Page 84 of Callahan

I frowned. “Gosh, I really don’t. I guess you could call it lucky that I have a skilled Marine protecting me and my eight-week-old baby from a lunatic sending me threatening letters. Is that what you mean?”

“Someone sent you threatening letters?”

“Yes. I assumed you knew that, since you knew that Brian asked Adam to stay at my place.”

I knew her gossip mongering hadn’t included that tidbit, like Adam had accused Granny O’Brien’s rumor mill yesterday of doing.

Unlike Granny, though, Mrs. Cahill was much smoother with her reply.

“I didn’t realize Brian was the one who wanted him to stay with you.”

I narrowed my eyes, like I was trying to figure out what other reason Adam would be staying with me, than gasped and made my eyes wide.

“Ohhhh, you thought…” I chuckled as I picked the shittiest eclairs from the case and put them in the bag for her. “That’s what you meant by getting lucky.”

I walked to the register and rang up her order. “Sorry to disappoint the rumor mill. Four dollars and thirty-six cents.”

She handed me a five-dollar bill and said, “Keep the change,” before making a hasty retreat toward the door. No doubt to fill the rest of the busybodies in on the information she’d found out.

I felt a little smug when I replayed our conversation in my head and realized that I hadn’t actually lied to her.

****

Adam

Lainey was a sweetheart and tiptoed around her bedroom when she got up in the morning.

My brain registered she was awake, but I felt her lean over me and kiss my temple. “Don’t get up.”

So, I didn’t until my watch beeped an hour later at seven-fifteen.

After taking a leak, I immediately made the bed and got dressed, then checked on Conor, who was fast asleep. I stared at the little baby’s sweet face for a minute before murmuring, “Sleep tight, little man. I’ll keep you and your mama safe.”

I left a message for Dr. Williams, then walked into the living room and noticed the air mattress propped against the wall in the corner.

“I should probably put a fitted sheet on that thing,” I mused out loud. “At least keep up appearances.”

No sooner had I done that than someone pounded on the door leading to the outside staircase.

I walked to entry and demanded, “Who is it?”

A voice I recognized immediately, dryly replied, “There’s a camera outside. You should already know who it is.”

I opened the door with a grin.

“Well, I don’t have access to the camera feed.”

Brian was dressed in his uniform when he stepped inside the threshold. “Why the fuck not? You’re staying here to keep her safe—or are the rumors true, and that’s not why you’re living here.”

“The gossip here is brutal. And, I didn’t want to invade her privacy.”

“Well, part of the reason I came over here was to gain access to the camera feed, so we can go downstairs and get her permission together.”

“What’s the other part?”

He cocked his head. “Huh?”

“You said that was part of the reason. What’s the other part?”

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