Crazy Heifer (The Valentine Boys 2)

Codie picked up her sandbell and started to slam it down.

Colt called a halt to the movement then began to explain the next exercise.

“And what did you do?” she asked.

I gritted my teeth and sat down on the mat before going into the plank hold just like Colt described.

“I left him there in the kitchen because he wouldn’t leave,” I admitted. “But on the way, I called his father and told him to get him out before I brought a gun home and shot him.”

“What did Big Daddy say?” she panted. “And have I told you how much I hate you for making me do this today?”

My eyes came up and lit on Callum, who was doing his own workout in the corner separate from us.

“No Ace today?” I asked.

She shrugged.

Knowing when to take a hint, I told him what Malloy, aka ‘Big Daddy’ to Codie, had to say.

“He said that he would get him out immediately,” I sighed. “I wish I didn’t have to keep involving him in our shit.”

“Time,” Colt bellowed. “Burpees are up next!”

There was a collective groan that filled the room.

***

“Hey, Des,” I heard called from behind me.

I looked over my shoulder, hitching my bag up higher, and blinked when I saw Callum staring at me with concern.

I stopped in the middle of the doorway and stared.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I thought about lying.

Really, I did.

But then the truth started to pour out of my mouth.

And when I was done explaining my bad day, I was even more surprised that I felt better afterward.

Also, that Callum looked downright pissed.

He turned to look at his brother who was busy talking to Codie and called, “Hey, Ace. I’m going to ride home with Des.”

Ace tipped his hat at his brother then went back to his conversation with Codie, who looked more than miffed.

“Let’s go.” He grabbed me by the back of the arm and started steering me toward the parking lot before I could even process his words.

“What are you doing?” I asked, not fighting him in the least.

“We’re going to go back to your place,” he said. “And we’re going to figure out what the fuck is going on.”

I frowned. “I know exactly what is going on.”

He made a sound in the back of his throat.

“Your ex-husband shouldn’t be able to get into your house at all,” he said as he walked me to my car. “Give me your keys.”

I handed them to him without thought or question, then blinked.

What was it about this man that made me do things unquestioningly?

I was not this woman!

I always had questions.

Always!

Yet, five minutes later, I found myself sitting passively in my passenger seat—a seat I’d never occupied before—and giving him directions to my house.

“That used to be all fields when I lived here as a kid,” he said. “How new was the house when you bought it?”

I thought about that for a few long seconds.

“About a year and a half, I believe,” I admitted. “We bought it from his uncle and aunt who built it new. There used to be an old farmhouse about two or three acres over from the house now. Do you remember the Scryvers?”

“We used to own the land that butted up against your property,” he said. “I remember the Scryvers. They were assholes who used to hate us.”

I snorted out a laugh.

“They’re still assholes,” I admitted. “Can you believe that when we bought the house, April tried to instruct me on what I was and wasn’t allowed to change?”

Callum rolled his eyes, making me want to laugh all over again.

The ridiculousness of the comment from April the day that we’d signed the title had made me laugh, too.

The sad thing was, Mal didn’t want to change it because he thought it ‘meant something.’

It didn’t.

It was all gaudy crap that I’d hated the moment I saw it.

And when Mal moved out last year, I’d taken no time in ripping off the ostentatious wallpaper, and the wall sconces that made me want to vomit.

The crown molding would be the next to go if I had to continue to live in that house.

“Did you change the locks when Mal moved out?” he asked.

I nodded. “I did. I gave a key to his dad, though. Which I assume is where he got the key to get in.”

“Do you have a security system?” he questioned.

I nodded.

“Did you change that passcode?” he asked.

I opened my mouth to reply, then closed it.

I winced.

“No,” I cursed.

“I’ll help you do all that.” He pulled into the hardware store’s parking lot. “Let’s go get some new doorknobs and locks.”

Before I could get out, he held up his hand. “You stay here. Not to say you look like shit or anything, but…”

His eyes went to my chest where I had quite an ample amount of boob sweat going on.