Page 37 of Protected By Him

“Come on, sis, give me a hug. You can’t break what’s already broken,” he said.

“That’s not funny,” she choked out through her tears. She carefully wrapped her arms around him, and he circled her waist with his good arm.

They remained like that for several minutes, whispering things to each other that I couldn’t hear. I gave them privacy and went to the baggage carousel to grab Brandon’s luggage. His Army-issued bag was easy to spot. When I returned, the airline staff member was gone, and Laura and Brandon had separated, though she still held his good hand tightly between both of hers, like she was afraid he might disappear if she let go.

“Hey, man,” Brandon said. My eyes burned with tears of my own, and I leaned down, pressing my forehead to his and clasping the back of his neck with my left hand.

“You look like shit,” I said, making him laugh.

“It’s not as bad as it looks.”

I pulled back enough to meet his eyes but didn’t release my hold on his neck. “It better be. We’re going to have a long talk about keeping secrets in this family.”

“Can we do it over lunch?” Brandon asked. “I’m starving.”

Laughing, I straightened. “You bet, soldier,” I said.

Then, I slung his bag over my shoulder and moved around behind him to push his chair toward the entrance. Laura walked along next to him, still holding tightly to his hand.

***

Thirty minutes later, we were seated at Brandon’s favorite diner, close to his house. We had no sooner sat down, than Laura had demanded to know what had happened to him. He’d given us a brief version of the roadside bomb his unit had stumbled upon while on patrol. Several of his fellow soldiers had been killed in the blast, and Brandon had suffered wounds to his shoulder, chest, and thigh along the left side of his body. He’d been evacuated to a hospital in Germany where he’d spent the last three weeks recovering before coming home.

“I didn’t tell you because there was nothing you could do but worry,” Brandon told his sister for what was probably the third time. “I was getting the best care possible. My wounds weren’t even life-threatening, or they would have called you.”

“You should have told me,” Laura insisted firmly. Brandon looked at me for help, but I shook my head at him. He was on his own there. I was just as pissed as Laura that he’d kept his injuries a secret. I knew he was sparing us the worst details, that it had been far worse than what he’d told us. But I also knew he would tell me the whole story if and when he was ready. I wouldn’t push him.

Brandon sighed heavily, then tried to change the subject. “So, I hear you can throw a frying pan better than a softball,” he teased Laura.

She laughed. “You never should have let me try out for the softball team in high school, what a disaster.”

Without thinking, I put my hand over hers on the table and squeezed. “For once in her life, she had excellent aim,” I said, then immediately noticed how quiet Brandon had gotten.

I looked over at him, and he glanced pointedly from me, to my hand covering Laura’s, and back again, then raised a brow. “Looks like I’m not the only one who’s been keeping secrets,” he said.

Laura moved to pull her hand away, but I kept it firmly in place. “Not a secret,” I said. “We’re together. I’m proud to call Laura mine.” I looked over at Laura and met her eyes. “My love for Laura is matched only by my love for Ella.”

Laura smiled softly at me and replied, “I love you, too.”

Brandon swore softly, and we both looked at him. “Damnit,” he said. “I owe Ramona a hundred bucks.”

“What? Why would you owe my mother money?” I asked.

“She bet me that the two of you would get together before I got home. I told her it would take you at least another year to pull your head out of your ass and make a move,” he told me.

Laura gasped in shock, and I laughed in disbelief. Brandon reached his right hand across the table and clasped my shoulder.

“I’ve known for years that you’re in love with my sister. What I don’t know is why it took you so long to do something about it. But I’m glad you finally got your act together. There’s no better man for her than you, Leo,” he said, his eyes taking on a misty quality. “Knowing you were here watching over her was the only thing that kept me sane after I was injured. I knew I didn’t have to worry about what might happen to me because Laura would always have you.”

Laura jumped up from the table and wrapped Brandon in a fierce hug. He grunted, part in embarrassment at how emotional we were being in the middle of a diner and part in discomfort due to his injuries. For the second time that afternoon, I felt tears gather in my eyes, and I reached forward and clasped his hand with both of mine.

Our moment was interrupted by a throat clearing behind us, and we turned to see our waitress with a tray bearing our lunch orders. We quickly settled back into our places, cheeks wet, and smiling. I caught Laura’s eye, and we smiled at each other. I grabbed her hand and brought it to my lips, placing a soft kiss on her finger tips. Across from me, Brandon groaned obnoxiously.

“Is this what I have to look forward to now? All this mushy stuff?”

“You’re just jealous,” Laura teased. “One day, you’re going to fall in love, and I can’t wait to remind you of this conversation.”

“Not likely,” Brandon groused.

---