Wide Open Spaces (Shooting Stars 2)

“Yeah, since Thomas Kink came back into town.” Aubrey rolls her eyes and my body stills.

“Thomas Kink?” I don’t know the guy well, but I do know of him. He’s always here during the summer and makes trips into town once a month in the winter. “Is your mom seeing him, Steven?” I ask, and his lips go between his teeth.

“I don’t know. I think so.” He shrugs. “Why does it matter?”

“It matters, because you guys are going on fourteen, not eighteen. Your mom knows you shouldn’t be left alone so she can go out with her boyfriend.”

“You leave us when you go to work.”

“When I leave, I ask May or Aaron to keep an eye out for you. I’m two blocks away and can swing by if something happens.”

“Mom always tells us how to get ahold of her,” he defends.

Bre pipes up at this. “Yeah, but remember last weekend when I called her? She didn’t even pick up or call me back after I left a message.”

Jesus. What the fuck?

“That was one time, Bre. Stop being so dramatic.”

“I’ll stop being dramatic when you stop defending her!” she yells, hopping down from the counter. “I hate her.” Her hands ball into fists and her cheeks turn pink.

“Aubrey,” I bark, and her eyes swing to me and light with fire.

“I do, Dad. I hate her.”

“Calm down,” I demand, seeing that she’s working herself up for a teenage tantrum.

“I just don’t understand why I have to be there. Why it’s not my choice who I stay with. I don’t want to go to her house, I hate going to her house.”

“That’s so fucked up, Bre!” Steven yells, and my head swings his way.

“Watch your mouth.”

“Mom lets him curse. Mom lets him do whatever he wants all the time,” Aubrey tattles, staring down her brother.

“Both you, cut it. Now!” I snap, and their eyes come to me. “Until I know that you guys have supervision when you’re at your mothers, you’re not staying the night at her place anymore.”

Slamming his hand down on the counter, Steven

growls, “That’s fu—jacked, Dad.”

“No, what’s jacked is your mom leaving you two alone overnight while she’s out.”

“That’s only happened a few times.”

“It only takes once for something bad to happen, Steven.”

“Town’s safe, Dad,” he continues, and I shake my head.

“In the winter, the town is safe. During the summer, we have people from all over the world coming in to work the canneries, and boats dropping anchor for the night so the guys can get off for a few hours and let loose. Which normally means they drink too much and end up doing stupid shit that has them sobering up in a cell.”

“But—”

“No buts, bud. You think about it for a second and you’ll see I’m right. It’s not okay for her to give you free rein, and it’s definitely not okay for her to leave you or your sister alone overnight.”

“I still want to see Mom.”

“And you will. I’m not keeping you from her, but I need to make sure we’re on the same page before you have another night with her.”

“Fine,” he mutters, and I look at my girl.

“I know you and your mom don’t always see eye-to-eye, but she’s your mom. The only one you’ve got,” I tell her, and her lips press tightly together. I know she’s fighting back tears as she nods. “Now, what are we eating?”

“Tacos,” Steven grumbles, and I lean back against the counter, taking another pull of beer, wishing like fuck I didn’t have to deal with Tina a-fuckin’-gain.

Pulling in behind Arney, who’s already out of his truck waiting on me, I look toward the right and my vision goes red when I see the dog in question tied to a post, his fur matted and dirty, his bones showing through his thin coat. We were dispatched to the residence when one of the neighbors called to complain about the excessive barking outside. The asshole didn’t say shit about the obviously neglected animal. Shutting down my truck, I hop out to meet Arney halfway between our vehicles.

“I checked with the neighbors. None of them seen the dog until today, but the barking’s been going on for a few days now.”

“That dog’s been tied to that pole for more than a few days,” I mutter, looking around the neighborhood. Most of the trailers and houses here are rented cheap and only lived in during the summer, when men and women come in to work the harbor or canneries.

“You and I know that,” he replies, heading to the cab of his truck. Once he opens the door and reaches in, he comes out with a bag of beef jerky. “Let’s try to get close and see how he does.”