The Brightest Sunset

I held his stoic gaze as he motioned for one of the uniforms to unlock the cell door.

I sent up a million thanks to whomever had brainwashed him into releasing me.

They seemed a tad premature the minute he caught my arm and started dragging me down the hall.

Without the first fucking clue of where he was taking me or if I was even being released, I couldn’t help myself. He was my only lifeline to my son.

“How’s Travis?” I asked.

“Shut it, Porter,” he growled.

“You have to give me something. I’ve been wearing holes in the floor, stuck in this godforsaken place all night.”

“Shut. Up.” He jerked my arm as two police officers turned the corner and came strolling toward us.

They all shared chin jerks.

I momentarily quieted as they passed.

And then I dove right back into my questions. “What about Charlotte? How’s she holding up?”

He suddenly stopped and shoved me against a wall. “For once, do what you are goddamn told and shut your fucking mouth.”

“Is that what you would do in my situation?” I shot back. “Shut your mouth while the people you love are falling to pieces around you? Fuck that, Tom. I am not that man.”

He turned his eyes to the ceiling and mumbled, “I did not sign up for this bullshit.”

“And you think I did? You think I willingly signed up to have my whole life flipped upside down? My child snatched from me? My woman’s heart broken time and fucking time again? This is my nightmare. I know you hate it, but Charlotte is my family. And I’m not quitting my family. No matter how hard you and Brady try to fight me. You can lock me up, throw away the key, but I will never stop trying to keep my family together.”

“For fuck’s sake, son. Give it a rest.” He grabbed my arm again and started dragging me toward a mystery door at the end of the hallway.

“I want to talk to my attorney,” I demanded.

“And you will get that a hell of a lot quicker if you shut your mouth.”

I silently followed him for a few more steps before adding, “I’m serious, Tom. I love her. Charlotte and those kids are my life.”

“Jesus Christ,” he cussed, stopping at the door. “I got it, okay? You love Charlotte. She loves you. The world is filled with rainbows and butterflies when you two are together…yadda yadda yadda.” He snatched the door open and shoved me through it. “Listen to your attorney this time, son.”

“Porter!” Charlotte called as I stumbled into the waiting room at the front of the police station.

I blinked. Tanner was there, huddled together with…

I blinked again. My two attorneys?

I had no fucking idea how the tide had turned and I was now a free man, but I wasn’t about to waste time asking questions—at least, not about that.

I moved straight to Charlotte. “How’s Travis?”

She grinned and a blast of relief filled my empty chest. “Hanging in there. He’s still on the vent, but Greg and the cardiologist agree, so they’re going to wean him off it today. I want to be there for that, so I gave Brady some time with him this morning.”

My jaw turned hard, and I could only imagine the fury on my face.

She pressed up onto her toes and brushed her lips with mine. “Relax. My mom is up there too. She knows to call me if anything changes. I don’t have a choice but to let him see him. However, we do have a choice how we handle this from here on out.”

“And how exactly is that?” I asked, sour settling in my mouth.

“You’re going to have to stay away from the hospital until our court date.”

My blood ignited into a vicious inferno. “No fucking way.”

She rested her hands on my chest. “Listen, Porter. Tom and your attorneys spoke with Judge Gratham to get you released. They told him about Travis’s heart and that, when he collapsed, it was a highly emotional situation, but they have assured him that you breaking the order was a one-time thing.”

My eyebrows shot up. “We’ve been basically living together for a week.”

She cut her gaze away, and her cheeks pinked. “Yeah… We, um…decided to leave that part out.”

“How? We were at Tanner’s for a cookout when the ambulance picked him up.”

“Uh, no. We were not anywhere. Travis and I stopped by Tanner’s to pick up some more of his things. You just happened to show up about the time Travis collapsed.”

I closed my eyes—that sour in my stomach turning into rot. “So, we’re flat-out lying to the police now?”

She looped her arms around my hips and shifted closer. “Porter, we’re doing what we have to do to stay together and keep you out of jail. It’s not ideal. But it worked. Judge Gratham signed off on your release and agreed to move up our court date to two days from now so that you can hopefully be allowed supervised visitation while Travis is in the hospital.”

“Supervised visitation. Outstanding.”

“I’ll be supervising it. So, really, it will be like any other night that we are all together. Isn’t that what matters? That we’re all together?”

I groaned. “It’s not sexy when you use my words against me.”

She smiled and it soothed the worry inside me. “Well, good. Because there is nothing sexy about the way you smell right now.” She giggled and tried to push me away, but I held her close

“Excuse me. I stepped out of the county jail, not a day spa.”

Still wearing a gorgeous smile, she peered up at me through her lashes. “We’re going to be okay, Porter.”

“I know. I’m just sick of all the bullshit.”

“We’ll video chat, okay? The minute he comes around, I’ll call you and Hannah and we’ll hang out like that for the next few days.”

I nodded even though my heart was screaming for me to say fuck it all and head straight up to that hospital to see my son. But, if I wanted any hope of us being together again, I had to play by the rules.

I kissed her forehead. “What’d you have to do to get Tom in on this?”

“I batted my eyelashes and cried a little. He was no match for my guilt trip.”

I barked a laugh. “I’m not sure if I should be proud of you or worried about our future together now.”

She curled in close. “Worried, probably.”

I touched my lips to the top of her head. “One of these days, our lives will become boring. We’re going to be sitting on a couch together, asking each other repeatedly, ‘What’s for dinner?’ and getting frustrated when we come up with no answers. The kids are going to be wandering around, complaining, and whining that they have nothing to do. There will be nothing on TV. No good movies out. The weather will be crappy and the four of us will be stuck in the house all damn day, fighting and bickering with each other for no other reason than it provides two minutes of excitement. And I swear to you. That will be the happiest day of my entire life. This shit, where every day is another drama, is killing me.”

She craned her head back and dreamily stared up at me. “That sounds amazing.”

Just then, Tanner came strolling over. “How many times am I going to have to bail you out of jail?”

I smirked. “Now you know how I felt when we were in college.”

“Touché,” he replied.

Charlotte rolled her eyes and then looked up at me. “I have to get back to the hospital. I don’t want him waking up without me.”

I groaned, my heart aching at the thought of not being there when he needed me the most. But it eased me to know that at least Charlotte would be there. “Yeah. Definitely. Get up there.”

“I love you, Porter. Just a few more days.”

“I love you too. Take care of my boy.”

“Hey, buddy!” I cooed in a baby voice I knew for a fact he hated, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. I was seeing my son alive and awake for the first time since I’d dragged him out of that pond.

I hated that it was via a damn video chat, but beggars can’t be choosers. And, right then, I was a beggar to the highest power. It had been a horrible twenty-four hours. At that time just the day before, we had been laughing and eating pasta salad. Now, my son was covered in wires and laid up in a hospital bed, waiting for a heart that may or may not come.