Page 89 of Thick as Thieves
Kell always says she’s total carnage, or nothing. Well I got the full experience, and I hated it.
Jonno’s already pointed out we might be lucky if she hasn’t served Kellen with divorce papers. Or me with a restraining order. And as we haven’t seen those yet, we may still have a very slim chance. It’s up to us to make it right, and take the chance. We certainly will never ever get another.
In the enclosed space, the scent hits me hard. Home. That is the scent of home. Her and the boys. That scent has haunted my waking hours, and there have been a lot of those. I don’t think I’ve slept more than four hours in the last few weeks.
I hear Sorley squeal, and he holds his arms out to come up. He likes to be cuddled the most. But she’s leaving. No, please, don’t leave. I start to move forwards, my movements jerky and stilted. I see Kell has done the same. It’s as if she has us on a piece of thread. Reeling us in.
But she steps back. It's as if I’ve been punched in the heart. No, no, don’t, don’t do that. No, please. I’m screaming in my head.
I see Kellen freeze, but she moves and I hear Marshall try to say her name. He’s as upset as us. But she stops at that.
“I’ll leave these two and come back in a while. It’s fine, Marshall.” And she walks out.
I rush forwards and try to pull the door open.
“No. Leave her, Xander,” counsels Marshall. “Do as she asks, otherwise you’ll push her away for good.”
I turn and look at him, despair in my eyes. “We might be beyond that already.”
But he shakes his head. “No. Midarlin’ is hurt. She needs time to work it out, but she will. And if she wants you, then fine, but if not…” he trails off.
I bend over at the waist, hands on my knees, trying to get a full breath in. “Do you think she looks like she might forgive us?”
He weighs me up, in his calm way, and directs a big smile at me, no malice in his eyes. “I think if she wanted you gone you would be. She did the same to her brothers. She fired them a warning shot, and now she’s done the same to you two. Listen or not, it’s up to you. But this now, this is it. How you act and what you do will determine if you are in her life. I think she’ll let you into theirs.” He points at the babies struggling to get out of their harnesses. “But you might be excluded from hers. It’s up to you.”
“I want in,” states Marcus with absolute conviction. “Totally and utterly in. I love her, Marshall. I want my family back, and she is my family.”
“Me too, if she’ll have us. We’ll do anything she wants, on any terms she sets. I don’t care, I’ll take anything."
We both look at each other and then at the man in the bed. A silent bond passes between us all. The bond only broken by the squawking twins.
I pick up Sorley, leaving Marcus to get Lochi out. Breathing in his scent, it’s as if I’m alive for the first time in weeks. I feel a warmth spreading throughout my veins. Everything becomes brighter. I detect her scent underneath his. It’s gorgeous. And his baby smell is an addiction. I’m an addict and in heaven, the past few weeks dropping away as I hold my son in my arms. And he is mine. They both are. They all are. They belong to me, she belongs to me. Just as we totally and utterly belong to her.
43
Evie
London
“Marshall,I love you, but you’ve gone too far this time.” My hands on my hips, I chastise him. Jonno is at my side, looking from one to the other.
Marshall flops back onto the bed, suddenly looking very ill and vulnerable. “Midarlin’, what could I do? They looked like puppies abandoned at the side of the road. The twins were hugging them, they were kissing them like it was their last day on earth. I felt sorry for them.” He’s trying to explain away his actions.
“Exactly. That’s what they wanted you to do. I’ve told you what they did.” I shudder remembering that conversation.
He nods slowly. “I’ve rented it to them for a year. Only one year. If you’re not all sorted one way or another in that time, they hand back my keys and away they go. I won’t renew the lease.”
“But your old farm is so near us, Marshall. Let them rent in the village. At least I won’t have to pass the gate end every day.” I’m so agitated at his actions I’m having difficulty staying still, and start pacing the length of the small room.
“I’ve given my word, midarlin’. I can’t go back on it,” he says, all dewy eyed, from his mountain of pillows.
“This is your fault, Jonno.” I turn on him sharply. If I can’t have a go at Marshall, he can bear the brunt.
He looks at me in amazement. “How could I be blamed for Marshall caving in and giving them his farm for a year?” His mouth is wide open, he’s flabbergasted.
“You should have told me about the paternity test, the vasectomy plans.” I’m checking his misdemeanours off on my fingers. Marshall makes a strangled noise in his throat. “Sorry Marshall,” I laugh, as Jonno also looks squeamish.
Then Marshall drops a hand grenade into the conversation. “Well, it won’t be the first time a test has been done without all the parties involved being in the know, now is it?” Marshall looks at both Jonno and me, his grey eyes sparkling.
