The Bad Boy of Butterfly Harbor(54)

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HOLLY STARED UP at the water stain on her bedroom ceiling. Any hope of more sleep had evaporated hours ago when she’d awoken to an empty house and a renegade, runaway child.

She flopped her arms on the mattress, repressed the urge to scream. How had she missed it? She’d kept an eye on Simon for what felt like 24/7 and her son had still managed to risk his entire future with two break-ins in the space of two days.

Of all the records for him to attempt to break.

Holly rolled onto her side, hugged the second pillow against her chest as she squeezed her eyes shut. Never in her wildest imagination could she have imagined Luke Saxon saving the day. Saving her son. But he had. He’d protected Simon’s future, promised to help her when she needed it.

She couldn’t lock Simon in his room, but she knew she only had to ask and Simon would be kept under the watchful eye of local law enforcement. Until tonight, she hadn’t understood her father’s soft spot for Luke. The way Luke had been with her son—compassionate, firm, resolute—had shown the person Jake had believed him to be all those years ago.

Something she’d never allowed herself to see given her anger.

The questions continued to whirl in her mind; she wanted to know more, to know everything her father had alluded to when it came to Luke’s past, but there had been enough drama for one night. But tomorrow...

“Mom?” Simon knocked on her door. “Are you asleep?”

Was he serious? “Come on in.” She reached over and flicked on the light, but remained where she was—prone, exhausted and so wired she may as well have been mainlining coffee for the past day and a half. Simon pushed the door open, dressed in his Proton Patrol pajamas, his hair tousled as if he’d had as much trouble getting to sleep as she did. She glanced at the clock. “It’s after midnight, bud.”

“I can’t sleep.”

Gee, I wonder why? She scooted back and patted her hand on the mattress, unable to stop the surge of love as he snuggled into her arms. “You’ve had a pretty full few days.” She pressed a kiss on the top of his head, giving silent thanks that things had turned out the way they did. “Sheriff Saxon was awfully nice to you even though you were mean to him.”

Simon nodded. “Yeah.”

Holly could feel it—the secret, whatever he was holding on to—struggling to break free. “What’s wrong?”

“I told Sheriff Saxon I came back to the office to fix what I’d done.”

“Uh-huh.” She stroked his hair, preparing for the worst.

“But I didn’t do it because I wanted to be a junior deputy. Well, not only for that.”

“Then, why did you?”

“Because Charlie said she wouldn’t be my friend anymore if I didn’t.”

Ah. Holly’s heart swelled again, this time for whatever wind had blown Paige and Charlie Cooper to Butterfly Harbor.

“She said what I was doing to Sheriff Saxon was wrong. And that if I was really her friend, I wouldn’t have made her wait outside and watch to make sure we weren’t caught.”

“She’s right.” She pulled him closer, tucked his head under her chin. “Friends don’t ask friends to do things they know are wrong.”

“But I thought she understood. I wanted Sheriff Saxon to go away. I thought friends were supposed to do whatever you wanted them to.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask if he’d ever do something Charlie wanted even if he knew it was wrong, but the inquiry didn’t feel like a safe one to make at this point. They had some gray areas to work through when it came to right and wrong.

“I didn’t believe her when she said she wouldn’t talk to me again.” Simon wiped his eyes and sniffed. “But she hasn’t. Not one word. She’s not my friend anymore, Mom. I miss her.”

Holly missed the little girl, too. “I know you do. But you know what?”

“What?”

“I bet Charlie would be your friend again if you apologized and told her she was right, and you did as she asked and tried to fix what you did.”

“You think?” There was that wonder again, as if she’d given him a magical potion to fix what ailed him. Sometimes Simon made her feel like a superhero.

“I do think. How about first thing in the morning, we go down to the diner and you and I will talk to Paige and Charlie? You can tell them what you told me and we’ll see what happens.”

“But what if she doesn’t want to be my friend anymore?”

“I suppose it’s possible.” But given what Paige had been telling Holly about how miserable Charlie had been, she doubted it. “You won’t know unless you try. Owning up to our mistakes, to our misgivings about people, is what makes us better people.” A lesson she’d had to learn the hard way. That and forgiveness. “You like Sheriff Saxon now, right?”