Blinding Trust (Mitchell Family, #7)(13)

When it was finally time to eat, I heated up Noah some chicken tenders, so that he wouldn’t have to eat the concoction that we all had to. I saw his lip curl when he saw me open up the pot. It didn’t smell bad, but I was sure it didn’t taste good.

Watching my husband trying to swallow the mystery food was so hard to do without laughing. He tried his best to keep an even face, but as each spoonful hit his mouth, I could tell he wanted to spit it out. The texture and taste were nothing like we’d even eaten before.

“This tastes great, Savanna. Thanks for going to the trouble. Next time I can have my chef make it for us, so that you don’t have to spend the whole day in the kitchen. I know it’s time consuming, but it’s so good for the body.”

He didn’t look anything like a guy that took care of his body. “It was no trouble. I’m glad you like it.”

“You have a chef at your house?” Noah seemed amazed.

“I do. He goes where we go,” Zeke explained.

“Wow! How much money do you have?”

“NOAH!” We both yelled at the same time.

Zeke put his fork down. “It’s okay. He’s just curious.” He gave all of his attention to Noah. “Every time the radio plays one of my songs, I make money. When I perform in concerts, I make money.”

“You make money when you sleep?”

Zeke laughed. “Yeah, I do. It’s pretty rad huh?”

“You’re like, the richest man in the world.”

We all laughed at that one.

“No, I’m not. I’ve worked hard to make it where I am, though. It’s not as easy as you think; just ask my wife.” Zeke nudged Piper.

“Whatever. You get to buy whatever you want. You have a limousine. All we have is tractors and trucks. You’re so cool!” I think Colt felt like he got kicked between the legs. He cleared his throat and excused himself from the dinner table, using the excuse that he had to use the men’s room. I knew that if I went after him, it would only cause them to be alarmed, so I chose to ignore my husband, when I knew he needed me. I felt horrible about it, too.

Noah continued to ask Zeke a million questions. Most of the things he asked were just absurd, but the guy kept answering him. When they finally settled back into the living room, and started talking about Krista, Colt took me out on the porch swing.

He put his arm around me as we rocked back and forth. “You alright, darlin’?”

I shrugged. “I’m hanging in there. How are you?”

“I’m tryin’ to be fair. They’re family and it’s important that they know about each other. Zeke seems alright. He ain’t all strung out like I thought he would be. He seems to have his problem under control. What about his wife? Does she seem alright?”

I leaned my head against my strong husband’s shoulder. “She’s nice, actually. I don’t know how the two of them fell in love, but she seems like she has her head on straight. She told me a whole different story than I read in that tabloid.”

He started laughing at me. “I think maybe we both overreacted about all of this, Savanna. Aside from his weird ass food that he eats, the guy seems fine. Maybe we shouldn’t even be worried about him being in Noah’s life. It ain’t like he’s got him listening to devil worshippin’ music and wanting to tattoo his body.”

I pushed him. “My God! I hope not. He’s just a kid.”

He grabbed my hand and kissed it. “I’m just playin’ with you. It’s all goin’ to be just fine. Once they leave town, everything will go back to the way it was. You’re always goin’ to be that boy’s mom.”

After all of the worrying, I was feeling like it was possible. I leaned my lips up to Colt’s and kissed him before standing up and heading for the front door.

Noah met us at the door. He grabbed my hand and started pulling me. “Mom, come on. You have to help me pack.”

I looked back at Colt, feeling confused. “Pack for what?”

“Uncle Zeke said I could go stay at his house. Can you believe it? I’m goin’ to see a real rock stars house.”

Everything wasn’t going to be okay. In fact, it was far from being okay.





Chapter 6


Colt


It took Savanna a while to get Noah settled down enough to go up and get a shower. The last thing he wanted to do was say goodbye to his new, famous uncle. When we knew he was upstairs, I led Zeke and Piper into the kitchen to talk.

Savanna wasn’t doing well. She always lost it when it came to our kids. She sat there just staring off until I started speaking. “I think we need to talk about some things, Zeke. I think we might not be on the same page here.”

“Sure, man. What’s up?”

I opened up my hands that were sitting on the table. “Look, don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for my son to go stay with you.”

He crossed his arms. “Why is that? You’ve known me for years. I didn’t tell him he could come with me tonight, but I think I deserve to have a relationship with my nephew.”

“I knew you when you were a child. Times have changed. Savanna and me are goin’ to have to talk about this first. Noah ain’t never been somewhere far away from us. He just met you and it’s obvious that you live a different kind of lifestyle.”