“Only Ada and Larry, and from what I’m being told, they’re on vacation in Glenwood Springs for a few days.”
Which left me.
“Yeah, I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
He thanked me, and we hung up.
I hesitated for a second, my finger hovering over Ella’s name on my contacts list, but I manned up and clicked the phone icon. It went straight to voicemail, not that I was surprised. I’d tried to call a few times that first week and had the same result. Ella was done with me. She’d told me that lies were her hard limit, and she meant it.
“Hey, Ella, it’s Beckett. Look, the school just called, and I guess Colt got into a fight and needs to be picked up. I’m the only one on his list, so I’m going to grab him. Let me know if you want me to drop him at the main house at Solitude or bring him up to Montrose. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll just bring him back to my house. I know you don’t want me to see him, but this is a little out of my control, so I’m hoping you’ll understand. Thanks.” I hung up and rested the phone against my forehead. Even hearing the message on her voicemail was torture.
I left Havoc sleeping in the sunshine and headed out, driving along the dirt road that cut through the property. Within twenty minutes, I pulled up to the school. With all the butterflies in my stomach, I would have thought I was the one about to get it from the principal. Instead, I was about to get it from Colt.
I walked through the doors and signed the clipboard, then looked up at the receptionist. “Hi, I’m Beckett Gentry, I’m here to pick up—”
“Colton MacKenzie,” the young woman said with a smile. “I know who you are. We all do.” She nodded toward a few other women who gathered around the desk behind her.
“Ah, okay. So, can I get him?”
“Oh, sure! I’ll buzz you in.”
The buzzer sounded, and I walked into the school. The last time I’d been here had been with Ella for Colt’s first grade play a couple of months ago. As recent as it felt, it also seemed like someone else’s memory.
“This way,” the receptionist said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and giving me a flirtatious smile. “I’m Jennifer, in case you don’t remember.”
“Jennifer, right. We met last year, right?” She led me into the administration offices.
“Yep! When you came in for search and rescue with your dog. I may have slipped you my number when you signed in.”
“Yes, I do remember that.” I tried to force a smile. Ella and I hadn’t been together then, but it hadn’t mattered, and I hadn’t called Jennifer. “I’m sorry for not calling. I hope there are no hard feelings.”
Jennifer touched my arm just outside the principal’s door. “None. I was so sorry to hear that you and Ella broke up. If you ever need anything, or just want to talk, I’m happy to give you my number again, just in case.”
Oh boy. She looked so hopeful, and uncomplicated, and not Ella.
“Thanks, I’ll…keep that in mind.” It was the best I could do without offending her.
“You do that.” She smiled again. A lot of smiling. I bet she was happy most of the time. That she wasn’t fighting to keep her kid alive, or dealing with the death of her brother and the betrayal of the man she loved. She was all shiny, like a new penny.
But in the last eighteen months, I’d learned that I liked a little bit of tarnish. It gave depth to the lines and made the shiny parts all the more eye-catching. Ella was beyond beautiful for what she’d been through. Tragedy hadn’t broken her, it had refined her.
Jennifer knocked and opened the door to the principal’s office, and I entered, my eyes immediately locking onto Colt’s.
His flew impossibly wide.
“Principal Halsen,” I addressed the administrator, who motioned to the empty chair beside Colt.
I took it, sitting next to a very rigid Colt. Every line of his little body was tense, and his mouth was all pursed up. His hand gripped the armrest, and I reached over, giving him a reassuring squeeze. His posture softened the slightest bit, but it was enough.
“Mr. Gentry. I’m so sorry to call you in here, but in this kind of incident when there’s violence, we do need to send him