When Tori and Lacey arrived on the scene, they took in the enormous framed photograph and the small hand-written card with its damning message and stood quietly. The silence in the room was so thick you could hack at it with an axe.
“You’re an ass Alex Marquez,” Tori eventually bit out deridingly.
Lacey made that clucking noise, which spoke of something just this side of pity, and shook her head. “Feel stupid now, do we? Hmmm?”
The irony of the situation did not escape Alex. For what seemed like forever he, Draegyn, and Cameron have been a force to be reckoned with. When the three brothers banded together, there was nothing that couldn’t be done. Along the way a female counterpoint to their trio had been forming. Tori and Lacey, who forever after he would refer to in his head as the Justice Sisters, were just as formidable a force, ready to fight for their missing partner.
Clearing his throat, Alex felt like he’d hit a wall going about a thousand miles an hour. Tori had taunted him, almost pleaded with him to just ask about Meghan. He wasn’t stupid. Okay, maybe he was where the fairer sex was concerned. But he knew enough to realize that opening a dialogue and asking was one of those tests that meant something to women. All he had to do was stick a toe in the door and maybe it wouldn’t slam shut forever. Was it really that simple?
There were a million things he could say or ask but only one question really mattered. In the end, it wasn’t about him and his tired, old crybaby shit at all. What he really cared about was Meghan and nothing else.
“What’s she up to?” No, wait. That wasn’t enough. “I mean, is she okay?” Jesus. He sounded like a mumbling twit.
Something about what he said must have been right because Tori beamed at him and put her hand on his forearm. “She misses you, and that’s all that matters.”
Alex grabbed at his chest like he’d been shot. “Don’t fuck with me Mrs. St. John,” he begged. “I need the truth.”
Lacey quickly spoke up with clear, calm eloquence. “That is the truth, Alex. Even after what you did—pushing her away and acting like a pig—she misses you.”
And there it was. He’d been an insufferable dick. Clinging to things well past their expiration date. It all made sense now. For years, he’d punished himself for stuff he never really had control over no matter what bullshit he tried to believe. Alex had always known that authority wasn’t the same thing as control but hadn’t fully internalized what that meant. By going away when he practically demanded she leave, Meghan had left him with his pathetic need intact to be the one with the power; but without her in his life, the brutal truth was it was all so very empty, hollow, and meaningless.
He also knew that missing him wasn’t the same as forgiving. Or needing. He‘d have to bring something tangible and real to the table if he hoped to fix the mess he’d made. Being someone with zero experience in these matters, he turned to his sisters-in-law for guidance. “What should I do?”
Tori and Lacey smiled. Drae and Cam exhaled a huge sigh of relief.
“Um,” Alex mumbled before they could answer, anxiously, scraping his fingers through his hair. He didn’t care who the fuck knew he was a total head case about this woman. It was the truth. “When you talk to Meghan, will you….I mean, are you going to let her know I asked?”
Suddenly he was the center of an affectionate pregnant sandwich as two bellies pressed in on him from either side with both women hugging him tight. Feeling their approval and unconditional love kept his feet on the ledge. Maybe he didn’t have to jump headfirst into oblivion after all.
“Alright, alright,” Cam chuckled. “Jesus ladies. Let the man breathe,” he teased, peeling his wife off Alex’s body.
Tori stayed close though, still hugging as hard as her little rounded body would let her. “Don’t do anything, Boss. I mean it,” she chided. “You’ll put your foot in it for sure. Let me talk to her and see which way the wind is blowing. It’s getting late on the East Coast but I’m going to try calling her in a bit.”
Alex hugged her back. “Thanks babe. I’ll owe you one.”
“No, Dad. Not necessary.” Her sweet smile warmed his heart. When Drae came and slung an arm about his wife’s shoulders, the husband and wife exchanged a meaningful look.
“We just want you to be happy, Alex. If anything, we’re paying you back for helping us when we lost our way.” Drae nodded at his wife’s well-spoken sentiment.
Squeezing his hand for reassurance she promised to let him know after she’d reached Meghan but reminded him not to expect too much at first. He knew he’d hurt her but hearing the warning in Tori’s words made his blood run cold. Please God, he silently prayed. Don’t let it be too late.
“Mom,” Meghan groaned as she pressed her head into her hands. “Please stop with the questions. I don’t want to talk about it, so drop the whole thing, okay?”
Snorting furiously, Maggie O’Brien bit back, “I most certainly will not, young lady. And you’d do well to remember who you’re talking to, missy. I can get your father up here in two minutes.” The tone in her voice and fire in her mother’s eyes were intended to make a point. Yep. Bull’s eye, she thought. Dammit.
Defeated by the old threat, Meghan gave in. Nothing was worse than seeing disappointment in her father’s eyes so she braced herself for the onslaught of questions coming her way. She wasn’t mad or even annoyed. It was just that she didn’t have any answers. None that made sense, anyway.
“Meghan Elizabeth O’Brien. I’m surprised you would even try and keep anything from me. When I left you in California, your plan was to wander around the southwest for awhile before moving on to New Orleans.”
Meghan was uncomfortable being reminded of her original plans. So much had changed since the spa retreat with her mom.
“And the next thing I know, you’re staying at some private hacienda in the desert. No explanation. Nothing. Now here you are, back in Boston with your tail between your legs and no comment plastered on your face.” Her mother wiped her hands on the apron she wore and sighed, exasperated at Meghan.
“Mo stoirín,” Maggie O’Brien whispered the old Irish saying that meant ‘my little darling.’ As the only girl in the family, the expression was a special endearment just for her. “It’s been weeks, darling. You’re not eating or sleeping, and you walk around here like a thousand pound weight is strapped to your back. This isn’t like you Meggie.”
She winced at her mother’s apt description.
In a gentle voice her mother prompted, “Tell me about this Major you’re trying so hard not to speak about.”
Leave it to Ma to zero in on the substance right away. Meghan looked away and searched for the best answer to the simple question. Everything about the room they were in screamed comfortable. It was familiar and solid, just like her childhood. But the matter of Alex Marquez was none of those things. Not comfortable. Certainly not solid and completely un-familiar.
Collapsing in a soft overstuffed chair like a puppet whose strings were suddenly cut, Meghan swung her legs over the arm and sat sideways, a brooding frown on her face. Picking at imaginary lint on her clothes, she smoothed her top and heaved a deep sigh. “His name is Alex. Alexander Valleja-Marquez.”
Her mother’s eyebrows shot up. “Well that sounds rather old worldly.”
Meghan snorted in amusement. Old worldly. Yeah, on the outside maybe. Inside however beat the heart of a primal warrior. She couldn’t see herself explaining that to her mom.
Shrugging, she tried acting like it was no big deal. “Yeah. He’s some sort of ancestral Spanish Don. The hacienda dates back in his family to the early eighteen hundreds and is more like an entire village on hundreds of acres than a simple home.”
“How is it you came to be staying with a Spanish Don in the middle of the desert? You’re leaving an awful lot out, daughter.”
She looked into her mother’s face and dropped the bomb in the story. “He was David’s commanding officer in Afghanistan.” Letting the facts sink in, Meghan
gave it a minute then kept talking.
“He wrote to me about David’s military service a couple of months after his funeral. We exchanged some letters and still send a card during the holidays. I knew he lived outside Sedona and decided to pay a visit. That’s the simplest way of explaining how we know each other.”
“Why on God’s green earth would you decide to pay a visit?” her mother asked incredulously.
There was no way she was going to be able to keep anything secret from her mom now that she was, more or less, letting the cat out of the bag.
“Mom, don’t freak out but…David was gay.”
Her mother’s shocked gasp filled the air.
Meghan hurried to fill in the blanks while she watched her mother grapple with that bit of news. “I didn’t even realize it till after he went back overseas that last time. And for the record, Mike knows. We talked about it. It’s way complicated and to be honest, I’m not even sure David had admitted it to himself. But all the signs were there.” She hurried out the rest of the story before she lost her nerve. “We never did anything more than hold hands and a little kissing. He was never going to marry me, and it’s important you know that. I’ve kept this a secret all these years because I didn’t want to harm his memory.”
”Oh, daughter,” her mother cried in a pained whisper. “You poor thing having to keep such a secret. I’m sorry you had to go through that. David was a nice boy. I understand why you stayed quiet.”
“Yeah, well…here’s the thing Ma. I only told you that so you don’t judge Alex harshly.”
“Why would I do that? I don’t even know the man.”
Meghan felt her nose start to itch and her lip tremble as she fought back the torrent of tears threatening her composure.
“Ohhhhh,” her mothered murmured, coming swiftly to her side as she laid her hand reassuringly upon her head. “You’ve got a case of the hots for this Major character.” Seeing her old school Irish mother smirk at her in understanding was priceless.
“Ma! Come on!” Meghan cried out. “The hots? Jeez Louise. You and that naughty book club you belong to,” she chuckled shaking her head.
“Don’t you be dissing my book club, young lady,” Maggie giggled. “I’ve learned all sorts of things. I can be hip too, y’know. Don’t tell Da, but I’ve got a ton of wicked erotica on my Kindle.” In a conspiratorial whisper she added, “I’ve read all the Fifty Shades books.”
Meghan looked at her mother like she was crazy. “Ma, c’mon,” she groaned while shaking her head.
“What? You think I don’t know about these things? Ask me anything!” she laughed. “I even know about the Kegel Balls,” she announced proudly.
Meghan was sure she was going to die of embarrassment. “Ma, seriously, enough.”
“Well, if you’d rather I changed the subject, maybe you can tell me if this Major is the reason you came back here looking so miserable?”
It was useless to avoid the truth. Her mother would see right through any attempt to pretend otherwise. “Mmmm hmmm. But it’s complicated.”
Maggie O’Brien sat in a chair alongside her daughter and stared off into space for a bit. “Did I ever tell you what a royal pain your Da was before we got together?”
Surprised, Meghan sat forward and faced her mom. “No. I thought you said it was love at first sight.”
“Oh, it was,” her mom replied with a giggle snort. “But that doesn’t mean it was easy or uncomplicated.” She rolled her eyes and made a mocking face. “He’s a man after all Meghan Elizabeth, and the whole lot of them can be so exasperating! And just so we’re clear – they are all complicated.”
“I hear that,” she agreed with a grunt.
“Let’s just say your dad needed some help to find his way. He’s lucky my father didn’t knock his head off.”
“Mom, I don’t know what to do. He’s got all theses issue because of the war that have him wrapped so tight emotionally, he can’t see the damn forest for the trees.”
“What kind of issues? Are you talking serious PTSD?”
“No. Nothing like you mean. It’s survivor’s guilt mostly. Like Uncle Damian had. He doesn’t think he should be happy because somehow if he is, it means he’s letting all those people down. Like they’d all be forgotten.”
“Is that why you left?”
“Yeah, but to be honest, I would have eventually murdered him if I’d stayed. The man gives new meaning to being a brick wall,” Meghan murmured. “He needs time to figure it out on his own. Maybe he’ll get there and maybe he won’t. I still don’t know.”
“Have you been talking to him since you left? Is that who I see you chatting with on the phone or your laptop at all hours?”
Meghan shook her head and groaned. “No. I made friends with some women at the Villa. That’s who I’ve been on the phone with but I haven’t talked to him. We had a sort of – confrontation before I left. We didn’t even say good-bye.” Her voice trailed off to nothing, remembering that last day.
Her mom mumbled a drawn out, “Mmm…” She’d given her a lot of information to take on board.
After a minute of powerful silence, green eyes met green eyes, making Meghan swallow a thickening in her throat. She was Maggie O’Brien’s only daughter. Once she was trapped in the tractor beam of her mother’s knowing gaze, she couldn’t look away as she heard her ma ask, “Are you in love with his man?”
Direct and to the point. Meghan admired the shrewd way she’d been backed into a corner. Her mom was good. She’d have to remember this maneuver for when she had her own kids to deal with.
“Yes.” There really wasn’t anything else to say, so she didn’t.
Maggie suddenly laughed and gave Meghan a little tap on her knees. “I hope your Major has back-up my dear, because when your dad and brothers hear this, there’s a Spanish Don about to get his butt kicked. Nobody around here is stupid.” She chuckled. “This confrontation you speak of – that’s code for fight, yes? And if I’m not mad crazy, I’m guessing your Boston Bad Bitch attitude and mouth didn’t take any prisoners. Even so, make no mistake. None of the O’Brien’s will sit back and let some stranger holed up in the desert give you grief.”
“Mom!” Meghan yelled, panicked. “You can’t tell them any of this. Are you crazy?”
“Oh sweetie, really? When I said everyone was worried about you, I was serious. Deval is being especially worrisome. You know he can’t stand it when you’re upset.”
Maggie leaned in and gave her daughter a brief hug. “Better man up, my daughter. I’ll handle Da, but your brothers have a right to know what’s going on with their only sister and even with all your bitching, you wouldn’t have it any other way. Your family is part of who you are. The man who gets your heart is going to have to understand that.”
And there they were – little nuggets of mom wisdom that cut right through everything.
“He’s got back-up, Mom,” she assured her. “In fact, he’s got his own amazing family who are just as great and awesome as the O’Brien clan.”
“Well good! He’s going to need them. Be prepared to explain this to the whole fam damily at Sunday dinner.”
Meghan bit back a smile and shook her head. She loved how her mom tried to be cute with her non-swears. Yeah, the whole damn family indeed. Something to look forward to.
It was almost midnight when she heard the faint hum of a cellphone buzzing. Sitting cross-legged on the floor at the foot of the loveseat in her bedroom alcove with her laptop and camera nearby, Meghan struggled to reach for the phone before it woke everyone else up. She’d been mindlessly organizing her photo files and had flung it aside earlier.
Rolling to her side with fingers stretched as far as they could reach, she finally made contact with the corner of the humming object and scooped it closer till she could snatch it up. Trying awkwardly to right her position, she quickly pressed the call button, then bobbled the phone next to her ear.
“Aargh,” she groaned when she nearly lost
her balance, the phone, and her sense of humor as she pitched forward awkwardly. “Shit,” her pithy swear made it into the mouthpiece a second before she answered properly. “Hello?”
“Irish!” Meghan’s heart clutched when she heard Tori’s excited voice. “Damn glad that I caught you up. You are still up I hope,” she chuckled.
“Sleep is not my friend these days,” Meghan grumped.
“Well, I have some news. An update, really. Maybe it will help you sleep a little better.”
Meghan cut her off. It was late and while sleep was an elusive thing, that didn’t mean she wasn’t pretty wiped out. She was tired and miserable enough that she knew even the best news in the world wasn’t going to change that. And besides, if this was going to be about Alex, she was feeling so raw and out-of-sorts that she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it.
“Not tonight, Tori. Okay?”
The voice coming over the phone sounded worried and also a bit surprised. “Um, sure Meghan. Did I catch you at a bad time?”
Lord but she wished it were that simple. Blowing a deep sigh, Meghan drew her knees up and used them as an armrest. “Bad time, bad day. Take your pick. I hate men, by the way.”
“Yikes,” Tori chirped. “That doesn’t sound good. What brought this on?”
“My fucking brothers,” she mumbled into the phone. “Would you believe that my mother lost her damn mind and told them about…well, you know.”
“Uh – she told them about what? Your visit here?”
“Oh for heaven’s sake Tori. She told them that some lothario out in the Arizona desert seduced their sister, sullied her innocence, and then dumped her when the kinky fun times were over. You know. The sort of dramatic big bad wolf story intended to get them all fired up.”
“Are you serious?” Tori wheezed. “Holy shitballz Irish. I hope you’re exaggerating, even if it is just a little.”
Meghan moaned into the phone. “They’re my brothers. No matter what she says, that’s what they’ll hear. And God only knows what she’s telling my father. Tomorrow is Sunday and everyone will be over for family dinner. I have no doubt that I’m going to be getting an earful of Irish outrage and indignation.”
Redeeming Justice Page 28