Page 38 of Mountain Grump Protector

Cal’s lips pull back in a snarl, his fist lifting almost faster than I can step up and put a hand on his arm to keep him from making a terrible situation even worse. “What did Bryson do now?” I ask, because I already know my brother’s responsible for this latest change as well.

Both men look at me. Dale snorts. “Your idiot brother decided to use Ronnie’s truck to skip town.” Cold creeps down my spine. “Ronnie’s really interested in getting it back.”

“Oh, my God.”

I close my eyes briefly and pinch the bridge of my nose. Will this ever stop?

But even as the panic rises, I realize something bigger. There’s no way Ronnie’s escalating things over a rusty old truck that’s barely worth the gas needed to haul it away.

That’s not him.

This is bigger than that.

What’s in the truck?

I swallow back the question.

“If Ronnie can’t find him,” Dale continues,” he figures maybe somebody else can motivate him to come home. If you know what I mean?”

The implication makes me want to throw up.

“Yeah,” Cal says quietly. “Not happening.”

Dale takes a step, and before I can stop him this time, Cal reaches out and grabs him by the collar of the shirt. “You listen carefully,” he says, his voice low and deadly. “The money’s coming, and that’s the only reason you’re still standing here right now.”

Nobody moves. Dale’s eyes are wide, but wisely—for once—he keeps his mouth shut.

“And if Hatch, or any of his asshole thugs, comes near her or her father again, there won’t be enough left of you to send a message back to him.”

There’s no mistaking how serious Cal is. Even Dale is smart enough to realize it as Cal finally releases his shirt, and he takes a staggering step backward.

He swallows and rubs at his shirt before daring to speak. “You threatening us?”

“No,” Cal’s voice stays calm and controlled. “I’m explaining exactly how this is going to go.”

Silence stretches between them for a long second before Dale finally turns to leave. “This ain’t over.”

“That’s up to you,” Cal says. “As far as I’m concerned, this ends here and now. Hatch’s issue is with Bryson. No one else.”

Dale turns to shoot me one final look before he spits on the floor and leaves, the door slamming behind him.

No one speaks until we hear the sound of the engine and the tires of the truck peeling out of the drive.

Finally, Cal turns to me, and the look in his eyes steals what breath I still have left.

Possessive and protective with barely contained fury simmering right under the surface. And there’s something else there, too. Something that pulls me closer to him.

“We’re leaving,” he says.

Maybe I should argue and insist that there’s no way I can leave my father. That this is my home.

But standing there, surrounded by empty bottles, the dead flowers on the porch, the smell of stale beer and cigarettes in the air, I realize something that I know without a doubt is going to become a much bigger problem.

Going back to the mountain, to Cal’s, no longer feels like hiding.

It feels like going home.

Chapter Thirteen