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“Can we sing it again?”

“Of course.” I began to sing the first verse in a silly, theatrical way that sounded nothing like Wren Paxton and still made the boys giggle like mad.

Mal grinned as he tried to keep his little wolf upright and walking through the crowd.

We got to the road just as the chorus started, and the boys took over. I sang along with them, as did Mal who had a surprisingly nice voice.

It took us no time to get to the barn.

“Papa!” Shiloh yelled as soon as he saw Mike through the open broodmare barn doors.

He took off, and immediately I could tell from Mike’s expression that he, too, heard the relief and mild panic in the little boy’s tone. He hid it well and the kids wouldn’t have noticed, but it was there. Gods, he was such a good father and grandpa.

Mike crouched and wrapped Shiloh in his arms.. “Hey, hey, it’s okay,” he murmured.

The boy fell apart a little, and Mike rocked back and forth a little as he whispered comforting things.

Gemma peered from where she, Wyn, and Hawk were painting the horses. She raised a brow, took in the situation and called out, “Pay, wanna come paint Jaina?”

Payton ran over and Mal rolled his shoulders, tension leaving him, too.

Mike looked worried, but I shook my head. It could wait, now.

I tugged at Mal’s sleeve and leaned in to whisper, “Do you think the paint could be used on the backs of the boys’ hands? Skeleton hands?”

Mal grinned. “Actually, yeah. I think so.”

Shiloh got to the slow hiccups stage of his little meltdown, and Mike chuckled. “You feeling better, buddy?”

“Uh-huh,” he said, then took a big shuddering breath. “Okay. I’m good now.”

Mike released him and cupped his cheek. “You know you can come find me or any of our other adults whenever you need us, right?”

“Yeah, I… I found Bodhi,” he confirmed.

Mike’s eyes flashed with more worry, so Mal said, “Come on, Shiloh, let’s go see if we can borrow some paint.”

He held out his hand and Shiloh went with him, looking more curious than upset, thank the universe. I nodded toward the doorway, and Mike walked the handful of steps with me. He’d still be in the eyeline of Shiloh that way.

“What happened?”

I explained the way Shiloh had come to find Bodhi and everything I knew after. Mike rubbed a hand over his mouth and cussed under his breath, something I hadn’t heard him do many times in my time with the Harringtons.

“Abigail is taking care of it? Not Bodhi?” he asked, even though I’d just told him so.

“Yes. She came to take over, and I know Bodhi wouldn’t disrespect my wishes on this.”

“Okay….” He glanced at where the boys were giggling and then quickly walked out of the barn, out of their view, and shook out his arms. I’d never seen him so angry and it almost got to me a little. Mike growled under his breath. “How fucking dare she?”

I sighed. “She’s an addict, Mike. You know this. She’s not in control of herself. It’s not an excuse; it’s an explanation,” I reiterated with my palms toward him when he threw me a glare.

He took a deep breath, then another one, and finally deflated. “I’m going to ask for a sitrep on how things went.”

“Of course. Bodhi and Abi will give you one as soon as they can, I’m sure. Honestly though, I don’t think she’s going to be a problem. She heard booze and came running. I doubt she even factored Shiloh in at all.”

“But she still managed to scare that boy—”

I paused him with a hand on his arm. “I know, Mike. But this is an event open for all, right? We handled it as soon as she was spotted. Sadly, it was Shiloh, but even if it had been anyone else in the family, do you think she’d been allowed to stay?”