Roe agreed. He didn’t have nearly as much land as his parents anyway, but he wouldn’t want events like that at his home.
Holden said, “I still need to paint the outside of the barn.” They’d discussed it when Holden had done the original work, but it hadn’t happened yet. “Also, the wood on the east side of the pens needs replacing. I can do that for you.”
“Yeah, sure. If you want. You don’t have to. I was also thinking about having a pond put in, though it wouldn’t be cheap.”
Holden looked at him and said, “You just want somewhere close to go skinny-dipping with me again.”
“That’s a plus, for sure.”
Holden closed his eyes, breathed in. “Out here…you can almost forget the rest of the world exists.”
“Yeah,” Roe replied. “You can.”
Holden turned to him, his forehead creased, a whole world of thought buried in the lines there. Roe wished, maybe if he looked hard enough, that he could read them like a book and find all the answers to Holden that he sought.
“Come into the house with me,” Roe said. Sean was in the cabin, so he wouldn’t know what they were doing. Roe wanted Holden in his bed. “Got space for two in my shower, and then…” He frowned at the sound of tires on gravel. Jesus, if one of his siblings was showing up and cock-blocking him, Roe was gonna kick their ass.
He turned just in time to see a police cruiser driving toward the house. “Oh shit.” His voice sounded broken even to his own ears. If they were here, something was wrong. The authorities had never just shown up at his place before.
He felt a warm hand at the small of his back as his heart dropped. It was Lindsey and Wyatt. It had to be. If it was one of the rest of his family, he’d have heard from one of them.
Roe rushed over, Holden right beside him, just as the officer got out of his car.
“Hey, Monroe. How’s it going?” It was Larry Benson. He’d been a couple of years behind Roe in school.
“What happened? Lindsey and Wyatt okay?” His throat was dry, chest tight.
“They’re fine, Roe. Didn’t mean to scare you. I’m actually here to talk to Marilee Young. She’s stayin’ at your cabin, right?”
Holden tensed beside him. This time it was Roe who put a reassuring hand on him.
“I’m her brother,” Holden answered. “What’s going on?”
“With all due respect, sir, I really need to talk to Ms. Young. We have a couple of questions for her.” Larry’s gaze darted down to where Roe’s hand met Holden’s back, but Roe didn’t pull away.
“Does this have to do with Adam?” Holden asked.
“Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out,” Roe said. He lifted his hand to Holden’s nape, gave it a gentle squeeze of support. “I’ll go get her, darlin’.”
He hadn’t meant for the term of endearment to slip out, but it had anyway. Holden nodded, and Roe went for the cabin, hoping Sean was in his room and he could sneak Marilee out without him knowing.
She opened the door as soon as he got to the porch, then closed it behind her. “I just looked out the window and saw. What’s going on, Roe?”
“I’m not sure, sweetheart. They need to talk to you. Where’s Sean?”
“He’s in his room on the game. I think he’s playing with Wyatt. He has his headphones on, so probably didn’t hear the car or me come out.”
“Okay. That’s good. Come on.” Roe walked with her to Larry and Holden. Marilee went straight to her brother, and Roe said, “How about we go inside my house for a little privacy?”
“Is he okay? Is Adam okay?” Marilee asked, and Roe saw Holden’s jaw tense.
“As far as we know, ma’am.”
Holden took Marilee’s hand as they all headed for the house. Roe grabbed their shirts off the picnic table on the way, passing Holden’s to him. He let go of her only long enough to tug it on.
They went through the front door, which led straight into the living room. Roe closed the screen door behind them.
“When was the last time you saw Adam Young?” Larry asked.
“Months…it’s been months. He’d been…erratic. Angry. He took all our money. I had nothing left. I was scared of him and…” She raised a shaky hand to her face, covered her mouth.
“Whatever he’s done has nothing to do with her,” Holden spit out. “He left and we haven’t seen him since, and frankly, we don’t want to.”
Roe could feel the simmering anger radiating from Holden. He wished he could go to him, comfort him, give him whatever he needed.
“I understand that, Mr.…”
“Barnett.”
Larry returned his attention to Marilee. “You haven’t heard from him at all since? Not a phone call or anything?”
“No.” Marilee shook her head.
“Do you have any idea where he might go to hide out? Any places he’s known to frequent, here or anywhere else?”