Page 51 of Bad Seed

Brendan nodded. “Thanks again, Aaron.”

“Follow me out. Turn the dead bolt after I leave,” Aaron said.

Harley had never in her life felt tiny until these two men walked into her space. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have people like this at her back, and after knowing all she did about this family, she silently accepted being compared to their mother in any way as a compliment.

Then Brendan came back and began taking out all of the to-go boxes from the bags, and Harley followed, opening cartons he handed her, licking gravy off her finger, and watching the way his eyebrows knit as he eyed the preparation and wondered if he was thinking he would have done it different, or better.

Then he caught her staring, winked, and handed her a fork.

Harley grinned. “Curiosity killed the cat, didn’t it? So, meow, and all that. He called you, BJ. What’s that stand for?” she asked.

He laughed. Her sense of humor was delightful. “Brendan James, but the family has always called me BJ.”

“I see we’re having fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, some kind of casserole, and corn bread. Looks good. Smells even better,” she said.

“It’s sweet corn casserole with onions and red and green bell peppers. City girl, meet country boy. Dinner is served.”

She pulled out a chair and sat. “Why the change from BJ to Brendan?”

He was at the end of the table. More room for long legs. He pulled out a handful of paper napkins and handed half of them to her.

“You’re gonna need these, and don’t you dare try to eat fried chicken with a fork. Use your fingers. As for the name change, I’m Brendan at work, but growing up at home, the only times I heard Brendan James come out of my mom’s mouth was for leaving wet towels all over the bathroom floor. I have since evolved.”

She laughed. “Brendan fits you. I’ll stick with that,” she said, then picked up a piece of chicken and took a bite. It tasted good. Maybe it was the company she had, she thought, and kept eating.

Her laugh went straight to Brendan’s heart. He wanted to hear it again, but he’d settle for fried chicken. He was starving.

They ate and talked and traded stories about their jobs, then it morphed to personal questions.

“Ever been married?” he asked.

Harley shook her head. “Not even close. A couple of relationships in college. The nature of my work does not encourage relationships. What about you?”

“No engagements. No marriage. Dated some when I was in high school, but then Clyde ended all that,and after I went to the Culinary Institute in New York to study, there was no time for anything but work and more work. I want what my brothers have. A forever wife who will love Jubilee and Pope Mountain as much as the rest of us do. I’ve lived in cities and traveled some in Europe, working my way through other restaurants, and what I learned I brought home.

“I was working in big restaurants in New York, and for a while it was exciting, but it got really old spending holidays alone, feeding other people who were celebrating, then going to a twelve-by-twelve-foot apartment and trying to sleep with a feuding couple across the hall, a family with a dog to the left, and a violinist in the apartment to the right of me who was constantly practicing. Coming back to Pope Mountain was inevitable. Family means everything to us.”

Harley heard the loneliness and knew exactly what he meant about going home alone. Even after all these years, laughing alone at something on TV made her feel even lonelier. Holidays were depressing. No social circle meant no hosting game nights or dinner parties.

Some days she just wished for a simple hug. A human touch. Someone who cared if she slammed a door on her finger. Someone to curl up against in bed on a cold Chicago night.

She listened to the rumble of his voice in silence. It was deep and a little raspy, and she thought about what it would be like to love someone this rooted to where he lived. He’d already seen the world in which she’dgrown up and rejected it. She wondered if she’d ever fit into a world like this.

Meeting Brendan Pope had been a game changer. She’d never considered changing her lifestyle until now, and he might never see her beyond being another woman causing trouble in his life. But she wanted him to. She didn’t know how to say, “Let that forever woman be me,” to a man she barely knew, so she changed the subject.

“I always wished for siblings and envied people with big families. You know, the generational holiday get-togethers with grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and all kinds of nieces and nephews. Do any of your brothers have children?” she asked.

“Our family gatherings are huge. When it’s an all-mountain gathering, we have it at the Church in the Wildwood. It’s near the top of Pope Mountain. My brothers don’t have children, but my cousin Cameron does, and my brother Wiley is raising our little half-sister, Ava. We didn’t even know she existed until one of Clyde’s old girlfriends showed up and basically gave her away to us. She was a tiny, undernourished five-year-old who was afraid of almost everything and thought if she stayed still enough, she could make herself disappear. Something clicked between her and Wiley, and long story short, we’re all her brothers, but Wiley became her legal guardian. She wanted to call him Daddy, but they settled for Bubba. He is her world. Mom fell in love with her. Ava calls her Grandma, so she already has one grandchild. It’s not by blood, but of the heart.”

“That’s so special,” Harley said, thinking of the children who’d been rescued from the trafficking ring she’d exposed. “I think Ava had a guardian angel. Most children don’t escape that kind of life. Children were some of the hostages who were rescued in my last case. God only knows how much money my meddling cost someone, and it’s likely why someone wants me dead. Payback.”

Brendan reached out and covered her hand with his.

Harley looked up.

“I won’t let that happen,” he said.

“Neither will I if I see him coming. Beyond the fact that I own a gun and have a license to carry, I can’t protect myself if my enemy has no face.”

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