Page 19 of Bad Decisions & Back Roads

He turned away.

My legs didn’t want to move.My hands were shaking so bad I fumbled the truck door twice before I got it open.By the time I slid inside, my whole body felt like it was buzzing under my skin.I locked the doors.Then checked them again.

And again.

Only when the engine turned over did I realize I was still holding my breath.

ChapterSeven

TIMOTHY

I finished clearingdishes from dinner into the kitchen.I’d get to washing them later.I sat at the dining table inside the big Hurst farmhouse to enjoy the last of my iced tea.

“It’s a cute little orange kitten,” Erika said.“How can you say no to an orange kitten?”

“I love kittens.Nothing against kittens in general.”Josh already sounded drained to the core.“We’ve got five of the furry freeloaders.One pisses on my shirts—only mine.One refuses to shit in the box.And one hacks up hairballs on our bathmat.Not tile.Not wood.The bathmat.I have nightmares now of that squishy feeling between my toes before I step in the shower.”He dragged a hand down his face.“I love you more than life itself, but please, dear God, no more cats.Please.I’m begging you to be reasonable.”

My gaze slid to Vinny, Erika’s younger brother and her ward since their parents died a few years ago.Twelve years old and already mastering the art of silent survival, Vinny had his lips pressed so tight they’d gone white, his whole body vibrating with the effort not to laugh.

I ducked my head, biting the inside of my cheek.

Erika slowly turned.

Uh oh.

She pointed at both of us like we’d personally betrayed her.“Is this funny to you two?”

Neither of us made a sound.That was the wrong answer.

Her shoulders went rigid.Her expression sharpened into something dramatic enough to deserve background music.“Since no one in this house respects me, and clearly I’m the only one with a heart?—”

Josh closed his eyes.“Erika…please…”

“I’m leaving.”She spun, marched to the front door, put a hand on her large belly, and yanked open the door like she expected applause.

The door slammed hard enough behind her to rattle the frame.

“Damn it,” Josh muttered, already moving.“Erika—Erika!”

A second later, her SUV engine roared to life, tires screeching against dirt like she was fleeing a crime scene instead of a domestic dispute about cats.

Josh stopped in the doorway.“Stay here a while, Vinny.I’ll come back for you later.No, better if you sleep here tonight.I’ll bring your school stuff in the morning before I head out to practice in Durham.Timothy can run you to school.”

Vinny lost it the second Josh stepped outside, a choked laugh bursting free.

“Was it worth it to have found that kitten yesterday?”I murmured, still laughing.

He nodded immediately.“Absolutely worth it.”

Sofia barreled in, my mom right behind her.The three-year-old climbed straight into my lap, all warm limbs and trust.I wrapped my arms around her automatically, pressing a kiss to her forehead, breathing in the faint scent of sunscreen and applesauce.

“Why Auntie Eerie mad, Daddy?”she asked, serious in that way only kids could be.“Were you mean to her?”

A laugh threatened, soft and wrong for the knot sitting in my chest.“No, sweetie.Nobody was mean.”I smoothed her hair back.“Josh needs to take her to get ice cream.”

Sofia nodded like that made perfect sense.In her world, chocolate ice cream cured all bad feelings.

“Choc-choc,” she said wisely.“That’s the happy one.”