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Chapter 23

After buying the boys some ice cream, I went for a walk down to the lake to cool off. Jewel had volunteered to stay with them while they ate and to get them some food after. I didn’t even care that they’d had dessert first. They’d deserved a treat after all that.

My heart was still racing as I reached the beach, kicking off my flip flops to feel the sand under my feet. I was hoping that it would help calm my temper. It was definitely still spiked for now, and breathing deeply didn’t seem to be helping.

Especially not while every time I blinked, my mind conjured up torturous images of the carnage that could’ve resulted from Dallas’s reckless actions. It didn’t even take much for me to see those images in mind, since I’d seen countless similar ones while defending the men who hadn’t been thinking.

I didn’t get like this often, but for a second there, I’d thought my kid was in danger and I’d seen red. And then that nonchalant response I’d gotten from Dallas?

Not. Cool.

As I buried my toes in the sand, I inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, over and over again until I felt my heartrate starting to normalize. I dragged my hands through my hair, dropping to my haunches once I’d turned a corner and burying my face in my palms.

I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the mental pictures of dismembered limbs and bleeding bodies out of my mind. In my entire career, I’d only defended two people who had caused the kind of accident that could’ve been, but it had been bad enough that I steered clear of it now.

I could handle all kinds of gore, deceit, and malicious intent, but I drew the line at children being injured. At the start of my career, I’d seen too much of it, and with Colten being a baby, I quickly got to a point where I couldn’t take it.

I was still haunted by those few cases I had seen. The devastation that had been caused to so many families—including those of the offenders—that could never be reversed. Those demons would never leave me, my soul never feeling quite cleansed of the strategies I’d devised during those cases.

Pushing back to my feet, I battled against the demons, fighting the rage that tore through my veins. Dallas Styles was a menace to this community, a danger to everyone in it, and he was too dumb to realize it.

Doubtless that he’d gotten away with a lot worse before, I wondered if there was any point in reporting his behavior. Ultimately, no one had gotten hurt today, and while it quickly could’ve turned into a disaster, it hadn’t.

I blew out another slow breath, sitting down on the sand and looping my arms around my knees. As I sat there staring at the water and letting the serenity of being out here soothe my soul, a sweet but tentative voice called out from behind me.

“Landon? Are you okay?”

I turned to face Jewel, a sheepish grin spreading on my lips. “I’m fine. How are the boys?”

Something akin to surprise flashed across her features, but she closed the distance between us anyway and took a seat beside me, not at all bothered by sitting with her ass in the sand instead of on a towel.

“They’re good. On their second sandwich each and still going strong. Their appetites have brought back so many memories of Scott at that age. I honestly don’t know how any teenage boy’s parents can keep up.”

I chuckled, baffled by how much calmer I felt now that she was here. No one had ever had that effect on me, but her presence was like a soothing balm to the bleeding parts of my soul. “Honestly, I have no idea how my stepfather kept up with me. All I know was that there were a lot of sandwiches and, later on, a lot of ramen.”

A smile lit her face, but then she looked at me—really looked at me—and genuine concern clouded her eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay? You seemed kind of triggered back there.”

I tipped my head back, allowing the shame to run through me before I looked at her again. “I apologize for losing it back there, Jewel. It’s not like me, contrary to what you might believe after how rude I was to you before, but when Colten is involved, I can get a bit overprotective.”

“Dallas is an ass,” she said slowly, her gaze searching mine. “He tends to bring out the worst in people.”

“He’s going to hurt someone one day,” I said.

She sighed before turning back to the lake. “He already has. Multiple times. Maybe not physically like he almost did today, but he’s always been reckless. He’s also a total narcissist and those things are a dangerous combination.”

I had gotten that vibe from him too. “It’s not really my place to ask you to do this, but you should stay away from him. Colten and I will be doing the same while we’re in town, even if we are staying in his family’s home.”

“It’s not your place, but I will. I already do, actually. If you ask me, the town would be better off without him, but with the Manor here and no possibility of him passing it on to be managed by his own offspring, we’re just stuck with him.”

She was still looking deep into my eyes, and I had a feeling I knew what she was searching for. “You’re wondering if I’m dangerous too.”

Blinking hard, she swallowed, but then she hung her head and sighed. “I won’t lie to you, Landon. For a few minutes back there, I did wonder that, but then I realized that you were only standing up back there. For your son, and Brody, and all the other kids who were in that arcade. For the whole town, in some ways. The rest of us leave him be, but you called him out today. That’s a good thing.”

She lifted her chin slightly, turning so she was peering up at me again even if her head was still hanging. “That doesn’t mean you weren’t rude before, though. Also, it means something to me that you took a walk to calm down instead of lashing out or worse.”

“What would’ve been worse?”

“Going after him,” she said. “Besides, tonight is the night market. Tomorrow is the Lake Warrior contest. Next weekend is the fair. There’s a lot to look forward to. Don’t let a bad seed like Dallas ruin any of that for you or for Colten.”

I saw her logic, even managing a real smile as I nodded. “Thanks for the pick-me-up. I guess we should be heading back to the cafe, huh? The boys will eat the entire place if someone doesn’t stop them.”

Her answering laughter warmed my soul and my smile widened as I got up and extended a hand to help her up too. As we walked back to the cafe together, pride raced through me at the sight of Colten talking animatedly to Brody.

We drew closer and I heard what he was talking about, groaning as I took a seat beside him. “Are you sure Brody wants to hear all this about chess?”

Colten smirked at me. “He’s curious. He wants to play.”

Brody nodded, eager as he turned to me. “I’ve been wanting to learn for a while, but Mom and I don’t have a board at home and she’s at work when the library is open. Cole can’t play either, so he can’t teach me and there’s other stuff to do at school.”

“Can Brody come over to the house sometime?” Colt asked. “We’ve got that big, fancy board at the Manor just standing there.”

I happily agreed. “Yeah, that would be great. Anytime, Brody.”

“I’ll talk to my mom,” he said. His gaze zeroed in on something behind my shoulder and he pushed his chair back. “It looks like Cole and the guys are going to go play volleyball down at the beach. Do you want to come, Colten?”

He looked at me as Brody stood up, and I saw the uncertainty in his eyes. He’d made friends with Brody, but clearly, he wasn’t sure about befriending Brody’s friends as well. I put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it and keeping my voice low while Brody waved at the other boys and called for them to wait up.

“Be brave, Colt,” I murmured. “It might just be worth it.”

Chest rising on a deep breath, he glanced at Brody who was standing at the door, waiting for him. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll try it.”

“Have fun,” I said, giving him an encouraging smile. “Remember that if Brody is nice, the guys he hangs out with probably are too.”

Colt nodded, then joined Brody. The two of them strode down the street to meet up with the others. I leaned back in my chair when they were out of sight, glancing at Jewel, who it seemed had been watching me intently.

“What?” I asked when she still didn’t look away.

She shrugged. “I’d have felt like the luckiest girl in the world to have a dad who cared as much as you do.”

Oh, wow.There’s a story there. Not wanting to pry too much, I tried to keep my voice nonchalant as I turned my attention fully on her. “Yeah? What’s your dad like?”

A sad smile played on her lips. “He was great. I don’t miss him so much anymore unless I’m around other great dads. All of you remind me of what we lost when we lost him.”

I grimaced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay.” She stared into the middle distance for a moment before she closed her eyes, smiled again, and then refocused on me. “I know that you didn’t know, and I wouldn’t have said anything at all if I didn’t want to talk about him. What about your dad? You mentioned a stepfather before?”

“Walter,” I said, reminding myself to give him another call later. “I never knew my biological father. He passed when I was very young. Too young to remember him at all, but my mom married Walter when I was a kid and he raised me as his own. He’s amazing.”

She inched forward, her gaze locked on mine. I swore I saw sincere, innocent curiosity in it. Usually, people were only interested in finding out more about me for one of two reasons: my money or my clients.

In Jewel’s case, she didn’t know about the money or the clients. She hadn’t even asked what I did for a living. She was simply interested in knowing me, which did something weird to my insides.

“Amazing, huh? That’s high praise. Why isn’t he here with you?”

“Because I didn’t think that bringing him would be a great idea. He’s older and he’s in a care facility. Bringing him would’ve meant bringing a carer along as well, which would’ve been fine for me, but you know how it goes. Taking people out of a familiar environment just so you won’t feel guilty about leaving them there isn’t always in their best interest.”

She nodded. “I’m sure he would’ve loved it, though. Maybe next time?”

“Definitely next time. I’m already kicking my own ass for not just bringing him. It was his idea for us to come here, and I figured he wanted Colten and me to have the time together, so between that and the inconvenience, I never even seriously considered it.”

“That makes sense,” she said suddenly, a playful smile breaking out across her lips. “What you’re doing in a place like this, I mean. I couldn’t understand it until you said it was somebody else’s idea.”

I pretended to pout. “Really? It didn’t make sense until you found out it wasn’t my idea? Why is that? Where do you think I would’ve gone instead?”

She shrugged, eyes sparkling with mirth as she held my gaze. “I’m not sure. Somewhere exotic. Fiji, maybe? Or Bali? Oooo, the Great Lakes?”

Unable to hold it back anymore, I laughed and shook my head at her. “You’re right. Left to my own devices, I probably would’ve dragged him halfway across the world, but I’m really glad I didn’t. I’m glad we came here instead.”

“I’ve said this before, but I really mean it, so I’ll say it again. I’m glad you came here, too, Landon.” My insides did that strange thing again.

It was something between a flop and a tightening, and it felt oddly like a buzzing sensation I’d never felt before. I had no clue what it was, but while it made me a touch uncomfortable, I kind of liked it. It was something new, and definitely not in a bad way.

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