Page 42 of The Moments You Were Mine

“I’m not mad at you, bud. No way, no how. You protected what was yours. That’s never going to be an issue with me.”

As I shut the door, the weight on my shoulders nearly shoved me to the ground.

Theo needed a dad who knew what the hell he was doing. Who could navigate these troubled waters with ease. Will wouldhave known what to do. Would have been able to make his son laugh and smile and make sure he felt safe.

The trip back home was quiet. As soon as we got there, I took out my tiny sewing kit and stitched up the stuffed animal as best I could, wrapping a bandage around his leg and saying he’d be good as new in a few days. Then, I picked up the threads of the routine I’d established for us. We ate lunch, rode our bikes, worked out in my garage, and then had dinner before I tucked him into bed and read him books until he drifted off to sleep.

He always fell asleep in the guest room, which I’d done my best to turn into a kid’s room, but most nights, he still ended up crawling into my bed. It was the only thing the books had said I shouldn’t allow that I’d ignored. If the kid needed me to feel safe, I’d continue to let it happen.

I stared at him, curled around his stuffed animal, for a long moment, silently promising to do better. Then, I shut off the lights, left the door cracked open so I’d hear him if he called for me, and headed to the kitchen to clean up our dinner mess.

My phone rang before I’d picked up a single dish, and I knew who it was without even glancing at the screen. My parents had called every day—sometimes multiple times a day—to check in and make sure we were still alive and kicking.

“How’d the first day of preschool go?” Dad asked.

When I explained what had happened, Dad cursed under his breath. “Assholes. But just because this wasn’t the right place for him doesn’t mean there isn’t a great one out there, Park.”

“Maybe I pushed him into this too soon. Maybe he isn’t ready yet.”

“Or maybe you aren’t.”

I swallowed, knowing there was some truth to his statement. I’d ignored the panicked feeling I’d had leaving him today, and as a SEAL, I knew better than that.

“You might be right,” I confessed.

My dad was quiet for a moment. “I have an idea. You can help me out and give yourselves a break at the same time. It’ll get you out of San Diego for a few days.”

“Going to Vegas isn’t the answer right now,” I told him. We’d had a similar conversation several times over the course of the month. My parents insisted that visiting them, even if it wasjust for a few weeks, would be a good distraction, but I wasn’t sure I agreed.

Routine. We had to find a new routine—a new normal. I needed it as much as Theo did.

But then again, scrambling for a routine had led to an epic fail today, so maybe my parents were right.

“Not Vegas,” Dad said. “Rafe’s house in Willow Creek was broken into. The safe needs to be checked, and I want to follow up with Maddox Hatley.” Sadie’s brother was the sheriff in the town where Rafe and Sadie lived these days, and his sister’s house being broken into while she was away wouldn’t be pushed to a back burner. When I said as much, Dad agreed, adding on, “He thinks it was likely teenagers scared off by the alarm blasting.”

“So, you want me to go to Tennessee?”

“No. I want you to go to Rivers.”

My entire body tightened as my mind filled with thoughts of a blond-haired lightning bolt who made me crave things I could never have.

“Why?” I grunted out.

“Two cows were mutilated. The second one had the words ‘You will pay’ cut into its hide.” He hadn’t even finished his sentence before I was moving. Adrenaline flooded me along with a rage similar to the one I’d felt at the preschool. My emotions had been completely haywire since Will’s death.

“I’ll kill JJ,” I growled.

“Calm down. According to the detective in charge of JJ’s case, he’s still in San Diego. His ankle monitor confirms it.”

I scoffed, “Ankle monitors are easy enough to tamper with.”

“Maybe for you and your teammates, not for a regular guy like JJ.”

“What about that coke-head, Ace Turner?” I demanded.

“According to Detective Harris, he and his partner paid a visit to Ace’s place of work, and he was there. Got pissed they were hassling him. But no telling if he drove to Rivers and then back before they got to him.”

“That’s a long haul,” I said.