Close to an hour later, Sammy and Ethan still hadn’t found Emma and Jeffery Moore out on their date. Which she found very surprising. The little town they lived in just didn’t have that many places for them to go to dinner. She was starting to grow concerned the little creep had taken her best friend to one of the bigger cities. If that were the case, they’d probably never find her. On top of that, she’d tried to call her several times more, and her phone still kept going straight to voicemail.
“Why isn’t she answering her phone?”
“Her phone could be dead,” Ethan suggested.
“She promised me she’d fully charge it before leaving the house. Just in case she needed to call. That’s not something she’s ever failed to do. I don’t figure she did this time.”
“I don’t know then,” he shrugged, his face scrunching up in concern.
“What are we going to do?” she asked in a near whisper.
“I hate to say it, but we’re probably going to have to go to his apartment,” he growled. “If the guy is as persistent as you say, he may think taking her to his place will get him what he wants.”
“That sounds like something the little creep would try. We bettered hurry.”
“On it,” Ethan snarled, already pushing the gas farther into the floorboard, causing the truck to slip on the snow-slick road for a second before gaining traction once more.
What was probably not even five minutes later, but felt like a hundred, Ethan pulled up behind Jeffery Moore’s flashy, little sports car, and was flinging the door open as he shifted to park. He could see Jeffery and Emma through the back glass. They were scuffling as Emma obviously tried to push the guy off her. Two seconds later he was standing at the driver’s door of Jeffery’s car.
Yanking the door open, he jerked the guy out, dropping him on the ground. “Keep your hands off my sister.”
“Oh, thank God,” Emma gasped, quickly exiting the car from the passenger side. Immediately running to Sammy, she threw her arms around her friend’s neck. “Where’s Cade?”
“Drunk.”
“Drunk?” she screeched. “Cade doesn’t get drunk. Why would he be drunk?”
“We’ll explain that on the way back to the house. I want to hear the creep’s explanation for attacking you. He’s lucky it’s Ethan, and not Cade he’s dealing with. He’s actually going to get a chance to explain. Not sure how much good it’s going to do him though.”
“I asked you a question,” Ethan growled, staring down at the fool where he’d placed his foot in the middle of his chest. “What were you trying to do to my sister?”
“Good grief,” Jeffery gasped, trying to draw as much breath as he could. “You’re as bad as Cade. Heck, you’re even bigger than he is. I think.”
“Only by a little. And no, if Cade were here, you probably wouldn’t be breathing. Not just struggling to do so.”
“He has my phone in his pocket, Ethan,” Emma interjected from where she still stood with Sammy.
“Why do you have her phone?” he growled, applying more pressure with his heavy boot.
Noticing when Emma started to answer, he held up a hand to indicate he wanted her to hang on. “I want him to answer me first. Then you can tell me whatever he left out. Or lied about.”
After not getting a response, Ethan pushed down once more. “Answer me.”
“She was trying to call Cade,” he wheezed out. “I didn’t want him trying to kill me.”
“Why would he have tried to kill you?” Ethan growled, yanking the fool up off the ground to slam against the side of his car.
“Because we were making out.”
“No, we weren’t,” Emma gasped. “You just were refusing to take no for an answer.”
Not waiting for Jeffery to answer back, Ethan punched the idiot in the face, just hard enough to break his nose with a satisfying crunch. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying,” Jeffery whined, tears starting to slide down his cheeks.
“Yes, he is,” Emma scoffed.
Another punch to the idiots already battered face. “She was trying to push you away when I yanked you out of the car. So, stop trying to lie.”
“She was just getting cold feet. I was just trying to change her mind back. I’m sure you’ve had to get a little aggressive with a girl in a similar situation before,” the idiot added with a shaky chuckle.
Smashing his fist into the guy’s face with a snarl, hard enough to drop him in the dirt, and out cold, this time, he shook his head in disgust. “Nope, I’ve never tried to force myself on a woman before. I was raised with Christian values and morals. I guess you weren’t. Either that, or they just didn’t stick.”
Turning to Emma then, he grumbled in irritation. “Why did he take your phone?”
“Because when he brought me over here instead of taking me home like I asked, I tried to call Cade. He said he was going to cook me dinner, and that I was dessert.” She snorted. “Like he really thought I was willing to sleep with him at all, much less on a first date.”
“You’ve been scuffling with him in his car for that long?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “I explained I wasn’t going into his apartment with him. That’s when he snatched my phone away before I could get it dialed. He turned it off, and crammed it in his pocket.”
“Well, that explains why it kept going to voicemail,” Sammy scoffed, kicking the still unconscious guy in the ribs after Ethan retrieved the stolen phone.
“Come on,” Ethan snarled. “Let’s get out of here, before I give into the urge to snap his neck. I’ll let Cade do that later.”
“Shouldn’t we try to get him into his apartment before we leave?” Emma mumbled, staring down at Jeffery. “Or at least back in his car.”
“Seriously?” Ethan snorted. “He tried to force himself on you, and you’re concerned for his safety.”
“I just don’t think we should lower ourselves to his level. It’s really cold out here. And we’re supposed to be getting more snow soon.” She stopped with a shake of her head as she glanced down at the prone figure on the ground. “I couldn’t care less how his father reacts, but I like his mom. She’s very sweet, and she doesn’t deserve that kind of worry. I actually feel sorry for her most of the time. Jeffery’s father is a bully. It’s no wonder the idiot is such a momma’s boy. His father is as mean to him, as he is his mother.”
“You do realize if Cade had been here, he probably would have put this fool in the hospital, if not the morgue.”
“I know,” she shrugged.
“Fine,” he sighed, shaking his head in exasperation. “You and Sammy go get in the truck. I’ll take care of putting him in his car. But that’s as far as I’m going.”
~~~~
Sitting at the kitchen’s bar, his head resting on his arms, against the cold marble surface, Cade nearly fell off his barstool when someone laid a hand on his back. He’d jerked up, suddenly, and probably would have landed in the floor if the individual hadn’t steadied him long enough for him to grab hold of the counter and pull himself forward.
“Hey, Momma Jane,” he mumbled in a slur, looking up at his stepmom. “What are you doing in my bedroom?”
“This isn’t your bedroom, Cade.”
“It’s not?” he grumbled, his face scrunching up in confusion as he glanced around at the kitchen. “I could have sworn that’s where I was at. I remember walking to my bedroom earlier.”
“How much beer have you drank tonight?”
Glancing first at the empty bottles on the bar, then toward the trash can, he shook his head in confusion. “I don’t know.”
Realizing he’d obviously been looking at the trash, she walked over and counted the empty bottles already in there. That done, she glanced back at the bar with a shake of her head. “You’ve drank a whole twelve pack. At least. Why?”
That’s when his head dropped back to the counter, and he started snoring. “Great,” she snorted sarcastically. “You’re asleep.”
Walking over with a heavy sigh, she shook his shoulder, trying to bring him around. “Cade, wake up.”
Raising his head only enough to stare at her blurrily, he shook his head, and grumbled. “What?”
“Why did you, obviously, intentionally get drunk? That’s not like you.”
“Oh, Emma,” he grumbled, dropping his head again.
“What?” she frowned.
Popping his head back up, he added, “Jeffery Moore.”
“Okay, that’s just more confusing,” she huffed when he dropped his head back to the counter once more. “Cade, why are you drunk?” she tried again. “And on another subject, where is Emma, and why isn’t the Christmas tree up?”
“Snowball,” he grumbled, not bothering to lift his head this time.
“Fine, I’ll go get your father. Maybe he can figure out what you’re going on about.”
Shaking her head at her oldest stepson once more, she turned and headed out of the kitchen, in the direction of her husband’s office.
Knocking softly on the doorframe to draw his attention, she stepped the rest of the way into the room when he looked up at her.
“What’s that frown for, Sweetheart? I’m certain I haven’t done anything that should have irritated you in at least the last twenty-four hours.”
“Oh, it’s not you, Ezekiel,” she snorted. “When do you ever truly irritate me?”
“While hopefully not too often, I’m sure there’s been a time or two at least.”
“Not really,” she answered, shaking her head. “Not in any serious manner at least. You’re always my quiet protector and my rock. You show me nothing but love and patience. And when we disagree, we take the time to talk about things. We don’t shout at each other. And I love you for all of it.”
“I love you too, my sweet Janie,” he whispered back with a warm smile.
“Anyway, this isn’t irritation,” she sighed. “It’s concern. Cade is in the kitchen, drunk out of his skull.”
“He’s back in the kitchen?” he huffed, immediately jumping up from his desk to head down the hall.
“You knew he was drinking?”
“Yeah,” he grumbled, stopping just inside the door to the kitchen when he saw his son still asleep on the bar. “Ethan told me earlier. He left him for me to deal with because he needed to go after Emma.”
“Emma!” Cade sat up with a loud shout.
“Why did Ethan have to go after her?” Jane frowned. “Why isn’t she here?”
“To rescue her from her date,” Ezekiel grunted. “She and I are going to have a serious talk tomorrow.”
“Why? What date?” Jane frowned. “She was supposed to be helping Cade put the tree up.”
“She’s out with Jeffery Moore.”
“Oh, good grief,” Jane huffed. “That momma’s boy. I’m sure I taught her better than that. All that boy does is sit around, living off what his father has already made. I don’t believe he’s ever made any kind of effort to add to all of it. In the least.”
Pushing Cade back down when he acted like he planned to head for the backdoor, Ezekiel grumbled. “Slow down, Son. Why are you back in here? I put you to bed… Wait. Why are there empty beer bottles on the counter. I threw those away earlier.”
“The ones from earlier are still in the trash can.”
Ezekiel sighed in exasperation. “He came back in here to drink more.”
“Apparently,” Jane frowned. “So, you’ve put him to bed once already?”
“Yep.”
“Why is he drinking to start with?”
“I don’t know,” he shook his head. “Ethan didn’t say, and all I got out of him was Emma and Jeffery Moore.”
“Well, that’s what I got,” Jane snorted. “With the added, and far more confusing, snowball.”
“Snowball?” he grumbled, raising a questioning eyebrow at her.
“Yes, that’s what he said.”
“While I can decipher that Emma and Jeffery Moore are in reference to their date, I haven’t a clue what snowball means.”
“Exactly,” she nodded with a loud snort.
“Well, I suggest we just get him back to bed for now. We can talk to him about all of this in the morning. While he’s sober.”
“He’s still in here?” Ethan asked from the doorway. “I figured you’d have him in bed by now.”
“You got here just in time,” Ezekiel grumbled. “You can help me get him back to his bedroom. He was more conscious the first time.”
“You’ve put him to bed once already.” Ethan nodded. “That sounds more like what I expected to find when I got back here.”
“Yeah,” his dad nodded. “I put him to bed right after you left. I didn’t figure there was any reason to let him keep drinking, and he was close to passed out already. He’d still only drank six beers at that point, but I figured it was enough, he’d be out for the rest of the night.”
“There’s only six empties on the counter,” Ethan frowned in confusion.
“There’s six more in the trash.”
“You’re telling me, he’s drank twelve beers?” Ethan laughed. “Plus, the whiskey he managed to get down before I got the bottle away from him.”
“He drank whiskey as well?” his father frowned.
“Yeah, he got in your stash in the freezer.”
“Great,” Ezekiel grumbled, immediately walking over to the freezer. “I just opened that bottle last night. I’ve only drank one shot out of it.” Yanking the door open, he pulled the mostly empty whiskey bottle out with a frown of concern. “No wonder he’s passed out on the bar. There are only one or two shots left in this. It’s a wonder he’s been conscious at all.”
“He got it back out after I left.”
“Would you happen to know why he got drunk to start with?”
“Yeah,” Ethan nodded. “But it’s not my place to tell you.”
“Fine,” Ezekiel nodded. “I can appreciate your loyalty. I’ll talk to him in the morning. For now, help me get him back to bed.”
“That I can do,” the younger son nodded, already moving to help stand his brother to his feet.