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The little group huddled together as they all looked at Dallas’s phone screen and whispered amongst themselves. All I cared about was the smile I saw on Newt’s face and the spark in his eyes when he triumphantly looked at me.
“I know who it is,” he said with a big grin.
“No, you don’t,” I whispered.
“Yes, I do,” the little boy said proudly. “It’s Jerry!”
“No!” I cried right before I covered my mouth with my hand. I made a show of putting my folded hands against Newt’s knee. “Please, Newt, I’ll never be mean again, I swear it. Just don’t feed me to Jerry the Ornery Zebra.”
Newt didn’t manage to make it through my plea before he began giggling. Everyone else seemed to relax, and while I knew I had a lot of damage control to do with both Isaac and his brother, for the moment, I felt like we were back on even footing. At least the little boy didn’t look like he was going to burst into tears again.
“Okay, so we’re good?” Isaac asked as he gave Newt a squeeze.
“Nuh-uh, you gotta do the thing,” he said.
“No, we don’t,” Isaac said.
“What thing?” Nolan asked at the same time.
To Nolan, Newt said, “They gotta hug. When me and Isaac have a fight, we always gotta say sorry and hug. It’s the rules.”
“No, it’s fine—”
“I agree with Newt,” I cut in, interrupting Isaac. I held the younger man’s gaze and said, “Rules are rules, after all.”
I could tell the last thing Isaac wanted was to touch me, but I wasn’t about to lose this opportunity. “But first, I think I have to say something to Newt because Newt is your brother and by being mean to you, I was being mean to Newt. Because brothers are that close, aren’t they, Newt?” I asked, though I glanced at Dallas while I said the last part.
“Yep,” Newt said, as if what I’d said was exactly what he’d been thinking. He made Isaac put him down and then waited expectantly. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the toy car he’d given me two nights earlier at the town council meeting. I knelt down, not caring about the snow, then carefully pressed the car into his hand.
“Thank you for letting me borrow Lightning. He made me feel much better,” I said before wrapping my arms around the little boy’s body.
“I’m so sorry I hurt Isaac’s feelings, Newt,” I said loud enough so everyone could hear. “And yours too,” I added. I gave him a gentle squeeze, then kept my voice low so only he would hear. “And I promise, I’ll never make him cry again.”
Newt squeezed me hard. When I released him and leaned back, he followed me and put his hand to his mouth as he whispered something into my ear that nearly broke my heart. I managed to nod. “I won’t, buddy. I promise,” I said as I hugged him again. Newt stepped back and leaned against Nolan’s leg. I rose, keeping my eyes on Isaac.
I could tell he wanted to be anywhere else but there at that moment. Part of me wanted to let him off the hook, but it was the voice that was still ringing in my ears–Newt’s voice–that had me closing the distance between us and drawing the slim young man into my arms.
Please don’t let him hurt Isaac and me anymore.
Chapter Eight
Isaac
Who knew a damn teaching moment was about to come back and bite me in the ass? I’d made the rule about me and Newt needing to hug it out after every fight one time after we’d gone to bed upset with each other and he’d shown up beside my bed in tears, terrified I was going to leave him behind because I hated him.
I was still reeling from the fact that I’d been crying in my sleep and had apparently said Maddox’s name. I’d spent the last twenty-four hours convincing myself the man meant nothing to me and that I was completely over the events that had unfolded in the motel. But clearly, my subconscious wasn’t ready to throw in the towel.
I watched as Newt whispered something to Maddox and shivered at Maddox’s response. I assumed it was him promising not to hurt me again.
I wanted to tell him that wouldn’t be a problem because I was staying the hell out of his way, no matter what it took. That should be easy enough to do, since Newt and I wouldn’t be staying more than a week or so–just enough to make a few extra bucks to make it easier to get to the next big city. We’d hunker down in Minneapolis or Chicago for the rest of the winter and then get to New York by springtime.
Dallas had “miraculously” fixed my car this morning after I’d finally agreed that Newt and I would stay on for a little while. Right after I’d made the announcement, Nolan had informed me that Maddox had agreed to help out around the sanctuary, so Dallas could continue to recover from his surgery. It hadn’t exactly been the best news, but I figured it would be easy enough to stay out of the man’s way. He’d probably be just as eager to stay out of mine.
