Page 99 of Rooster

“I know. I get it, and I’m not super happy about not being home for Christmas, but I like it here. It’s cool being close to the water, and my friends will think it’s badass.”

“Yes, they will.” I placed my hand on his arm. “I’m sorry that your father scared you today. You must know that wasn’t his intention.”

“Mom, you have to stop defending him. I know about the affair. I know that he lied and cheated. He did that to you, and he did it to me and Sam. He did those things. Not you. You didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“I’m still sorry you had to deal with all that, but I have a feeling things are going to get better for all of us.” I gave him a quick pat, then stood and said, “Maybe we can all go sledding tomorrow afternoon and have a movie night.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Great.” I leaned down and gave him a kiss on the forehead. “I love you, sweetheart.”

“Love you, too.”

The next morning, I woke feeling like something was amiss. I rolled over, and when I found that I was in the bed alone, I eased the covers back and went to find Ronin. I started in the kitchen, but he was nowhere to be found. There was coffee, so I poured myself a cup and continued with my search.

I stepped into the living room and was surprised to find him standing in the corner next to our Christmas tree. He was busy rearranging the skewed ornaments and didn’t even notice that I’d walked into the room. “How did you do this?”

"Good morning, babe," he greeted, his eyes reflecting the joy of the surprise. "I told you I would, and I did."

“But how?” I pushed. “You even managed to get all the presents and our decorations.”

“I had a little help.”

I looked around the room, and my chest tightened when I saw that the entire house had been transformed into a holiday wonderland. I knew at that very moment that moving in with him was the right decision. “I can’t believe you did all this.”

“You’re my girl.” He gave me one of his smiles. “I’ll do anything for you, babe, even if that means gettin’ up at the crack of dawn to bring you a Christmas tree.”

“And that’s why I love you like I do.”

I helped him finish putting out the decorations, and it wasn’t long before the kids woke up and came down to join in on the fun. Ronin made us breakfast, and then we went out sledding for a while. When we got back, Ronin and I made dinner, and then we watched a silly Christmas movie. The next day was more of the same, and with each hour that passed, his place started to feel more and more like our place.

We had finally decided it was time for Ronin to meet my parents and were getting ready to go to their house for dinner when I noticed Ronin had left his phones on the kitchen counter. I picked them both up and was about to take them to him when one of them buzzed with a text message. Worried that it might be something important, I called out to him, “Hey, Ronin! You got a text.”

“Okay. I’m coming.” As he got closer, I shouted, “It’s on your personal phone.”

“Oh?” He looked surprised as he came into the kitchen and asked, “Who’s it from?”

“Oh, umm.” I glanced down at the screen. “Beckett.”

“What’d he say?”

I look back down at the phone and read out loud:

I hada lot of time to think on the ride home.

Sorry brother, but I don’t think I can keep walking.

I hadno idea what the message meant, but I could tell by Ronin’s expression that it wasn’t good. Concerned, I asked, “What is it? Is everything okay?”

“No, I don’t think it is.” He came over and took the phone from my hand, then dialed someone’s number. When they didn’t answer, he shook his head and sighed. “Damn.”

Before I could ask what was going on, he dialed another number. He waited for them to answer, then said, “Hey, brother. You heard anything from Grim or Beckett?”

He paused for a minute, then said, “I got a weird message from him. I tried calling, but he didn’t answer. If you hear anything, let me know.”

I waited for him to finish talking, and once he’d hung up, I walked over to him and asked, “Who’s Beckett?”

“A kid who’d been staying with us. He was going through some stuff, and from the sounds of that message, he’s about to do something stupid.”

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