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I was an idiot for not having looked myself. “I’ll go.” I was already heading toward the door, trying not to jump to conclusions and not sure what I hoped to find.
My son, of course, but why did it feel like it wouldn’t be that simple?
Paige trailed behind me, as did the men. When I reached the barn doors, they pushed open without so much as a squeak. Light spilled in through the windows up top, casting the entire room in long shadows and falling on…
Bryan?
What the hell was he sitting on top of?
“Is that a tank in my barn?” Worry had made me hallucinate. That was the only explanation. When no one answered, I scrubbed my eyes and looked again. It looked real enough.
Hours of concern shattered any hold I had on restraint. “Why is there a tank in here?” I asked again. “And where the fuck have you been, Bryan?”
He worked his jaw and pieces clicked in my head.
I whirled on Paige before Bryan could answer. “You knew this was here.” I looked at Adam. “And so did you.” Iknewthat was true. I turned back to Bryan, not giving anyone a chance to reply. Ebbing worry was becoming white-hot anger. “I’ve been calling hospitals.” I could be furious now that I knew he was safe. “Why the fuck is there a tank in my barn?”
“Brooke.” Deacon’s calm voice was the last thing I expected—wanted—to hear.
I focused on him. “Thank you for your help, but I swear to God if you tell me to calm down…”
He held up his hands, as if in surrender. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Good.” I pointed to the twins. “Both of you, in the housenow.” I was torn between screaming and letting ice fill my voice. “Deacon will make sure you get there, because apparently no one else here can be trusted to do that. If I find either of you using your phones when you get in the house, this will be so much worse for you.”
“Mom. I’m so—”
“Now.” I cut Bryan off.
As the twins stalked from the barn with Deacon following, I gave Adam my full attention. “There’s a fucking tank in my barn.” I didn’t care that I was repeating myself. Who had time to keep track of words when my world had just crumbled unnecessarily and been shoved back together again? “I thought my son was dead somewhere. I was going to call every hospital in the state. And he was asleep in a barn he’s not supposed to go in, with a tank that you fucking knew about.”
“Brooke.” There was apology in his tone.
And I didn’t want to hear it. Fury and relief were bleeding away the adrenaline rush I’d been riding for hours. “No.” If I listened to him, if I looked at him for too long, I’d remember I cared about him, and there were so many reasons that was a bad idea. “I have to deal with my children.”
Adam walked back to the house with me, and instinct wanted me to drift closer, but I was angry, tired, confused, and relieved, and that all made me a little ill.
Deacon was waiting for us in the living room, and the twins were nowhere to be found. He jerked a thumb toward the stairs. “In their rooms. I told them to leave their doors open so you could see them.”
“Thank you.” I found enough energy to sound sincere, but I couldn’t keep the fury from my voice. “I’ve got it from here.”
He stepped in my path, and I gritted my teeth. It seemed unlikely he could say anything to help right now.
“I know you don’t want to hear it, but you need to stop, breathe, and cool down,” Deacon said.
I gave him a dangerous, disbelieving grin. “You can go now.”
Deacon didn’t move. “Bryan did this for a reason. If you go up there right now, in this mood, will it help?”
Wow, Icouldbe more angry. Surprise. “Who the fuck are you to tell me how to raise my children?Mychildren. Not yours.” A teensy part of me recognized I shouldn’t take this out on him, and that he may even have a point—even if it wasn’t his place to open his mouth—but it was easy to ignore all of that.
“Okay.” Deacon moved. Smart man. “We’re leaving unless you need anything else.”
“I’m—”
I glared at Adam, silencing him. “Don’t. Seriously. Just. Go,” I said.
Adam reached for me and I stepped away.
