to admit you’ve done something wrong and apologize for it, but it feels so good afterward.”
Kyle drew in a deep breath. “It does feel good.” He looked at Cactus, fat tears still gathering in his eyes and then rolling down his face. “I’m sorry, Cactus. I’m sure you won’t want to adopt me now.”
“Nonsense.” Cactus pulled the boy into another hug across the console. “As soon as we know anything—anything—about your dad, then we’ll know. Willa and I would adopt all three of you tomorrow if Mister Millhouse would let us.”
Kyle sniffled into his shirt and nodded, and Cactus stroked his hair. “I love you, boy. Not your actions. You’re exactly what Bear just said—a good boy. You just did something stupid, like me taking a swing at my brother’s nose.”
Kyle pulled back and smiled. “What did he do that made you so mad?”
Cactus chuckled and put the truck in reverse. “He bought your momma a car and didn’t tell me. See, Uncle Bear is a fantastic man, but he has a bit of a superhero complex….”
They trundled down the road, and Cactus sighed as this situation came to a close. Now he just had to figure out what to do about Mitch.
He hadn’t come home last night, and Willa had cried until almost midnight. They knew he was safe and cared for with Etta, and neither of them had asked her to send Mitch home. Everyone needed a safe place to fall, and Cactus had thanked the Lord profusely for his cousin and that she’d been that place for Mitch.
With Willa’s back and hip in a bad way right now, Cactus had said he’d take care of everything. So it was that he found himself pulling up to the homestead about ten minutes after leaving Bear’s.
“You stay here,” he said to Kyle. “I’ll leave the AC running.”
“Yes, sir.”
Cactus got out of the truck, faced the homestead, and started praying.
Mitchell Knowlton couldn’t hear the doorbell ringing. He didn’t hear any noise coming from the kitchen, though the scent of maple syrup and sausage had woken him. He never heard his mother talking to him, and he’d never heard the sound of his father’s voice.
Still, a well of regret lanced through him as he watched Cactus Glover walk toward the front of the homestead. He turned away from the window where he’d been sitting and signed to Etta.
He’s here.
She wiped her hands on a dishtowel and nodded, determination and resolution entering her face. Mitch loved her fiercely, and he felt like he did everything in his life all or nothing. Everything was really good or really bad, and right now, he wasn’t even sure how to talk to his mom and dad.
His biological father had raised him for a couple of years, and Mitch had hated it with everything inside him. His dad barely knew any sign language at all, and Mitch had often felt isolated and alone, existing with a person who wished he didn’t exist at all.
His mother had never treated him like that. She loved him and wanted him around and had done everything in her power to make his life easier and better. And once Cactus had come along, Mitch’s life had improved drastically.
The man had loved him from the moment he met him, and when Etta turned toward the doorway that led into the foyer, Mitch assumed the doorbell had rung. Frost put his paw on Mitch’s leg and trotted for the front door—another good indication that someone had arrived.
You stay right here, Etta signed. I will deal with him.
No, Mitch said quickly, reminding himself to sign slower than he normally did. I want to talk to him.
Etta reached for his face and ran her fingers down the side of his cheek. Are you sure? Her lips moved along with her hands, and Mitch nodded.
He stepped past the woman he stood taller than and followed his dog into the foyer. Frost sat right in front of the door, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. He backed up as Mitch opened the door inward and faced Cactus Glover, the man who’d been his father for the past few years.
His dad held his hat in his hands, and he wore a look of absolute nerves in his eyes. Part of Mitch wanted to rage at him, and the other part almost burst into tears.
I’m sorry, boy, his dad said, and Mitch lost the battle against being upset with Cactus. He didn’t say anything as he stepped forward