Reluctantly Royal(44)

Marty was sitting on his bed with a backpack while his mother shoved clothes into a small suitcase shaped like a car.

“Can I help?” I stopped in the doorway.

“I think you’ve helped enough for today.” Meredith looked up at me and blew some of the hair out of her face.

“Have you packed?” I looked around the room wondering what else the kid might need. “Did you get his toothbrush?”

“His toothbrush?” She looked at me like I was crazy. “No. I haven’t gotten his toothbrush yet.”

“I’ll get it.” I ducked into the boy’s bathroom and found the toothbrush. I handed it to her and she tucked it into the front pocket before standing up.

“I’m going to change and pack.” She ran her fingers through her hair. “Can you stay here with Marty?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll hurry.” She took off down the hallway with quick steps, her hair floating behind her.

I met Charles’s eyes and jerked my head in her direction. He nodded once before moving down the hall toward her door.

“Why are we leaving?” Marty looked at me with sleepy eyes.

“What did your mom say?” I cleared my throat.

“Just that we were going to go stay with you.” He rubbed at one eye. “She looked mad.”

“Yeah, she’s a little angry with me.” I sat down next to him.

“What’d you do?” He looked up at me with big eyes.

“That’s a long story.” I sighed.

“Do you have a pond at your house?”

“We have a lake.” I smiled when he grinned.

“A big lake or a little lake?” He narrowed his eyes. “Are there fish?”

“It’s pretty big and I hear the fishing is great.” I bumped his arm with mine. “Maybe you’ll have time to go down there.”

“Awesome.”

“Brought you some food for the ride.” I handed him the bag of pastries.

“Thanks.” He took the bag and smashed it into his backpack.

Neither of us said anything else, just sat there in a comfortable silence while we waited on his mother. When she finally showed back up, she’d changed into a pair of jeans, boots, and sweater. Her hair hung around her face and while she looked annoyed, she couldn’t be any more beautiful.

“Ready?” I stood up and helped Marty off the bed.

“Yep!” He hitched his straps up higher on his shoulders.

I looked back over at Meredith and tried to not frown. Knowing she was angry with me was like a kick to the balls. But I wouldn’t change my mind. I couldn’t.

“As ready as I’m going to be.” She turned and held out her hand. “C’mon, Marty.”

I sighed as I followed them down the stairs. How the hell had I gotten involved in all of this? And why the hell couldn’t I seem to leave it alone?

“If you leave with him, don’t bother coming back!” her father hollered from the sitting room door. “I’m not going to take care of you if you go get yourself knocked up again. We don’t need any more bastards running around.”

Meredith tensed but tucked Marty’s head against her side and kept walking. I, on the other hand, stopped dead in my tracks and looked at the man.

“Do not speak to them again.” I said the words quietly.

“I’ll say what I want to my daughter and her bastard—”

I moved without thinking, covering the distance between us in the space of a heartbeat.

“Max!” Meredith’s worried voice snaked through my fury-riddled brain.

I stared at Arthur and took another step forward so that there was barely any space between our noses. The thick smell of alcohol on his breath made me wrinkle my nose.

“Please, Max.” Meredith’s small hand touched my shoulder.

“We will be back for the reading of the will.” I didn’t want him to think that he had banned Meredith from her home. You should always be able to go home.

Meredith grabbed my hand and tugged me backward. I let her lead me out of the house, her hand shaking in mine as we put distance between us and her father.

My SUV and Charles’s car stood idling in the curved driveway. Marty was standing at the door where Meredith must have left him his little face covered in fear, and I felt like I had been kicked in the gut. Had I done that? Had I made him scared?

Meredith grabbed Marty’s hand with her free one and let me lead them to my car. I watched as she buckled Marty into the backseat and pulled out a coloring book and crayons for him. I opened her door before going around to the other side to drive.

“All ready?” I looked in my rearview mirror at Marty. He nodded his head, and some of the fear had started to fade away. I looked over at Meredith and she jerked her head once.