Temptation Trails (The Haven Brothers #3)

I tipped my chin to her, and she smiled back.

“Thanks for picking him up from school,” I said.

“You’re welcome,” she said. “Although tomorrow might be a problem.”

“Are we talking after school?” Theo asked. “If you want to walk over to the high school, I can take you home. Is your bike in the shop or something?”

Owen slumped in his seat. “No. I’m grounded.”

“Bummer,” Theo said. “What’d you do?”

I watched my son, wondering if he’d confess in front of his uncles. It was clear from Theo’s nonchalant tone that he expected Owen to admit to something minor, like a bad grade on a test.

He took a deep breath. “I cut class and stole stuff.”

“Whoa,” Theo said. “What’d you steal?”

“Cookies, mostly.”

My parents already knew the story, of course, but my brothers looked at me, eyes wide with surprise.

“Little dude, that’s not good,” Theo said. “Was it from the Quick Stop?”

“No, Angel Cakes,” Owen admitted.

“I mean, at least he went for the good stuff,” Luke said.

Dad snorted.

I shot them both a glare. “That’s not helping.”

Luke put his hands up. “Sorry.”

“I’m taking him to school in the mornings and he needs to come here in the afternoons for the foreseeable future,” I said.

“Sure, I can drive him here,” Theo offered.

“How long is the foreseeable future?” Owen asked.

“I don’t know.”

His brow furrowed. “Washington is a determinate sentencing state. That means punishments have a set length.”

Dad’s mouth twitched in the hint of a grin. So did Theo’s. Luke coughed in an attempt to conceal his chuckle.

I glanced at Owen and raised my eyebrows. Smart kid. “It ends when I determine I can trust you again. How’s that for a determinate sentence?”

“That’s not what it means.” Owen’s tone took on a note of defiance. “It means you know the length of your sentence. It’s not arbitrary.”

“And if I’d arrested you and subjected you to state law, that would be applicable. But I didn’t, so it’s not.”

“Dang it.”

“Ever thought about going to law school?” Theo asked. “You’d make a good lawyer.”

He shrugged.

“We can talk about this more at home.”