Page 28 of Fourth Heartwarmers Trilogy
Chapter Eight
Whipping forward, Jack reached the brat after he’d destroyed the castle. In complete monster mode, the obnoxious kid picked up handfuls of sand as a threat to fling at the other three who were heartbroken and might retaliate.
The only one who had the guts to do so was Maisie, and she was heading in his direction with her fists raised, and her face red with fury. “You’we a bad boy.” Her yell was ferocious in her little girl’s voice.
Before Jack could stop the forward momentum from happening, Howie let loose his ammunition in Maisie’s direction. Her wails of distress broke his heart.
Quickly, Jack lifted Maisie and ran to the nearby water park feature where there was a sprinkler. Ignoring her wails of distress, he forced her face under the spray to flush the sand from her eyes.
He’d thought he’d gotten to her in time, but her distress wasn’t put on. She’d gotten enough in her face that the probability of her getting it in her eyes had to be taken into consideration.
All the while, he spoke softly to lessen her shock. “There, baby, it’s okay now. Jack has you, honey. Just let the water wash your eyes. That’s right. Let me see now.”
He lifted her upright so they could look at each other. Her reddened, green beauties looked to be a bit inflamed, but he couldn’t see any sand in them at all.
“How does it feel, Maisie? Can you feel any sand?”
She blinked a few times and shook her head. “It’s gone, Mr. Jack. My eyes can see good.”
“Does it hurt when you blink?”
“No. I think the sand went away in the water.”
Jack picked her up and headed back to the sandbox in time to see Howie’s daddy with his large hands bruising the kid’s arm while he waved it back and forth in anger. “I told you to behave, didn’t I? I warned you what would happen if you screwed up, you brat. Why can’t I ever take you out? Cherry behaves like a normal kid, why can’t you?”
Jack saw the despair in Howie’s eyes and couldn’t stand by and watch this treatment. “Hey, back off, Mister. Maybe a calm talk with the kid would be more helpful than you scaring everyone this way. He’s a little boy and needs to understand. He’ll listen to words – not rants.”
Throwing the kid’s arm from him in disgust, the father turned to Jack and waved his finger in his face. “Why don’t you go screw yourself and mind you own business?”
Jack handed Maisie to the woman who’d approached to take her boy to safety. “Would you mind holding Maisie for a moment, please?”
Then he turned and grabbed the father in a wrestling hold where the father had no choice but to go wherever Jack decided or have his arm dislocated.
“Ow, man. Let me go. Call the police, Clare. Hey, you can’t manhandle me this way.”
“Oh, you mean like you just manhandled your own kid.”
“He’s not my kid. I’m his stepdad.”
Now a fair distance from the group where the woman named Clare had organized them back into the sandbox and was playing with them, Jack let loose.
“You keep treating that kid like shit, and one day he’s going to turn on you. You know that, right? He’s already full of hate and disrespect for his sister, and that’s on you for the difference in the way you treat them. She’ll suffer too. All because you’re a prick who can’t see past your own hang-ups.”
“You got no business saying this to me.” Filled with bitterness, the dad’s voice whined his resentment.
“Hey, too bad. I’m making it my business. So, he’s another man’s sperm, he’s still your kid as long as you live in the house with his mom and play daddy.”
“My arm. Let go. I wasn’t going to hit the kid.”
Jack loosened his grip but didn’t release him altogether. “No, but you promised to lock him in the car when it’s eighty-four degrees.”
“That was just a threat to make him behave. He’s always messing up. I can’t get him to act normal.”
“Physical pain and asshole threats only make things worse. Take the kid fishing or play ball with him… something. Make friends with him, and he’ll want to please you. Maybe he’ll stop acting like he sees you act.”
“Yeah. Okay. Let me go. He’s upset that you’re hurting me.”
They both looked over to see the boy with a big grin on his face. “Yeah, I can see that.” Jack let the man’s arm go, and heput his arm around his shoulder instead to lead him back to the sandbox. He tried to make it appear like they were now friends so the kids would believe that their talk had led to friendship and all was right with the world.
