Page 45 of Unbearable
They pulled to the curb in front and shut off the truck. Fox heard Knox climb out behind him as he rounded the truck.
It wasn’t until the men backed away that he realized having Knox along might be a good thing after all. He pressed a buzzer at the door and was let in without anyone bothering to answer. They climbed the stairs to the second floor and banged on the door to number four.
The door was opened a few minutes later to a cacophony of noise. Fox counted at least three kids crying, several dogs barking, and the television loud enough to be heard over the din.
“You here for Brooke’s kid?” a woman asked.
“Yes, I’m Fox.” The woman didn’t seem to care as she turned around and hollered down the hallway for Ethan. The boy slid carefully from one of the rooms in back. It took a beat before he realized Fox was walking toward him. Ethan ran into his arms, wrapping himself around him as tight as possible. “Thank you. How much do I owe you?”
“I got you. Let’s leave these people in peace,” Knox answered, holding out a wad of bills, before the woman could.
He waited at the bottom of the stairs until he was given a sign it was safe to step outside. Another reason it was good to have Knox with him. He carefully pried Ethan from his body to secure him in the booster in the back seat.
“You’re going to stay at Aunt Bailey’s house tonight after we drop off Uncle Knox. Okay?” He saw the little boy nod his head in the rearview mirror.
His emotions were stretched to their limit having found Ethan in one piece. They almost crumbled completely when he saw Knox reach in the back seat and take Ethan’s small hand.
He drove back to Dover’s building. It didn’t escape his notice that Knox held Ethan’s hand the entire way which had to be uncomfortable for the big man. Pulling to the curb, he put the truck in park then turned to Knox.
“Thanks for coming with me.”
“Just needed to make sure I didn’t have to burn this town to the ground to find him.”
Fox felt the corners of his mouth tilt up. Knox winked and eased his hand from Ethan’s hand. He nodded as he closed the door.
Fox had no doubt at that moment that his brother would have burned the whole of Boston to the ground if he’d had to. They really were family now, and Fox felt himself begin to accept it. More family in his life didn’t feel so bad in the end.
CHAPTER 17
Bailey was pacingon her front porch when Fox pulled up outside. She rushed down the steps to the truck and pulled open the passenger side door. Carefully, she unbuckled a sleeping Ethan from his booster seat in the back.
“Let me help you.” She moved aside to let Fox sweep the small boy into his arms. He followed her inside and up the stairs to the bedroom she had designated as Ethan’s not long after he was born. Gently, he laid him on the small twin bed and pulled the dinosaur covers over him. Tiptoeing out, they left him to sleep.
“What was she thinking?” Bailey hissed when they reached the kitchen.
“It’s a convoluted mess that I think was done in Ethan’s best interest ultimately,” he answered.
“Well, I’m too wound up to focus on anything else, so lay it out for me.” She set a cup of coffee on the table, motioning for him to sit. She added a piece of coffee cake in front of him when he complied.
“Knox went with me to get Ethan tonight,” he began when she sat across from him with her coffee. “I dropped him back at Dover’s before coming here. He told me on the way back to herapartment that it was decided you needed one less obstacle in the way on your path to be awarded Ethan.”
“What?” she asked, startled. He knew that she would take Ethan in a heartbeat, no strings attached but had never harbored any hope she could get him. “What did he do?”
“Seems he watched Jimmy until he was certain the apartment was loaded with drugs from a big delivery. He called the cops with an anonymous tip. They caught Jimmy with enough to charge him with distribution. He’ll be going away for quite a while.”
She took a long sip of her coffee before speaking. “I mean, I’m not sad he’s going away, but how did that lead to Ethan winding up missing?”
“I guess Knox decided to be in court when Jimmy was arraigned. Brooke went to post bail if he was awarded it. She saw him and figured I had something to do with it.”
“And Brooke would blow it all out of proportion,” she mumbled. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. She stormed out and told me not to wait up.” They sat in silence while he finished his cake. Her thoughts swirled with possible solutions to this latest problem.
Brooke had always had extreme reactions to anything that inconvenienced her. Still, what did she expect when she’d married Jimmy in the first place? The only good thing to come from that union was Ethan.
“Why would she post his bail money in the first place?” she wondered aloud. Fox simply shrugged. “But then, why let your deadbeat ex keep your kid for the weekend?” She stood to take the empty dishes to the sink. “I don’t know why you stay around. You could just move her out, you know. No one would blame you.”
“Look,” he said, catching her wrist when she reached across the table to collect his plate. “That’s not who I am. I don’t bailon something just because it gets hard. My only mistake is—” He looked up, catching her gaze. “I met the wrong sister first. I would leave her in a heartbeat if you asked.”