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It had been ages since my last haircut and my slightly curly hair now reached my shoulders for real. Bodhi seemed to love it, so I hadn’t cut it yet. My signature look had been a few inches shorter for most of my career, and sometimes I wanted to chop it all off. Not quite to Bodhi’s high and tight, but somewhere along the line where my neck could feel the breeze on occasion.

I put the beanie back on and picked up my coffee again. About ten minutes later my coffee was gone just in time for the laptop to ping with someone approaching the gate. I grabbed it and used the app to open the gate before Weaver had to ring the house. With the way Ville had set up the alert for when the camera was activated, it was handy especially when someone was hauling in something heavier and stopping to wait by the gate was a bit of a chore.

Ms. Weaver drove a practical sedan and parked it next to the truck accompanied by the sweet dulcet sounds of Juanpablo making his mind known. The dogs had moved to sit on the porch like two black gargoyles guarding the steps.

“Stand down,” I told them, because they could intimidate people a little too easily.

I got up and went to stand on the top step, watching as she got out of the car with her purse in her hand. She lifted her gaze, a practiced smile on her face, and recognized me. She promptly half-stumbled, as if her foot forgot what it was doing at the sight of me.

I raised a brow at her, watching as she blushed lightly. “Ms. Weaver, I presume?”

“Yes, Michelle Weaver. I… uh, I wasn’t expecting you, Mr. Paxton.” Her statement sounded like a confused, flustered question.

“Well, Ms. Weaver, they say I’m like the Spanish Inquisition. Nobody expects me.” She snickered in a way that told me she recognized the reference. “Jenn, Mike, and Bodhi are on the phone with their lawyer, so I came to wait for you out here.”

“At the risk of sounding unprofessional, I really want an autograph, but professionalism is going to win today.”

I laughed. “Good. Let’s revisit that once all this is over and Shiloh is back where he belongs,” I said, then immediately rewound what I’d just said and added, “I didn’t mean it like that.”

She laughed, relaxing further. “Don’t worry. Autographs are not valid currency in custody issues.”

Smiling, I gestured at the door. “Shall we?”

I let her inside and she took in the house with a practiced eye. I wondered what she saw on these occasions. Probably a lot, and not nearly always anything as homey, loved, and tidy as the Harringtons’ house.

“Ms. Weaver,” Jenn said, smiling slightly. “Would you like some coffee?”

She shook her head. “I’m afraid I need to get back as soon as possible. I’ll just pick up what you’ve packed for Shiloh.”

I went to stand near Bodhi and pressed my elbow to his arm to hopefully lend some calm.

“So what’s going to happen now?” Mike asked her, his arms crossed over his chest as he, too, leaned to a counter, echoing his son in everything but the amount of anger.

“I’ll come back tomorrow. I know this is a working ranch, so I’ll gladly schedule for whatever timing works for you. I’d like to conduct interviews of the people who are closest to Shiloh— ”

“That’s the whole family. My parents, all of my nine siblings, most of them have significant others, their children, our staff,” Bodhi ticked everyone off with his fingers, his body tense as a bow string next to mine.

She gave him a tiny smile, not seeming intimidated. “Let’s start with people who actively live in this house, then, and go from there.”

“That’s myself and my wife,” Mike said firmly. “We have plenty of family who live on the property and who Shiloh interacts with regularly.”

Weaver nodded. “And that’s fine. Like I said, we’ll start small. I’ll also want to talk to you, Bodhi. Shiloh has told me you’re the one who keeps him the ‘safest.’” Her smile grew a little as she said, “Shiloh has been incredibly clear about how safe and cared for he feels here. How much better his life is here than it was at home with his mother. He’s very eloquent in how he describes the situation for his age.”

Jenn covered her mouth with her hand as her eyes filled with tears. Mike moved to her side and wrapped his arm around her.

“That’s because he is both of those things,” I said, unable to keep my mouth shut. “My situation wasn’t the same, but I was also neglected as a child. I, too, found my way to this ranch. I’m still here. Safe, cared for, and loved beyond my wildest dreams. Those weren’t things I ever felt at home next door, Ms. Weaver.”

She gave me a tight smile, her expression holding a hint of the star struck daze from earlier, but most of it had cleared now.

Then she looked at Mike and Jenn. “What time would be good for you guys?”

Jenn sniffled a little. “Anytime is good for us. We need this done as quickly as possible. We need our boy back.”

“How about nine thirty?” After Jenn and Mike nodded their agreement, she continued, “The hearing is going to be on Friday, at 10am. We’re moving as fast as we’re able to.”

“Good,” Bodhi grunted.

Mike nodded. “Our lawyer said that we’re potentially being considered for a kinship placement.”