The Bad Boy of Butterfly Harbor(85)

He’d been cooped up in the hospital for a week now, but before he left, there was one more thing to take care of.

“Luke?” Jake knocked on the door frame. “You ready?”

“More than.” Luke shifted more solidly against the pillows, looking forward to the day when he could move without feeling as if he was going to break apart. “Send him in.”

Kyle Winters stepped into view, his bleach-blond hair somewhat tamed, and his general appearance made him look less like a hoodlum and more like an average boundary-pushing teenager. “I was told you wanted to see me.”

“Come on in.” Luke pointed to the chair, unsure whether the kid was going to bolt or squirm. He did neither. In fact, Luke couldn’t tell what Kyle was thinking. But he knew what the boy was feeling. Overwhelmed, terrified. Forgotten. “I’m very sorry about your father.”

Kyle shrugged, slouching in his chair. “I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.” Because when all was said and done, Luke was sorry about his own. “No matter what, he was still your father, Kyle. It’s okay to be sad he’s gone.”

“I hit him. That day.” Kyle had yet to meet Luke’s gaze. “Before I came to the station, it was the first time I ever hit him back. I think I scared him. I wanted to hit him before. When I saw what he was doing to your dog.”

Luke kept his expression passive but marked another item off his to-do list.

“He tried to tie him up in our yard, but I cut him free.” Kyle frowned. “He ran off before I could get him loose.”

And with those words, hope blossomed brighter. As much as Luke wished the kid’s last memory of his father hadn’t been one of violence, he knew Kyle would survive. He was a fighter. Just like Luke.

“I heard you’re in for some time in juvie. Eight months?” Luke had done all he could to fight the possessing-stolen-weapons charges against Kyle, but his influence only got him so far.

Kyle shrugged. “I should have told someone sooner.”

“Yes, you should have. What about your mom? She doing okay?”

Now Kyle lifted his eyes to Luke’s. “She’s gone. Took off.”

Luke had already heard, but didn’t want Kyle to be aware of how close tabs Luke and others had been keeping on him. “So I guess it’s just as well you’re going to jail yourself.”

Another shrug. Luke grabbed hold of his temper. Kyle was not making this easy. “What if I told you there was someone willing to take you in afterward, give you a place to stay? Someplace safe.”

Kyle’s chin shot up, the skepticism on his face so blatant Luke might have stepped back had he been on his feet.

“It would mean rules. Important ones,” Luke added. “You’ll be expected to go to school, no skipping. You’ll volunteer at the youth center and when you’re not working there, you’ll be working with us at the police station doing whatever needs to be done. When you’re of age, if you want to go to college, we’ll do what we can to help. If you want to go into the service, we can help there, too. It’ll be up to you. If you stay straight.”

“But who...?” Kyle couldn’t have looked more confused, and just then Matt Knight stepped into the room. Kyle balked. “You?”

“I’m willing to give it a shot if you are,” Knight said. “The house is big. You’ll have your own room. And chores. Lots of chores.”

“There will be no drinking,” Luke ordered. “No smoking, no drugs. You’ll live with him. He’ll be your legal foster parent as long as CPS and the courts sign off, but we have an in with the mayor’s office. This is that second chance we talked about, Kyle. What do you say? You going to take it?”

“Yes, sir.” Kyle sat up straight and smiled. “Thank you. I, um, I won’t let you down.” He stood and held out his trembling hand. The trembling part Luke pretended not to notice as he shook his hand. “I promise.”

“I take promises very seriously,” Luke said, glancing out the window to where Holly stood beside her father, waving at him. “Very seriously indeed.”



We’re returning to BUTTERFLY HARBOR in the summer! Don’t miss Anna J. Stewart’s next great installment, featuring a romance for best friend Abby Manning!