Read Online Unbound (Crimson Romance) by Nikkie Locke - Free Book Online

is now, she runs the damn place.”
    “Not by herself,” Sarah protested. “And Cooper just left. Who will cook?”
    “She has Dean to cook. She already does the paperwork.”
    “I don’t know.” Sarah pulled away again to look at his face. “You really mean this?”
    “You’ve been squirreling away our money since we were eighteen. We can retire tomorrow and never need a cent. Besides, if we do, I’m sure Payten will let us work here.”
    Sarah laughed. “Let me think about this, okay?”
    “Sure.”
    “I mean it, Teddy. Don’t breathe a word about this to Payten. Give me some time to think.”
    He kissed her forehead. “Promise.”
    It was at that moment that Payten came stumbling in the back door.
    “Sweetheart, are you all right?” Sarah asked.
    “I’m late. I know. I’m sorry.” Her words came out in a jumble, a jumble that sounded more angry than apologetic.
    “Don’t worry about it,” Teddy told her. “I’ll go empty your car.”
    “There’s nothing in it,” she snapped.
    “Really?”
    “I know. I was going to do some baking this morning, but — I overslept, all right?”
    Teddy held up his hands in surrender. “I’m just going to go hide until you leave.”
    “Pop,” Payten called as he moved toward the pantry. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be cranky. I had an awful night.”
    “Tell us about it,” Sarah ordered. She took Payten’s hands in hers and worked Payten’s gloves off her rigid hands.
    “I keep getting these stupid prank calls. In the middle of the night, too. It’s so frustrating. I know I should turn the ringer off, but I can’t. I have to know, you know? They call all the time. It’s so annoying.”
    “What’s the number?” Teddy asked.
    “No idea.” Sarah took Payten’s coat off her. He could almost see the internal debate she was having about telling her mother to back off. She must have decided against it, because she let Sarah continue to fuss over her. “I don’t have caller ID. I never thought to get it.”
    “That’s cured easy enough, then. Call the phone company,” Teddy told her.
    “I was going to this morning, but I overslept.”
    “I think you should talk to the police, too,” Sarah decided.
    “I was going to, but I overslept.”
    “You already have this all figured out, don’t you?” he asked.
    Payten smiled at him. It still turned him to mush. “Yeah.”
    Sarah kissed her cheek. “Why don’t you go take care of that now? We’ve got it here.”
    “Are you sure, Mom?”
    “Positive, sweetheart.”
    Payten shrugged. “All right, then. I’ll go do that.”
    A familiar voice called from the front room of the diner. “Sandy! It’s time for breakfast!”
    “Don’t forget to buy a phone that has caller ID, too,” Sarah reminded Payten as she left the kitchen.
    Payten smiled. “I hadn’t thought of that one.”
    Teddy smiled back at his baby girl. “Your mom thinks of everything. Where do you think you got it?”
    “Same place I get my good looks,” she teased.
    He chuckled. “Not from me. That’s for sure.”
    She laughed. “I’m going to steal the phone to call the phone company. Is that all right?”
    “Go for it.”
    • • •
    Dean was not looking forward to another trip into the police station. He never knew who would be there when he got there or how things would turn out. He hated showing up when his father was there. It was awkward for both of them.
    Dean’s growing-up experience had been difficult. He didn’t blame his father for it. He had been through enough therapy — thanks a lot for that, Dad — to know that his father wasn’t responsible. He and his father had simply never learned to how to talk to each other.
    Dean could remember his early years surprisingly well. He remembered eating breakfast sitting next to his father every morning. His mother made happy faces with his pancakes. She did the same with his father’s.
    He remembered playing on the floor of his dad’s office after school