Page 82 of The Archer and his Rosebud

The moment I slammed on my brakes outside the home that once promised nothing but happy memories, all thoughts left my mind. Their shouts, combined with Eli’s piercing cry, reached the driveway. I rushed up the walkway.

“Nol, I’m here. I’m going to get Eli from Mommy, then I’ll get you. Stay in the back of the house until I call for you.”

He murmured he understood, and I slipped the phone into my back pocket, our call still connected. Then I eased through the unlocked storm door and straight into the eye of the hurricane.

Hiding my presence wasn’t my objective, but when Leah gasped, alerting Bo to my arrival, and he turned his angry sneer my way, I second-guessed my strategy. I should have run around back and snuck in through the garage door. Pulled Nolan out first, then figured out a way to get to Eli. Maybe I could have coaxed Bo outside.

Instead, I stormed the house like a white knight, my infant son’s helpless cries my sole motivation.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Bo’s words slurred.

I raised my arms and walked further into the room, taking inventory. Eli was in his swing near the television, his little voice turning hoarse, a disheveled Leah stood between Bo and Eli, and Bo stood between Leah and me. Which meant he stood between my son and me. That wasn’t going to work.

My gaze volleyed between Bo’s murderous glare and Leah’s shocked one. “I’m here to grab my boys. Nothing more.”

Leah’s glossy blue eyes turned beseeching. She was scared. Of Bo, of me?

“Are you sure you’re not here for another round with this whore?” Bo kicked a crumpled beer can at his feet.How long had he been here?

A flash of movement down the dark hallway to my left escalated my pulse. “She’s all yours, Bo. Leah and I are through. We’ve been over since the moment I learned about you two.”

I could have defended her honor, but she hadn’t exactly earned it, and I didn’t lie. It was only in my weakest moments that I considered giving her another chance. When those low points hit, Paige and her husband, Ivan, came to my rescue. There wasn’t a single person with my blood who wanted me to take Leah back after what she pulled.

Bo shifted toward me in a threatening stance, chest puffed, legs wide. “Then get out of this house.”

It might be January, but this was Texas, and sweat dampened my forehead as I met his step. “I can’t do that, not without my boys.”

Something sinister took over his beer-blurred vision. “Yourboys?” His hands slapped my chest, shoving me before I registered his intent. Leah reached for Bo and he shrugged her off.

“Look, man, I don’t want to start anything.” I stepped back, but Bo advanced, shoving me once more. “I’m not fighting you over her. She’s not worth it,” I warned, my patience draining.

“You hear that?” Bo laughed, his head swinging between us. “He doesn’t even want you anymore.”

I flinched for Leah, but it wasn’t a lie. If only she could hold her damn pride, but not my soon-to-be-ex-wife. No, Leah Woods Thomas was incapable of keeping her mouth closed. Fire lit her eyes the moment before her fists met Bo’s back.

“Shut up, you stupid drunk.” She tossed her tangled blonde hair over her shoulder, haughty as can be for a woman standing in a room with her childhood love and the man she’d cheated on him with.

The flash of Nolan’s pajamas inching closer to the mouth of the hallway stole my attention—my head shaking, my hand waving for him to remain hidden—as Bo spun and reached for Leah. Thesnickof a pocket knife opening pricked my ears, and the glint of the blade flashed in the light of the lamp.

“Oh, my God.”Willa slaps her palm over her mouth.

“It’s all a blur from there.” Not true, but I can’t relive every moment of that night again, and Willa shouldn’t have to be plagued with it either. “Nolan screamed for his mom. I jumped at Bo. We struggled, and in the end he was on the ground, stabbed in the liver. He bled out in the ambulance.”

Willa’s face scrunches. “It was self-defense.”

“Yeah, of course, it was.” I drag the hem of my shirt up and point out the light scar on my ribs, then I twist my arm, showing her the scar on my tricep. “All the blood. Mine, Bo’s… That’s why Nolan is terrified of blood. Why he freaked out so badly that day at the park.”

Willa’s grief etches deeper.

“But even with my injuries as proof I was attacked, the D.A. didn’t see it as self-defense. He argued I was a jealous ex and charged me with manslaughter. They denied bail.”

“Denied bail?” Willa’s hand clutches her heart. “How long were you in jail?”

“Nearly two full years.” My hand drags along the bristle of my jaw. “I spent over two years of my boys’ life awaiting trial for protecting them and their mother.”

“I don’t understand. How could the police not see the truth?”

“It was political. Texas has the stand your ground law, but many people misuse it as a defense. I was the unlucky guy a Beaumont D.A. up for re-election decided to use as an example. They knew I’d been drinking that night, and they argued I should have called 9-1-1 instead. They implied I escalated the situation out of damaged pride and jealousy.

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