Jane Godman - Colton 911 - Family Under Fire

“I thought we could order pizza?” Alyssa said when Casey had gone. “It’s getting late. And we can’t eat out.”

She indicated the sleeping figure on the sofa. Kennedy was sprawled on her back, snoring softly. Alyssa had placed the cushions from the other sofa in a line on the floor next to her. Something about the action both touched and frightened him. Concern for the baby’s safety was an instinct that came naturally to her. He’d never have thought of this particular gesture.

I have so much to learn.

“I get it now. That’s why Sean did this. No more beers after a long day. If the guys from work are going for seafood or pasta or Thai, I’ll have to pass. I can’t stay up all night watching movies, or go for an early morning run. And…” He clapped a hand to his forehead in mock despair. “I’ll have to get a family car.”

Alyssa regarded him with amusement. “You think your former best friend is controlling your life from beyond the grave?”

“I wouldn’t put it past the guy.” He drew his cell phone from his pocket. “Pizza Paradise has my regular order. How about you? Still sticking with the boredom special? Goat cheese and red onion?”

“You remembered?”

“Four years is a long time.” It was true. Although he wasn’t sure whether he was talking about the four years they’d been together, or the four years since they’d split up. One of those stretches always seemed much longer than the other. “And we did eat a lot of pizza.”

“Yeah.” Her smile still had the power to warm his whole body. “The same as always for me. And I checked your refrigerator.” Her little shudder took him back in time. “Add some diet soda to the order, please.”

He placed the order, and, when he ended the call, Alyssa had switched into serious mode. “There’s something I need to speak to you about.”

“I was being a jerk. I’ll move my stuff into the small bedroom after we’ve eaten.”

“Thank you. But that’s not what I was going to say.” She waved a hand to indicate the boxes. “Patty Griffiths said they only brought the basics. The rest of Kennedy’s belongings are at the house her parents owned.”

“Well, that’s where they can stay. We can’t fit anything else in here.”

“Exactly. Everett, look at all of this.” She held out a framed picture to him as she spoke. “Look how much they loved their little girl. I just can’t believe that Sean would have chosen to leave Kennedy all alone by killing himself and Delilah.”

Everett stacked Kennedy’s boxes neatly along one wall, which meant they could place the pizza on the coffee table. While they ate, Alyssa sat on the sofa next to Kennedy and Everett piled cushions on the floor and sprawled at her feet. It was a moment of normality in a day that had taken unreal to a whole new level. She still didn’t know why he’d taken off so abruptly, or why he’d asked Casey to come over. She figured he would tell her in his own time, and already knew she wasn’t going to like the explanation.

“Patty brought a cool bag with some jars of baby food, so Kennedy will have something to eat when she wakes up.” Alyssa smiled as she looked at the little girl. “But tomorrow, I’ll need to go shopping.”

“Have you thought about what this really means?” She figured Everett was entitled to the note of skepticism she could hear in his voice. “I don’t just mean shopping for diapers and formula. What about your job? Your home? My place in Phoenix?” He ran a hand through his hair in a gesture that was as familiar as her own reflection in the mirror. “And what about us? After all this time, how are we supposed to do this together ?”

After her relationship with Everett ended, Alyssa had accepted that theirs, like all other love stories, was unique. It was like a quilt, made of scraps and pieces that once held so much meaning. Everything they had done together had left a mark on her life. Every time she thought she was ready to move on, something would happen to remind her of those vibrant threads of color that bound her to him.

But the reality was simpler and less poetic. Breaking up had been the only logical way of dealing with her fears about his job, but she had never stopped caring for him. And leaving him had been like trying to blow up a life vest while drowning. If they’d ended things because the feelings had gone, this conversation would have been different.

But she knew what he was saying. Taking on Sean and Delilah’s baby was a huge commitment. Their history would make it a thousand times harder. They had gone their separate ways, only to have their worlds shaken off-course years later in the blink of an eye by the wishes of a dead couple. In the end, it came down to one thing. The right thing.

“This is not about us. Kennedy needs a family. Today, a twist of fate made us her mom and dad. I’ll do whatever it takes.” She gave him a direct stare. “I took a couple of days leave of absence to come here and I’m going to email the principal of my school in the morning and request maternity leave.”

There was a challenge in the words. Over to you.

He held her gaze for a moment or two before looking down at the beer in his hand. And that was what she had expected. Professionally, he was razor-sharp and one of the most successful agents in his field office. In his private life, Everett didn’t do tough decision making. Keep it comfortable or walk away. During their relationship, he had never deviated from that rule.

“You’re sure I can’t tempt you to try a slice of pepperoni with extra anchovies?”

Ignoring the deliberate attempt to distract her with the tried-and-tested pizza line he’d always used, she forced the conversation back on track. “As far as our living situation goes, this place probably isn’t ideal. But with the holidays coming up, I think we have to make the best of it for now.”

“You mean we take turns to breathe?”

“I’d forgotten what a funny guy you are, Colton.” She pulled a face at him. “I mean we make this a nice home for Kennedy, and we give her a family Christmas.” She frowned. “Her first Christmas.”

Everett was silent for a moment or two. When he spoke again, there was a new tone in his voice. “I came back to Cactus Creek to investigate a murder. Pierce Tostig was a ranch hand at Selectman Clarence Edison’s OverHerd Ranch. Casey was investigating a rustling case and he found the body near the corpse of one of the stolen cows. Sean, Delilah and Georgia were behind the operation, and confessed their involvement in Tostig’s death when they cornered Casey and another of Edison’s ranch hands, Melody Hayworth, at gunpoint. Luckily, Melody—who is now Casey’s girlfriend—made an SOS call and I was able to track their location. I arrived with a team of agents in time to arrest the rustlers.”

“So when he died, Sean was awaiting arraignment for a potential murder charge as well as cattle rustling?”

“That’s right.” His face was turned slightly away from her, but she could see the tension in the fine muscles of his jaw. “He rammed that fancy car of his right into a wall, killing himself and Delilah rather than face prison. At least that’s what the suicide note that was taped to the dash said.” She noticed his fist clench tight against his thigh. “There was just one small problem with that note.”

Alyssa waited. They weren’t touching, but she could feel the emotion coursing through him. When he looked up, the pain in his eyes made her breath catch.

“It wasn’t in Sean’s writing.”

“Could Delilah have written it?” she asked.