Page 97 of Hit the Ground
Jesse opened the door slowly, peeking his head out. “Dad?”
“I’m here.” I pressed the door the rest of the way open and grabbed the side of his face, checking him over in the moonlight. “You okay?”
He nodded, his mouth flattened into a thin line. “Kinda freaked out, but I’m not hurt or anything. Mom wouldn’t let that happen.”
There were different kinds of hurt. And I already knew Jesse would carry tonight with him. Shelby should never have allowed him to be exposed to Kent’s problems. There was no excuse I’d ever accept.
I slid my hand down to his shoulder, not missing the slight tremble in his tight muscles. “All right. Here’s what we’re going to do. I want you to go to your room and grab what you need for the week. I’m going to go talk to your mom and Kent.”
He sniffled and wiped the back of his hand across his cheek. “But your week doesn’t start until tomorrow.”
“Let me worry about that, bud. You go grab your stuff.”
He gave me another doubtful look before letting out a shuddering breath and trudging toward his room. I stepped into the house, following the low voices coming from the kitchen.
“Shelby, Kent, I’m coming in,” I warned right before stepping into the room.
They both whipped around to face me, competing looks of horror and confusion on their faces. Shelby was in her nightgown, a spot of blood on the front. Her mouth hung open as her eyes darted over me, like she couldn’t believe I was standing there. Kent, on the other hand, flinched dramatically. From the bruise blooming on his cheek, two swollen eyelids, and cut lip, I understood why. The man had been through the wringer tonight, but I felt no sympathy.
Not when he’d brought it home to Jesse.
“Cay? What are you doing here?” Shelby smoothed her hand over her hair, but it didn’t do anything to right the situation. “It’s the middle of the night.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “Exactly. When oursoncalls mein the middle of the night, telling me he’s scared because his mother’s boyfriend showed up athis house, covered in blood, there’s not a chance I’m not going to be here.”
All the color drained from her face. “Jesse called you? But…” She turned toward the hallway leading to his room. “He’s asleep. I didn’t think he’d se—”
“Did you think about him at all?” Fury edged my vision with black, but I didn’t let it show. I swallowed it down like a ball of barbed wire, feeling every jagged inch as it made its way to my gut. “When youallowedthis man into your house, whereour sonwas sleeping, did you think of him at all?” I swung my gaze to Kent. “What kind of danger did you bring here?”
He held up his hands. One of his fingers had been broken. It was angry and turning black, twisted at a forty-five-degree angle. A sick kind of satisfaction pumped through my veins. I hoped like hell he was in a lot of pain and that finger never healed quite right.
“There’s no danger,” Kent claimed unconvincingly. “I had an accident, and Shelby’s helping me clean up. Jesse is fine. He doesn’t need to worry about anything.”
“Where’s Jesse? I have to explain…” Shelby took a step toward his room, and I shifted in front of her. She frowned up at me, bringing a shaky hand to her chest. “What are you doing?”
I inhaled a steadying breath. More anger wasn’t needed in this situation. “Jesse’s coming home with me tonight. He’s in his room packing his things.”
Her jaw dropped once again. “What? No.” She shook her head hard. “It’s still my week. You can’t take him.”
“He called me,” I intoned. “Do you get that? He saw your boyfriend covered in blood, and he called me, Shelby. He didn’t go to you. He called his dad—because he knew I would provide him a safe place.”
She started to defend herself. “Safe…? I’d never do anything to harm him—”
I jerked my chin toward the bloody man sitting at her table. “You let that in here. There are no words that will convince me he got that way from an accident—not when he was at my house a couple weeks ago begging for a loan. I’m not stupid, Shel. I can put two and two together.”
She whipped around to face Kent. “You begged him for a loan? Why in the world would you do that?”
She had no idea. Just as I’d suspected. That didn’t make it better, though. She still brought this piece of shit into our son’s life when anyone with half a brain could see he was less than pond scum. He might not have been violent, and he may have cared about Shelby and Jesse, but that was the bare minimum.
Kent tried to explain, but I wasn’t listening. His excuses didn’t matter to me. Nothing he could say would be good enough.
Jesse emerged with a backpack and his duffel bag. Shelby tried to go to him again, but I stood in her way. Taking the duffel fromJesse, I put a hand on his nape and steered him toward the door, Shelby on my heels.
“Wait, Caleb…please—wait,” she pleaded, following us out on the porch. “Let me talk to Jesse.”
I gave Jesse’s shoulder a pat. “Go get in the truck. Alice is waiting for you. I’m going to talk to your mom for a second.”
He peered around me, sadness tugging at his mouth as he looked at Shelby. “I’m sorry, Mom. I was scared. Don’t be mad at me.”
