Page 72 of Colton Family Bodyguard (Coltons of Mustang Valley)

Mark Rubio stared at

him awhile.

“This is Hazel Hart,” Callum said without any further explanation as to why she was there with him.

“Who’s here, Mark?” a woman called from inside.

A remarkably youthful woman appeared, blue eyes widening and then going rather chilly as she stopped beside her husband.

“Well, you’re here, so you may as well come in.” Mark moved aside.

“Thank you.” Callum stepped in, putting his hand on Hazel’s lower back.

She wasn’t sure if the contact gave him reassurance or if it was an automatic gesture. Either way, she felt the touch all the way to her toes.

The house was clutter-free and painted in shades of gray and earthy tones with white trim. Mark led them into a formal living room toward the front of the house. Hazel got the distinct impression that was no mistake, as though Annabel’s father did not want to welcome them into their home.

Mark and Loretta stood on the opposite side of the entry, facing Callum and Hazel.

“First, I want to apologize for not coming to see you sooner,” Callum said. “When you sent that invitation to the year memorial of her death, I should have at least called you.”

“You vanish from our lives as though Annabel didn’t matter one bit and you expect us to believe you? You discarded her like trash. Were you glad she was gone? That’s how it seemed to us.”

Callum shook his head emphatically. “I never meant to make you think that. I just... I just couldn’t...”

Mark’s brow creased in confusion. “You had nothing to do with her murder.”

“I should have protected her. I could have.”

“How?” Mark asked.

Callum pinched the bridge of his nose and then let his hand drop. “I should have known she would still be in danger after I finished protecting that witness.”

“You did your job.”

“You should have been with us during that time,” Loretta said. “You abandoned us. You were all we had left of her.”

“I’m sorry.” Callum breathed out. “I’m here now. I’m here the soonest I could be, largely thanks to this woman here.” He put his arm around Hazel. “She helped me see what I had been doing, which was burying extreme pain.”

“What do you think we were going through?” Loretta asked. “We lost our daughter and our grandchild. When you vanished we lost a son-in-law.”

Callum hadn’t married Annabel, but they must have thought of him as part of the family.

“He didn’t tell anyone in his family Annabel died,” Hazel said.

“No one?” Loretta asked, incredulous.

“I couldn’t.”

Loretta stepped forward then. “Oh, you poor man.” She touched his face. “You should have come to see us. You could have talked to us about it. We needed that with you.”

“I know that now. I’m sorry.”

“This doesn’t make things all right with us,” Mark said. “You caused our grief to be worse by not being with us.”

Hazel thought that was a little over-the-top. Mark must not be a very forgiving man, but his wife was.

“I know it’s taken me too long to come and see you. If there’s anything you want to talk about, I’m here now.”

---