“I just don’t know if this is really me.”
“You still look like you.” I grab the vest she picked out and help her into it then take a step back. “You’re a beautiful girl, and no matter what you wear, that beauty shines through.” She looks at herself in the mirror then looks at me and lets out a long breath.
“Do you think I’m too fat to wear this?” she asks, and something uneasy hits me, but I move past it, remembering how I felt at her age. Hell, how I feel even now some days. The world can be a cruel place, and everyone seems to have an opinion of what beauty is and what a woman’s body should look like.
“Not one part of you is fat, and I really hope you don’t think you’re overweight, because you’re not, not even a little bit.”
“Steven has abs, and I—”
“And you’re a girl. Girls have curves. We were meant to have curves. They’re nothing to be embarrassed about or feel unsure of. Right now, you have the body of a young girl, and one day, you will have the body of a woman. Your beauty should be embraced. It’s not always easy, but you should love who you are. You are perfect.”
Swallowing, her eyes return to her reflection in the mirror then she turns this way and that. “I think I like it.” She bites her lip, looking at me.
“I’m glad you do.” I smile.
Smiling back, she asks softly, “Do you think I can get a few more like this one?”
“Absolutely.” I nod, not caring even a little bit that I will probably blow the budget Zach gave me. Seeing her happy is worth any argument we may have.
“Thanks, Shel.”
“Anytime, honey,” I agree, meaning that more than she knows.
An hour later, we are finally done shopping and the boys are out of the movie, so we meet them at the food court, where the boys talk nonstop about the movie they saw while eating burgers and fries. By the time we’re done eating, we only have an hour to get to the airport, so we book it to the hotel to pick up our bags then rush to the airport to catch our flight home to Cordova.
Chapter 9
Zach
“Whose car is that?” I ask, and Shel looks back over her shoulder toward her house that we just passed, unhooking her belt.
“I don’t know,” she mumbles.
Shutting down the truck, I get out, open the back door for the kids, and then walk around toward the back of my truck, where I meet Shel.
“Hunter,” a male voice calls out, and all eyes swing toward the house next door. I know the instant my eyes lock on the man standing on Shel’s porch, wearing a tailored suit and polished shoes, that he’s Shel’s ex-husband and Hunter’s dad. What I don’t know is what the hell he’s doing here.
“Oh great,” Shel whispers, as Hunter’s quiet voice says, “Dad,” not sounding happy but worried. My eyes go to him, and I watch Steven take a hold of his arm and Aubrey step up next to him, both of them blocking him in on either side.
“Max.” Shel moves around me before I have a chance to stop her. “What are you doing here?”
“You told me I could come,” he states, and his words surprise me. Shoving his hands in his pockets, his eyes sweep over the group of us then go back to her.
“Forget to mention something, baby?” I ask, and she looks up at me then rolls her eyes before looking back at Max.
“No,” she says, moving toward her house, with me at her back. Pausing, she looks back at the kids, who are all still huddled together, and points at Steven. “Take Hunter to your house, honey. Your dad or I will be over to get him in a few minutes.”
“Mom?” Hunter questions quietly, looking pale.
“It’s okay, kiddo. Go with Steven and Aubrey. I’ll be over to get you in just a minute.”
“Okay,” he agrees, and Steven wraps his arm around Hunter’s shoulders, leading him toward our front door, where I can hear Penny barking wildly, knowing that her people are all outside while she’s stuck in the house.
“I came to see my son,” Max snaps, glaring down at Shel before transferring his scowl to me, as I walk up behind where she is stopped near the bottom of her steps, placing my hand against her lower back.
“And who the hell are you?”
“Zach Watters, town sheriff,” I state.
His eyes flare then move back to Shel, as he asks, “Seriously?”
“We’re not doing this out here,” she mutters, moving up the steps toward the door, opening it without using a key—pissing me off—and then proceeds to hold it open for us. As soon as we’re both inside, she slams the door and turns on Max, pointing her finger at him.
“You cannot be serious.”
“I didn’t come for drama, Shel. I came to see Hunter. He hasn’t been answering my calls, and neither have you.”
“Have you lost your mind? Did you ever stop to think—?” She shakes her head and drops her eyes to the ground. “Never mind. Don’t answer that. We both know you didn’t stop to think. You never do. It’s always all about you, so screw how anyone else feels.”
“I didn’t come here for this.”
“Well then why did you come here?” She tosses her hands in the air.
“I told you, I wanted to see Hunter.”
“I’m glad. I know he will love having you around,” she says softly, then pulls in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “But this is not okay. What you did—What you’ve done has freaked him out. Do you understand that? You telling him he’s going to be moving back to Seattle with you freaked him out. He loves you, Max, and I know our son loves you, but he also loves me, and it’s not fair for you to make him feel like he has to choose between us.”
“Exactly why are you here?” he asks, ignoring her and looking at me.
“I’m here for Shel.” I lean back, crossing my arms over my chest, knowing if Shel wants me gone, she’ll tell me. Not that I’ll leave.
“Zach being here has nothing to do with you understanding that our son was scared the second he heard your voice a
nd saw you outside our house a minute ago.”
“I would never hurt him,” he snarls, leaning forward.
Every muscle in my body tenses, as I growl, “Stand back.”
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
“You get in my woman’s face, and I’ll more than tell you what to do.”
“Is this guy for real?” he asks, pointing at me while looking at Shel.
“He is, only because you need to take a breath and calm down. I know you’re upset, and I know you wouldn’t hurt Hunter, not on purpose, but you did,” she says quietly, and he leans back, frowning.
“He should have his dad.”
“Yeah, he should, but it’s not fair to make him feel like he has to choose between the two people he should trust to make sure he’s happy and safe.”
“He’s not choosing.”
“He’s been happy, Max. Until all of this stuff with the lawyers and custody, he’s been happy. He’s been settling in, making new friends, going on adventures, but also looking forward to seeing you and sharing all of that with you.” She points at him, then asks quietly, “When was the last time he called to tell you about his day? Called to tell you about camp or his new friends?”
“I told you I haven’t spoken to him in awhile, Shelby.”
“I know, but do you wonder if maybe what you told him forced him to close down on you? He was excited to share something with you, and you freaked out on him and me.”
“It was a bear, not a damn kitten.”
“He was safe. I would never put him in danger. I would cut off my own hand before ever putting him in danger, Max. You know that,” she conveys, and his shoulders sag ever so slightly.
“I miss him. I miss both of you,” he confesses, and it takes everything in me to keep in my place and my mouth shut.
“Max, please don’t. I care about you. I will always care about you, but before we ended, we ended. The only thing I want is for Hunter to have both of us.”
“You took him from me.”
“I didn’t take him from you. I moved. I told you almost a year before I moved that I was going to get out of Seattle. You and I agreed Hunter should live with me.”