Broken Trouble (Broken Storm #1) (32 page)

              "Our goal is to keep her out of jail Starre, not make her look like she's already been in one," Polly scolded, causing Starre to slump in her seat.

              "I can't go with her and I can't dress her, you're leaving me with nothing here," Starre sighed. "I guess I'll just have to stick with moral support."

              Gavin pushed the plate of sausage that Mutt had been licking on earlier towards Starre, hiding a smirk when she took a few pieces from the plate.

              Grabbing the sausage from her plate, I put them back and shoved it away from us. Landon snatched up the plate, eating a piece as he put several more on his plate. For a minute, I wondered if he realized that Mutt had been licking on it, but he was the one to get him off the table, so he had to know.

              Dylan leaned over and whispered something to him, probably about the sausage.

              "I know," Landon said, cramming another sausage into his mouth and chewing it, moaning dramatically from the supposed wonderful taste.

              When we were done eating, it was just about time to go. It was a long drive to the courthouse and we had to get there with plenty of time to eat lunch before. With everything that was happening today, I didn't know that I would be hungry.

              I went to my room to grab my bag and took one last long look around. When I came here, this room had felt so foreign. Now it only felt homey, making me never want to leave, even though I knew I had to. I knew I would probably never see these bright yellow walls again. I made a mental note to have Polly give Starre any of the clothes she might want from the ones I had to leave behind. I’d packed light, which meant that I wasn't able to take all the clothes with me.

              I grabbed my bag and walked down the stairs and out the door, finding everyone huddled around the porch, waiting for me so they could say goodbye. They were passing my phone around, taking pictures, which confused me because I’d just had it in my back pocket this morning before breakfast.

              Unless, during Landon's fiasco, he'd taken it from me. It surprised me, because with his boy-next-door persona, he wouldn't be the kind of person that I thought could do something like that.

              I took a deep breath and stepped closer to them, wishing I could just get in the truck and leave without having to do goodbyes. Even though all I ever did was say goodbye, it didn't make it any easier.

              I'd managed to find a peaceful place inside of myself to hide away from all the emotions rolling around inside of me and I couldn't let myself be pulled from it.

              I wasn't going to cry, I couldn't cry.

              "Alright, say what you need to! We leave in five minutes," Gavin called out, then spun on his heel and headed to the truck.

              "Take all the time ya need Honey," Polly said, following Gavin to the truck. Chili made himself scarce, finding something to do around the feed shed.

              "Text me or call anytime, I will always be here for you no matter what the judge rules. Our friendship will last no matter how many miles are between us." Starre hugged me again, wiping tears from her eyes as she stepped away from me.

              I nodded and turned away quickly, not wanting her tears to bring any to my eyes.

              I ended up facing Landon, who was taking pictures of anything and everything. He walked forward and wrapped his arms around me. He hugged me so tight that he lifted me off the ground for a few short seconds before setting me back down. "You'll be back before you even have time to blink. Ah look, you're back already! Let's go eat again!" he said before releasing me, looking cheery as he tried to brighten the dampened mood.

              I felt arms encircle my waist from behind, Jayden's chin tucking into the crook of my neck before he started kissing me there. Jayden's mouth brushed across my ear seconds later as he murmured some of the lyrics from the Screaming Mercy song that we heard at the concert. "You're looking for something you've already found. I'm right here behind you, just turn around. There's no need to roam. I'll be your home."

              He hadn't been singing the words, but that didn't keep him from rocking his hips against me to an unheard beat.

              "Alright, enough! Dylan's turn," Landon said, pulling me from Jayden's arms and pushing me towards Dylan.

              Dylan opened his mouth to speak, looking nervous, but Gavin interrupted him from the truck. "What the fuck's taking so long?"

              "Shut up!" Landon screamed back, then said much lower, "He thinks the sun comes up just to hear him crow."

              "I downloaded some songs on your phone, if you want to listen to them," Dylan told me, handing me my phone. We both stood there, not knowing what to say or do, until he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. I kissed him back, tears flowing down my cheeks. It was a kiss filled with sorrow and pain and I knew exactly what it was.

              A goodbye kiss.

              I broke away from the kiss and stepped back, struggling to keep the tears pooling in my eyes at bay. Heading to the truck, I was stopped by Wyatt, who stood waiting near the truck for me. He reached for my hand, tying a bracelet on my wrist. "So you can have a piece of him with you no matter what, just as he does," he explained softly, then tipped his hat up just enough to plant a soft kiss on my forehead. Wyatt took my bag from my hand and opened the door for me, putting the bag into the back of the truck

              Gavin started the truck and headed down the road, passing by Storm's field as we went. I watched Storm gallop after the truck, only stopping when he got to the end. I could see him in the rearview mirror, rearing and tossing his head, before whinnying after me. Wyatt's words rang through my mind as I ran my fingers across the bracelet on my wrist that I knew he had made from Storm's hair.

              The only reason Storm hadn't jumped the fencing was because he thought I was coming back. He was staying there, waiting for me, just as the guys were.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

             
*Starre - Good luck at court today! I thought maybe we could do a movie night with everyone when you come back. We can force the guys into watching romance movies. Maybe Jayden will learn something!

              Starre's text came in just as we were entering the courtroom, giving me a bit of encouragement through all of my doubt and sadness.

              I silenced the phone and took my seat, setting my packed bag behind me. I tried not to fidget, but that didn't stop me from doing it.

              When the judge entered the room, it felt just like every other time I’d been to court. I could feel myself falling into my old ways. I felt myself become distant to what was being said in the room, barely paying any attention as they listed all of my charges and talked about my past and about the fire.

              Gavin was sitting nearby, so I knew he could hear everything that was being said about me. He would probably hate me even more after this, knowing everything I had done and some of what I’ve been through.

              "Your Honor, people like her should be placed in prison, not let loose into this world. Just because she was supposedly doing well at that farm, doesn't mean that she's not pretending only to get out of jail time. Furthermore, I believe that the De la Cruz's are an unfit family to be housing a delinquent. They are obviously letting her do whatever she pleases, and by doing so are helping her play the system," Mrs. Dollghen said, brushing her hand over the front of her dress suit jacket. "I am one of the best parole officers in the state and I will not allow something like this to just slip by in court."

              For the first time since I'd met Polly, I saw that she was actually mad. Still, she held her tongue and let the judge speak instead.

              The judge sighed heavily, adjusting his glasses and rubbing his temple, "I will take your opinion into consideration. However, I have known Mrs. De la Cruz for many years. She already homes several delinquents without issues. What proof do you have that it's an unfit home?"

              Mrs. Dollghen huffed loudly, like she was insulted that the judge would doubt her. "I know people like them. They don't have the backbone or skill set to handle someone like her."

              Finally, Polly spoke, "I've come to this court many times in the past. After the boys came to live with us, we had almost no problems from it."

              "It's the almost part that worries me, Mrs. De la Cruz," the bitch, I mean, Mrs. Dollghen, retorted.

              "Regardless of the appropriateness of Mrs. De la Cruz's home, I have already come to a decision. The defendant has completed her task of helping Mrs. De la Cruz and her family with rebuilding what she destroyed and in return they have chosen to withdraw their charges entirely. The barn was rebuilt to its entirety, with no issues surrounding it. So you're free to go." The judge straightened up slightly, raising his gavel and smacking it against the table as he made his judgement. "However, Nova, don't expect me to go easy on you next time. Keep your nose clean," he warned sternly, eyeing me.

              I nodded, feeling relief flood throughout my body. I wasn't going to jail!

              "I'd like to speak to Mrs. De la Cruz and Mrs. Dollghen in private for a few minutes regarding your living arrangements. Everyone else can take a recess. I will have someone let you know when to come back in," the judge informed us, motioning us to leave.

              "Yes, I'm very worried for Nova," Mrs. Dollghen said, changing her tactic from outrage to worry too fast for it to be real.

              I stood and exited the courtroom with Gavin, who was the only other person in the courtroom besides the judge, Polly and Mrs. Dollghen. It was just a small court, nothing too big. It made things simpler and I was glad there were no reporters this time.

              I waited in the hall, feeling anxious. Who knew why Mrs. Dollghen was going after Polly, though I doubt it was because she was worried about me.

              "Are you going back to the ranch?" Gavin asked, his muscles tight and eyes not meeting mine.

              "Do you want me to?" I asked, needing to hear the words from him. He was in reality, not blinded by the delusional dreams of who I could become. If the other guys ever saw who I had been or who I was, clearly they would react just like Gavin was now. His reaction would tell me if I wanted to go back and face the others. I needed to know if going back would hurt all of us more than just leaving would.

              "You've never cared what I thought before, so it doesn't matter now," Gavin ground out, his jaw clenching.

              "It matters to me; I want to hear you say it."

              "We don't get what we want."

              "Say it," I said softly, my voice breaking. I needed to hear him say it out loud. I needed to hear him say that he thought I had a chance of a life with them, that I wasn't as bad for them as I thought, that he wanted me to come back.

              Instead, his jaw clenched and his eyes hardened as he turned away from me completely. "You shouldn't have come to the ranch in the first place. Whatever the hell you have going on with the others is going to destroy them. I'll lose everything, they'll lose everything. It's best if you leave now and save us all the trouble."

              I was gutted, devastated, and crushed. What really broke me was that I wasn't enough for them. I couldn't go back to that life with them, I would only end up hurting them even more than I already had.

              I nodded, even though he had his back to me and couldn't see me holding back my tears. He was right, they all deserved better than me. I needed to go, they could still move on and find someone else who could give them everything I can't.

              I had feelings for them and they seemed to have feelings for me too, but it didn't matter what decision I made now. I was just going to complicate things and cause them all to break apart and turn on one another. It didn't matter which of the guys I chose; whether it was one, all or none, it could never work out. The only thing I could do was to make a clean break and get away from them before I caused even more damage.

              Polly opened to door and motioned us back into the courtroom. I had no time to emotionally recover or even to hide away and cry the tears that were building up inside me.

              "Everyone's here, so I'll go ahead and start. Mrs. Dollghen's concerns seem to be just that, so I see no reason that Nova can't go back to the De la Cruz's if that’s something that both parties want. She only has five months until she's of legal age, so I see no reason to go through an adoption process." The judge set his hands in front of him in a pyramid, his eyes watching me.

              "We would be thrilled if Nova would come back home with us," Polly spoke, seeming to relax now that she wasn't getting verbally attacked by Mrs. Dollghen.

              "Nova, what would you like to do?" The judge asked, causing everyone's eyes to turn to me.