AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mitch calmly but firmly announced his arrival, and he could see from the look on Kane’s face that he was upset, worried, and also taken aback by his arrival.
‘D-D-D-Daddy,’ Kane said, pulling himself up off his feet. ‘I-I-I-’
‘Hush, come here,’ Mitch said, opening out his arms and then gently wrapping them around Kane as he buried himself in his chest. ‘Take a minute. You’re safe now. Whatever prompted you to write that note, we’ll figure it out.Together.’
Mitch could feel Kane’s heavy breathing on his chest. The sound of Kane’s sniveling was apparent too.
‘Daddy’s here. You don’t need to worry,’ Mitch said, making sure that Kane could hear over his muted sobs. ‘But it’s time for you to calm down and tell me everything.’
Mitch listened in shock as Kane explained. He was taken aback by the what the sheriff had said to Kane. He was disappointed too that the sheriff hadn’t waited for both of them to be there together to break that kind of news.
‘Grrrr,’ Mitch said. ‘Not good. Not good at all.’
But what was done was done.
The only thing left to do now was to look forward.
‘Here’s how this is going to play out,’ Mitch said, cupping Kane’s delicate chin in his hands. ‘We’re going to walk up to that man’s house. We’re going to explain in the cold light of day and we’re going to offer our apologies for any distress caused. If he’s a reasonable man, this should be enough for him to drop the charges.’
‘But what if he’s not?’ Kane said, his voice full of fear. ‘What if he won’t back down?’
‘We’ll deal with that when and if it happens,’ Mitch said. ‘All we can do is control what we can control. And that begins now.’
‘B-b-b-but, I’m scared,’ Kane said, fear etched over his pretty face.
‘You’re doing this with your Daddy, you don’t need to fear anything anymore,’ Mitch said, taking Kane’s hand and beginning to walk toward the house. ‘Just remember. You’reKane Ellis, future bestselling YA author. Tell your truth, that’s all you need to do. You’ve got this.’
Mitch could see that his words were inspiring some confidence in his boy. The pair of them approached the smart oak door and Mitch pressed his finger on the black buzzer.
It felt like an eternity, but soon enough the man was standing at the door. He didn’t look overly happy to see either Kane or Mitch, but to his credit he let them speak.
Mitch was impressed by how Kane was holding himself. Standing straight and making eye contact with the man who had put his head in a spin was impressive. And Mitch was even more impressed when it was Kane who took the lead and began to explain to the old manexactlywhat had gone down that night.
‘Sir, I like to play jokes,’ Kane said. ‘But I got this one wrong. I would never, ever steal. I’m a good boy. I promise that if you ask about me around Cape Daddy, anybody would say the same. I understand how it must have looked, but I’m telling the truth.’
Mitch was blown away by how clearly and maturely Kane was speaking. Kane may have been a Little to his core, but when he wanted he was more than capable of speaking like a top-level lawyer. It must have been the author in him coming to the fore!
‘Well… maybe I did overreact,’ the man said, exchanging a look with his wife as she stood next to him. ‘It’s hard not to feel like the younger ones are always causing trouble these days. Maybe I got this one wrong though. I’ll call the police and explain that all charges are cancelled. I do apologize for any stress I caused you, young man. You too, sir.’
‘It’s no problem,’ Mitch said, his voice firm but friendly. ‘Let’s just put this one down to experience and move on. It’s the Cape Daddy way.’
Mitch watched as the old man and his wife held each other’s hands and smiled at each other. It was a sweet moment. As mad as Mitch had been at the man, he could empathize and see that life as a senior citizen wasn’t always easy – even in such a friendly place as Cape Daddy.
‘I do fell terrible if I caused the boy distress,’ the man said, genuine empathy in his voice. ‘You too.’
‘That’s fine, it’s all settled now,’ Mitch said, bidding goodbye to the man and walking down the toward the gate with Kane.
‘I think I’m going to personally deliver them a copy of my book when it’s published,’ Kane said. ‘Notallof us young folk are troublemakers!’
The pair of them laughed.
With all charges dropped, it was clear that life could go back to normal again. But Mitch still had something he wanted to say. There was something he’d wanted to say before but had held back on.
But before Mitch could speak, Kane jumped in ahead of him.
‘Daddy, after what happened with the cycle, that’s me all done with pranks and practical jokes,’ Kane said, a slightly rueful look on his face.
‘No!’ Mitch replied. ‘Absolutelynot. Life is about balance. You love to play jokes, and it brings people joy too. Keep at it! As long as you’re able to work toward your other goals, keep doing what makes youyou. Maybe don’t hide anyone’s cycle though any time soon?’
