Page 31 of When the Storm Breaks
Fucking Ridge.
As if I hadn’t suffered enough torture for one evening, I decided to torture myself further by listening to Shiloh’s solo album. I listened to “Damage” on repeat. It told the story of a woman who had been abused by her lover and talked about the scars that faded but never healed. And I couldn’t help but wonder if the song was autobiographical.
Had Dean the douche Bouchon abused her? I’d seen firsthand, with more than one person in my life, how drugs could change you. How they fucked with your brain, altered your perception, and made you do things you never dreamt you’d be capable of doing. I saw what drugs did to my mother, to the man I refused to call ‘Dad’, and then years later to my cousin Jude.
I had half a mind to go back over there and check on Shiloh. Just then I heard the front door open followed by something crashing to the floor and a decidedly feminine giggle.
Fuck my life. I scrubbed my hands over my face and stood up from the sofa. Now I had to go play bad cop.
Chapter Nine
Brody
The next morning,I showed up at Jude and Lila’s stone and timber farmhouse, slightly worse for the wear. Thanks to Ridge, I was operating on four hours of sleep.
I banged on the front door again—a thick slab of solid oak with a brass knocker shaped like a lion’s head—my limited patience being tested. When the door finally opened, I heard a screaming baby in the background and one look at Jude told me he wasn’t faring much better than me this morning.
“Is Noah ready?”
“You’re early. He’s still eating his breakfast.”
“You look like shit.”
He looked down at his food-splattered T-shirt and raked a hand through his messy brown hair. “Levi’s teething. He was up all night.”
“Rub a little whiskey on his gums.”
“The fuck?” Jude looked scandalized. “He’s only ten months old.”
“I heard that!” Noah yelled from the kitchen. “You sweared.” His hearing was supersonic.
“I said fudge,” Jude yelled back.
I heard a rattling sound and laughed. Noah had a swear jar, courtesy of Lila. By the time he hit his teens, he’d be a fucking millionaire.
“You didn’t rub whiskey on Noah’s gums, did you?” Jude asked as I followed him to the kitchen, passing by the family room, a cavernous space with a stone fireplace, vaulted ceilings and a wall of windows overlooking their five acres, most of which was dedicated to the flowers Lila grew for her floral arranging business.
“Nah. I poured it straight into his sippy cup.”
He snorted. “You’re such a shit.”
“Pay up, Daddy Jude.” Noah pointed at his swear jar on the marble countertop, and Jude transferred the change from his pockets to the jar.
“Hi Daddy.” Noah gave me a big toothless smile from his spot on the stool at the island. Last week he’d lost his front tooth and every single time I saw him, it felt like he’d grown. Changed in the six days since I’d last seen him. He was still dressed in Dallas Cowboys pajamas.
“Hey little man.” I ruffled his dirty blond hair and kissed the top of his head.
Noah was the spitting image of me. Not even biased when I say that my boy was the cutest kid on the planet. But truth be told, when he was born I had hoped he’d come out looking more like Lila. I’d always hated that I looked so different from the rest of the dark-haired blue-eyed McCallister boys. Hated it that I looked so much likehim. Bad enough we shared the same DNA, I had to come out looking like my old man too. “How are you doing?”
“Better than Levi. All he does is cry.” He shoved a forkful of pancakes into his mouth and talked around them. “Can you fix him like you fix the horses?”
“I’ve got this, Noah.” Jude held up his hands like he was the almighty savior. Half the time, I think he actually believed he was. “Leave it to me. It’s all good.”
God forbid Jude would ever say he needed help with anything. I poured myself a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter, watching in amusement as he took a screaming Levi out of his highchair and into his arms. He did everything he could to soothe Levi, but the baby was still screaming.
“Make him stop crying.” Noah blocked his ears with his hands. “We should call Mommy. She’ll know what to do.”
“Your mommy is working. She’s busy with all those weddings so we’re not going to bother her,” Jude said. Noah sighed but he nodded his head in agreement. “Finish your breakfast. I’ll take care of Levi.”
