“Yup.”
“You know what else lasts forever?” I ask him.
“What?” he blinks up at me.
“A momma’s kisses,” I pick him up and smother his face with kisses, making him giggle.
“No they don’t,” he squeals.
“Oh yes they do.” I insist. “Once a momma kisses her child, she creates a special kind of magic. You can still feel it forever.”
“You can?” he asks, his eyes wide.
“Yup. Whenever you want to feel your momma’s kiss, you just close your eyes and put your hand right here,” I place his little hand over his heart. “Then you remember real hard and you’ll feel it.”
He scrunches his eyes tightly closed and I press a feather light kiss on his cheek. “Wow. I do feel it,” he says.
I hug him tighter and smile. Yep, I could definitely handle a few more of these.
Chapter27
Jax
“That sheriff was in here asking questions again this morning,” my father says as he struggles to push himself into a more upright position in the bed with his busted hand.
“Here let me help you, old man,” I say as I tuck my arm under his and hoist him up.
“Less of the old. I’m in the prime of my life here.”
“Yeah, you look it,” I laugh as I sit back down.
“He’s itching to throw you in jail, son.”
“What did he say?”
“Asking me all kinds of questions about you. Why you don’t visit more often. What you do back in LA. Is it true that you and I don’t get along. Did I think you held a grudge for all my drinking and pushing your mom away.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him that I didn’t remember anything about the night of the attack, and that anything else was none of his goddamn business.”
His loyalty to me almost makes me choke up. “Do you remember anything?”
“I waited in the bar for thirty minutes. I saw a few faces I recognized and I said hi to Jimmy Bird. We spoke about some new mares he just bought. Then I figured the guy with the crib wasn’t showing and I left. I was walking to my truck and they came out of nowhere. They just started beating on me and telling me that you wanted me gone.”
“Can you describe any of them?”
He shakes his head sadly. “Not really, son. It was dark. I had my arms over my head, trying to protect myself. But you know, they never went for my head. Now ain’t that strange? They said you wanted me gone. And the easiest way to kill a man is a blow to the head. So, why not do that? You break a man’s arms and legs, well he’s gonna be in a whole lotta pain, but he’s not going to die.”
I nod my agreement. “You don’t think they wanted you dead then?”
“Nope. I think they wanted you in jail. Who the hell have you pissed off that much, son?” he asks, but he’s grinning at me.
“Way too many people to count, Dad,” I admit.
“You know, one of them had a red cap on with something on it, though. Motor Oil or something?” he squeezes his eyes shut as though he’s desperately trying to remember. “I’m sorry I’m not a lot of help.”
“Yeah, well I’m sorry I got you stuck in the middle of all this.”