Page 121 of Irons

Magnus shook his head. “I don’t think I’d make a good guest. I know how I am, I’ll picture him in that getup and laugh through the entire ceremony, not to mention seeing Melissa in all white after learning she’s really a tiny little sex demon.” He laughed. “She made Addie her maid of honor.”

I laughed and Wrenly giggled. “I’m sure that made Morgan real happy.” Morgan liked the attention people gave her.

“Actually, it did, something about being too tall and things won’t be uniform or something. Just a bunch of women talk, so I tend to zone out.”

We made it to the Tahoe, and I threw his bag in the back. He jumped into the backseat, and I settled into the driver’s seat with Wrenly in the passenger seat.

“So, just how crazy is this psycho bitch we’re going to see?” Magnus asked. We talked for a few minutes after dinner last night.

“I’m not sure, according to Brock it’s pretty bad. Just be careful if she gets physical. She has AIDS and I don’t know if she will injure herself. He said she has already broken their kitchen chairs, so I wouldn’t be shocked.” I wiggled the Tahoe out into traffic.

Wrenly spoke up. “Keep in mind that she’s sick because her husband cheated. She’s hurt, angry, scared, sick, and she’s already survived her expiration date. She has a strain we don’t usually see here in the States and it’s one that takes women’s lives much faster than men’s. My best guess is that he didn’t infect her right away and probably had HIV for a while and didn’t know since he was drinking and probably never felt well. That makes sense if their marriage was strained.”

“And nobody but us and Brock knows, right?” Magnus asked.

“Well, her doctors and the administrator of the nursing home Jenny works at, but nobody else.” I answered.

“How old is she?” Magnus asked, but I looked at Wrenly.

“Any idea? I’ve never met the woman, at least I don’t remember meeting her.”

Wrenly nodded. “You have and might remember her if you saw her. She worked at the station with dad and Tony. She wasn’t a cop, but she was a dispatcher. I’m going to guess she’s probably around forty or so, but with her diagnosis and mental health she probably looks older. At one time she was very pretty.”

Jesus, forty? “Dad robbed the cradle, obviously.”

“Let’s focus on Brock. What are you going to say to this woman?” Wrenly asked.

I shrugged. “I figured I’d go in alone at first. I simply want to offer her a new life somewhere that offers an escape from the shame back here. I want Brock to have power of attorney simply because I don’t think she is mentally capable of making healthy decisions. This way she can’t back out of the agreement. I’d like Brock to think she is doing it to help him, but I’m sure I’ll have to tell him about this visit. I’ll wave you two in if she’s willing to see the two of you. I would take the two of you to the hotel, but if I did that we would waste time. Don’t we have plans tonight?” I asked, remembering we were supposed to meet up with her friends later.

“Yeah, but I can cancel.” She offered.

“Magnus, you up for a night out?” I asked as I looked in the rear view mirror at him.

He shrugged. “Sure, as long as we hit the hotel so I can shower first.”

When we arrived at the hotel last night and were walking to our room, I got a text from Clint asking me to meet him when Jacob was still in school, so it had to be early afternoon, and I didn’t know how long things would take with Emma.

When we pulled into my grandparents driveway, I saw the bedroom curtains on the second floor move. I groaned. “Normal crazy chicks leave their houses, so how bad can a crazy stepmother that never leaves her house be?” I asked.

“Pretty fucking crazy.” Magnus said.

“Just be gentle with her.” Wrenly kissed my cheek. “Do not take any risks.” She reminded me. I kept picturing the crazy lady cutting herself to keep me away from her.

“Always. Here I go.” I slipped out of the Tahoe and made my way to the very familiar front porch. It felt so strange because I spent a big part of my childhood in the same house, but it was nice in those days. I knocked on the door but didn’t hear a thing. I knocked again but got nothing again. I waited a while and kept knocking but there was no movement in the house.

I had an old memory and wondered if I could just walk into the house. I checked the door, and it was locked, so I took a chance and reached up to the top of the door frame for the key my grandparents only remembered to leave out about half the time, and bingo, there it was.

The key worked, so I slowly opened the door. “Emma, it’s Travis Irons, your step son!” I yelled out. “I’m not here to cause you any harm.” I slowly stepped inside. “I’m only here to help you!”

I looked around and there was no sign of her. I was also pleasantly surprised the inside wasn’t nearly as bad as the outside. Someone had been cleaning it, and it’s probably why the yard was in bad shape, Brock simply didn’t have time to do more than mow.

“I’m aware you’ve been through a lot, and you took care of my dad up until the end. That was good of you.” I lied, shesounded like a terrible mother, so she couldn’t have been that great of a wife.

“What do you want?” I heard a small fragile voice at the top of the steps.

“I’m here to help you and Brock. I met him and he’s an amazing young man. He’s my brother, right? You’re family too? My stepmother?” I was being kinder than she deserved. I held my hands up as I came into her view so she could see I wasn’t a threat. She was peeking around the corner of the upstairs and all I saw was messy dark brown hair and very sad eyes. Damn, the ripple effect of one moment in time at a local grocery store ruined so many lives.

“What do you want?” She hissed and damn it was creepy.

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