Owen wiped a palm over his face. “Damn it. That’s the last thing the poor kid needs. Why would you take them outside the house? Out in the freaking woods? My God, anyone could have been out there.”
“Nobody was in my back yard,” Cody snapped back. “We took my dog for a walk. I didn’t send him flying over a canyon on a damn motorcycle. What were we supposed to do? Keep Ollie under lock and key until this all blows over?”
“No,” Owen said, his voice low and taking a step forward. “But maybe do enough to keep my nephew out of the hospital. I wouldn’t think that’s too much to ask. Or maybe you were too busy panting over my sister to care about her kid.”
It took every ounce of self-control to stop Cody from planting his fist in Owen’s face. He didn’t care if he was his boss or not. The bullshit spewing from his mouth was insulting not just to him, but Katherine as well.
The door behind him squeaked open, and Katherine squeezed through the sliver of space. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but you all need to lower your voices. The last thing Ollie needs is to hear arguing.”
Contrition pulled down the lines of Tommy and Owen’s faces. “Sorry,” they mumbled in unison.
Mike stood tall with his arms crossed over his chest. Anger and irritation and fear pouring off him in waves. “We wouldn’t be arguing if Deputy Hogan would have let me in to see my daughter and grandson.”
“Did you ever consider if I asked him to make sure no one came inside?” she asked, matching his defiant stance with one of her own. “That I wanted to focus on Ollie and only Ollie? Not managing everyone else’s emotions when it’s hard enough to regulate my own?”
Mike didn’t apologize but he dropped his gaze to his feet.
Cody turned his attention to focus only on Katherine. He understood her family was upset and he was the easiest person to take it out on. But he couldn’t get caught up in their bullshit.
He shoved his hands deep in his pockets. He wanted to reach out, to touch her and comfort her. But now wasn’t the right time. Not with her family breathing down his neck and her afraid for her son. “How’s Ollie?”
“Feeling better. I told him I’d grab him some hot chocolate while Jenna puts on his cast.”
“I want to see him,” Mike said.
Katherine aimed narrowed eyes his way. “You can wait. Jenna doesn’t need you or anyone else hovering over her.”
“Then what the hell am I supposed to do?” Mike tossed his hands in the air, his shoulders slumping forward.
Sympathy shoved aside Cody’s earlier irritation. Mike was a man who wanted to take care of his family, keep them safe. His heart was in the right place, even if his actions pissed Cody off.
“Katherine’s going to grab some hot chocolate while Jenna finishes with Ollie’s cast,” Cody said. “How about I go with her while you three find something for him in the cafeteria? I hear good things about the pudding.”
Mike let out a long breath, as if relieved to be given a job.
“Yeah, Pops,” Tommy said, slapping a hand on his dad’s shoulder. “Pudding here’s great. I might have to get some for myself while we’re there.”
Owen squeezed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a beat. When he dropped his hand, he met Cody’s stare head on. “We’re not at our best right now.”
Cody nodded then placed a hand on the small of Katherine’s back to guide her to the vending machine. He might understand her family’s overbearing ways at the moment, but he needed a second to catch his breath.
At the machine, he fished his wallet from his back pocket. “Do you want anything?”
Sighing, she leaned against him. “To be anywhere but here. Ollie was so brave, but I know his leg’s hurting him. This is the first time he’s been injured like this. I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared.”
Owen’s earlier words crashed against him like a sucker punch. He’d loved having Ollie around but maybe he wasn’t cut out for being any kind of authority figure to a kid. “I’m sorry I let this happen. I shouldn’t have suggested that hike. Should have kept you both inside. If you want to head to your dad’s, I’ll understand.”
“Are you serious?”
“I just want what’s best for you two.”
She flattened her palms on each side of his face and lifted herself onto her tiptoes. “What’s best for us right now is to be with you. I feel it in my gut, and my gut’s never wrong. Kids fall. They get hurt. That’s life. But you swooped in and pluckedhim up and got him help. You did everything right, so don’t beat yourself up. Don’t let my family get inside your head.”
Scrunching his nose, he rested his forehead to hers. “It’s hard not to when they’re all yelling at me. I can take it—will take it. And I even understand where it’s coming from. I just don’t know what all I should say. Don’t know what this thing is between us to even explain it to them.”
“This thing is new and exciting and no one’s business but ours.”
He grinned. “You make it sound so simple.”
