Four Flames for Angela

Rock and Hunter each stood just inside their rooms. River walked out of his room and down to the end of the hall. “This is the mistress suite for our wife. We wanted a place we could all share with her if that was what she wanted or she could spend some time alone if she needed. That’s why we call it the mistress suite.”

“We hope she likes it when we find her. We let Mom pick out most of the furnishings for now, but they can be changed to suit our wife when the time comes,” Sawyer said behind her.

“Where’s Todd?” Angie asked when she saw Sawyer was alone.

“He and the puppies are watching a movie in the media room for now. He’ll be fine for a few minutes,” Sawyer answered and followed Angie.

Angie walked into the huge room. It was as big as all of her house. The first thing she saw was the huge bed. It had to be as big as two king-size beds put together. She’d never seen a bed that big in her life. There was a small sitting area facing two french doors that led out to a huge balcony with a small table and chairs. On one wall was a huge fireplace under a television mounted on the wall. There was a small fridge along one wall and another table with a coffee maker, a hot water pot, and a small cabinet which Rock opened to show several varieties of tea, coffee, and a few snacks. Someone could hide up here for days if they wanted to.

River was standing inside the biggest bathroom she had ever seen. It was easily half the size of the bedroom. There was a large sunken tub, a room-sized shower enclosure, a wall with five sinks and cabinets below. A huge floor-to-ceiling mirror took up most of one wall. There were plants everywhere, and the room had a tropical feel.

“This is amazing!” Angie looked around, not sure what she liked the best. “You have everything a woman could want in here.”

“We tried.” Hunter sat on the edge of the bed and patted the space next to him for Angie to sit beside him. “Everything in this room can be changed if our lady doesn’t like it. We’ve been looking, and we even found a bigger bed we can put in here if she wants it.”

“Why would she want a bigger bed?” Angie sat on the side of the bed, and there was no way she’d be able to reach the other side without crawling across or getting up and walking around.

“When we all lie down, it gets a little crowded, and we thought she might want more room,” River said, and the guys all lay side by side on the bed, showing Angie how crowded it could get.

“Oh. I see. Well, maybe she’ll like cuddling.” She didn’t want them to think she would want something bigger if it ever came to the point where she might move in.

“That’s nothing we have to decide now,” Rock said, sitting on the other side of her. He laid one hand on her thigh and squeezed. “I’m really sorry we didn’t have more time to spend with you today.”

“I am, too,” Angela replied softly. “Maybe we can plan another time. If I can find someone Todd can stay with.”

“I think we can arrange that. Before he got tired and fell, he was doing fine with Felicia’s and Evelyn’s boys. I’m sure he could stay with either of them if you liked,” Hunter said, kneeling down in front of her.

“That sounds like a good idea. I’ll have to talk to Todd and see what he thinks. He’s never spent much time away from me except for while he’s at school. I don’t know if he’d want to go or not.” Angie looked at the guys. She wanted to spend more time with them but didn’t know how to say so without sounding needy.

“That’s fine. We want Todd to be comfortable so you can focus on us and not worry about him. We want to get to know both of you better and spend time with both of you,” Sawyer said, walking toward the door. “I’m going to run down and check on Todd real fast. If he’s doing okay, I’ll come back up.”

Sawyer disappeared out the door, and she heard his feet hittin

g the stairs. River leaned over and lifted her chin with one finger. “We will always, always make sure you and Todd are taken care of. Even though it’s only been a short time, you’ve both come to mean a lot to us.”

They talked for a few minutes, and then Sawyer came, carrying Todd on his hip. “Angie, can we go home now? The puppies are tired,” Todd asked, yawning and reaching for her.

“Sure, honey. We can go anytime you want to.” She looked at the guys and smiled. She really wasn’t ready for the day to be over, but Todd had to come first.

They were all quiet on the ride home, and Angie made a decision. It was time to tell them about her and Todd’s history. Maybe then they would understand why he was so needy.

Chapter Seven

Angela was quiet on the way back to her house. Todd was leaning against her, and she had one arm around him, cuddling his little body with hers. By the time they made it to her house, he was sound asleep.

“I’ll carry him in for you, honey,” Rock said, helping Angie out and reaching in to get Todd.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. It had been a long day, and like Todd, she was ready for some rest.

Rock carried Todd while River and the others walked Angela to the house. Rock started up the steps and stopped. “You locked the door when we left, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Angie answered, pushing around the men to get in front and see what was going on. River stopped her and handed her to Sawyer. Rock handed Todd to Hunter.

“The door’s open. I want to go in and make sure it’s safe. Take her and Todd back to the car while Hunter and I check it out.” Rock watched while Sawyer and Hunter put Angela and Todd back in the car. Once he knew they were safe he turned to River. “See how the door isn’t shut? I know we shut and locked it when we left. Here’s the plan.”

River walked loudly up the stairs, making as much noise as he could. He knew one of his brothers was in the car calling the police. He wanted to catch whoever was in the house if they were still there, and he wanted them to know he was coming.

He sent Rock around to the back in case they tried to get out that way, and once he was sure Rock was in place, he rushed the door. He burst into the house and was shocked at what he found. He back slowly out and called for Rock. When Rock came around the house, River looked at him and said, “Whoever it was is long gone. We need to get Angela up here without upsetting Todd. I know she won’t want him scared.”