Chapter 53

53

Sonny had the bag of baby laundry in his hands and had just crossed the road when it happened.

The crash.

It was on the highway, right there, not even fifteen feet from where he stood.

He barely got out of the way in time.

The bag of laundry and his own duffel bag of clean clothes went in two different directions. Sonny ended up on his ass in the snowbank. As the four-by-four pickup ended up going over the damned sidewalk and hitting a light pole. The car that had almost hit him just took off.

Like the dumbass driving didn't care that he could have killed someone.

Sonny picked himself back up. To his feet. That other dude wasn't getting out of his truck. What if he was hurt, or dead, or bloody? What was Sonny supposed to do?

Someone else came running. A guy in sweats who had been jogging in this cold shit, apparently. "You okay, man? He almost got you. Fast footwork there. Good move."

Sonny just nodded. And followed the guy toward the truck. "I don't know about the guy in the truck."

"That asshole in that car didn't even stop." The jogger pulled open the driver's door.

Sonny went to the other side. And looked in. "Shit. There are little kids in here."

He yanked on the door, after the jogger hit the unlock button on the other panel.

There were two kids back there. And they were crying. Sonny looked at the first. A little boy of no more than five or six. "Hey, dude. It's okay. It's okay. I know it was really scary. Are you hurt? You're safe now. We're going to help you, okay?"

And then the kid was reaching for him. "I want my daddy."

The jogger was helping the driver out. The driver was moving. Maybe he was just stunned or something.

Sonny helped the kids out of the truck and over to a bench. It was damned cold out there. But there were people coming out of the buildings across the street. A pizza place. Someone wrapped coats around the kids.

And then Sonny just stepped back and let the jogger take over. Sonny didn't know what he was supposed to do in this kind of situation. He wasn't the kind of guy who knew how to be in charge in stuff like this, to help people. To do good things or any shit like that.

When the dark-haired pretty cop from the inn came to his side, he just did what she told him to do.

"Is Katie okay?"

His first thought was for his baby girl. As he watched the driver of that pickup pull his little boy and girl closer. He understood. He finally understood what mattered most.

That man could have died tonight. What would have happened to his kids then? Those kids could have watched their dad die right in front of them. Sonny could have died tonight, too.

"She's fine. We'll get your statement quickly, I promise. Dylan has already asked the dining room to keep you a cheeseburger and fries warm. And she's going to take care of Katie until you can get to her."

He hadn't had Katie with him. Thank God he hadn't had Katie. He'd have dropped her, or she'd have been hit or hurt, or—Sonny fought puking. If he'd had Katie…

"Can you tell me what happened? I can't interview Ben—" She pointed to the jogger. "He's my brother-in-law and everything. So, we'll get your statement out of the way. Were you hurt?"

She pulled out her phone and hit record.

"No. I jumped out of the way in time." But what if he hadn't? Sonny's heart pounded as he thought about it. "What if he had hit me and I'd died? What would people here have done with my baby?"

She just blinked at him for a moment. "She would have been sent home to your family. We would have made certain she was taken care of."

Sonny was already shaking his head. "That would be a disaster. The last thing I ever want for my baby is for her to go back to my mom. My mom is horrible. She's abusive. I never want Katie with her. Ever. I got a sister-in-law though. My sister-in-law is a real good mom and everything. Maybe she'd take Katie. Up here. My sister-in-law lives here in Wyoming. I'd want her to have Katie."

He pulled in a deep breath. He had some thinking to do. "I'm sorry. I'm still figuring out the single dad thing."

"I know it's hard. My brother is raising two alone himself. Let's get you back to Katie, okay?"

As he did what he had to do, Sonny couldn't help thinking about Katie. If he died, what would happen to her?