Page 75 of Savage

“The hell it isn’t! She could’ve come to you and told you what was going on.Hell, she could’ve come to me! But she chose to keep him a secret!” Cotton roared. “Who does that? Who keeps a child from his family for five goddamn years?”

Before I realized what I was doing, I’d stepped out into the hall. My stomach was in knots as I muttered, “I tried to tell him. I tried so many times.”

Cotton whipped around, and I was a little startled when I saw the fierce expression on his face. I knew he had a reputation for being tough as nails, but Cotton had always been so sweet and kind to me. Today, he looked anything but sweet and kind. I could literally feel the rage and hurt radiating off him.

My heart was racing as I tried to explain, “I called, but I never got an answer. I came by here, but I was always turned away. I even tried writing letters.”

Cotton turned his attention to Malcomb as he barked, “Is this true?”

“Yeah, it’s all true,” Malcomb answered. “I would’ve told you that if you’d given me a chance to explain.”

“Damnit.” Cotton shook his head, still clearly angered. “I told you. I told you time and time again, but you were too damn stubborn to listen.You were always so fucking stubborn.”

“Yeah, I wonder where I got that.”

“Don’t you try turning this on me,” Cotton snapped back.

I knew he was hurt. I also knew I played a part in causing that hurt, so I was compelled to try and fix it. There was only one way I knew how to do that, so I asked, “Would you like to meet him?”

Cotton nodded, and then he and Malcomb followed me into the family room. I could tell that Cotton was a little uneasy as we made our way over to the pool table, but it was Cotton. He had a way about him that could set people at ease. I had a feeling Dalton would love him.

Cotton watched silently as I crouched down next to Dalton and said, “Hey, sweetie. I have someone who I’d like you to meet.”

Dalton’s eyes widened as he looked up at Cotton, and I could only imagine what he was thinking. Cotton didn’t look like any man he’d ever been around before. He was about the same age as my father and had the same salt and pepper hair, but he was covered in tattoos and he was much, much bigger than my father. And in his Satan’s Fury cut, he looked quite intimidating.

Hoping to ease his mind, I told him, “This is Cotton. He’s Malcomb’s father, and your grandfather.”

“Oh, hey,” Dalton replied in barely a whisper.

“Hey there, buddy.” Cotton knelt next to me as he said, “It’s really nice to finally meet you.”

Dalton didn’t respond.

He was nervous, and rightly so. He was in a strange place with strange people, and after our eventful ride, I couldn’t blame him for being worried. Cotton picked up on his unease and smiled as he motioned his head towards the pool table. “I heard you’re quite the pool shark. You wanna play a round?”

Dalton’s eyes lit up, and I knew he had him. He nodded eagerly, then scampered over to the table and started collecting all the balls. Cotton gathered them up in the triangle then slid them into the correct position. He removed the triangle and smiled. “I think we’re all set.”

Dalton nodded with a bright smile.

I was concerned that Dalton wouldn’t be able to hold a pool stick, much less aim one, but Cotton was one step ahead of me. “Let’s skip the pool sticks and play a round of ball slam.”

Cotton took the white ball and rolled it towards the triangle. It hit, and all the balls started rolling in various directions. Dalton hopped with excitement. “Cool!”

“You wanna go?”

Dalton nodded, then took the ball from Cotton and placed it on the table. He rolled it towards one of the stripes, causing it to smack the ball into the pocket. A big smile crossed Cotton’s face as he cheered, “There you go!”

“Can I do it again?”

“Absolutely!”

When Dalton reached for the ball, Cotton turned to Malcomb and said, “Call your mother.”

“Dad, we’ve got other things to deal with first.”

“Call her.”

Malcomb didn’t argue.

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