She wondered when, and if, life would finally settle down for him. Corbin deserved peace and calm and an opportunity to be a father without all the chaos.
* * *
Corbin spent much of the morning on the phone, always watching for Justin so that he didn’t overhear anything troubling before they could have their own talk.
It was a godsend, having Ivey there to help with the animals and to keep Justin occupied, though she’d need to head to work in the next few minutes. It took some doing, and his lawyer wasn’t entirely satisfied with his strategy, but he finally had some plans in motion.
He disconnected just as Ivey was preparing to go. He and Justin each gave her a goodbye hug. It did his heart good to see Justin accept her kiss on his cheek, and the way she squeezed him just a little longer than usual. Ivey wasn’t his mother, but she fit the maternal role to a tee.
After they watched her back out of the drive, Corbin put a hand on Justin’s shoulder. He’d waited until this morning to discuss things so that Justin wouldn’t have to go to bed with heavy concerns on his mind. “I’d like to talk to you for a minute, okay?”
Going very still, Justin asked, “Did I do something wrong?”
“No.” Corbin hugged him into his side. “I’m a talker, remember? This won’t be the first time or the last where I want to have a man-to-man chat with you. I don’t want you to worry every time I do.”
Looking very unconvinced, Justin nodded. “Okay.”
Corbin led him to the kitchen table. It seemed a good place to have important conversations, probably because it was a practice familiar to him. His own parents had always congregated at the table for big discussions. “Where’s your Uncle Lang?”
“Said he was taking a shower but would be up soon.” Justin fidgeted. “He took the dogs out first, though, cuz he wanted me to stay inside.”
“That’s why you thought you were in trouble?”
One narrow shoulder lifted. “Usually I do it.”
After pouring another cup of coffee, Corbin took the chair nearest to his son. “Do you like having your Uncle Lang here?”
“Sure.” His face scrunched up with worry. “He’s not leaving, is he?”
So often, Justin worried about losing the people he’d grown close to. “Nope. Even if someday he doesn’t live in this house, he said he plans to be close by. He’s your uncle, he loves you, so you’d still see him a lot.”
With that now familiar skepticism, Justin said, “Kay.”
Inside, Corbin cringed. For every inch of progress he made with his son, there seemed to be some force pushing back against him. “I wanted to talk to you about something else.”
Justin appeared to hold his breath.
God, how to say it? His son looked so distraught, Corbin figured it’d be better just to plow through it. “Apparently, your mother is in town.”
Horror froze him with his eyes open wide and his mouth clamped tight.
Corbin reached for his hand. “I don’t know how you feel about seeing her—”
Before he could finish, Justin launched himself at him, grabbing him around the neck and clinging tightly. The jarring movement knocked over his coffee cup, but luckily the hot liquid only spilled over the table, not on his son.
“You said I could stay here!”
The anguish he heard was unbearable. Corbin gathered Justin into his lap and held him to his heart. “I keep telling you, you aren’t going anywhere. You’re mine, and I won’t ever let you go.”
“But you said Mom was here,” Justin accused.
“She probably wants to see you.”
“No.”
Christ, what had Darcie put him through? “If you don’t want to see her, you don’t have to. I promise.” He only hoped he could keep that vow. “I mean it, Justin. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” Thank God he had resources. His mother and father hadn’t believed in using money as power, but now? Corbin would use whatever means necessary to ensure Justin was protected. “Believe me?”
Without raising his head, Justin nodded.
“Good. So knowing that you aren’t going anywhere and knowing that I’ll always be your dad, would you want to see her if I was with you?” Quickly, he added, “I’d be right by your side. You wouldn’t be alone with her.”
He felt Justin wipe his face on his shirt and knew that he was crying. There’d been a few occasions when he’d come close, but this was the first time that he’d actually broken down. Corbin thought that having his heart cut out without anesthesia would have been easier than this.
With a wet sniffle, Justin sat back, but he kept his head bowed. “Do you... Do you want me to?”
“I want what is best for you.” Honesty was the only way to go now. “Your mother might want to see you, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to. It’s up to you, okay? Whatever you decide, I’ll keep you safe.”
Justin knuckled his eyes and drew a ragged breath. “What if she takes me away?”
“I would never let her do that.” Corbin sensed when Lang came to the doorway. He looked over Justin’s shoulder and saw the same emotion on his brother’s face that he felt. “That’s why your uncle didn’t want you outside alone. Until I can get things worked out, I want you to always have an adult with you, even when you’re in the yard. Okay?”
Justin nodded fast in agreement.
“If your mother shows up here, I want you to stay away from her, and I especially want you to trust me to protect you. Do you think you can do that?”
Justin dragged a forearm under his nose, sniffled again and gave another nod.
Lang disappeared for a second, then returned with a tissue box. Hunching his shoulders, Justin refused to look at him. For a little guy, he had so much pride.
Corbin handed him a tissue. “Blow your nose, son.”
He made a half-hearted effort, then handed the tissue back to Corbin. It was a moment that made him smile, yet another novel experience, and he hugged Justin again. “We’re going to get it all worked out.”
No reply.
Lang pulled out a chair. “So, you know what I want to do tonight?”
Suspicious, Justin asked, “What?”
“I want to camp out in the living room. Just you and me, bud. What do you think?”
“Camp out?”
“Yup. We’ll get in some practice with our sleeping bags before we try sleeping in the tree house. We’ll use a flashlight to read one of the comic books Ivey gave you. It’s extra creepy that way.”