“Is it? He’s not the only one who’s had thoughts like that.”
I well knew my brother Ryan and his wife had both worried they’d turn out to be psychopathic like their biological mother and father, respectively.
“It’s easy for me or anyone else to tell Bryce that it’s unlikely,” Mel went on, “but it’s not so easy to get him to believe it.”
“I know.”
How well I knew. I’d had the same thoughts about my mother. She was far from a psychopath, but she was certifiably insane. She lived in her own reality where I was still a baby and Ryan didn’t exist.
Which reminded me. I need to touch base with the other nurse who’d been assigned to her the day “my father” had visited. Icy spikes dug into the back of my neck. Nothing had shown up on the visitors’ log, and it was certainly within the realm of possibility that my mother had imagined the whole thing.
Still, it niggled at me. With Dale having seen someone who spooked him, and with Colin Morse and his father acting strangely, I couldn’t help but think some stranger might be lurking around my mother.
I didn’t voice any of this to Mel. In fact, I’d neglected to tell my brothers. So much had happened in so few days that I’d actually let it float to the back of my mind.
I had to get in touch with Barry, the nurse, and I had to tell my brothers.
“Maybe you need to give him what he asks for. Give him the space. Don’t seek him out.”
“But I live in the main house!”
“I’m not saying you have to purposely avoid him. If that’s what he wants, let him do the avoiding. My guess is he won’t be able to stay away from you.”
“Why?”
“Because he hasn’t so far. He told you from the beginning that he couldn’t be with you, yet you say he came back to you twice after that.”
“What am I supposed to do if he comes to me, then?”
“That’s up to you.”
I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. “No offense, but that’s no help at all.”
“I can’
t make your decisions for you, Marj. You know that.”
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I knew that. Therapy had helped me a lot, but sometimes it grated on my nerves. Sometimes I just wanted the easy way out.
“I don’t know what to do. If he comes to me and wants me…” I couldn’t finish the sentence. We both knew the answer.
I’d give in.
I’d give in to Bryce Simpson every time.
Chapter Five
Bryce
“I don’t get it,” Joe said again.
I cleared my throat. “Mathias roofied Ruby.”
“Yeah. So?”
“And Talon only has fragmented memories of his time in captivity. He was probably drugged.”
“Shit.” Joe removed his hat and threaded his fingers through his hair. “You’re not thinking…”