Falling for the Brother

“Wow. She did it without conscience?”

“No, she’s just that practical. I asked her why she’d done it, and she said she’d had a pretend fire, but didn’t mean to hurt anything. She figured I could just fix it. I told her she had to have a time-out.”

“What did she do?”

“She sat quietly in the corner, until I went to get her. Then she told me she was really sorry and started to cry.”

“So, if Bruce has ever shown any signs of aggression…with anyone…while she’s around, she’d probably be able to tell us about it.”

Harper’s breath stuck in her throat. “Not us,” she managed. “But I’m going to get her in to see one of our counselors here at the Stand this morning.” She picked up the phone, pushed the extension for Sara’s office, made the appointment for an hour later, then hung up and glanced back at Mason.

“Like I was saying,” she said, all business now. “I’m just getting up to speed here. I haven’t even had a chance to finish reading all the reports. But you can rest assured that there’s at least one guard aware of Miriam’s whereabouts at all times. Today Lila called in an off-duty officer, but by noon I’ll have a schedule made out for the remainder of the two weeks. Don’t worry, Mason, I can promise you that if it’s humanly possible, we won’t let Bruce get in and we won’t let her leave.”

He nodded, hands in his pockets now, but didn’t seem in any hurry to leave. She needed him to go. His familiar scent had wafted all around her and she needed her mind clear.

Was it likely that a guy would use the same soap for more than five years? Or the same aftershave? Or whatever it was that gave Mason the scent that just seemed to call to her? Tricked her into thinking that within him lay her security.

It was ludicrous. Laughable. She was the head of security. The filling of any security needs she might have lay firmly within her.

“I was hoping you’d talk to her.” It took her a second to realize he meant Miriam.

Tapping her pencil against her palm she said, “I have no problem with that, but I don’t think it would do any good. She’s not particularly fond of me.”

Now it was his turn to frown. “What do you mean? She adored you. And you were so great with her. She’s never given me any indication that changed.”

Trying to make light of something that had hurt her deeply, she said, “I don’t know what happened. After the divorce Bruce told me she agreed not to bad-mouth me in front of Brianna as long as I didn’t step foot in her house. I’m allowed to pull into the driveway, but have to wait for him to come out and get her from the car.”

His hand flew out of his pocket and into the air with such force it was a wonder his pants didn’t rip. “See what he does? He told me you said you couldn’t bear to see me again, and he’s told you Miriam said…”

Couldn’t bear to see me again… His words seemed to have…emotion…attached. Something she’d have to revisit. Later.

“No, that wasn’t the end of it,” she clarified, and then continued. “The first time I brought Brianna over to see Bruce, I went in with her. This was before he was living with Miriam. I was sitting on the couch, watching Brianna play on the rug, trying to reach for a toy Bruce had bought for her. Miriam came in the front door, saw me sitting there and went off on me. Asked me was I satisfied now that I’d ruined her Bruce’s life—and who did I think I was, invading his home after I’d hurt him so badly…”

“How did you hurt him so badly?” Mason’s expression was quizzical and she saw the conversation going off track again. But she answered anyway.

“By leaving him. He couldn’t believe I actually would. Especially with Brianna still a baby. He’d trusted me to always be there and then I wasn’t.” She got it completely. Knew how badly it hurt when people destroyed your ability to trust them.

When he seemed about to follow that up with another question—one she feared would be more in depth about the reason for her divorce—she barreled ahead. “Anyway, when I saw how much Miriam hated me, I told Bruce I didn’t think it was healthy for Brianna to be around her. Instead, he talked to Miriam, and the rest you know. I don’t go in the house. She doesn’t bad-mouth me around my daughter. I can’t explain why she didn’t mention any of this to you, but my guess would be that she didn’t mention me at all. She wasn’t going to risk losing her access to her great-granddaughter.”