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“What?”
Cash rounded the corner with a wild look, calming to irritation when he spotted her. “What did I say about leaving my sight, woman?”
“I wasn’t going anywhere.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think you were going anywhere this morning either. I sure as hell didn’t think I would be waking up alone or that I would have to try to calm Oliver down because you pulled a fuckin Houdini on us.”
“Don’t yell at her,” Mav yelled at Cash. He wedged himself in between his mother and Cash.
“Kid, this is a discussion your mother and I are going to have.”
“Not now,” Reese cut him off. It didn’t matter how broken she felt. She would always stand up for her child even when she knew their time was limited.
“Mav, I am fine, baby. Why don’t you get something to eat? Actually, let’s get a roll of paper towels, and we can put the boxes on the coffee table.” Reese pushed the roll into Mav’s hands then herded him out the door into the living room.
“Now is not the time,” she whispered angrily at Cash, poking her finger into the line between his pecks. “If you can’t keep a lid on it, then walk your ass next door. I have enough shit to deal with right now and two weeks left to spend with my son. You want to bitch at me, I get that, but you are going to have to do it later.” Spinning away, she stood at the counter, gripping it until her knuckles turned white and her anger receded.
Cash wrapped his arms around her from behind. “You need to tell Franks everything. He is a good man, and if I am right, he can help.” Moving her hair out of his way, he nuzzled her neck. “I still want to tan your hide, Beautiful, but it can wait a little longer.”
“Well damn,” Franks said from the doorway. “I guess there isn’t any reason for me to stop by and see if the pretty single mom will let me take her out to dinner, is there?”
“Nope,” Cash answered without a second thought. “This one is mine.”
“I am not,” Reese stuttered.
Franks laughed while Cash glared at her. “Later,” he grunted. “Come on. We are going to put the officer to work keeping Mav here with you.”
Reese spread the pizza on the coffee table, watching Mav devour slice after slice while she nibbled on one, hoping it would stay down.
“It is always nice to have lunch with a buddy from high school, but I have a feeling that isn’t why I am here. Who wants to tell me what is going on?”
Reese launched into her explanation with Pappy adding in pieces here and there. She didn’t know why it mattered since she couldn’t afford to fight them, but Reese told them anyway. She left nothing out as she recounted the phone calls that led to the unexpected visit. She kept a close eye on her son when she told him about their plan to take Mav if she couldn’t come up with the money to pay them off. Cash paced back and forth behind the couch, listening to everything.
“I have two weeks before they are supposed to be coming back to take him. I thought if I left, we would have time to disappear before they knew we were missing.”
“That is a ballsy call to up and leave everything,” Franks drawled. “Just so I have this correct, Reese, your father, Mitchell Craft, is Oliver’s son, and Reed Carter is your ex-husband?”
“Yes.”
“Reed Carter is Mav’s biological father.”
“Yes.”
“They showed up here out of the blue. The ex-husband hasn’t had any contact with you since he left.”
“Reed left us seven years ago. He cleaned me out. I haven’t heard anything from him since. He took the college money, the savings account, and almost all of the checking account,” Reese admitted.
“Girlie, why didn’t you say something when he left?”
“I am a big girl, Pappy. I had a child to care for, so I did what every other adult does. You get a job and provide for your family.”
“And your father, Mitchell, he is the one who seems to be all bent out of shape about the six hundred fifty thousand.”
“Yes. My father and Reed want Mav in order to settle the debt.”
“Why now? Has he ever shown any interest in the boy before?”
“He hasn’t ever shown any interest in Mav or me. Our world doesn’t revolve around money. Wealth is all he cares about.”
