Every Glance (Every Life #3) (25 page)

“Yeah,” he says, reaching for it.

“You call her and tell her to come over here right now to get you. I’m going to lock the doors, and I want you to stay in here. You got it? Hide down in the floor if you want to, but don’t let anyone in until your aunt gets here. I’m going to go in and make sure your mom is okay, and when I know everything is good, I’ll have your mom call you. Understood?”

“I understand.”

I start to turn, but he calls out to me.

“Dalton, wait.”

“Don’t worry, buddy. Everything’s going to be fine.”

He’s climbing down into the floor and folding his knees up to his chest with my phone clenched in his fist. “I know. I just wanted to say thanks.”

“We’re friends, right? This is what friends do. Now, call Aiden, and maybe I’ll even be back out here before she gets here.”

I make sure all the doors are locked and shut the door before making my way back across the street. The closer I get to the house, the louder the voices get.

Well…
voice
. Carter is the only one I hear.

I pause at the front door to listen and try to figure out exactly what I’m going to do, but the sound of breaking glass is all I need to forgo any planning. I’m going inside whether they like it or not.

Lucky for me, the door isn’t locked, so I shove it open. Perhaps a little too hard because it thunks into the wall and rattles the row of frames on the wall.

“Devyn,” I call out. “Where are you?”

The house has gone completely silent for a moment, so I try to slow my breath down to be able to listen for any noises.

“Dalton? What are you doing here?” Devyn appears in the doorway that leads into the kitchen. “This isn’t a good time.”

“The hell it isn’t.” I take a step toward her. “What’s going on in here? Simon is scared shitless, so Aiden is coming to get him. And I could hear yelling and glass breaking. Come on. Let’s get you out of here.”

“No freaking way.” A deep voice sounds behind her before Devyn is jerked back by her elbow and Carter fills the doorframe. “I didn’t want to believe it, but it really is you screwing around with my wife, Fairy Boy.”

My blood immediately boils at the combination of watching him put his hands on her and the name I haven’t heard in so long. “Don’t put another finger on her. Devyn, I mean it. Let’s go.”

“You’re not still scared of me, are you, Fairy Boy? Looks like you finally grew up a little bit, but I’m guessing your balls never dropped.”

I feel my fists clenching at my sides. I want nothing more than to feed him his perfectly bleached teeth, but I know it won’t solve any problems for Devyn or Simon. It’ll only make things worse. “I’m not scared of you. But what you’re doing to your
ex
-wife and son is wrong, and I can’t let it continue.”

He cackles like a deranged lunatic, and the correlation is only amplified by his bloodshot, glassy eyes. I wonder how much he’s had to drink tonight. “Oh, you think that, just because you got a little piece of my wife down in Orange Beach, it means you can come over here and tell me how I can or can’t treat my own damn family?”

“I didn’t have a piece of anything, but I will tell you how you can or can’t treat my girlfriend.”

He looks back at Devyn, who is cowering at the corner of the bar with her head down. “Does he think I’m stupid?” Carter turns back to me and takes a step forward. “You see, I track Devyn’s car because I can’t have her running off with my kid. As soon as I found out she was leaving town, I got curious, so I sent some friends to check things out for me. I have pictures of all of it. The Ferris wheel. The two of you sucking face right there in front of everybody. Her going over to your place in the middle of the night. It’s all there. I’d hate to bring all of it out in a custody hearing.”

“I don’t have anything to hide or any regrets, so I’m not too sure what your point is in all this. You divorced her after cheating on her. I seriously doubt any judge would find any fault in her relationship with me.”

“We’ll see about that.” Carter moves forward and stumbles into the couch, falling over onto the cushion to sit. “I just can’t believe you can stand here and talk to me and not realize who she is.”

Devyn holds a hand up. “Please, Carter. Stop. Just go home, and we can talk tomorrow.”

“We’re going to talk now,” he barks and turns his attention back to me. “All the shit we did to you, and you can still stomach the sight of her. Don’t you remember?”

I realize now that he’s grasping at straws, trying to find anything he can to cause a rift between Devyn and me, and I think Devyn actually believes it’s working, judging by her soft sobs.

“Of course, I remember.” I turn to address her. “Devyn, I knew from the very moment I saw you in the clinic with Simon, and I thought you didn’t realize who
I
am. Not until I overheard your conversation with Sawyer this morning. None of that matters. Not to me.”

Devyn looks up through her tear-soaked lashes. “I’m really sorry I didn’t say something sooner. It would’ve saved both of us a lot of grief. But right now, I think it’s best if we don’t see each other. Not because of the past, but because of my present and future. Simon needs my full attention right now.”

Carter smirks. “It’s for the best.”

I lunge forward, stopping myself inches from his face. The sickening stench of alcohol on his breath makes my stomach turn. “What did you threaten her with, asshole? What did you say? Did you seriously tell her you’re going to take Simon away from her if she continues to see me? Is that it?”

“What I tell my wife is none of your business,” Carter spits out and pokes me in the chest. “But what I told her wasn’t a threat. I don’t make empty threats. Just ask her.”

I clamp my hand around his fist before he can poke my chest again. “I don’t make empty threats either. So listen carefully to what I’m about to say. You’re going to leave her and Simon alone. You’re going to go home to your fiancé. You’re also going to butt the hell out of Devyn’s life. You divorced her, so you lost every right you had. And if she
allows
you to spend some time with Simon, you’re going to treat him like a son and not use him for your own agendas. And if I hear that you’ve not followed every single thing I just said, I’m going to show you exactly how I keep a promise. Because I promise that I
will
kick your ass if you try any of this shit again.”

Carter pushes me back and barely stands to his feet. Thank God I’m finally bigger than he is, or this would be awkward. “I assure you, Fairy Boy, that I’m not even a little bit worried about you. I’ve shed your blood before, and I’d love to do it again, so I suggest you don’t threaten me again. I know a lot of people that could really make your life a living hell. What do you do these days? You a mechanic or something? Wait…let me guess. You sell women’s shoes? A kindergarten teacher?” He cackles at his own attempt at a jab at me.

I pull out my wallet and hold my hospital ID up to him. “Dr. Dalton Hoover at your service. You want to try to get me fired? Go ahead and try. Because I don’t think your words hold much stock in this town. You’re nothing but a bully and everybody knows it. You bully your ex-wife, the people you work with, and for God’s sake, you bully your own son. You bullied me once, too, but that won’t happen anymore. I promise you that. Not to me
or
Devyn and Simon. It stops today.”

He steps forward and tries to bump my chest with his, but his little pot belly hits me first, which completely negates his attempt at intimidating me. “You think
you’re
going to stop me, Fairy Boy? You tried before and you ended up with a broken nose and busted lip.”

“Carter, no. Stop this!” Devyn cries out and tries to push her way between us, but he easily shoves her back into the wall.

“I remember.” I widen my chest and look down at him. Damn, this feels good. “And I also remember what I said about touching her again. You really like to pick on those who are weaker than you. Why don’t you pick on someone your own size? Please. I dare you to try.”

He narrows his eyes. “You dare me, huh?”

Carter raises an arm and bunches a fist, readying to swing it at me. But his drunkenness slows his movements, allowing me plenty of time to move out of the trajectory. He swings with the other fist but doesn’t even come close to connecting. I didn’t even have to move for that one.

“Come on, Carter. You can do better than that.” I taunt.

“Dalton, stop it.” Devyn pleas, approaching us carefully. “Just go home. I’m fine.”

“You’re telling
me
to stop and go home? Are you kidding me?”

I’m looking at her when another fist is launched at me, and this time, it connects with my jaw. There’s not a lot of fire behind the punch, but when you’re not expecting it, it’s that much worse. My first instinct is to swing, so knowing how much alcohol the man has in his stomach, that’s the first thing I go for. He doubles over and coughs and sputters, immediately looking a little green.

“Dalton!” Devyn yells. “You’re going to hurt him.”

“You think that pansy ass is capable of hurting me?” Carter grumbles through clenched teeth. “You should be worried about him.”

He straightens and lunges at me again, but I push him back. Over and over. Even fully extended, his arms can’t reach me. He’s already getting winded.

“That’s enough, Carter,” I say, pushing him back again. “Why don’t you let me drive you home, so you can sleep this off?”

He leans against the wall and pants for a second before straightening again, taking two steps to stand right in front of me. “Why would you offer to drive me home?” He jerks his head toward Devyn. “So you can be the hero to my mistake of a son? So you can screw my whore of a wife again? Obviously, she’ll spread her legs for anybody.”

That it. That’s all it takes for me to lose my cool. That’s all it takes for Carter to end up in the floor with blood gushing out of his nose and crying like a toddler.

Devyn runs into the kitchen to grab a towel, and I realize at that point that she’s never going to be out from under his thumb. He just called her a whore and her son a mistake, and she’s getting a towel to clean up his busted nose. Maybe I’m a little pissed off about all of it right now, but I’m beginning to think she enjoys this. She must.

Deciding to cut my losses, I turn my back on all of the bullshit and walk out the door just in time to see Simon getting in his aunt’s car, but he gets back out as soon as he sees me.

“Is everything okay with my mom?” he calls out.

I jog across the street and approach him. “She’s fine, buddy. But I still want you to go with your aunt for a while. At least until your dad leaves.”

“Okay, Dalton.” He sighs and gets back into the car with a scowl on his face. Simon is a pretty perceptive kid, so he knows everything isn’t okay.

I shut his door and turn to Aiden. “Thanks for coming to get him.”

She nods. “Tell me the truth. How bad is it?”

“Well, long story short, I went inside because I heard glass breaking. I think Carter threw a glass. Turns out he’s pissed off because he had us followed in Orange Beach and didn’t care too much for the pictures his goon sent back. Devyn is pretty shook up, but I couldn’t get her to leave with me. Carter is drunk and took a couple of swings at me, but I didn’t fight back until he called your sister a whore and Simon a mistake. So needless to say, he’s lying in the floor, bleeding. Apparently, though, Devyn believes his threats about getting custody of Simon, because she told me she didn’t want to see me anymore. That’s pretty much it.”

Aiden walks around the corner of her car. She looks a lot more like Devyn than Kyler does, and her gentle personality is a lot like Devyn’s, too. “I know it doesn’t seem like it, Dalton, but she’s been trying to get away from him for a long time. She’s just scared to death of losing any more time with Simon. He’s everything to her. And I know she really likes you. She called me last night after she left the Ferris wheel and told me everything. I’ve never heard her so happy. Don’t give up on her yet. She needs you, and so does Simon.”

I look back at the house, wondering what’s going on in there now. At least it’s quiet, I guess. But that may not be a good thing either. “Please get Simon out of here before something else happens.” I reach into my back pocket for my wallet and pull out a card. “Here’s my number in case Simon needs something or if you need him to stay with me at all. Thanks for coming to get him.”

“Of course.” She stares at me for a moment and sighs. “I’ll call you later to let you know if he goes home or if I hear from Devyn.”

“Yeah, thanks.” I turn on my heel and walk over to get in my car. Simon keeps peeking over the seat at me as I follow Aiden’s car out of the subdivision. Just as we’re about to turn separate ways, he waves but his usual bright smile isn’t behind it. He’s solemn and expressionless. I feel bad for the kid, but there’s only so much I can do.

Trying to push it all from my mind, I get back home, start my laundry again, and make myself a quick dinner. No matter how hard I try to forget about it, I keep checking my phone to make sure I haven’t missed Aiden’s call.

And it doesn’t come until I’m already in bed—not that I could sleep if I wanted to.

“Hey, Dalton. Sorry to call so late. Were you still up?” Aiden sounds half-asleep herself.

“I’m in bed, but I’m not asleep yet. Did Simon just now leave?”

“No, he crashed a couple hours ago, so he’s in my bed sleeping peacefully. And so is Devyn.”

“Why?” I ask, feeling my blood boil at the thought that Carter did something else to scare her. “What did he do now?”

“Nothing other than pass out.” She snickers. “Drunk bastard. Devyn just left him there to sleep it off and she came over here. I just wanted you to know that they’re here with me and safe.”

I scrub a hand over my face. “Thanks.”

Safe, she says.

But for how long?