Blinding Trust (Mitchell Family #7)(27)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Finally, I collapsed over him, letting my head fall onto his broad shoulder. He turned his head and kissed my forehead. It was easy to close my eyes and finally relax when I knew I was in his arms.

After our bath, we put on pajamas before climbing into bed. There was no telling when a child was going to come sneaking into bed with us. Colt took my Kindle and put it on his night stand. He shook his head and pulled me into his arms. “Not tonight, darlin’.”

I didn’t argue, because I was exactly where I needed to be.

For the next week, Noah avoided being around as much as possible. He’d do his chores and whatever we asked of him, but there was no other type of communication between us. I think Colt just didn’t know what to do with him.

Zeke called that next Monday, which was also the day of my mammogram. Since I hadn’t told the family that I needed to get the test done, I had to go all by myself. My doctor had, pretty much, assured me that it was just a routine double check, so I felt as if it was just a waste of time to get done. Still, I knew that my health was important so I went through with it.

That test sucked. My boob was smashed into a pancake. No, it was like a waffle machine. I wanted to cry, but bit down on my lip and took the pain instead of looking like a sissy.

Once I had my clothes back on, they told me I could leave and my doctor would call me with the results in a couple of days. Why couldn’t they just tell me? I hated that I had to wait.

It was after noon when I got home and Colt was watching the sports channel, eating a piece of pizza. He nodded when I walked by, but kept his attention glued to that bottom line running across the screen.

Since he was obviously preoccupied, I headed into the kitchen to make myself something to eat. I’d no sooner sat down at the table to eat my sandwich, when he came into the kitchen and sat down across from me. “I heard from Zeke today.”

I stopped chewing for a second and looked right at him. “And?”

“His tour ends in a week. He said he’s shootin’ a video in Puerto Rico next month, so he wanted us to come before that.”

I sat my sandwich down and swallowed what was in my mouth. “So, when are you leaving?”

He cleared his voice and hesitated. I knew I wasn’t going to like what he said. “I found a flight for Friday.”

“So, you’re leaving the day that Noah gets out for summer break?”

He reached his hands across the table and grabbed mine. “It’s the best time, Savanna. It’s in between chicken deliveries and I have to attend that Cattle auction next month.”

“It’s just so soon. I guess I thought that I would have some time to prepare. Things are so broken between Noah and me, right now.”

He squeezed my hand. “He’ll come around, darlin’.”

I pulled away and stood up, letting my body lean against the countertop. “When, Colt? After he’s lived the cool life with his uncle? Do you really think a week with memories of Krista are going to bring him back to me?”

He put his hands over his face, like it was all too frustrating to talk about. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes.

It wasn’t just that I was jealous.

I was scared.

If Noah ended up resenting me, I didn’t know how I would get through that kind of heartbreak.

“Savanna, please just trust me on this.”

I walked over and leaned on the table top. He finally looked up at me. “You want me to trust you when you have no control over what the outcome of all this will be. Did it ever occur to you that he might really hate me?”

The tears had broken out and they were falling down my cheeks.

“You’re bein’ ridiculous. How could you even think somethin’ like that? I get that he’s goin’ through somethin’, but you need to understand that it ain’t goin’ to last forever.”

I held up my hand. “I can’t talk about this with you, right now. Do what you feel is right for your son, Colt. I’ll be here when you get back.”

I walked into the living room and started straightening up. He followed me. “Don’t you think you are bein’ just a little irrational here? I’m takin’ Noah. It ain’t like I’m dropping him off with the guy. He’s goin’ to be with me the whole damn time, Savanna.”

“You don’t get it, because he’s always going to be your son. Nothing can ever change that for you. I don’t have that convenience. The only ties that I share with Noah is our last name. The older he gets, the more apparent that is. This shit with Zeke just reminded me of what little say I have in his life. I can only be his mother if he lets me. The older he gets the more apparent it is that we don’t share a blood connection.”

“You’re bein’ unreasonable?”

“Am I, Colt? How would you feel if you were in my shoes? How would it make you feel if the child you raised as your own told you they hated you. He resents me. Do you get that?”

Colt threw his hands in the air, like he did every time we fought. “I’m not even goin’ to talk to you about this anymore. I already booked the flight, so we’re goin’.”

“Obviously, I wasn’t important enough to include in your planning. Why bother to tell me at all?”

I headed up the stairs, because I hated fighting with him. When I heard the front door slam, I knew he’d left me to sulk alone. Colt didn’t get it and getting him to understand was just too much work.

Colt was taking Noah to see his uncle and all I could do about it was cry. On top of all of that, I had to spend the weekend alone with the girls, worrying about the damn lump that may or not be in my breast.

Chapter 14

Colt

She was being so irrational. It was just a trip to visit someone. I could hardly imagine my son not loving her anymore, just because he had a rockstar uncle.

When she got herself upset like that, there was no making things better. Walking away was the best thing I could do.

It was going to be a long week, dealing with an excited kid and a pissed off wife. Plus, I had to make sure the ranch was in order for me to be able to leave for a week. It wasn’t like I could ask Conner to come stay and fill in for me. Amy was due any day and I’d never want him to miss that.

My only other option would be to ask Ty to come.

Now, obviously, I knew that Savanna and Ty were close. I wasn’t stupid though. They shared a past and when things were bad between her and I, it was hard not to picture her wondering if she should have stayed with him.