Unbreakable Hearts

by Harper Bentley

  Doug looked at him as if he’d suddenly sprouted two more heads. “Well, I wouldn’t go that far.” He looked at Tilly for help.

  God, he had to be the most hardheaded man she’d ever known. Did he seriously not understand that they were finished? How many times or ways did she need to tell him? This was now past ridiculous and heading toward crazy.

  “Doug,” Tilly reprimanded. She got out plates with a sigh, putting a slice of bread on each, getting forks then carrying two dishes over to place in front of each man before going back to get her own. She retrieved the whipped cream out of the fridge then sat at the table not knowing how to politely tell her ex that he was now her freaking ex.

  Jeff squirted a huge mound of whipped cream onto his bread, set the can down, cut into his slice with his fork and jammed a great big bite into his mouth. “Holy shit, that’s good,” he said upon swallowing. Then he licked his fork until Tilly thought he’d take the silver plating off.

  “Mom makes the best,” Doug said smugly before taking a bite himself.

  “Damn sure does,” Jeff agreed.

  Great. Tilly had hoped her brother would back her up, but now she knew he’d probably beg her to stay with Doug just so he could keep getting the fabulous bread. But after he’d wolfed down the rest of his dessert, he looked at Doug, all business again as he sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest once more. “First of all, tell Mrs. Donati that her pumpkin bread is fucking fantastic.”

  Tilly started to scold her brother for cussing but decided not to break in right then. She was curious to see what he’d say.

  “Second, according to my sister, you guys are finished, Doug. Over.” When Doug started to balk, Jeff held up a hand and said, “I get that you’re friends and still probably have a working relationship, which is fine, but you don’t wanna screw shit up to where she’s gonna have to slap a protective order on you, do you? That ‘d probably cut into the business a tad, don’t you think? So why don’t you play it smart and get it through your head that you guys are done, okay?”

  Doug sputtered for a few minutes as he was wont to do when he was upset, then he got up and stomped to the front door with Tilly on his heels.

  “Doug, it doesn’t have to be like this,” she offered.

  He turned. “Oh, yeah? How does it have to be, Tilly? I love you! I thought you loved me too! I want to marry you!” He reached into his jacket pocket and snatched out a ring box, popping it open and practically shoving it into her face. “See! I bought this today! I was going to ask you tonight! But you’ve gone and messed it all up, you bitch!”

  “Hey!” Jeff yelled, defending his sister, but Doug had already made it out the door, slamming it in his wake.

  Tilly’s face had gone white and she held her cheeks in her hands. “Wow.”

  “Jesus, Till. That guy’s a fucking psycho. I don’t want you around him in any manner now, you hear me? I think you might go ahead and get a PO on him anyway.” He looked at her and realized she was crying. “Hey, hey, it’s okay.” He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head as she shook in his arms. “It’ll be okay.” When she pulled back from him, he was ready to comfort her some more until he realized she hadn’t been crying because she was scared or sad or whatever. The tears she was crying were from her laughing. “Uh. You okay?”

  She then started laughing so hard she wrapped her arms around her stomach and bent over at the waist trying to get her breath. After a few minutes, she finally collected herself. “Oh, God. I’m sorry. But I found that really hilarious.”

  Jeff just stared at her confused, which made her start laughing again, this time even harder. “You wanna let me in on the hilarious part?”

  When she finally caught her breath she said, “Well, he’s just so stupid! He thought I’d marry him? He actually thought I’d say yes? The guy’s delusional! I can’t wait to tell Quinn about this.” She kept giggling as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “She’s gonna be so pissed that she missed this.”

  “I know she’ll be mad that she didn’t get to kick his ass outta here,” Jeff replied with a hesitant chuckle. “That and she missed the pumpkin bread.”

  “Oh, there’s plenty left.”

  “Nah. I’m taking it with me.” He smirked.

  “Whatever,” Tilly said. “Thanks for being here for that. I don’t know if I could’ve explained it. It’s pretty much one of those ‘had to be there’ things.” She fanned herself trying to stop laughing.

  “Yeah. I feel honored to have witnessed that fucking debacle.”

  That made her giggle some more. “Oh, my. That was just priceless.” She wiped under her eyes. “Whew. Haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.” After sobering some, she took a deep breath and blowing it out looked at her brother and said with a sad smile, “Movie time.”

  He nodded slowly and sighed. “’Kay.”

  They had a long-standing tradition that every Thanksgiving they watched It’s a Wonderful Life. Tilly didn’t know when the tradition had started but their dad had loved the movie and had started having them watch it every Thanksgiving evening that he was off work when they were little. After he passed away, their mother decided to keep watching in his honor. Although the first year had been hell on all of them, they’d made it through the movie, with not a few tears. Since then, it’d just become a part of their holiday once again.

  “I’ll get the popcorn if you’ll get out the Milk Duds,” Tilly said.

  “Oh, I’m on that,” Jeff said, heading to the kitchen with Tilly right behind him snickering.

  “Endless gut. Jeez,” she teased.

  “Only reason I work out is so I can eat anything I want.”

  “Oh, not because you might have to chase down a bad guy or anything, right?”

  “Right. Food trumps criminals any day.”

  Tilly shook her head as she began putting away the rest of the food that’d been left when Doug had interrupted. Jeff leaned against the counter eating the candy.

  “Don’t offer to help or anything,” she said pointedly, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

  “Okay, I won’t,” he retorted.

  “Men,” she murmured as she put a lid over the mashed potatoes. “I’ve still got lots left over if you wanna stop by for lunch the next few days. Or I can pack some up for you to take home?”

  “Both. I’ll take some turkey home with me so I can make sandwiches. But I’ll come by for the other stuff.”

  “Do that. Come on in if I’m not here or I’m working. Lord knows my thighs will thank you.”

  “You’re, what, five foot seven and weigh one twenty? Plus, you work out at the gym a couple times a week, right? No chance you’ll be getting fat any time soon.”

  “If I eat the rest of this, there is.” She pushed him out of the way to grab a bowl out of the cabinet. “So you can do the honors and help keep my cellulite at bay.”

  Jeff snorted as he popped a couple Milk Duds in his mouth. “Women,” he teased going to the living room to put the DVD in.

  After starting the dishwasher, Tilly threw a bag of popcorn in the microwave getting out a bowl as she waited for it to finish still chuckling at the fiasco that’d just happened. Dang.

  When she came into the living room, she saw Jeff sitting on the couch, his feet propped up on the coffee table, which got him a gimlet eye from her. He just smiled innocently and kept them there. When she kept staring at him, he gave in. “Okay, okay, I’ll take my boots off. God, you’re as bad as Mom and Jen.” He leaned down, unlacing and taking off his boots then put his stocking feet back on the table. “Happy?”

  “Extremely,” she said with a grin, sitting on the couch and putting the popcorn bowl between them.

  “Ready to fire this baby up?” Jeff asked, aiming the remote at the DVD player.

  “As ever.”

  The movie started, and she and Jeff began their ritual of quoting Mr. Gower, Martini, George’s mother and the others between mouthfuls of popc
orn and Milk Duds without batting an eyelash. They’d seen the movie so many times they knew almost every line.

  Halfway through, Tilly put her hand on Jeff’s and squeezed. “Dad would be proud of you, you know.”

  Jeff gave her an endearing look, squeezing her hand right back. “You too, Till.”

  ***

  “Sure you don’t want to stay here?” she asked when the movie was over.

  “Nah. I need to get home. Need to call Jen back anyway.” He grabbed his cell and called for a taxi.

  “Okay. Let me pack up some stuff for you then.”

  She went to the kitchen and rounded up several items she knew he wanted, putting them in a plastic shopping bag. Jen wouldn’t be back until Saturday evening, so she wanted to make sure he had enough to eat for the next two days.

  “Thanks for everything, Till,” he said through a yawn as she came back into the living room.

  “You’re welcome.” She handed him the bag. “I’m glad you came over. Glad we got to talk to Mom together too.” They’d called halfway through the movie to check on her and their grandma and to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving.

  “I need to get up there soon, just tough getting time off.”

  “She understands. Plus, she and Nana are coming into the city to shop sometime next month, so I’m sure you’ll see them then,” Tilly told him.

  “Yeah. Well, your cooking was once again amazing. If this picture taking gig doesn’t work out for you, you might look into opening a restaurant.” He grinned at her then leaned down and kissed her cheek.

  She chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll be sure to check into that… never.” The taxi honked for him. “Get home safely. Love you.”

  “Love you too,” he said then he was out the door and gone.

  Chapter 10

  After Jeff left, Tilly locked the door behind him. Resting her hands on the backs of her hips, she stretched her back. Sitting for two hours had made her sore on top of all the standing and walking she’d done that morning, so she went to the kitchen and took one of the muscle relaxers she’d been prescribed when she’d strained her lower back the month before when she’d foolishly rearranged her furniture by herself. She didn’t take the pills often since they made her sleepy, but since she’d only be working at home in the morning, not daring to brave the Black Friday shoppers, she knew it’d be okay if she slept in just a little.

  Turning out the kitchen light, she headed upstairs and after showering, went to bed. She’d just drifted off when she was awakened by a noise downstairs. Thinking Jeff had come back for something she turned over and wrapped herself more tightly in her comforter. The pills she’d taken made her so sleepy, she just couldn’t find it in her to get up and see what her brother had forgotten.

  She was just nodding off again when she felt a presence in her bedroom.

  “Jeff?” she asked sleepily. “Did you forget something?” She turned over and faced the door of her room to see the silhouette of her brother standing in it. When he didn’t answer, she squinted her eyes to see him better. “I can’t see without my contacts. What’re you doing back? Did you forget something?”

  “Yeah,” he whispered. “My coat. Go back to sleep.”

  “Mmkay,” she murmured as she turned back over, cuddling into her blankets. “’S’cold out. Can’t believe you went out there without your coat. Lock up when you leave… love you.” And she was out.

  ***

  Graham stood in the doorway looking at the woman lying in her bed. How simple it’d be to violate her in oh, so many ways. He stayed in the doorway watching her for another minute to make sure she didn’t get up, then went back downstairs finding her studio. Going inside he grabbed two cameras from her desk then left moving through the kitchen toward the back door. Suddenly, he stopped then walked back through the kitchen to the foot of the stairs. Staring up at the top of the landing, he knew it’d be so easy to go back up there. His heart beat hard in his chest at the thought of binding and gagging the woman and taking her by force, which made his dick get hard. God, she was such easy prey. He put his foot on the first step to go up, but a cell phone suddenly ringing from somewhere in her studio pulled him out of his fantasy.

  Damn. Maybe next time. He went back through the kitchen and out the back door then jogged to the street where he’d parked two blocks away. Getting in his car he drove back to his in-laws’ house. He hoped the little maid would still be around and up for a good fucking; he’d use her to play out his rape fantasy and get it out of his system. Maybe.

  ***

  Tilly awoke the next morning feeling well rested. She hated taking those damned pills since they knocked her plum out, but she’d actually needed the sleep since she’d been a bit wired before the parade shoot and hadn’t slept well the past couple of days. In the kitchen, she poured herself a cup of coffee then went into her studio to look over the pictures on her laptop.

  While waiting for it to come to life, she checked her cell phone for any messages and seeing that she’d missed a call from Jeff, she returned it as she sipped her coffee.

  “Yo,” he answered.

  “Nice and formal this morning, aren’t we? Hey, just saw where you called last night. What’s up?”

  “Was just gonna inform you that I’d be heading that way for lunch today. I, uh, kinda got hungry when I got home last night and finished off what you sent,” he explained sounding a little sheepish.

  “You ate all that?” she asked with a laugh.

  “I’m a growing boy,” he replied, laughing with her.

  “Good grief. That was enough to feed two people for at least two days,” she teased.

  “Well, you shouldn’t be such a good cook then I wouldn’t feel the need to scarf everything down in one sitting.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Flattery will get you another piece of pumpkin pie.”

  “That’s what I was hoping. And some turkey and stuffing and green bean casserole and yams and…”

  “All right. I get it. What time are you coming by?”

  “Around one. That good for you?”

  “Yep. C’mon in. I’ll have a trough set up for you.”

  Jeff snickered. “That’d be nice.”

  They hung up then she opened the folder on her laptop that contained the pictures she’d loaded of the parade. Oh, they were fantastic! She was so excited that she’d gotten such great shots. As she worked, she got so caught up in arranging the pictures in different categories and emailing out to different vendors, that before she knew it Jeff was hollering from the living room for her.

  “Back here!” she answered.

  “Wow. You look great,” he said with a snort when he walked into her studio.

  “Hey. That’s not very nice. I went to bed with my hair wet and haven’t straightened it yet. Besides, my glasses make a pretty good headband, don’t you think?” She got up and smacked him on the arm.

  “Mm hm. Hey, guess what? Sean McAdams works homicide and he’s been giving me tips, letting me shadow him some so I have a clue to how it all works. He’s working a case right now. Businessman killed in his office yesterday morning. Shot right between his fucking eyes. Brains on the wall behind him. Sick, huh? Sean thinks it was a disgruntled employee. Anyway, I’m loving it. All I’ve gotta do is study up, take my test and cross my fingers that I pass and they want me.”

  “Uh, yeah, pretty sick,” she said scrunching up her nose.

  “Gonna go fix me a plate,” he said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

  “Wait a second.” She stood staring at him for a few seconds, digesting what he’d just told her. “You’re serious about becoming a detective?” When he nodded, surprisingly, she was okay with it and nodded back at him. She went to her cabinet and grabbed one of her cameras then proceeded to snap several shots of him saying, “Let me take some pictures of you before you get famous, Sherlock. Actually, I’ve had a couple shots toward the end that have fuzzy spots on them. Need to see if maybe I’ve got dust on the sensor.” When he started
posing like a model in his police uniform, it made her snicker, but when he did “Blue Steel,” she was done and put the camera down.

  “Finished?” he asked.

  “When you start acting like a bigger dork than you are, I have to call it quits.”

  “No one likes a quitter.” He chuckled. When he saw that she was caught up in what she was doing, he went to the kitchen.

  “What the hell?” she yelled several minutes later.

  Jeff came into the room eating from his plateful of leftovers and sat down at the table she had in there. “What?” he asked, mouth full.

  “This is the wrong Nikon. I know the one I used yesterday was in here because I loaded the pics from it when I got home last night. I thought maybe I’d put it up and just forgot.” She frowned then went to the cabinet and grabbed a point-and-shoot, checking it. “This isn’t the one I used yesterday either! The cameras I used are gone!”

  She got up and started looking in the drawers of the computer desk, wondering if maybe she’d put them in there. When she didn’t find them, she left her studio and walked through her house thinking maybe she’d absentmindedly left them somewhere else.

  “Called Jen last night. Her folks asked her when we’re getting married,” Jeff said, following her still eating.

  Tilly stopped and looked at him. “Oh? What’d she say?”

  “She told them we’re too young, thank God. I mean, I love her and I think I’d like to spend the rest of my life with her, but we’re only twenty-five. We’ve both agreed to wait until we’re at least your decrepit age.”

  Tilly snorted then cut him a dirty look. “Yeah, ‘cause twenty-seven’s just ancient. But I’m glad you guys are waiting. I think it’s smart.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Wait. Did you come back by last night because you forgot your coat?” She looked at him with a frown.

  “Huh? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  At that moment, she felt her heart jump into her throat. “Oh, my God. Someone was in the house last night,” she said in disbelief.