Blinding Trust (Mitchell Family, #7)
Jennifer Foor
Chapter 1
Savanna
I couldn’t believe that it had been five years. None of us expected Conner and Amy to end up with a house full of kids, probably because we remember how he was before Amy came into the picture. When that happened, everything changed.
They’d gone through a lot to be together. Between her still being married and the fact that they hid their relationship, it wasn’t exactly easy for them.
I think once Amy got pregnant with their first child, Cammie, was when they knew that they were going to have to start making decisions.
Our family had been through so much, so the drama with Amy was nothing new to us. It was unfortunate what they all had to go through, but they persevered and came out stronger than ever before.
I was especially sad when they made the choice to move back to North Carolina. I understood that Conner wanted to be near his sister, so that they could raise the kids together, but I had become so close with Amy that I knew I would miss her terribly.
Lucy and my mother-in-law kept me busy, when I wasn’t running after the kids.
Noah was very athletic. I found myself taking him all around the state of Kentucky. Colt was great about making his games. He even coached him during football season.
The girls usually tagged along. They played so good together and Noah was always a big help.
Due to one of his games, we were late getting to Cammie’s birthday party. By the time we got there, the whole family was there, already celebrating. It was great to see everyone together. Actually, it was great to be out of the darn car. You know it’s a long drive when you have three kids that have to pee more than physically possible.
Ty was the first one to greet me, like always. He grabbed me and pulled me into a spinning hug. “There’s my sexy cousin.” He kissed me on my cheek.
Bella was still wearing her uniform from a game she must have had earlier in the day. She saw Noah and the two of them wandered off together. It was amazing how close they still were. It was also hard to believe that Noah was almost eleven and Bella was ten. Since coming into our life, Noah had been such a blessing. He taught me how to be a mother and, since his mother had died when he was three, I was the only one he had.
Colt loved all of our children, but I think he shared a special bond with Noah. Maybe it was because they were the men of the house. It could have been that Colt still felt guilty for not being there the first three years of his life. It wasn’t his fault. We didn’t even know he had a child.
Through the years it was almost like I forgot that I hadn’t birthed him myself. I love him just as much as my own girls. Our family just wouldn’t have been the same without him in it.
Ty smacked me on the butt and grabbed Christian. “There’s one of my pretty nieces. Uncle Ty missed you!” He kissed her on the cheek, too.
Miranda came out of the house and walked up to me, while Ty met Colt on the other side of the truck, to wait for him to get out Addy, who was almost four and still had to be secured in a booster seat.
“Hey, cuz.” Miranda always smelled of the best shampoo. Since her and Amy’s salon was here at the house, they never really had to leave the kids. Ty’s mother had her own daycare center between Ty’s kids and Conner’s. She seemed to be in heaven when she was with them.
After our hug, I pulled away to look at how beautiful she was. “What is your secret? You look ravishing. Your hair is so shiny.”
She played with her hair. “If I told you, you may throw up.”
“Seriously? It can’t be that bad.”
Ty walked past quickly, spatting out one word. “Cum!”
I almost threw up in my mouth. Miranda started to laugh as she followed her husband. “Told ya. It’s full of proteins. You should try it.”
Still trying to not throw up, I shook my head. “No thanks!”
Colt cocked his eyebrow, while carrying Addy. “Sick! That’s what they are.”
“Yeah, but there are family and we have to love them, right?”
“Sometimes, darlin’, that’s debatable.”
I loved my mature husband. Ty and Conner still acted like teenagers. Miranda and Amy seemed to like it. After a while, it got on my nerves. Colt and I were settled and content. We didn’t need to act like them to be happy.
Our family was huge. Growing up, mine was so small. Even when I married Colt, his family wasn’t that large. It was now. All of our children had made it triple in size.
I heard screaming and went running toward the sound. A mother knows her own child’s screams. Colt and Miranda had just got into the house, which was full of people being loud. I knew he couldn’t hear what I was hearing.
Jake had Christian by the ponytail and was swinging her around. He saw me and dropped the bunch of hair. “Hi, Aunt Van.” Just like his father, when he did something wrong, he’d look so innocent.
“Jake, why were you pulling your cousin’s hair. You know that’s not nice!”
“She said that my breath smells like skunk.”
I wanted to giggle. Christian had been on this kick where she told everyone how she felt. Sometimes her truthful confessions were downright offensive. “Well, that doesn’t mean you should pull her hair. How about telling an adult next time.”
He shrugged and went to pull away, but his father grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him back. “Not so fast! Did you brush your teeth, like I told you to?”