Page 94 of Free to Dream
“But I don’t want Phil,” he counters in a sexy rasp.
“Yell for Phil to come up here if you’re not going to let me out of bed to help you with the ice cream, you dork.” I roll my eyes, the only part of my face not hurting.
Smirking at me, he gives me no warning before he yells, “Whirlpool!” at the top of his lungs. “You know,” he says conversationally, as we hear my brother stomp up the stairs, “You’re going to have to share why you call him that.”
As I laugh under my breath, I agree while we wait for Phil to throw open the door in his normal style. “You bellowed, bratwurst?” Phil drawls as he strolls into my room.
Oh. Hell. No. He. Did. Not.
“Are you kidding me right now, Phillip? Did you just go there? You better send your husband up for everything, and I mean everything. I might get out of this bed and get stabby real soon. Ow!” I forgot my head and cheek temporarily in my hissy fit at my brother.
“Tsk, Tsk, Cass. You need to be careful. What do you need, Caleb?” As he walks farther into the room, he sees Caleb’s hand suspended over the bowl of formerly chocolate-peanut butter ice cream and begins to laugh. “Okay, so first, a towel and wash cloth. Then some more ice cream, perhaps?” Smirking, Phil goes into and reemerges from my bathroom with some older towels. “You know, Cassidy, if you’re going to get into this food play stuff more, you really need to get darker colored sheets and towels.”
I grab the bowl of melted ice cream. As I start to hoist it in the air, Phil snags it from me before dashing for the door, laughing. “Calm down, Little Girl. You need some more food before you take your next dose of pain meds. Caleb, I was just about to come get you anyway. Cassidy, Keene’s here too, sweetie. Oh, by the way, I totally get why Ali banged him. The daggers are about to fly downstairs.” He pauses, and then says gleefully, “I don’t want to miss a thing!”
I suddenly realize I haven’t talked with Keene. Not only did he help save my life, but he’s my brother. I can’t avoid this forever. “Why don’t you send Keene up with it?” I say to Phil, but I’m talking to Caleb.
“Are you sure, baby?” he murmurs. “This is your sanctuary.”
“Our sanctuary,” I correct, and I’m rewarded with a smile and a kiss. I think for a minute before I speak. “I’m not quite sure how this goes, Caleb. I don’t really remember having a brother or a mother, but he does. I need to get to know him. I have to try to figure this out.” I see Phil smiling at me with love and pride. “For all of us.”
Caleb places a kiss on my forehead “You’re amazing.” He turns to Phil. “Put Keene to use. Send him up with everything.”
With a quick smile and a thumbs-up, Phil departs to go wreak havoc on the rest of my house. Caleb pulls me back against him and ah, there it is. His heartbeat.
I start to relax until I hear, “Bratwurst?” said with great humor over my head. I groan.
“No, not happening. Not now. Let’s talk with Keene. Let me relax.” And maybe after I kill my brother. Maybe. I peek up at Caleb beneath my lashes, mentally chanting please don’t push it. Please don’t push it.
Smirking, he kisses my head again as I snuggle back against his chest. Caleb’s long fingers are moving through my hair when we hear a quick knock on the door and Keene steps into my room, carrying a tray with another vat of ice cream, pain meds, and an ice pack.
With his familiar arrogant air, he glances down at the tray, announcing, “I have what appears to be a diabetic coma with a chaser of frostbite to be eased by…” He looks up and the words die on his lips as he gets his first view of me unbandaged since the hospital.
At first, I’m not sure if it’s because I’m wrapped in Caleb’s arms, but when his eyes move away from my face, I can see the pain and vengeful fury on his. For me. Thinking back to the early days when we first met, I wonder who would have thought it?
“She’s okay, man,” Caleb reminds him quietly. They exchange a meaningful look between them that I can’t even begin to interpret.
Keene nods slowly and walks toward the bed, depositing the tray on the bedside table. “Right. So, as I was saying, Phil put everything on here you needed, Cassidy.” He’s cautious. “He mentioned you asked to speak with me?”
I tap Caleb’s arm and he lets me up, out of his embrace. Sliding off the bed, I walk to where Keene is. I’m at least a good foot shorter than him, so I can’t imagine why he’s holding his breath when I come closer. I touch his arm and simply say, “Thank you.”
Keene continues to hold his breath.
“Thank you for never giving up hope. Thank you for being smart enough to find the clues. Thank you for listening to me that day in your office. Thank you for keeping Caleb sane. Thank you for keeping him safe so I could find him.” I look over my shoulder at the man I love, whose eyes are shining back at me. I take a deep breath and continue. “Thank you for letting me figure out how to deal with this in my own time. For dealing with the police, and for what I know you’re doing to keep us safe—mesafe. Just…thank you,” I end on a whisper. I squeeze his arm and walk back to the bed, and this time, I crawl beneath the covers, resting my head on my pillow as I feel my eyelids start fluttering closed.
Keene opens his mouth and closes it a few times before gruffly saying, “It was my pleasure”.
Keene and Caleb talk briefly about Mildred and how she’ll remain a permanent guest of the State of Connecticut since she was a flight risk. Good. I bet the bitch looks awful in orange. There’s more talk about security at the farm, and some back and forth about background checks on the new tech team. I make a mental note to ask about that later.
Just as my eyes are about to remain closed, I hear Keene say, “Cassidy,” softly. Not Riley.
I hurt for him.
I open my eyes and focus on my biological brother. Keene is standing in the doorway, his arm braced above his head. He stares out the window while saying. “I wish more women, more people for that matter, had your strength, honor, and will to fight.” He nods at Caleb before leaving us in the comfort of my room.
I make a snap decision. “Keene!” He pops his head back in.
“Caleb can’t cook for shit and I’m under doctor’s orders to not leave my bed for a while, but…” I look into his eyes, my brother’s eyes, and they spark with what’s been missing.
