Blinding Trust (Mitchell Family #7)(3)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Colt’s mother offered for them to move into her huge house, but they insisted on not being a burden. They paid for a nice modular to be built near Karen’s old house. Karen had also offered her house, but my parents wanted Miranda and Conner to always have a place to come with all of their kids.

It worked out great. My mother still worked everyday. She got a job working at one of our produce stands. Actually, she sort of fell into managing it. She loved the job and it gave her the opportunity to meet people from town. They also started attending our church, which gave them even more new friends. I swear they socialized more nowadays then ever before.

Since we were staying at Ty and Miranda’s, we got the kids gathered up and headed over. It was just across the Mitchell property, but far enough where you had to drive.

Ty came over to the vehicle and helped Colt carry our bags. He smacked me on the butt when he walked past me.

“Is it necessary to touch my wife every time you’re near her?” Colt seemed offended, which was weird to me. He’d hadn’t been like that in years.

“Dude, it ain’t like that. I’m just messing around. She likes it.”

I walked in the house and left the two of them to their conversation. They were too old to start rolling around in the dirt, like they used to. Besides, they had no reason to fight. We were all completely happy.

So I thought.

For the rest of our visit, Colt seemed on edge. I had no idea why and I didn’t want to stir the pot by asking. I figured that when we got home, we could discuss it in private. Except when we got home, all Hell broke loose.

Chapter 2

Colt

I didn’t tell her because I didn’t want her to worry when it could have just been nothing. Savanna considered Noah hers. It wasn’t a secret to anyone that Krista was his birth mother. We just didn’t talk about it anymore.

It wasn’t until I got the phone call, a week before we went to North Carolina, that things started to worry me.

When Krista and me were a couple, her little brother came to live with us. Their dad was too drunk to even care. He wasn’t a bad kid. In fact, as soon as he got the chance, he got out of Kentucky to pursue his dream of being a rockstar.

Apparently, big things had happened for him and suddenly his band, which I didn’t know he was a member of, had made it big. Since I didn’t follow that kind of music, I had no idea who his band was. I certainly didn’t recognize his name when he left the message with Savanna. All she could tell me was that someone name Zeke Marlo had called and said it was urgent.

Even after I dialed the out of area number, I still didn’t recognize the voice of the person that picked up. He had to actually explain who he was. We talked for a while, catching up and talking about how he’d been for the past ten years. The topic of his sister dying was short. I could tell it was a sore subject.

Zeke, which is what he legally changed his name to, told me that they were coming to Kentucky for a big charity concert. He asked if I would come out and visit with him while he was there. I didn’t see any harm in it, until he asked if I could bring Noah.

Now, for some reason, that bothered me.

Noah had never met Zeke. I didn’t even own a picture of him except from when he was a kid. So, I did what every curious parent would do. I went on the internet and checked him out.

He hadn’t been lying. Zeke was a big star. His band, Dodging Bullets, had even had a platinum song called “Gutter Love”. I was proud of him for his accomplishments. He’d come from nothing and made a life for himself.

Here was the problem.

After reading about his success, I discovered that his road to fame hadn’t been as harmonic. He got into drugs so bad that he was hospitalized and been to rehab three times in the past five years. His first wife left him and the second one was also an ex-addict.

I wasn’t a fool. Living in that kind of life had to be hard. I just didn’t think I was ready to school my son about it. I also didn’t want him idolizing his uncle. I wanted more for my son and he already had a vivid imagination. Thinking that he could be a rockstar too, would have been right up his alley.

I think Savanna sensed right away that I was keeping something from her. I became on edge and it showed even more when I got around my cousin Ty. His constant flirting with my wife had always just been in fun. He loved to tease her. I shouldn’t have gotten offended about it. Except I did.

I felt like jacking his ass up in front of the whole family.

I pretty much avoided him the whole time we were visiting and by the time we left, Savanna was even giving me the cold shoulder. I knew once we got home, she was going to give me hell.

I wish that was all that happened.

I could handle my wife and I knew just how to make things better. She was the love of my life and without her I was nothing. We never fought about things and we also made it a point to not keep things from one another.

I know that’s why she was more than pissed when we got home and had an unexpected visitor, waiting at our door.

I wouldn’t have even recognized him, had it not been for my internet snooping. Zeke had dyed his blonde hair black. He was covered in tattoos, even on his fingers. Some kind of ring was through the center cartilage in his nose and both of his ears were pierced. His leather pants and shirt that looked like it was made from flecks of metal, were also a dead giveaway that he wasn’t just a neighbor, looking for help.

Savanna climbed out of the vehicle, but didn’t get the kids out. She looked up at our porch and then over to me.

I scratched my head to think of what I could say to her, but nothing came. I should have told her.

Zeke walked down a couple steps as I approached him. I heard Savanna telling Noah and Christian that they had to stay in the car. I reached out my hand and reluctantly shook his. “Good to see you.”

“You too, Colt. It’s been too long, man.” I would have been okay if I never saw him again. It wasn’t because I was being an ass**le. I was trying to be a good father. I wanted to protect my son. Uncle or not, this guy was trouble. I just knew it.

“We’re just gettin’ back from North Carolina. If I would have known you were comin’, I would have been able to tell you that.”

He shrugged, while still smiling. “No biggie, man. I just wanted to stop by. My wife wanted to see where I’d spent some of the good parts of my childhood, that’s all. I knew you might not be home. Honestly, I didn’t want to bother you.”

That would have been terrible if he’d showed up when Savanna was home alone. She would have freaked out. I looked around the yard and didn’t see a car. “Where’d you park?”