Page 15 of Loving Wild

“The police?” I question. He nods.

“They got him?”

“Yeah, he turned up at . . .” he shrugs, and I wonder what or where he’s going to say. “He turned up on foot at his home address. The police were there waiting and arrested him. His car was in the garage the whole time.”

I remain silent, unsure of what to say or how I feel. I jump when my own phone vibrates from beside me.

“It’s Ryder,” Gabe says as he hands it to me.

“They’ve got him,” my son says as soon as I swipe to answer.

“Yeah, they just called.”

“Walked right up to the house, bold as brass.” I smile at the very English term he uses. Despite looking so much like his dad, and being born and raised in Australia, there’s a little bit of me and my Englishness in there somewhere. “Explains why we couldn’t find his car anywhere,” he adds.

I put the phone on speaker as Gabe sits down on the bed next to me.

“Have they charged him with anything?” I ask both of them.

“Not yet. They’re still questioning him,” Gabe answers. His eyes are on the phone, not on me. “The paperwork has all been done for an intervention order. Hopefully, he’ll be served with it today, so even if he does get released, we have something in place to stop him coming near you or the house again,” Gabe explains to both me and Ryder.

“He might get released?” I ask, the panic I’m feeling making my voice sound high and squeaky. My eyes slice from my phone to Gabe.

“Freddie’s all over it. He’s pushing for unlawful wounding, but he’ll likely be charged with assault occasioning bodily harm, which means there’s a possibility he’ll be released, not remanded,” he says after letting out a long sigh.

“Who’s Freddie, your lawyer?” Ryder asks.

“Yeah, he works for us. Family law isn’t usually his thing, but he knows his shit and has someone in his office who specialises in family violence to help him out. I spoke to him last night, and I’ll give him a call now to update him on where we’re at.”

“Cheers, mate, much appreciated,” Ryder responds to what Gabe’s told him, which is all news to me, as I knew none of this.

“No worries, I’ll go call him now.” Gabe leans in and kisses my temple before leaving to make his call.

“You doing okay, Mum?” Shifting my eyes from where they’ve just tracked Gabe’s departure, and, despite knowing he can’t see me, I plaster on a fake smile before answering my son’s question.

“I’m okay. What about you?”

“Confused as fuck. I still don’t get how this has happened. He’s always had a temper, but to hunt you down the way he has . . .? I’m just not getting it.”

“You and me both, kid. There’s definitely gotta be more to it.”

“Gabe doing okay? I take it he went out looking for Dad last night?”

“Nope. He went out and got blind last night. His brothers found him fuck knows where and carried him through the front door around one this morning. I went to bed after he decided he wanted to fight them and woke to the sound of him spewing his ring up, which he did until the early hours.”

“So, he’s on your shit list,” he states.

“Let’s just say, you better get your spare bedroom sorted out because I might need a place to stay very soon.”

“You don’t mean that. The poor bloke’s got it bad for you, that’s obvious to everyone. I think he just felt helpless like the rest of us last night. Helpless and angry.”

“Yeah, I get that, but he needs to learn to deal like an adult, not by running away and getting drunk. I need someone who’s gonna be there for me. If they let your dad out, this might not be the last time he turns up here.”

“A lot’s happened, Mum. You’ve only been with him a couple of months if that. The bloke’s just trying to look after youandkeep his own shit together without getting arrested for what he wants to go out and do to Dad. You need to cut him a bit of slack here.”

I feel anger bubble in my chest at my son’s words. They feel like a betrayal, like he’s taking Gabe’s side over mine.

I close my eyes and take in a few deep breaths while wondering if he’s right. Am I being too harsh? Expecting too much from Gabe? Ryder’s right in that we’ve had a lot to deal with in a short space of time. Maybe some time out, a chance to regroup and start over wouldn’t be such a bad thing.