Breathless_ Steel Brothers Saga - HELEN HARDT Page 0,2
full. Come on.” She walked toward the kitchen of the large ranch house.
I had no choice but to follow. My appetite hadn’t been great lately, but I couldn’t deny my hunger as I inhaled the rich beefy scent.
The kitchen table was already set, a clear vase filled with yellow flowers resting in its center. She removed the vase and set it on a nearby counter.
“These get in the way when we eat, but I love to have them around me while I’m working in the kitchen.”
“What are they?”
“Lilies. Asiatic lilies. The light yellow are my favorites, and Jenna rarely has them.”
“Jenna?”
“The florist in town.” She busied herself adding another place setting. “I make a ton of food these days. Even though Jade hardly eats a thing, Talon and those two growing boys eat like maniacs.”
“How’s Jade doing?”
“Sick as a dog, the poor thing. She’s resting now, but she’s a trouper. She spends time with the boys every day, and I make sure she eats enough to keep going. Doctor’s orders.”
“I don’t get it. Melanie wasn’t sick at all.”
“Pregnancy is different for every woman, apparently. Mel got lucky. By the way, did you hear the good news?”
“What news?”
“Melanie got her amnio results back. Everything is normal, and they’re having a boy.”
I smiled. The amniocentesis had been on Joe’s mind. Melanie was forty years old, an age where things could go wrong with pregnancy. “Why didn’t Joe tell me?”
“They just found out this afternoon. That’s why they went into town for a celebratory dinner.”
“That’s great news. Really.”
“I know. I’m so happy for them. I just wish Jade felt better.”
“Yeah. Makes me happy to know I’ll never have to go through it.”
She scoffed. “You men don’t know how lucky you are.”
I nearly scoffed back at her, but I held it in. I didn’t feel particularly lucky these days. Discovering that my father was a pedophilic psychopathic rapist had that effect on a guy.
“Where’s Henry?” Marjorie asked.
“He’s home with Mom.”
“You should bring him by. I miss him.”
“With this brood keeping you busy?” I forced a laugh. “How could you?”
“Because he’s adorable and I love him,” she said, her tone serious.
“I’ve been letting him stay with Mom mostly,” I said. “It’s good for her. He’s keeping her from thinking about…other things.”
“Oh. Yeah. I guess I get it.”
“How’s your mom?”
She sighed. “The same.”
Daphne Steel lived in a mental institution in Grand Junction. Marjorie and her brothers had recently relocated her from California, once all the threats to her had been removed. Long story. She lived in an imaginary world where Marjorie was named Angela and she was still a baby.
I wasn’t sure what to say. Daphne’s prognosis wasn’t good. I finally settled on, “Smells great in here.”
“It’ll be ready soon. I’m going to make a small plate for Jade and then stand over her while she eats it. Make yourself at home. Tal should be here in a few.” She quickly filled a plate.
I tried not to, but I ogled Marj’s perfect ass as she left the kitchen. I couldn’t help myself.
Now what?
I stood and walked to the sliding glass doors leading out to the redwood deck. The younger boy, Donny, ran around in the yard, being chased by two golden retriever pups and Talon’s loveable mutt, Roger. He was doing well, all things considered. Bouncing back was apparently easier at seven than at thirty-eight.
I shook my head. How could I even compare my situation to Donny’s? He’d been through the hell that Talon had been through—physical and sexual abuse as a young child. Me? I was heading into middle age when I found out my father was a perverted psycho.
Despite my father’s disgusting tendencies, he’d never laid a hand on me or my mother. He had laid a hand—and other parts—on my best friend’s brother, Talon Steel. He’d done worse to my cousin Luke Walker. My father and his two psycho cronies had killed Luke after torturing him.
How Joe and Talon could even look at me eluded me sometimes. If the situation were reversed, I wasn’t sure I could be so forgiving. Granted, I’d done nothing wrong. Nothing. And they didn’t blame me for my father’s actions.
But shouldn’t I have known?
My father had been a respected attorney. My father had been the one who welcomed Talon back to Snow Creek as a war hero when he returned from Iraq. My father, who’d also been Talon’s rapist when he was young.