Chapter 36
“Foster care?” Kade growled. “Where?”
“Well, hopefully Lander has openings. If not . . .” the sheriff shrugged.
“I’ve heard about foster homes.”
“Not all of them are bad, Kade. There’s good people out there, offering their homes to kids that need one.”
“But two boys, both raised by the hair of their heads. Brothers.”
“Well,” the sheriff drawled, hating to voice the words, “I’m not sure we can place them together.”
“Separate brothers?”
“Simmer down, Kade. I said I wasn’t sure. Placing two that young in one home makes it harder.”
The sheriff looked down at his feet. “Hell, it ain’t perfect, but from what you’ve told me, it’s a lot better than the life they’ve been living.”
“And Jesse?”
“That’s an even bigger problem.”
“He won’t be separated from his brothers. I suspect he’s been both mother and father to those two since they were born.”
“Damn fine mess we’ve got here,” the sheriff offered. He glanced at Jasper Cool slumped over and forgotten.
Kade followed the sheriff’s eyes. “I hit him pretty hard. I thought he’d killed Gran. We got to get this straightened out. I need to be in Lander.”
“The ‘copter just landed. I radioed the hospital before pulling onto your drive. Gran’s headed for surgery. Good thinking, Mark, getting a helicopter instead of the ambulance. Might have saved her life.” He glanced at Kade and Declan. “She’s in stable condition. Came to in the ‘copter. The EMT’s had to reassure her you were okay.”
Kade’s smile was filled with love and pain. “She always has thought of others first.”
“Fine lady,” the sheriff agreed.
“Now,” he continued, nodding toward Jasper, “about him. He’ll be charged with two counts of attempted murder. You and Ida. Then we’ll slap on child abuse and endangering minors. I suspect Jasper here made his pocket money growing and selling marijuana. I’ll be going over to his place after I get the boys settled somewhere. Wouldn’t be at all surprised to find a few plants growing. He’ll be a guest of the State for a mighty long time.”
Starting toward the house, the sheriff added, “I’ll round up those boys and be on my way.”
Kade glanced over at Declan. A message flashed between them. Kindred thoughts between two brothers.
“The boys’ll stay here.”
“Huh?” The sheriff spun on his heel, a puzzled look on his face.
“Can’t be that hard to understand. I said the boys will stay here. With us. On the Double K.”
“Can’t.”
“Why not? Mark, Declan, Hope, and I can handle three boys. We’ve already got Jesse.”
“Not legal,” the sheriff fumbled.
“Make it legal,” Kade’s voice was hard. “We’ll be a foster home until I can get guardianship.”
“Kade, you’re moving mighty fast. You don’t even know these boys.”
“Kade’s right,” Declan interrupted. “Plenty of room here for boys to grow. Kade and I both will apply for joint guardianship.”
The sheriff scratched his head.
“Make up your mind, Sheriff. I can’t stand here all day convincing you the Double K is a better place to raise boys than those maybe foster homes in Lander.” Kade’s voice lowered, “I’ve got to get to Gran.”
“Okay. I’ll probably get my butt chewed for this. You be expecting a visit from a social worker. You’ve bit off a wad—all of you. Now help me load that sack of shit into my car, and I’ll be on my way.” He paused. “Don’t speed getting to Ida. I wouldn’t want to arrest you. Might not look good on your guardianship application.” He chuckled at his lame joke.
~ ~ ~
Kade watched the sheriff’s car pull out of the driveway. “What the hell did we just do, Declan?”
Declan gave a short laugh. “Took on three more mouths to feed.”
“You two are fools.” Pride filled Mark’s voice.
“You got that right. What do we know about raising two little guys not more than babies?” Kade asked Declan.
“Probably as much as I know about raising a little girl that is a baby.”
Kade’s smile was grim. “Let’s see if we can coax Hope into riding herd over all the kids we’ve just taken on and getting to Lander as fast as we can. Gran may be stable, but right now thinking of her having surgery scares the hell out of me. I’ve got to be there.”
“Couldn’t agree more,” Mark and Declan chimed in.
The three stomped into the kitchen and stopped short, taking in the scene before them. Both boys held a drumstick in each hand, alternating bites from one to the other. Smears of potato salad was on their faces, and absolute delight shone from their eyes.
Maddy bounced in her highchair seeing Declan.
“Da,” she chortled.
“You got that right, honey.” And he kissed her messy upturned mouth. “Yum. Good potato salad.” Love poured from Declan’s eyes.
“Kade?” Hope and Jesse froze, waiting for him to let them know the verdict.
Kade centered on Jesse. “You’re staying.”
“My brothers?”
“Staying, too.”
“All of us? Caleb, Isaiah, and me?” Disbelief filled his voice.
Kade nodded. “You’ll have to help, Jesse.” He turned to Hope. “All of us will.”
“Whatever’s needed,” Hope said. Her mind’s eye saw again the envelope waiting on Kade’s desk and prayed it was a promise she could keep.
“We need to get to Lander,” Kade said. “It’s a lot to dump on you, Hope. I don’t know how long we’ll be there.”
“I’ll help, Mr. Kade. I’ll do the chores, too. Don’t you worry about nothing. We won’t give you any trouble. Right, boys?” The words tumbled from Jesse’s mouth. Kade hadn’t said how long they’d be staying, but if he had anything to do with it, they’d be here a mighty long time.
Putting action to words, Jesse started clearing some of the dishes from the table.
Kade looked at Hope and grinned.
“Go,” she said softly. “We’ll be fine. Tell Ida we love her.”
“I will.” Kade turned on his heel and headed for the door, Declan and Mark were right behind him.