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“Damn.”
“Yeah, my thoughts exactly. My gut tells me they wanted to shake Reese down for as much money as they could get, but I will keep on digging. Let Reese know and have her give me a call if they try to contact her again. I will keep in touch.”
“Thanks, Franks,” Cash sighed in relief.
“Watch out for the grandfather,” Franks warned. “Has a little weed problem and claims dementia to cover it up.”
A bark of laughter escaped Cash before he could stifle it. “That old man doesn’t miss a beat.”
“He had my mother out the other night, and she didn’t make it home ‘til the next morning,” Franks complained.
“It must suck when your mom is getting more than you.”
“Just have your woman call me if something happens.”
“Will do.” Cash hung up the phone, grinning at it.
He stood there with a dopey smile on his face thinking about telling Reese the papers were fakes. His stomach grumbled. He was too pissed off to eat at lunchtime, and breakfast never crossed his mind when he woke up to find Reese was gone. It was time to see what his woman had to eat.
Cash stood in Reese’s kitchen gazing at an almost empty refrigerator. He was holding onto hope Mav and Oliver bought something good for dinner. If not, they would be headed back to the store with a list Cash himself wrote to fill her refrigerator.
Scratching his stomach, he couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face. His woman was upstairs in bed, sound asleep. Snapping the fridge door shut, he moved to check out the cupboards. Cash’s search was abandoned when his truck pulled in Reese’s drive. Mav tumbled out the back carrying an arm full of bags from the grocery store. Cash watched out the kitchen window, gawking at Oliver and the lady he had in the front seat of the truck.
“That the same woman he had over the other night?” Cash asked as Mav crashed through the door into the kitchen. The tint of his truck windows made it difficult to see who was inside.
“Yep.” Mav spread bags across the kitchen table. “Where is Mom?”
Standing in Reese’s kitchen wearing only his jeans, Cash missed the scrutinizing look Mav sent his way. His attention was focused on Oliver making time in the driveway.
“Damn, the man still has game,” he marveled. “Your mom is upstairs sleeping. Let her sleep a little while longer. She needs it.”
“You fucked her. You sent us to the movies so you could fuck her,” Mav’s anger rolled off him in waves.
Whipping around to face Mav, Cash glared at him. “Kid, I am going to give you a free pass on that one.”
“Free pass my ass,” Mav shot back at him, balling his fists. “Is that why you want me to help out at the garage so you can be tappin’ my mom anytime you want?”
Cash took a deep breath and held it before answering. “Your mother is a grown woman. She needs everything we all do. Just because she has a kid doesn’t mean she doesn’t need to feel loved as a woman. It doesn’t mean she shouldn’t feel special and desired and all the other shit a woman needs to feel.”
“Tell yourself whatever you need to,” Mav scoffed.
“Listen up, Mav, ‘cause your freebie is expiring damn quick. What I do with your mother is none of your damn business, but I am going to tell you about it anyway. That woman upstairs is beautiful and special. We create a fuckin’ magic like no one else on earth can. Someday when you find the right woman, you will get what I am telling you.”
“You really want her for her and not just for sex?”
“Kid, if I wanted to bust a nut, I would have picked one that was a hell of a lot easier. I wouldn’t have given a damn if she ghosted me this morning because I would have been doing a disappearing act of my own. When I woke up and couldn’t find her this morning, I was ready to lose my mind. Knowing there was something wrong enough in her life that the only solution she could think of was to take you and run made me scared.”
“You were scared?”
“Yeah, Kid, I was scared.”
Mav’s anger deflated, and worry replaced it. “what-if Mom can’t stop them from taking me?”
“Ain’t gonna happen,” Cash growled.
“How do you know? How can you be so sure? Are you going to take care of Mom and Pappy if I have to leave?”
Cash looked at Mav. In some ways, the kid was a carbon copy of his mother. Reese had done a hell of a job as a single mom. Mav was worried about leaving, but he was also concerned about what would happen to his family.
