That she’s dating the son of his business partner. The son of Congresswoman Shaw.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s up to something and she doesn’t want him to know she’s dating the guy.”
“Logan is fine. He’s protected himself financially, and he’s not going to put up with any shenanigans.” Jack glanced at her. “Why are you so concerned?”
“Don’t look at me like that. Logan isn’t my type. It’s Brittney. I feel like she’s gotten away with something, and that just grates on my every nerve.”
“Maybe she did,” Jack said. “But what goes around comes around.”
“Stop with the cliches,” she said. “Karma’s a bitch and all that.”
“No, not so much Karma, but I generally believe eventually, people like Brittney will have to pay a price. Either now... or in the afterlife. It helps.”
“So you don’t want to tell Logan.”
“No. If it comes up, I’ll mention it. But I’m not going to go out of my way to do so. He’s put her behind him, a lot faster than I put Whitney behind me. Why dredge it all up again?”
