Page 35 of Resilient Rhythms
The corners of her lips turn up. “Are we?” She bites the corner of her mouth and I know what she’s thinking:look at our track record. Look at all the pain we’ve caused each other.
“It’s different now.”
“How?”
“We’ve already made all the mistakes. We’ve already handled everything wrong.”
She snorts out a laugh and I grin at the sound.
“We’ve already lost each other,” I continue. “And we’re not willing to do that again. So, this time, we fight it together.”
She sucks in a breath and nods in agreement. “Okay. You’re right.”
“I love you, beauty.”
“I love you too, Mav.”
“Good.” I smile and shake our joined hands, releasing my hold on her. “I’m going to call the police and your dad and then, we’ll figure out what comes next.”
“Okay. But let’s continue to live this time, Mav. I don’t want to cower in fear and put my life on hold because Bran’s out there. He’s always going to be out there. I don’t want him to steal any more light from my life.”
“Then we won’t let him,” I vow.
I call the police. I call Mr. Byrne. And I avoid looking at the pile of dead fucking flowers in the kitchen.
Since Mckenna doesn’t have a formal restraining order against Bran due to Mr. Byrne’s deal with Mr. Burton, the best the police can offer is to increase patrolling in the area and kick the report over to a detective for follow-up.
While I appreciate their efforts and understand the limitations, I’m uneasy. I can tell Mr. Byrne is too, but, like me, he waits for Mckenna to weigh in.
“We’re going bowling,” my beauty announces after the police leave the brownstone.
“What?” I frown at her.
“We have practice,” she reminds me.
“Kenny, clearly this is more—” Mr. Byrne starts.
Mckenna lifts her eyebrows at me. “Still living my life.”
I sigh, knowing she’s reaching for familiarity. She doesn’t want to flip her life upside down, again, because of fucking Bran. But— “Do you think we should consider additional security?” I ask tentatively, watching her expression closely.
Mr. Byrne nods enthusiastically.
Mckenna’s quiet for a moment before she agrees. “Yes, I think that would be a good idea. I’m not going to cower and hide, Dad.” She directs this toward her father. “I’m going to keep living my life.”
He stares at her. Years of regrets and joys pass through his eyes before he clears his throat and nods. “Of course. Good for you, Kenny. I think extra security can’t hurt.”
“Can you line it up?” Mckenna asks me.
“Consider it done,” I say, already itching to pick up my cell phone and call Drew.
“Good.” She smiles. “Then, we should get ready for bowling.”
Mckenna moves toward the stairs to change and I exchange a look with Mr. Byrne.
“What do you think?” he murmurs.
“I think this thing with Bran needs to get settled once and for all.”
