“Good to be here.” Nick smiled at her over Scotty’s head as he hugged their son for much longer than usual since Scotty had become a teenager and began recoiling from most forms of parental affection. “You’re feeling better?”

“A lot better today. How about you?”

“Same. Still not perfect, but better.”

“This would be a good day to binge watch Star Wars,” Scotty said.

“I can’t think of anything I’d rather do,” Nick replied.

They went upstairs to the master bedroom, and Sam got them settled in bed with remote controls and tall glasses of ice water. She’d been taught a big lesson about the perils of dehydration and was pushing the water hard.

“Move over and let me in,” she said to Scotty.

“You hate Star Wars.”

“True, but I love you, and I need some snuggles.”

He curled up his lip at the word snuggle, but he moved closer to Nick to let her in.

She had just gotten settled when her phone rang again. Prepared to tell Darren to fuck off and leave her alone, she flipped open the phone.

“Sam, we’ve got a problem,” Freddie said. “You need to get over here.”

“What kind of problem?”

“Josh is going off the rails. He’s terrified his father is going to have him killed.”

“What? He said that?”

“He’s been ranting about it all morning. I tried to talk him down because I know you’re dealing with Nick and the flu and everything, but he’s losing it. Nothing I say gets through to him.”

The last freaking thing she felt like doing was leaving the nice warm bed and her two favorite people, but she couldn’t let Freddie twist in the wind alone with Josh. “Where are you?”

“Crystal Gateway. He’s paranoid about me calling you. He’s convinced Hamilton is probably having you followed.”

“How would Hamilton even know I’m involved?”

“Josh says he knows everything.” After a brief pause, Freddie added, “In case there’s any truth to it, shut your phone off before you leave so he can’t find you.”

“So you’re buying into the conspiracy theories?”

Lowering his voice, Freddie said, “There’s something about how fearful he is that’s resonating with me. I’m getting a gut check.”

Sam had taught him to trust his gut, so the comment had her moving a little quicker to put on the shoes she’d only recently kicked off. “I’ll be there shortly.”

“Thanks.”

While Scotty’s gaze remained glued to the action on the TV, Nick was watching her. “What’s up?” he asked.

“Josh is melting down. Gotta do some damage control. I shouldn’t be long.”

“Be careful.”

She went around the bed to kiss him, which had Scotty making retching noises.