Hold On

“Glad you dig ’em, bud,” he muttered.

Ethan jumped up, seeming to forget he was still attached to Merry, which meant his jump jolted Merry. This made Merry’s grin turn into a smile.

Then he let go and whirled my way.

“Mom! Isn’t this awesome?” he asked me, waving the tickets.

“Totally, kid,” I answered.

“Ready to ruuuuuuuumble!” Ethan shouted before he shoved his way back to the coffee table, the dissected R2-D2, and more presents.

I was squatting close to my boy, taking notes so Ethan could write thank-yous, shoving spent paper and bows in a trash bag, and finishing up my piece of cake.

I was also allowing myself to enjoy the latest boon.

This being, when life threatened to knock my kid sideways, it had always been me and mom who had to scramble to make sure it didn’t knock anything in him he couldn’t get rid of. Anger. Bitterness. Sadness. Regret.

I looked to Merry to see him watching my kid tearing into his next present, and he had the look on his face that he sometimes had when he looked at me, but modified.

Even modified, it was soft and warm and perfect.

That was my boon.

Because my man dug my kid.

And me and my mom had another member on our team to make sure Ethan didn’t get knocked sideways.

And he was a ringer.





Chapter Twenty-Three


People Like Them

Garrett



Thursday Afternoon

“Yeah. Thanks, man,” Garrett said into his phone. “Later.”

He disconnected.

Colt and Sully were standing next to Mike’s desk, talking to him about a case they were on.

But when Garrett got off the phone, all eyes came to him.

“That was Roy from northwest district,” Garrett said to their unasked question. “Had reason to be chatting with one of his sources. Trent Schott is on the street, scoring.”

“Fuck,” Colt muttered.

“You got a vicinity, you offer Ryker a marker, he’ll find him for you,” Sully suggested.

Garrett looked at Sully. “Schott isn’t my job. His wife isn’t my job. Cher and Ethan are my job. Promised them I’d ask around, but Ethan wants nothing to do with him. We know he’s using. If Cher wants, she can tell Peggy. Anything else is up to her.”

Sully grinned. “You just don’t wanna owe Ryker a marker.”

“There’s that too,” Garrett muttered.

That was when they all grinned at him.

Garrett ignored them and reengaged his phone.

He called his woman.

He gave her the news.

He found out while having a drink as she worked that night that she’d told Peggy. She’d also told her kid. She reported that Ethan cared but pretended he didn’t.

Garrett decided to keep an eye.

And as he did that and the days slid by, he found both mother and son did what they did.

They just kept rolling.

*

Three Weeks Later

Garrett was sitting at his desk when he got a phone call from Devin.

“Woman packed up. Moved out. On her way to Missouri. Good call, seein’ as her man has spent about thirty hours of the last three days not high, and that’s only ’cause during those hours, he’s been passed out,” Devin declared. “FYI.”

With that, he hung up.

Merry grinned and tossed his phone on his desk, not surprised that Devin had been looking into things. He was a lot like Ryker, but his gig was disguising the fact he gave a shit behind being a crotchety old man, not a huge-ass, scary biker.

Schott using again did not make him grin.

Ethan would be okay.

Cher wouldn’t care, but she would be focused on making sure Ethan was okay.

But, crazy church lady or not, Garrett didn’t like the idea of Peggy Schott having to find a way to raise two kids who were suddenly without their dad.

Missouri was a good call.

He waited until he was face-to-face with his woman to share that news.

She looked relieved.

And regardless of how fucked up the situation was, Cher relieved made Garrett happy.

With Peggy Schott gone, Mia quiet, and no threat on Cher’s street, all this meant Garrett was seriously looking forward to testing out normal with his brown-eyed girl.