“Did you hear me say that?”
“Kane, I’ve always gotten along with you. You’ve been like a father to me and for some reason, you’ve chosen now to turn on me and while I can understand your frustration—and trust me, I can—I can’t understand why you would pull me away from your daughter’s hospital room when she needs me most.”
“I should’ve left your ass in jail,” Kane said, stuffing his hands in his pockets and marching away.
Brock noticed the security guards approaching from the other end of the hall. He turned to Kane once more. “Kane Cartwell, if you don’t stop this nonsense right now, when we leave here with Trixie, I swear to you I will return to Fletcher, put our house on the market, gather up my children, and move my family to Abingdon. Is that what you want?”
Kane rushed him then. He clenched his fists. “You think you want to test me, boy? Do you?”
“I want to get along with you but I will not let you or anyone else stand in my way of taking care of my responsibility.”
Kane snarled. “Except Colony?”
“That’s what this is about?” Brock asked. “You’re upset because Mitch is back in Trixie’s life?” He paused. “And somehow that is my fault?”
“You know what he is. He’ll have her collared, leashed, and living in a damn cage if she’ll go along with it.”
Brock snickered. “Believe me, Mitch’s reputation is earned, but he will not cage your daughter. I only know of two men who have caged their women—one of them is your neighbor and the other one is—”
“Well there’s my favorite brother-in-law,” Ansley said, joining them in the hallway. “Trixie will be awake soon and she’ll be asking for you again.”
She shot Brock a stern glare. Apparently Kane didn’t know about Neely’s steel cage and Kimberly’s house of horrors.
“Security is at the nurse’s station. Go see Marie and handle this.” Brock took a few steps. “Kane, I’d like to make amends, but if you can’t accept your daughter’s choices, then that’s your problem. Not mine. I won’t keep Trixie from the people she loves.”
“Then you’d better think about that before you threaten to move her to Virginia.”
Brock shrugged. “What can I say? I play the cards I’m holding in my hand. And your daughter? Well, she would move to South Holston Lake tomorrow.”
“There’s nothing for her in Abingdon.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Kane,” Brock said. “Mitch is staying there. He’s reopening a business at Cow Camp. He has no immediate plans of moving to Fletcher.”
Brock walked away, but not before noticing the look of satisfaction spread across Kane’s face. He didn’t like Mitch and Brock didn’t think that would ever change, but he would come to terms with Trixie’s decisions as long as he didn’t have to look at them every day.
Mitch living away from Fletcher would suit Kane just fine.
Brock entered Trixie’s room. “I talked to Kane and told him to stop this nonsense.”
“What’d you say to him?” Rory asked.
“You definitely didn’t bribe him,” Mitch said, rolling his eyes.
“We have an understanding,” Brock said, seeing no reason to throw fuel on the flames.
“You threatened to move me to Virginia,” Trixie said drowsily.
“Do you have ESP?”
“No,” she replied. “I dreamed it.”
“Your dreams are pretty accurate,” Brock said, kissing the tip of her nose. “How ya doin’, beautiful?”
“Never better,” she replied, forcing a smile. “How are you?”
“Tolerable.”
“That’s debatable,” Ansley said, returning with a tray of coffee.
“Hmm…smells wonderful,” Trixie said.
“Your nurse said she’ll check your vitals and decide then whether or not you can have caffeine.”
Trixie glanced around the room. “I gave you guys a scare, huh?”
“We don’t have to talk about that now,” Mitch told her, covering her hand with his.
“We can, you know. I have nothing better to do.”
“You need your rest,” Brock said, his heartstrings pulling tighter and tighter as he watched her talk out of the corner of her swollen mouth.
“Brock, what happened at the police station?”
“They let him walk,” Ansley said, waving her hand in front of her face. “You know how Brock is—he’s more of a pain in the ass than a real catch for the cops. They don’t want to fool with him.”