Mia pushed past the man she assumed was the ranch manager and went straight for the boys. She was glad none of the guards tried to block her path because she was gearing up for Mama Bear mode. Those boys were her priority.
“Are you two okay?” Mia asked, kneeling in front of the two boys. Both were on the smaller side, like their sister, with dark hair and big chocolate brown eyes. When they smiled, Mia was sure they were two of the most handsome men on the planet. They were going to be heart-breakers when they grew up.
Alexander and Grayson both nodded but kept their heads down. She reached out and took their hands to find they were both shaking.
“Ma'am, I'm going to need to call the police,” the manager informed her coming up behind her. “They won't talk to me other than to say that I should call you.”
Mia squeezed the boys’ hands before standing up and facing the manager. If he hadn't called the police yet, there was a good chance that she could sweet talk her way out of this. She was ready to do just about anything to keep this family.
Mia rose to her full height and lifted her chin to meet the man's gaze head on. He had beautiful blue eyes, but that wasn't about to stop her from making sure these boys went home with their sister and stayed there.
“What are you accusing these boys of?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips.
The man raised a single eyebrow. “Security caught them coming in through the broken window. We have a video of them breaking the window, by
the way, as well as coming in and trying to take this statue. They had it in their hands when security got here.”
He pointed to the coffee table where a trophy sat. It wasn't very large, with a gold triangular base and a car perched on the top looking like it just slid into the finish line of a race. Something was written on the base, but she couldn't see what it was. It looked rather inexpensive, and certainly not something worth stealing. There were far more valuable items in the richly decorated room worth taking over the statue.
“In their hands?” Mia repeated, suddenly a little less sure of herself. She could feel her righteous fury leaking right out of her like helium out an old balloon.
The man nodded. “They won't tell me why, either.”
Mia glanced over at the two boys. They were both sitting with their heads bowed. Alexander had his arm wrapped protectively around his little brother. Lily moved silently away from the door and sat down, so Grayson nestled in between his siblings.
“Let me talk to them,” Mia asked, watching the two boys. “There has to be a good reason. They're good kids.”
“If you say so,” the man said with a shrug. He motioned her toward them, then crossed his big arms and waited.
She took a deep breath before kneeling once again on the floor in front of the kids. She could feel the man's eyes on her back as she reached out and took Grayson's hand in hers to give it a gentle squeeze. Grayson looked up with big, scared eyes. He was about ten seconds away from bursting into tears but was doing his best to stay brave.
“Tell me what happened,” Mia softly prompted. “I promise I won't be mad.”
Grayson looked helplessly at his older brother. Alexander tightened his embrace around Grayson's shoulders.
“You promise you won't be mad?” Alexander asked.
Mia nodded. “I can't promise you won't be in trouble, but I promise you that I won't be angry. I'll listen, and I'll do what I can to make this better. But you have to tell me what happened or I can't help.”
Alexander paused, glancing around the room. One of the security guards looked over and crossed his arms. Alexander swallowed hard.
“The kids at school were teasing Grayson.” Alexander looked directly into Mia's eyes, hoping she would understand.
“They said I was a chicken. That I was worthless and that nobody wanted me,” Grayson replied. His little voice broke slightly on the word 'worthless,' and it nearly broke Mia's heart.
“You're not worthless,” she instantly told him with another hand squeeze. “But what does that have to do with you stealing that trophy?”
“They said I could be in their group if I stole something from the guy that lives here. It had to have his name on it, and that trophy has a name on it,” Grayson explained. “They said I was too stupid to actually be able to do it. I guess they were right.”
His little face crumpled and a tear trickled down his cheek. It took everything Mia had not to scoop him up right there, take him home, and go beat up the kids at school herself.
“So you came here to steal the trophy so the kids at school would let you play with them?” Mia confirmed.
Grayson and Alexander nodded slowly.
“I thought if I helped him, he could show it to the kids at school tomorrow and they'd stop teasing him at least,” Alexander explained. “It was supposed to be easy.”
Mia sighed softly. She wondered what the security guards and the ranch owner thought of all this.