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“I will make her some tea. Tea always calmed her grandma,” Pappy offered.
Cash sat her in the middle of the couch then took the seat beside her.
“Is she going to be okay?” Mav worried, sitting on the other side of Reese, grabbing her hand.
“Yeah, Kid, I think so.”
“Mom, I’m sorry I yelled at you,” Mav mumbled, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand.
Reese looked at their hands and then at Mav. Leaning over, she rested her head on his shoulder. “I am sorry. I just couldn’t let them take you,” she whispered.
“Mom, I am not going anywhere. Why do you think someone is coming to take me?” Reese didn’t answer. “Mom, we don’t lie to each other.”
“Reese, what happened?” Cash asked.
Pappy sat a steaming cup in front of her. “I didn’t know how you take it, so I made it just like your grandma liked it. I love you, girlie.” Taking a seat on the nearest chair, he waited for her to talk.
“Do we need to call the cops?” Cash wondered aloud.
“There isn’t anything they can do,” Reese answered. “When I came home from my interview yesterday, my father and Reed were here waiting in the driveway.” She told them everything, leaving out none of the details. “The only thing I could think to do was take Mav and run. If they couldn’t find us, then they couldn’t take him.”
“Oh, Reese, this is all my fault. I should have just lived in the damn condo,” Pappy lamented.
“No, he is wrong. He sold your house and took your money. You didn’t do anything wrong,” Reese said adamantly.
“Where is the paperwork?” Cash got up from his seat.
Reese could tell he was furious with her. They would have time to deal with that later.
“In my purse,” Reese dug through her bag until she found the envelope Reed left. Passing it over to him, she avoided making eye contact, acutely aware Cash was having difficulty controlling himself. Sipping the tea, she waited for Cash to say something. As he finished, he handed each paper to Oliver’s outstretched hand.
“Reese, girlie, why didn’t you say something?”
“What can we do? I don’t have the money. You don’t have the money, so what is left?”
Cash walked to the kitchen without a word, picking up her phone. “Hey Franks, you busy?”
He sounded nonchalant, but Reese could tell the man was wired to blow. She was going to be on the receiving end when he did.
“Yeah, I am over at Reese Carter’s house. Yep, right across the street from mine. Any chance you can stop over? No, no, her grandfather is fine. Thanks, see you in a bit.”
When Cash walked back into the living room, he looked confused. “Do I want to know something about dementia?”
“Nope,” Pappy and Reese answered at the same time.
“Jesus,” he fumed. “Officer Franks is going to be paying us a visit.” Pulling out his wallet, he handed Mav his credit card. “Mav, it’s almost lunchtime. Order some pizzas.”
“I can make something,” Reese stood.
“I swear to god, if you move out of my sight, the discussion you and I are going to have will get moved to the top of the list,” Cash growled.
Pappy and Mav hid their smiles when Reese’s butt automatically hit the couch cushion.
“That’s what I thought. Mav, quit laughing at your mother and go order pizza. Whatever you want.”
Chapter 13
The pizza arrived at the same time Officer Franks did. It was apparent Cash knew the officer from the two-thump man hug they participated in at her door. Reese took the food into the kitchen. She hadn’t even set the boxes on the counter before Cash was calling her name.
