I glanced down at Caelyn. She looked beyond exhausted. Not the kind of tired that meant a lack of sleep, but the kind that spoke of a fatigued soul. My jaw worked. It was my own fault. I’d let my pride and fear get the best of me. When she’d refused to let go of the lease on her house, I couldn’t help but take it personally. All the old doubts about letting people into my life took root in my brain. And the thought of her and the kids going back there…it turned my anxiety up to one hundred. Who would look out for them if they were alone? I knew Caelyn could handle just about anything, but I didn’t want her to have to take it all on her shoulders. And there was always that one thing you wouldn’t be ready for. I knew that better than anyone.

I tried to lessen the ferocity of my expression because it was by no means directed at her. That’s what had messed things up between us in the first place—me acting like a grumpy asshole. But Caelyn needed a wakeup call. She always saw the best in people. No matter what. And she needed to be on alert now.

I squeezed the back of her neck. “You don’t know him. He could be mixed up in all of this stuff.”

“He came to apologize.”

Caelyn’s mind always looked for the positive, never considering the darker implications of someone’s actions. Normally, I loved that about her. But right now, I needed her to be a little more suspicious. I turned my gaze towards the man I knew was Dave Herbert. “Where have you been the past few weeks?”

A brief flash of defiance glinted in his eyes. “You’re not my parole officer.”

My hands fisted and flexed instinctively. “No. But I can guarantee you that Sheriff Raines will be paying you a visit in the near future. And I’m guessing if you’re on parole, you’ll have to answer those questions. He might even piss-test you. That test going to be clean?”

The defiance in Dave’s gaze turned hotter. “I’ve been here. I got a job working construction.”

“You go by Caelyn’s house at all since you’ve been out?”

“What? No. I wouldn’t do that,” Dave said.

I couldn’t get a bead on him. It was as if he were two different people. One who truly was trying to get his life together, and another who was ruled by anger and something darker. Wherever the truth lay, whatever the shade of gray, I wasn’t going to figure it out now. “You’ve said your piece. Now stay away from Caelyn. And don’t even think about going near one of the kids.”