Page 16 of Cowboy’s Last Stand (His to Protect #1)

L ike every mother in the room, Natalie froze at the sound of a child in distress.

One minute, she was gazing up at Jason with stars in her eyes, marveling at how well they fit together despite their differences in height. The next, she was crossing the dance floor, searching for her son in the crowd.

She found him at the center of a small melee. Marcus stood over the prone form of another boy. He held a tin soldier in his little fist. The pointed end stuck out from between his clenched fingers. The kid on the ground, still shrieking, held a hand over his eye.

Natalie’s stomach filled with dread. Her son had struck another child in anger. She pushed Marcus aside and knelt to check on the other boy. It was one of Missy’s twins, sobbing inconsolably.

To make matters worse, Marcus didn’t seem sorry. “Take it back,” he demanded. “Take back what you said!”

Jason helped defuse the situation by lifting Marcus off his feet and hauling him away from the fight. Marcus protested this treatment by pummeling Jason with his fists. Jason made a grunt of pain as one of the blows landed.

“You’re not my dad,” Marcus said. “You can’t send me away!”

Natalie gaped at her son in disbelief. Undeterred by the attack, Jason continued carrying Marcus under one arm, like a football. She turned her attention to the other boy. She imagined him with an eyepatch, his life forever changed.

Missy arrived a second later. She drew the crying child into her arms.

“Is he all right?” Natalie asked.

Missy pried her son’s hand away from his eye to inspect it. “He’ll be fine in a minute.”

Natalie looked closer. The boy appeared to have a puffy red mark on his cheek near his left eye. Marcus hadn’t blinded the kid or popped his eyeball. It was just a minor scuffle. Relief coursed through her. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Natalie rose to her feet. She was aware of the curious stares in the crowd, the hushed voices all around. Jason had deposited Marcus in a quiet corner of the room. Natalie made her way toward him, her heart hammering.

“What happened?” she asked.

Marcus’s lower lip trembled. “Kyle said you’d send me away.”

“Is that why you hit him?”

Tears spilled down Marcus’s cheeks.

“You will apologize to that boy. Do you hear me?”

He wiped his nose, sniffling. Not waiting for his compliance, she half dragged him back toward Missy and her son. Kyle’s cries had quieted. His twin stood nearby with a sullen face. He seemed annoyed with his brother’s theatrics.

Natalie tugged on Marcus’s hand. “What do you say?”

Marcus clamped his mouth shut in refusal.

“Marcus, there’s no excuse for hitting. You have to apologize.”

“He said you wanted to make a new family.”

Her heart ached for him but now wasn’t the time to show sympathy. “Say you’re sorry.”

“Sorry, Kyle,” Marcus whispered.

“No harm done,” Missy said breezily, rising to her feet. “The twins do worse to each other all day long.”

Natalie appreciated her easy-going attitude. Some of the moms wouldn’t be as kind. Marcus usually got along well with other children. His penchant for mischief made him a popular playmate. He was energetic but not ill-tempered. She hoped there wouldn’t be too much gossip over this incident.

After Missy and her boys returned to their table, Natalie bent to pick up the pile of toy soldiers on the ground. “We’re leaving,” she said to Marcus. He nodded, his face glum. She spotted Wade sitting with his father nearby. Sheriff Hendricks looked amused. Natalie gritted her teeth at the sight.

Jason retrieved her cardigan, which she’d forgotten about, before joining them.

She put the toy soldiers in her bag. They left together in silence.

Marcus sulked in his booster seat as she drove home.

When they arrived, she sent him straight to his room.

Jason lingered on the front porch. Reluctant to enter, as always.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“Of course.”

She wondered if this was the end of their burgeoning romance. What man wanted to be a little kid’s punching bag? “I’m sorry. He’s never done anything like that before. I don’t know what got into him.”

“Don’t make him apologize to me. Please.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Why not?”

Jason didn’t answer.

“He needs to learn that hitting is wrong.”

“It’s not always wrong,” Jason said pointedly.

“It’s wrong in this case.”

“Maybe that kid deserved it.”

“No. He can’t hit first. He can’t hit at all.”

Jason shook his head in disagreement.

“He could have poked Kyle’s eye out,” she said.

“Are you going to punish him for what might have happened?”

She drummed her fingertips against her arm. “My parenting decisions are not your concern.”

A muscle in his jaw flexed with irritation, but he didn’t argue further.

He sat down on the glider and shut up. She went inside without him.

She couldn’t believe he’d challenged her in the first place.

What did he expect her to do about Marcus brawling at the VFW?

Her son had hit a child and an adult. He’d used a metal toy as a weapon.

She couldn’t overlook this behavior. Some situations required tough love.

When she approached Marcus’s bedroom door, she could hear him crying.

He didn’t cry often. He brushed off injuries and disappointments easily.

She pushed the door open and looked inside.

He was on the bed with his head buried in his arms. She offered him the glass of water by his bedside. He drank in choked gulps.

“How about some hot cocoa?” she said. She could be tough later.

He followed her to the kitchen. She gave him a damp washcloth for his swollen eyes and made two cups of cocoa. She put cinnamon in hers. Mike had liked it that way, Mexican-style. For Marcus, she added marshmallows.

Natalie didn’t agree with Jason about fighting—it wasn’t acceptable, period—but she wanted to give Marcus the opportunity to explain himself. “Are you ready to tell me what happened?”

He sipped his cocoa, which left a froth on his upper lip. Although she was biased, she knew he was a beautiful child. Strangers told her that often. He had Mike’s charming smile and dimples, along with her light brown eyes and stubborn jaw. Her chest swelled with love for him.

“Kyle asked if Jason was my new dad,” Marcus said. “I told him no, but he kept talking about it. He said that new dads don’t want any old kids, so you’d probably move away and leave me in a frosty home.”

“Foster home,” she corrected.

“Is it like jail?”

“No. It’s a temporary home for kids who need a place to stay for a little while because their parents can’t take care of them.”

“Are you going to send me there?”

She leaned forward and cupped his chin. “Not in a million years, OK? I would never give you up, and I would never send you away. If someone tried to take you from me, I would claw them to shreds. Do you hear me?”

Tears filled his eyes again. “But you told me…”

“I told you what?”

“That your mom gave you up. She left you and made a new family.”

“Baby,” she said, putting her arms around him. No wonder he’d been so affected by Kyle’s taunting remarks. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were worried about that.”

He rested his head against her shoulder while she stroked his hair.

“Kyle was just trying to stir up trouble. He was saying mean things that aren’t true. I’m not going to leave you. Most moms don’t do that. Mine had something wrong with her, a weakness inside. I’m not like her.”

He drew in a ragged, calming breath.

“The same goes for dads. The good ones stay. Your daddy didn’t mean to leave us. He loved you the way I love you. If I get married again someday, it won’t be to anyone who doesn’t want you. We’re a package deal.”

“We are?”

“One hundred percent.”

“OK,” he said. “I get it.”

“Good.”

She released him with a watery smile.

He went back to his cocoa. “Are you still mad?”

“I’m not happy,” she said. “I don’t want you to hit people.”

“Jason hits people if they’re mean.”

She shouldn’t have been surprised by this argument.

Jason had quickly become a superhero in Marcus’s eyes, a man to idolize and emulate.

“Hitting is a last resort. If someone is trying to kidnap you or hurt you, go for it. You can fight and yell for help. When you can use your words and walk away, do that.”

He finished his hot cocoa in quiet contemplation. “Was someone trying to hurt Jason?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

She hesitated before answering. “A customer at the bar.”

“Is he the firecracker man?”

“Maybe.”

Marcus looked out the window, where Jason’s shadowy figure was steeped in darkness. “Did I hurt him in his ribs?”

“He has a bruise there from the other fight.”

“I’ll say I’m sorry.”

She knew Jason didn’t want that, but it wasn’t up to him, and Marcus had volunteered. She nodded her permission before he went outside. She sat at the kitchen table and watched them through the open window. Jason accepted Marcus’s apology easily.

“Have a seat,” Jason said.

The glider squeaked as Marcus joined him. “Mom says I shouldn’t hit people.”

“I heard.”

“Do you think it’s OK to fight sometimes?”

“I think you should listen to your mother.”

Natalie smiled at the diplomatic answer.

“In your fight, did you hit first?” Marcus asked.

“No. He started it.”

“Why?”

“He was bothering a lady. I told him to leave her alone. He didn’t like that.”

“So he punched you in the face?”

“Among other places. That reminds me. Do you still have those toy soldiers?”

Marcus shook his head.

Jason removed a set of keys from his backpack to demonstrate. “If you hold something in your fist with the sharp end poking out, your punch will do more damage.”

“Cool,” Marcus said.

“I’m telling you because it’s dangerous, not because it’s cool. An ordinary thing like a toy or a key can become a weapon. You have to be careful.”

“Can you teach me more stuff about fighting?”

“I’d better not.”

“Mom doesn’t like it.”

“Right.”

“Are you going to marry her?”