Chapter 14: Seven Years

Eli's POV

Shelby didn't look at Brent when she answered.

She looked at me.

"Yes," she said. "He's yours."

Brent made a sound I had only heard from men in a medical tent.

Then he lunged for her.

Hank got the shotgun stock across his chest first, and two of my crew grabbed his arms.

"Seven years!" Brent screamed. "I paid for his school! I paid your rent!"

"You paid for a boy who isn't yours, and you left your wife in a ditch," Hank said. "Sit down before I sit you down."

Lena stood with one hand on the red bag and didn't say anything.

She had said it all already.

The foreman of my crew called the sheriff on his radio, quietly, and said something about a bail violation.

Brent heard it.

He wrenched free, spat on the gravel at my feet, and got in his sedan.

"You're welcome to them both!" he shouted through the window.

He took the cattle guard too fast, and the car fishtailed down the lane.

Nobody went after him.

Cody was sitting on the gravel again, holding the dog by the scruff and watching all of us.

He was six.

He understood that the grown-ups were shouting about him, and not a word more than that.

I walked over and crouched down so we were the same height.

"Hey, bud."

"Are you mad at me?"

"No." My voice came out wrong. "No, I'm not mad at you. Does your arm hurt?"

"A little." He held up the gauze. "The lady said I was brave."

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