Page 18 of Guarding Colton’s Witness

“Hi, Dad.”

“Matilda,” he greeted. His gaze slid from her to Sam, who was warily watching him from where he was curled up on the couch. “This must be Sam.”

“Yes, this is Sam. Sam, this is my father, Dr. Colton. Can you say hello?”

“Hello,” Sam whispered.

Jonathon sat in the chair closest to the couch. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Sam. I’m told you like fire trucks.”

“Yes!” Sam jumped up. “I have a fire truck. You want to see it?” Without waiting for an answer, he ran out of the room.

“Please be excited about his fire truck,” she said.

Her father frowned. “You think I’d rain on his parade?”

“No, I just think you don’t realize how special that truck is to him. From what I can gather, he’s never had a new toy before.”

“You buy it for him?”

Oh, boy. The answer to that was going to have him grilling her. Ryan had told her he was friends with her father, and Jonathon had a tendency to stick his nose in his children’s business. “No, his friend, Dr.—”

“Dr. Colton, this is my fire truck,” Sam said, racing back into the room. “Doc gave it to me. I love it so much.”

“Doc?” her father said. “Does he mean Ryan Palmer?”

“Yes. Ryan stopped by last night to check up on Sam and brought him the truck.”

“So I heard. Didn’t know you were friends with Ryan.”

“I told you on the phone that Ryan treated him, and I do have friends you don’t know about, Dad. And you heard what?”

“Wyatt said Ryan was here when he came over last night.”

Bigmouthed brother. It wasn’t easy being the youngest and especially a female when you had a nosy father and four overly protective brothers who all thought they should have a say in your life.

“Watch, Dr. Colton,” Sam said, returning. He sent his fire truck racing around the room.

Glad her father’s attention was off her, Matti settled back and listened to Jonathon talk to Sam. Having raised six children, he was at ease with the boy.

“That’s a neat truck,” Jonathon said.

“It’s going to a fire.” He zoomed the truck past Jonathon’s feet. “I saw a real fire one time. A house nobody lived in burned up, and the firemen came in their trucks. I got to watch.”

“Did you know one of Matilda’s brothers is a firefighter?”

Sam lifted wide eyes to her father. “He is? I want to be a fireman when I grow up.”

“He sure is. His name is Aiden.” Jonathon glanced at her. “You should take him by the station, let Aiden show him around.”

“That’s a great idea.” She’d do that tomorrow.

“Sam, can I take a look at your leg?” Jonathon said. “I want to make sure everything looks good.”

“Okay.”

“Scoot up on the couch.” Jonathon sat next to Sam. He gently peeled back the small bandage covering the wound. “It looks good, Sam. Dr. Palmer did a great job. Does it still hurt?”

“No. It hurt real bad when I got shot, but it only hurts now if I bump it.” Sam eyed the wound. “I don’t ever want to get shot again.”