Taken in by her beautiful face and promises had left him conscience-stricken that he had ignored the advice his father had tried to warn him about. He had let his dick overrule his judgment when Sam had shaken her tail at him, getting his attention as she traversed the hallways in high school. He had known the beautiful girl was out of his league, but that hadn’t stopped him from taking the bait when she made the first move.
When she wanted to keep their relationship a secret, that should have been the first sign. However, he believed her lies that, when they graduated and she was out from under her father’s control, they would leave town together and get married.
It had all been fucking lies, but he believed every one. He hadn’t wanted to leave his family or the mountain behind, yet he would have for her. He would have done anything for her. It had been a mistake he vowed to never repeat with any woman he allowed in his life.
Dustin settled down next to his son, reaching to turn the light off as Logan wiggled to get more comfortable.
Logan laid his head down on his shoulder. “Was it very bad?”
“I’ve had worse.” Dustin rested his arm on the pillow above Logan’s head.
“Am I going to have bad dreams when I get older?”
He recognized the fear laced in his son’s voice. “No. Greer, Tate, and Rachel don’t.”
Dustin had been forced to discuss his family’s gifts when Holly’s ex-boyfriend’s friend had shot Logan. The revenge had nearly taken not only Logan’s life, but Holly’s, too. Shortly before they’d been shot, Holly had helped them figure out that Logan had his own gift when Tate heard the death bells foretelling Logan and Holly’s deaths.
Logan’s gift was seeing something before it happened. They hadn’t even been aware that Logan shared their gifts until Holly had asked when their gifts had begun showing. They should have realized it before then, but Logan hadn’t shown any signs of the gifts that ran in their family. Discovering that Logan drew pictures foretelling a future event had shocked them all. Since then, Dustin watched his son like a hawk, looking at everything he drew, even if it was a doodle.
“Good. Bad dreams are scary. Do you get scared?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.” Logan twisted on his side and patted Dustin’s cheek.
“It’s okay. Fear isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes it can make you learn not to make mistakes that can get you hurt.”
“How?”
“Like being afraid of cars enough to make you look both ways before crossing a street or fighting just because you’re called a name.”
“I tried hard not to get in a fight with Fynn, but he called Darcy a spoiled brat.”
“Then you should have told your teacher or told me after school. Getting in a fight in the school cafeteria wasn’t your only option.”
“I had to protect her. I’m going to marry her when I get as big as you.”
Dustin smiled in the dark at his son’s certainty. “You’re going to fall in love with a lot of different women before you’re all grown up.”
“I’m going to marry her,” Logan repeated stubbornly.
“Good luck with that. Just remember not to tell Darcy or anyone but me that.”
“I won’t. Everyone at school thinks I’m weird enough.”
“No one thinks you’re weird.”
“They do, Dad. Fynn calls me a weirdo all the time. He has everyone in class calling me that.”
“Does your teacher hear him?”
“No, he only does when she isn’t listening.”
“I’ll talk to her about it when I meet her tomorrow afternoon.”
“Don’t. If she says something to him, he’ll call me a crybaby.”
“Then I won’t. If you change your mind, I’ll talk to her about it then.” Dustin wanted to give Logan the chance to solve his own problem before stepping in. “But if there’s another fight in school, I will.”
“Okay.”
“Get to sleep. You’re already in enough trouble for fighting. I don’t want to add tardiness to the list of things the principal is going to complain to me about.”
It took a few minutes before Logan quit fidgeting and settled enough to slip back to sleep. Unable to do the same, Dustin stared up at the ceiling, thinking about the dream, trying to rack his brain about who it could be. It was a useless endeavor. He was never given any clues about the person who was about to die.
He was still awake when his alarm clock went off. Getting out of bed, he started the coffeepot before taking a shower. Before getting dressed, he woke Logan. Choosing a pair of black slacks and a charcoal plaid shirt, he grimaced at having to wear the clothes, preferring the jeans and T-shirts he normally wore.
Tucking the shirt in, he slid the black suit jacket on, feeling in the pocket to make sure the matching tie was inside. He freed it as he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and comb his hair. Satisfied that he looked respectable, Dustin went into the kitchen, bending down to kiss the little girl in the highchair.