He was sure he could do it again.
He just didn’t want to.
Chapter Thirty One
♀♂
Lorrie waited patiently for Curtis to hang up the phone and join her in the living room. She knew what the call was about and hearing information on Ethan’s whereabouts had become essential to her sanity. Luckily, thanks to her discreet eavesdropping, she knew things were fine. She was grateful for that.
“He’s all right,” Curtis grumbled when he appeared beside the couch a few minutes later.
“Where is he?” she asked calmly, offering her husband her full attention.
“Houston. With Beau.”
“Who told you?”
“Zane. Beau left him a voicemail before they left yesterday. And I called Jared. He confirmed. Ethan stopped in to let him know as well.”
Lorrie released the breath she’d been holding. She had every right to be nervous when it came to Ethan. Although her son didn’t realize it, Lorrie and Curtis were both aware of what had happened to him all those years ago. They were blessed with boys who were concerned about one another, and although Sawyer had kept Ethan’s secret safe from the rest of his brothers, he’d had the common sense to call their father the night Ethan had been hurt.
Remembering the event risked stealing several years off of her life because at the time, Lorrie had worried about her son’s well-being and not just in the physical sense. Especially after the devastating loss of Gavin Reardon several weeks after Gavin’s older brother had beaten Ethan.
It’d taken everything in her power to hold Sawyer and Curtis back, threatening them both with the law if they even thought about going after Jimmy. Although she fully believed that disturbed young man deserved punishment, she did not believe it should come from her family. The possibility of losing one of her boys or her husband wasn’t something she ever wanted to consider; that included the possibility of one of them spending the rest of their life in prison.
And, that afternoon, as soon as they were unable to locate Ethan, she’d gone into a full blown panic. From the sound of it, the boys at least had the decency to make sure she and Curtis would know they were all right.
“When will they be back?” she asked Curtis, enjoying the sigh of relief knowing that Ethan and Beau were both ok. She couldn’t deny her excitement over the fact that they were together either. Those two young men were looking for something, and she had a sneaking suspicion that they had already found it, but if she had to guess, one or both of them was being stubborn.
Some alone time would do them some good.
“Friday or Saturday, Jared said. Ethan’s going to Kaleb and Zoey’s to watch Mason on Saturday night.”
“Good. Good.” Lorrie had seen the way Ethan’s eyes lit up when he was around Mason and she liked the idea of him spending time with his nephew.
Curtis moved across the room to the coat rack, and Lorrie watched carefully, weighing her next question. “Where are you going?”
“Moonshiners.”
She had a feeling he was going to say that. “Did the boys invite you?”
“Yeah,” Curtis said solemnly. “Travis called earlier. He’s worried about Sawyer.”
Lorrie stood from her seat and watched her husband as he shrugged on his well-worn Carhartt jacket before tucking his cell phone in the inside pocket.
“Please be careful,” she told him.
Curtis gave her that sexy grin that still made her insides tingle. She loved him with the same passion she’d had when they first met. Although her heart had grown much more attached over the years and when she thought he might step in to defend their boys, she couldn’t help but worry.
“Is everything ok with Sawyer?” she asked, knowing the answer before he said it.
“He’s having a hard time with what’s going on with Ethan.”
Rightfully so. Sawyer had been the one to take care of Ethan, to nurse him back to health when the worst had happened. Although Ethan didn’t know it, Lorrie had checked in with Sawyer daily, making sure that her boy was being taken care of. Since then, she knew Sawyer had become extremely protective of Ethan.
“Call me when you’re on your way home,” she told Curtis, making her way across the room. Grabbing the edges of his jacket gently, she pulled him close and went up on her toes when he leaned in for a kiss.
“Will do.”
Lorrie released Curtis, watching as he walked out the back door. Despite her husband’s need to keep her sheltered from the trouble that seemed to be brewing when it came to her children, she knew something was going on. She might not have the specifics, but she fully intended to find out.