Page 54 of The Forbidden Sitter
When Josh’s cell buzzed, I jerked my head up and saw him taking the call. His voice was very low. “Josh here,boss.”
There was a series of uh-huhs and some hmms, but Josh wasn’t talking much. I went back to playing with Braiden, knowing I wasn’t going to find anythingout.
I looked up again when Josh stood up and started walking to the door. “Bye, ma’am. It was nice working for youguys.”
My heart stopped. It had to beover.
I got up, picking up Braiden, and went toward him. “Was it her? Did they gether?”
He nodded and went out the door. “Yep.”
I had no idea how to act. I wanted to jump up and down and shout about them getting that horrible bitch. But she was Braiden’s mother. It just felt like the wrong thing to bedoing.
The poor kid. His mother would spend a considerable amount of his life in prison for what she’d done. And I didn’t want him remembering that I jumped for joy and celebrated that horriblefact.
Monster or not, she was his mother and always wouldbe.
Josh left, and little by little the staff came trickling in. It was crazy how they just all got back to work. Everyone was nice and asked how we were doing with the wholething.
I didn’t know how I was doing with it. I wanted Gannon to come and tell me every last detail. I could’ve called, but I didn’t want to bother him. I knew he must be very busy, making sure Cassandra was put away for a very longtime.
So when an hour went by and then one more, I just took Braiden to his bedroom after lunch for a nap. When I got to his bedroom, I saw men working on the bullet holes in the walls in his room and mine. So I opted for the next bedroom. It was an empty guest room, and I went in to put him down for anap.
He was tired, rubbing his little blue eyes and leaning heavily on me. Taking off his shoes, I laid him back on the bed and pulled the blanket over him as I sang him alullaby.
Since he was half asleep anyway, it took no time for him to go to sleep. I went into his bedroom and got the baby monitor. Then I went to mine to retrieve the one Ihad.
Going back to the guestroom, I plugged in the monitor and headed out into the hallway, not sure where I should go. The door to Gannon’s room was open, and I’d seen housekeeping working on it. So I turned and headed to another guest room across the hallway from where I’d putBraiden.
“Where are you going, baby?” I heard his deep voiceask.
I turned and saw Gannon coming my way. Suddenly I was overwhelmed with emotion and ran to him, throwing my arms around him as tears got away from me. “Gannon! You’reokay.”
I had known he was okay. Josh would’ve told me if he was otherwise. But it had just been there, that little doubt. But he was okay, and he was home. And it was allover.
His large hand moved through my hair as his lips met my cheek. “I’m fine. It’s over, baby. She’s going to be in prison for a very, very long time. And my lawyers have already begun the process of stripping her of her maternal rights where Braiden is concerned. If I have my way, he will never know that woman is his mother. He will never know that woman,period.”
I didn’t know what to say. I was full of mixed opinions about that whole thing. But right then, I couldn’t worry about it. He was Braiden’s father. It was his decision tomake.
“I’m just so happy to have you home, Gannon.” I kissed him and felt his lips pull into asmile.
“My room’s getting cleaned. Why don’t you, I, and the baby monitor step into this room over here?” His hand slid down my arm, taking my hand then leading me to the same room I had been going into before he’d stoppedme.
When he opened the door, I found the room to be very much like the one he’d had me in. But there were no windows, as it was an interior room. It was dark once he closed the door, and he had to turn on the overheadlight.
I went to plug in the monitor and was bent over to do that when I felt his arms come around me. He picked me up after I had the plug in the socket and then he took me to the bed. “He’s down for a nap,huh?”
I nodded as he pulled my shoes off. “He should sleep for about an hour, Ithink.”
“Well, I guess we’ll have to make this short and sweet then.” He undid my jeans and pulled them offtoo.
“Oh, will we?” I sat up so he could rid me of my t-shirt and smiled. “Afterward, can I call my mother and tell her to expect us tomorrow for Thanksgiving and my birthday? Everyone shows up the day beforeThanksgiving.”
It was all over. No more danger. No reason not to gonow.
He pulled off my shirt and then my bra, cupping both my breasts. “You better call her and tell her that. I can’t wait to meet themall.”
I sighed in relief. He was going to come with me. I didn’t know why I kept letting doubt into my head, but Idid.
