Page 45 of Hell of a Mess
I started to respond when the door opened again and a woman appeared. Now, that was who Stevie looked like. She even had the curls; they were just more tamed than her daughter’s.
“I’m sorry if she bombarded you,” the woman apologized. “She was very excited to hear that we had a guest staying with us.”
I shook my head. “Oh, no, I’m happy to have the company.”
The woman glanced at her daughter with the kind of smile that was filled with love, pride, and gentleness. All the things I remembered in my mother’s gaze. The ache that had never gone away from the loss stretched in my chest, making it harder to take a deep breath.
“I’m Branwen,” the woman told me, but then I had already figured that out. “And this little bundle of energy is Stevie.”
Stevie scrunched her nose. “I forgot to tell her my name.”
A laugh bubbled out of me, and her gaze swung to mine.
“It’s okay. Maui has told me all about you.”
Her eyes widened then, and she looked down at her dog. “Youtalked to Maui? He only talks to Luther. He must really like you.”
Just hearing Luther’s name made my heart rate pick up.
“Why don’t you take Maui to the kitchen and help Jayda with the tray of treats she’s making?” Branwen suggested.
Stevie nodded, her eyes lighting up with excitement over the mention of treats, and called to her dog before running back to the door. Maui scampered after her, and I watched them go. I’d never had a childhood. At least not a normal one. That must be what it looked like. No fear or care in the world. Just happiness around every corner.
Branwen sank into the chair across from me and let out a sigh. “It’s good to be home. Travel with her is always an adventure, but it’s tiresome.”
There was nothing I could say to that. I had no reference or experience in traveling with a child. I simply smiled.
“I hope you’ve been comfortable here. I’m sorry I haven’t been around,” she told me.
“I have been,” I replied. “You have a beautiful home.”
“Thank you. Linc and Luther have good taste,” she said. “Although I have softened the place up some. Added color and decoration where things were bare and masculine before. I am assuming Luther’s side of the house still is. I’ve never seen it.” She chuckled softly. “I guess that sounds odd, doesn’t it?”
No, it didn’t. I’d lived in the same house my entire life, and there were areas I never saw. I wasn’t allowed to go to the third floor at all, and I had been restricted to my bedroom and the basement many days. I wasn’t going to tell her that though.
“He decorates in darker colors, but it is nice. Comfortable,” I told her.
“Comfortable is not a description I would have imagined,” she mused. “Not with Luther and his…taste in things.”
What did she mean by that?
The door swung open again, and Stevie came bounding outwith Maui at her heels, followed by Jayda carrying a tray of food. My stomach knotted up at the sight of it. Was I expected to eat? Again?
“Jayda made sunflower butter fudge!” Stevie announced gleefully.
Dread was rolling into panic when the answer to my problems appeared with a swagger that had me holding my breath as I watched him.
Nineteen
Luther
I had shit to do, and I shouldn’t be back here already, but after Jayda had texted me about what Lace ate for lunch, concentrating on anything else had been impossible. So, here I fucking was. Back at this goddamn house, checking on a female who was not mine. She was Mal’s, for Chrissake. Why hadn’t I told him about this or sent Locke over here? She liked Locke. He was her brother.
Because you don’t want anyone else helping her.
Scowling at my intrusive thought, I tried to push it back as I headed out onto the back patio, where Stevie and Jayda had just gone with a tray full of sweets. That was going to stress Lace out. She needed me. It was also going to send me into a full-blown rage if I didn’t get my hands on the motherfucker who had messed her up mentally when it came to food.
Linc’s insistence that we not go after Halsten and put a bulletin his head hadn’t gone over well this morning. I was ready to rip body parts off the man when I left the house. The look of sheer fucking fear in Lace’s expression over something as simple as eating had made me see red.
