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Isobel put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Take that back. That’s just rude.”
Jack cleared his throat. “You two want to remember there are kids in the room?”
Isobel groaned. “We’re having an adult discussion here, Jack.”
“You might be. He’s trying to get back into your pants.”
“Jack!” Isobel put her face in her hands.
“Don’t talk to your mother like that,” Callum said. “If you have a problem with me, be a man and talk to me about it. I’m more than happy to clear things up for you.”
“Callum!” Isobel glared back at him, but he was engaged in a stare-off with her son. “That’s it.” Isobel shoved Callum towards the stairs out of the basement. “Go talk to your friends. I’ll be up once Sophie’s fed.” Callum walked away reluctantly. Isobel didn’t care. She stalked over to Jack and took his phone. “You go too. Eat upstairs. I’ve had enough of both of you. Sophie and I need some testosterone-free time.”
“Mum,” Jack whined.
She pointed at the stairs. “Now!”
With a sigh that was Oscar-worthy, Jack followed Callum.
“You better have food up there,” he said to Callum’s back.
“No guarantee,” Callum said. “Ryan’s here. He could have eaten everything by now.”
Jack muttered something, but Isobel was past caring about them. She waited until the door slammed shut behind the pair before she turned to Sophie, who grinned widely.
“I like Clam,” she said.
Isobel groaned. She pulled yesterday’s sweatshirt on over the T-shirt she’d borrowed from Callum and hung like a dress on her. Until her sisters brought replacements, she was stuck wearing jeans with grass stains on the knees. She closed her eyes briefly and fought to block out the worries that were pressing in on her. Everything she owned was gone. Everything she’d worked so hard for, the home she’d tried to build for her kids, all of it was gone.
She wanted to crumple in a heap and sob until she faded away. She wanted to throw up her hands and scream that she was giving up. She was tired of struggling to get back up every time she was knocked down. She was tired of all of it. Of owing money she hadn’t borrowed. Of trying to keep enough food in her house. Of making repairs to a house she didn’t even own, and coaxing another mile out of a car that was on the verge of suicide because it couldn’t take anymore either.
And now, here she was, living in the bunker basement of the town’s most notorious resident. Relying on a man she barely knew, while she waited to find out if her latest sexual indiscretion would follow her through life. She placed a hand low on her belly. She couldn’t even think about that now. There were dangerous men after her, a loan shark who wanted her to pay off the debt on her back, and she was so damn tired of dealing with everything by herself.
“I want milk,” Sophie announced.
Isobel looked at her innocent, smiling daughter, who was treating this whole thing like a big adventure. “I’ll get you some milk, baby.” She crossed the room to the fridge.
And then she’d make breakfast. And then she’d call her sisters and get supplies. And then she’d see what she could salvage from her house. And then…
…she’d keep going.
Because that was what she did.
“If you have issues with this situation between me and your mother, you take them up with me,” Callum said as soon as the basement door had closed behind Jack.
“I already told you my issues. You said you weren’t going to string her along, but I see how you look at her. You need to back off.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to reassure the boy that he had no intention of going anywhere near his mother. Instead, he said, “This is between me and your mother. I have no intention of treating her with anything other than respect. Which is what you need to do too. Which means watching what you say to her. She’s an adult. She deserves a personal life.”
“And I suppose you think that personal life means you.” Jack puffed out his chest. “She’s had enough of men who use her and walk out. I’m not going to let that happen again.”
“You have no idea what I intend to do, boy.”
“You telling me that you’re planning a happy-ever-after with
her?” Jack barked a mirthless laugh. “Yeah, right.”
“I don’t know what I’m planning, and neither do you, so back off.”
