The Summer He Came Home (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake 1)

They were pressing charges, and Cain was determined to see him punished. She’d spent a fair bit of time at the station house—there’d been interviews and pictures taken for evidence. They’d missed the football game, but none of that mattered now.

Michael had been spared most of the violence, and though he’d been rather quiet since the morning, he’d slowly come around. Cain had done his best to make her son feel safe, and with his father in jail, there was no immediate threat. They’d promised Michael that his father would never hurt them again.

For the first time in years, Maggie felt free of a past that had brought her nothing but pain. Her chin rested on top of Michael’s head, and she hugged him until he squirmed.

“Mom, you’re hurting me.”

“Sorry,” she murmured.

Someone bumped her from behind, and Maggie stumbled. She glanced to the left and tried not to laugh. Mrs. Lancaster and her husband, Pastor Frank, were unfolding chairs, and everyone gave them a wide berth. No one wanted to be responsible for trampling the head of their church.

It was a strange thing to see at a rock show, but this was Crystal Lake after all. Maggie watched as Pastor Frank settled into his seat and his wife joined him. They whipped out popcorn, drew a blanket across their legs, and then Mrs. Lancaster pulled out two sets of the biggest, baddest headphones Maggie had ever seen. They were bright orange—neon orange, really—and she couldn’t be sure, but it looked like they glowed in the dark.

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Raine slid in beside Maggie, her eyes on the Lancasters.

“What are they exactly?” Maggie asked.

“They’re heavy-duty earplugs, is what they are.”

“Oh. Why bother coming to a show like this, then?”

Raine shrugged. “Cain’s one of this town’s favorite sons. No one is going to miss this concert.”

“I’ve never heard him sing,” Maggie confessed.

“What?” Raine was shocked. “He’s never picked up a guitar and sung for you?”

“No.” She shook her head. “We’ve been busy…”

“Uh-huh, I know. You’ve been busy getting to know each other. Busy doing other things.”

Maggie blushed and nodded. “I guess so.”

“Mom.” Michael tugged on her arm and pointed a few feet away. “Tommy’s over there. Can I stand with him?”

Sharon and Roger waved. “Sure, babe, but stay in front, all right?”

“He seems to have shaken off what happened with his dad,” Raine said quietly as they watched Michael jog over to his friend.

“I hope so. Cain’s been wonderful.”

“So what are your plans?”

Maggie warmed at the thought. “Michael and I are going to spend the rest of the summer at the cottage with Cain, and then I’m not sure. We haven’t really had a chance to talk about it.” She paused and then asked a question that she’d been wondering about since she arrived at the football field with Cain.

“Raine, where did Jake go? He came to say good-bye, and I got the feeling it was a long good-bye. Cain was more than a little upset.”

The brunette’s face fell, and she glanced away for several moments. “Last night…stuff happened, things were said that can’t be taken back, and I think Jake pretty much hates me.”

“Oh Raine, that’s ridiculous. And so far from the truth.?

?

“Really?” she said bitterly. “What does ‘I can’t stand to fucking be around you’ mean exactly?”

Maggie bit her lip. It wasn’t her place to speak for Jake. The two of them would work things out eventually. At least she hoped so.

Lauren Black appeared from the dark and immediately enveloped Maggie in a hug. “I’m so happy for you.” The woman’s eyes twinkled, and her face was lit with a grin that went from ear to ear. “Wonderful news.”