Page 87 of Bad Seed

Liz beamed. “Oh wow! That’s wonderful. Twins. Two more little Popes in the world is a good thing. Dad and I will pretend we don’t know that, and Mr. Outen can tell us himself if he wants to. I better get back to work and leave you two to get some rest. Room service is ready when you are, and security is on high alert until you’re out of here.”

Brendan walked her to the door, then locked up the suite before taking his bag to the bedroom. He kicked off his boots, went to wash up, and then eased down on the bed beside Harley.

The moment he curled up behind her, she sighed. The last conscious thought he had was of the soundof her breathing, and the first thing he heard as he was waking was her mumbling in her sleep, “Brendan, get Brendan.”

“I’m here, Sunshine. I’m already here.”

Harley woke with a jerk, her heart pounding, then saw him lying beside her and groaned.

“I was dreaming. God, will this ever go away?”

He cupped the side of her face and then brushed a kiss across her forehead. “Yes, it will, darlin’. Eventually, the bad stuff we live through is sorted and stored away in a part of our memory we choose to forget. It’s self-preservation and you’re already good at that.”

“And you know this because?”

He didn’t flinch or look away from her gaze. “It’s how we survived Clyde Wallace. The miracle is that we didn’t turn into him, and we have Mom to thank for that.”

She was silent for a moment and then clasped his hand. “Why did she stay with him? Why didn’t she pack all of you up and come home sooner?”

“Well, she tried once, when I was just a toddler. I don’t remember it, but I know the story. Clyde followed her, loaded us all back up and took us back to Arkansas, and told her if she ever did that again, he would kill her and us, and then go back to Pope Mountain and kill Grandma. And Mom knew he meant it.”

“Oh my God. That’s awful. She was trapped, wasn’t she?”

“Right up until the moment Clyde murdered those people. His life sentence freed us,” Brendan said.

“What a remarkable woman she must be to have endured all that and not be bitter. My mother is never happy for long. Dad gives her everything but himself. I grew up knowing there was a great divide between them. It’s why I was so gun-shy about boyfriends when I was younger and why I stayed single. I never met anybody I wanted…until you. Now, I can’t think of life without you in it.”

“You don’t have to. I’m your guy. I already gave you my heart. The rest of my life is yours, too, when you’re ready.” He glanced at the clock. “It’s time for you to take your meds, but you need to eat so they won’t make you sick. Can you think of anything that sounds good?”

“French fries and any kind of pie.”

“Noted…and extra ketchup, so you’re not double-dipping in mine again.”

She grinned. “You weren’t using it, and I don’t like to see things go to waste.”

He helped her sit up, then hesitated. The thought of leaving her on her own, even for a moment, felt risky.

“I’m going to get the menu. I need more than fries. Can you get to the bathroom and back on your own?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t try to come down the hall on your own. Promise me. I’ll come get you in a few.”

“I promise,” Harley said, and then watched in silent wonder at how a man that size could move that quietlyand quickly, and how a random job that nearly got her killed was the reason they even found each other. “Meant to be,” she muttered, and eased herself up and off the bed, while Brendan was calling in their orders.

Chapter 14

Harley had moved back to her work area and was going through her figures for the audit, refreshing her mind as to what she’d been working on and what she had left to do. Her head hurt, but it hurt doing nothing, too, and she wanted this over.

Brendan was kicked back on the sofa, watching TV with closed captioning and the sound on mute, killing two birds with one stone. Staying quiet for her, and watching cooking episodes of Gordon Ramsay. Seeing all that manic yelling and shouting without sound was a new viewing experience. Hysteria and anger in mime. Since coming back to Jubilee, he had not missed even one day of that life.

Then two knocks at the door, and someone called out, “Room service.”

Harley jerked, startled out of the numbers rolling through her head, but Brendan was already up and striding toward the door. He recognized the server and opened the door.

“Hi, Keith. Thanks for the quick delivery,” he said.

The young redhead nodded. “Our pleasure. The staff sends their regards.”

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