Page 70 of Our Lips Are Sealed
The sounds of Charlie gagging on his blood, and the crack of his bones snapping under the weight of Ben’s fists, had played out like a symphony Simone’s soul craved to hear. There was no doubt that Ben intended to kill his brother that day, and not one of them made a move to stop it from happening.
Instead, they’d gathered on the side porch to watch, telling themselves it was justified. Miranda stood with her, holding Josie’s hand, with neither woman so much as flinching at the savagery playing out on the lawn. Ty was there too, probably calculating where to dispose of Charlie’s body when Ben was finished with him.
They had even allowed the children to see.
It was wrong, but something in Simone whispered to let them stay, saying this was the way they would learn that when a monster came calling, it would be Ben who would vanquish it for them.
Trevor, who had stupidly driven Charlie to the house in the first place, attempted to enter the fray and tear his brothers apart. Simone had snickered at his efforts, openly smiling when Ben easily deflected the charge, knocking the youngest Fairweather sibling back with a blow to the face.
And with no one else willing to take him on, Ben continued the job of wiping Charlie Fairweather from existence.
Or at least Simone had thought there was no one else.
Evie was on the lawn and halfway to the men before anyone noticed. Samuel’s shout alerted her approach, with he and Selah shooting over the porch railing to stop her from getting hurt. Not that Ben would have deliberately harmed the girl, but he was too far gone in his anger should she get in the way.
Speaking to Ben, Evie’s voice was like a siren song. None of them up on the porch could hear what was being said, but the longer she talked, the more the attack on Charlie slowed until it halted completely.
Ben’s chest pumped for air as he listened, eventually rising off his brother to allow Evie to take him by the hand. She led him down the side of the house and through the back door, with his sons and Miranda following.
With Ben gone, Trevor went to collect Charlie, but the bastard was too far gone to stand. Ty had to carry him to the car while Simone and Josie ushered the children into the house.
They found Samuel and Selah waiting outside the library door where Miranda had taken Ben, and Simone sent the boys off to tend to the children, while she and Josie took their place.
“Don’t judge me for not stopping him,” Simone had told Josie while they stood in the hall, letting Miranda have her say with Ben. “I pray to God you never understand this anger that lives in me.”
Josie had watched her cry for what felt like the thousandth time, not attempting to silence her tears like the others would do. “If you recall, I was out there too and didn’t try to stop it either,” she said, pulling Simone into an embrace. “Charlie will get his in the end. One way or another.”
Simone had welcomed the hug, the connection grounding her. Since then, they continued to greet one another the same way every morning, and today was no exception, with Josie holding on a little tighter than usual.
“Wait until you see what Samuel did,” she whispered in Simone’s ear. “I hope it works.”
Pulling back, Simone eyed her warily. “What?”
“Abe, guess what we got.” Samuel bounded into the kitchen, flushed with excitement. The child was all arms and legs, growing taller by the day. “Check it out!”
Behind him, Miranda pushed in a brand-new wheelchair.
“Great,” Abe mumbled, unimpressed. “Another chair.”
Selah let out a whoop and hopped up from the table to run a hand over the tread of the chair’s enormous wheels. “Are these mountain bike tires?”
Samuel’s chest puffed with pride. “Yep.”
Ty joined them, coming out of the guest hall. He’d been sleeping in the house as of late, in case Simone needed her baby brother.
And she did.
Often.
“You can go in the grass with those tires, Abe,” Ty explained, checking out the mechanics of the chair. “And yesterday, I did a fresh cut on the trails, so with a little help from your brother and Sammy, you should be able to play in the woods again.”
Abe abandoned his breakfast, coming over to take a look. “Really?”
The hesitant hope in her son’s voice had Simone turning away. All these tears were getting on her damn nerves, and now wasn’t the time to let the children see her get emotional.
Ty nodded. “Really, really.”
“Samuel had the idea and drew out a design. We took it to the bike shop downtown,” Miranda told them. “The owner said he could do it, and we picked it up on our way over.”
