Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits, #1)(72)

As the children raced closer, I recognized Mom’s smile. The two of them scrambled up the stairs of the play gym and flipped to the tallest slide. Jacob stopped repeatedly to help the struggling Tyler up several of the lifts.

I got out of the car and sat on a bench far from the playground and watched my brothers laugh and play. Everything inside me hurt. They were so close and all I wanted was to be with them. I pulled out my phone, reminding myself of my purpose—to prove that their foster parents were unfit.

Speaking of, where the hell was either Carrie or Joe? Jacob was only eight. Tyler wasn’t even five yet. Shouldn’t they be supervised? I raised my phone to take a picture of the situation when a voice caught me off guard. “A little to the right. She’s sitting on the bench under the maple.”

Mrs. Collins took a seat on the bench beside me. Sure enough, from a bench under the tree, Carrie watched my brothers’ every movement. I shoved my phone back into my pocket.

“They like to slide—your brothers, that is. The two of them could spend hours flipping up and sliding down.”

We sat next to each other in silence and listened to my brothers giggle from afar. I had no clue how to get out of this one. Silence: the defense of the guilty.

“So, were the two of you working together this entire time or did you jump at the opportunity when it presented itself?”

Might as well try denial. “I think you’ve lost your mind.”

“I’m a slob, but I’m an organized slob. You put your file back in the wrong spot. Do you have any idea how much trouble you could be in for this?”

Dammit. “What do you want to know?” Maybe if I played, she’d cut me some slack.

“Were you and Echo working together?”

I would never sell Echo out. “Next.”

Mrs. Collins sighed. “I promised Echo privacy and she trusted me. You shouldn’t have been anywhere near that office today.”

I swallowed down the guilt over leaving her. “Is she okay?”

Tyler squealed when Carrie pushed him on the swing. Mrs. Collins smoothed back her hair. “You should probably call her.”

I clasped my hands loosely between my knees as I leaned forward. “What happened to never discussing Echo with me?”

“What can I say? It’s been a bad day all around.”

We sat in silence again. Joe pulled into the driveway and ran across the street to the park. Tyler leapt off the swing and jumped into his open arms. I felt like someone punched me in the gut.

“They’re happy here, Noah. Are you that excited to rip them away from all of this?”

I had to admit, it was nice here. Guess financial gurus really did do well.

“What will you have to offer them? A two-bedroom apartment in a less-than-desirable end of town? I’m assuming you read the file. They go to the best private school in the county. In the state, actually. Both of your brothers have multiple extracurricular activities. How are you going to balance a full-time job and two little boys? How will you find the time to juggle their current schedule? Even better, how can you afford it?”

Joe covered his eyes with one hand and began to play hide-and-seek with my brothers. Jacob hid at the top of the slide while Tyler hid behind Carrie on the bench. When Joe stopped counting, he saw Tyler immediately but pretended he didn’t, to Tyler’s delight.

Mrs. Collins leaned into my line of sight. “There are other options. You can go to college. Continue your relationship with Echo. Become the man your parents intended you to be.”

My muscles tightened. “What does Echo have to do with this?”

“Have you ever asked her what her plans for the future are? Do you think she’s ready to date a single dad?”

I met Mrs. Collins’s eyes for the first time. Sincerity screamed from them. I swore under my breath and returned to watching my brothers. Echo. In all of my imagined scenarios involving my brothers or Echo, I’d never once thought of them in the same future. Separate—yes. Together—no. How the hell did the two combine—or could they?

Carrie and Joe called out to the boys, informing them that it was time to go inside. Jacob and Tyler ran ahead. I watched as a black Suburban pulled out of a spot a few feet down from my brothers.

Everything in my world slowed. I jumped to my feet and began to run toward them as Jacob and Tyler bolted in front of the moving car. No. Please, no. Not them, too. Brakes squealed, a horn blared and Jacob wrapped himself around our younger brother.

My heart beat once when the car stopped inches from Jacob and Tyler. Carrie and Joe swooped them up and hurried into the house. My blood pulsed nervously through my entire body and I could only take shallow breaths.

Mrs. Collins placed a hand on my arm. “They are okay, Noah. They’re safe.”

Fuck that. “They’ll be safer with me.”





Echo

My father followed me home, running two red lights in order to keep up. His tires screamed when he flung his car into Park, door open before he turned off the engine. “Echo!”

Oh, there’s the man I knew. Drill sergeant tone, fast as a rabbit. He could bark orders at me as much as he wanted. I’d discharged myself from his military. He grabbed my arm the moment he caught up with me in the kitchen.

He slammed the door behind him, causing Ashley to jump from the table. Her tabloid magazine fell to the floor. “What’s happened?”