Page 85 of Finding Us Again

They laughed, as did I, but we all knew it was a put-on.

“Thank you both,” I said before walking toward Ava and Marion.

I watched Adam and Brock leave, and I waved Hayden and Declan away as well. When they’d stepped back, I said, “Marion, I love you like you’re my mama, and if she were the one standing in front of me, I’d be saying the same thing. I don’t want you staying here tonight.”

She sobbed, “I’ll be fine.”

I looked back over my shoulder toward the patio doors. From where I was standing, I watched as Conrad was losing his shit outside. I’d never known the chief to be physically abusive, but I wasn’t willing to put it to the test.

“Ava and Evan are staying at Mama and Daddy’s. Why don’t you pack a bag and come spend Christmas with us?” I asked.

I prayed she would take me up on it. She looked skeptical, and I didn’t want to push her. Marion had lived under Evan and Ava’s daddy’s thumb, beaten down and abused, never getting to make a decision of her own. I wouldn’t do that to her. I wouldn’t take her choices from her.

That was until Conrad roared in the backyard. All of our heads swiveled toward the glass doors that overlooked the patio. The sound coming from that man could only be described as one of pain, anger, and devastation.

As the sound settled and the air grew still, the crunch of splintering glass and crashing furniture took the place of Conrad’s pain. As destruction disturbed the peace, Conrad screamed again, roaring with every crash.

I felt for the man. I did. Until I remembered he deserted his child, leaving her to fend for herself because her mother couldn’t be bothered.

“Keep an eye on the door while I help Ava pack her and her mama some clothes,” I ordered Hayden and Declan.

They both nodded, and Marion followed me down the hall with Ava on her tail. “Jackson, honey, it’s fine.”

“If I leave you here, Katie will be writing my obituary because Mama will give me that look she gets right before she tells me she’s disappointed in me. Then if that isn’t enough to make me keel over, Daddy will finish me off when he stomps a mudhole in my ass and walks it dry.”

“Well, if it means you don’t disappoint your mother, then I’ll go. She’s too sweet for words,” Marion said.

Twenty-Seven

Jackson

Hayden, Declan, and I settled Marion and Ava in the SUV Hayden had driven over earlier. I tossed Declan the keys and climbed into the backseat with Marion and Ava.

“Where’s Evan and Anthony, Jackson?” Marion asked.

“Oh hell!”

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. Sure enough, there were at least fifty text messages from Evan and about half as many from Anthony.

“Fuck!” I exclaimed.

“Jackson! Where are Anthony and Evan?” Marion asked frantically.

“I left them at the mall,” I said as I pulled up Evan’s contact info so I could call him.

“It’s about goddamn time! Where have you been?”Evan screamed at me when I answered the phone.

“I’m heading your way. I just texted you the name of the store. I need you to go and pick up Katie’s present before the guy leaves. And keep your big mouth shut until after she opens it,” I told him.

“We were down that way twice. Why didn’t you get it then?”Evan demanded.

I could hear him cursing under his breath as he told Anthony what was going on.

When he finally quit bitching, I explained, “I wanted to keep the gift a surprise from Katie, so I couldn’t get it in Nashville because we were always together. I had to get it here, and the guy only agreed to meet me on Christmas Eve because I paid him extra.”

“You’re coming to get me, right?”Evan asked.

It was soft, but I heard Anthony yell in the background,“Hey! What about me, asshole?”

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