“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Haven’t had much to say.”
“Are you feeling all right? Are you still hurting?” she asked anxiously.
“I’m fine, Mom. I swear. My shoulder hardly bothers me anymore. I have a psych evaluation next week, and as long as I don’t froth at the mouth I should be cleared for work.”
“You should come visit before you go back to work, Seth. We don’t see enough of you anymore.
After you go back to work, you’ll never make it over.”
“I’ll see what I can do. Promise. How are the dads?” he asked.
She sighed but allowed him to change the subject. “They’re as good as ever. Ethan is in town helping your brother do some repairs on the pub. They had trouble last night.” Seth frowned. “What kind of trouble? Is Dillon all right?”
“Oh, he’s fine. Just a bunch of drunk college kids. Broke out a window. Lacey locked them up and they spent the night in jail.”
Seth smiled. Life in Clyde. It never changed.
“Adam and Ryan are here. Did you want to speak to them?” Though it was voiced as a seemingly innocent question, it was anything but. It was a command, and one he didn’t dare ignore. His mom was about the sweetest woman on earth, but she was also a tyrant when it came to her family.
“Sure, put one of them on.”
Seth sighed and waited.
“Son, how are you doing?”
Adam Colters’ voice, as gruff as ever, came over the line, and Seth smiled. Damn but it was good to hear their voices. His mom was right. He didn’t call often enough.
“I’m good, Dad. How are things there? Is Mom doing okay?” Adam sighed. “It’s not your mother you need to be worried about.” Seth laughed. “What’s she on your asses about now?”
“You,” Adam said bluntly. “You know, if you’d just come see her, our lives might go back to being peaceful.”
“Is it my fault you married a tyrant?”
“Don’t sass me, boy,” Adam growled. “I can still whip your ass.” Seth laughed again and felt the tightness in his chest ease. A tightness he hadn’t realized he’d carried around so much lately.
“How is everyone else? How is Michael’s practice doing?”
“Good. Real good. He’s busier than a one-armed paper hanger. Your mother stays after him about sleeping enough. Ryan and Ethan and I keep telling her that the only way the boy is going to make a success of his practice is if he gets out there where the animals are. You know your mother, though. She’s only concerned that he’s eating and resting.”
“Yeah, I hear you on that,” Seth said in amusement. “Mom said that Dillon had some trouble at his place?”
There was silence for a moment and Seth tensed.
“Dillon wasn’t there when it happened. Your sister was. Your mother doesn’t know that part of it, so you don’t need to mention it.”
“What? Callie’s back? When did this happen and why did no one tell me?”
“She didn’t stop in at your place when she flew in to Denver?” Seth frowned. “No, this is the first I’ve heard of it. I thought she was still in Europe. I got an email from her a couple weeks ago and nothing since.”
“Your mother’s convinced something happened to her. Callie’s tightlipped, though, and isn’t talking.
She just showed up a few days ago and asked Dillon if she could work behind the bar at his place.”
“Damn,” Seth murmured. He and Callie were close. All his siblings were, but he’d always shared a closer relationship with his little sister than his two brothers. And she hadn’t said a word to him about coming back.
She always crashed at his place when she flew in or out of Denver. She’d been the one to stay after he’d been released from the hospital, only leaving for Europe when he’d sworn he was fine and didn’t need her coddling anymore.
The fact that she hadn’t stopped on her way home could only mean she had something to hide.
“So you said Callie was working last night and Dillon wasn’t around. What happened? Was she hurt?”
Adam chuckled. “Oh hell, no. Not our girl. When the idiots tried to start some shit with her, she tossed one of them through the window.”
There was a note of intense pride in his dad’s voice that made Seth smile. That was one thing Seth could say about Callie. Growing up with three dads and three older brothers? She’d learned early how to kick ass and take names. She didn’t take shit off anyone.
“Lacey is thinking about retiring,” Adam said abruptly.
Seth rolled his eyes. “Dad, she’s been thinking about retiring for the last ten years. It’ll never happen.
They’ll pry her stiff carcass out of the sheriff’s office at ninety.” Lacey England was the long-time sheriff of Clyde and also Seth’s godmother. She doted on all the Colter children, but from the time he was old enough, Seth had followed her around, always interested in who she was arresting.
She’d been pleased beyond mention when he’d entered the police academy and taken a job as a police officer in Denver. None of her children had followed her into public service, and she laughingly told everyone that Seth was the child of her heart.
“No, she really means it this time,” Adam said with a sigh. “Dan’s health isn’t good, Seth. They think it’s cancer. They’re thinking of moving so he can be closer to good hospitals.”
“Oh damn,” Seth murmured. “That’s too bad.”
“She wants you to consider moving to Clyde so you can be appointed to serve out her term. There’s still two years left. You’d be a shoe-in come election time.”
“Oh Christ, Dad. You know I don’t want her job.”
“Maybe you should think about it. You’d be close to home and family. It’s a good job. Everyone knows you here. You’re a damn good cop.”
Seth held back the groan. Once an idea was planted in his mom and dads’ heads, it was impossible to sway them. They’d nag and cajole until he begged for mercy.
“It’s a good time for a change. Fresh start after the shooting. Sure, things would be calmer here, but it would be your town.”
“I’ll think about it, Dad, okay?”
Adam gave a disbelieving grunt.
A noise in the kitchen had Seth turning around to see Lily sitting at the small breakfast bar. He hadn’t even heard her come in. She looked tentative, as if she worried she was intruding.
He smiled at her then held up a finger to signal he’d only be a minute more.
“Look Dad, I need to go. I’ll call you tomorrow to check up on things. Tell Mom I’ll get up to see her before I go back to work.”
“If I tell her that, you’re going to come if I have to go down to Denver and haul you back myself,” Adam warned.
His father wasn’t kidding and Seth knew it well. “I know. I’ll come.”
“Okay, son. I’ll talk to you later. I love you.”
“Love you too, Dad. Give Mom a kiss for me and tell the other dads I’ll see them soon.” Adam chuckled and hung up.
Seth put the phone back into his pocket and turned his attention to Lily.
Her nose wrinkled in confusion. “You have more than one dad?”
“Uh, yeah. Three.”
“Stepdads? It must be nice to have a close relationship with them.” There was a wistful note in her voice that told Seth she thought having a close familial relationship in any context was nice.
“Not exactly. I have an unusual family.”
She cocked her head to the side for a moment as if she’d say more, but then she blushed as if thinking she was intruding.
He chuckled. “You can ask. I love my family dearly. Wouldn’t change a single thing about them, but my upbringing was definitely not typical.”
“How so?”