Hard as Stone (Passion in Paradise: The Men of the McKinnnon Sisters)

by Sarah O'Rourke

  “Ohhhh, not any more. He’s pretty,” Patience declared with a loopy grin as she looked up into the doctor’s face. “You don’t have pierced junk, do you, ‘cause that’s my deal breaker.”

  “Patience!” Harmony, Honor and Faith yelled in unison.

  “Well, it is!” she yelled. “Had one…didn’t do anything for me.”

  “God,” Abel groaned, rubbing a hand over his face.

  “Dilaudid?” Dr. Daniels asked Cain with a raised eyebrow.

  “Morphine.”

  “That’d explain it. Okay,” he said, peeking underneath the pressure dressing on Patience’s arm. “Let’s get antibiotics on board and stitch this up for you, Miss McKinnon. Clear the room,” he ordered Cain, jumping as Patience’s tiny hand cupped his crotch.

  “It doesn’t feel pierced,” Patience whispered loudly to Harmony.

  “Aaaand, if someone could convince the patient to quit fondling my balls, that’d be splendid,” Dr. Daniels bit out through clenched teeth.

  Grabbing Patience’s hand before it could injure her doctor, Harmony shot the man an apologetic smile. “Sorry,” she whispered.

  “No worries,” the man returned with a shrug. “I deliver babies for a living. It’s not a full day until somebody tries to rip off my balls.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t rip them off, Hot Doc. I’d treat them with kindness and care,” Patience promised as Abel snarled at her.

  “Thank you for the assistance, Nice Sister. I’ve got in from here. I’ll have Crazy Sister fixed up in no time. Cain, perhaps you’d escort Nice Sister, Sweet Sister and your wife to the waiting room. I assume your twin will be staying?”

  “He is,” Abel confirmed, glaring at the other man.

  “Excellent, then let’s clear the room and get this done.”

  Shaking her head at the turn their afternoon had taken, Harmony brushed a kiss against Patience’s head before hurrying toward the waiting room to find Jake and her daughter.

  Chapter Forty-eight

  Two hours later, Harmony leaned heavily against Jake’s side as she shifted her dozing daughter in her lap. Her eyes drifted around the mostly full waiting room, and she felt her shoulders slowly relax as she did a mental inventory of her family, finding them all present and accounted for.

  In one corner, Zeke sat with his arm curled around Honor, and for once, her youngest sister wasn’t spitting and clawing at the Sheriff’s proximity. No, instead Honor had her uninjured cheek pressed against the side of his chest with her eyes closed as the always-strong Zeke protectively curved one hand around the nape of Honor’s neck. Despite the situation, Harmony involuntarily smiled at the sight. With Honor in his arms, Zeke looked as close to blissful as she’d ever seen him look. Her sister, on the other hand, just looked exhausted, as if the day had sucked every ounce of energy from her. The cut on Honor’s face had required a couple of stitches, and she’d finally given into Zeke’s demand and allowed one of the doctors to take care of it an hour ago. Now, she dozed against his side, opening her eyes every now and again to take her own inventory of the room.

  In the opposite corner, Faith and Cain sat in much the same position, except Cain’s hand rested possessively over her sister’s still flat belly. About once every half hour, Faith sent Cain back to check on Patience’s condition, but as of an hour ago, the drugs had finally lulled her other sibling into sleep. Abel remained in back, keeping a vigilant eye; the doctor had assured them that she could be released in a couple more hours after a full course of antibiotics was delivered through her IV.

  Aunt Orla sat on the opposite wall from Harmony and Jake with Uncle Jethro on one side of her and Seth Turner, Cain and Abel’s dad, on the other. Ice flipped distractedly through some outdated sports magazine in one of the chairs in the center of the room, while their cousin Slade stood by the door, silently drinking another cup of coffee. Various employees from the diner had been in and out since they arrived, checking on their employers – and their jobs, but Honor had assured each one of them that they were still employed and they’d be replacing the glass windows and doing clean-up tomorrow.

  Yawning, Harmony glanced at Jake when he tightened his arm around her. Glancing up into his face, she whispered, “You okay?”

  “I was going to ask you the same thing. You’ve gone completely quiet on me,” Jake replied quietly, massaging the stiff muscles in her neck with one hand.

  “Just thinking about the sheer amount of work that we’ve got ahead of us. I didn’t get a really good look at the café before we left, but I know it was a mess. I heard one of the deputies tell Zeke that all the glass at the front of the building will need to be replaced.”

  “Yeah, and you also heard Slade say that he’d have a crew on that tonight, darlin’. Look at it this way, you said that you and your sisters have been thinking about doing a remodel on the restaurant for a while now. It’s just coming a little earlier than you anticipated. Slade was pretty confident he’d have y’all operational again in a week at most.”

  “Never expected the reason the remodeling would happen would be because my ex-husband was trying to kill us all,” Harmony muttered under her breath. “Does insurance even cover this kind of thing?” she asked worriedly. “I wonder if our policy has a clause for the hazards of psychotic assholes.”

  “Harmony…”

  “Thank God it was only family in the café at the time Tanner struck,” she continued to whisper. “I can’t begin to imagine the lawsuits if we’d had any employees or customers that were hurt.”

  “Darlin, stop,” Jake ordered, his arm contracting around her shoulders and pulling her tightly against him. “You’re runnin’ yourself ragged with what could have been. The important thing is that Patience is gonna be right as rain, and everybody is safe. The café can be repaired. Glass and such can be replaced. Human life can’t be. Focus on that.”

  Harmony sighed and looked down at her sleeping daughter, her loose ponytail askew and her little mouth hanging slightly open as a thick ribbon of drool slipped from her slack lips. She looked innocent as a lamb resting in her arms. Luckily, none of the ugliness had touched her today. “You’re right. Everything that’s important is right here around me. I need to get a grip.”

  “Honey, you’re entitled to feel any way you wanna feel. I just want you to focus on the positive instead of the negative. Give your mind a break. You want me to get you a soda or something? You haven’t had anything since we got here.”

  Shaking her head, Harmony smiled. “No, but I need to stretch my legs a bit and I could use a trip to the bathroom.”

  Nodding, Jake shifted beside her. “Let me take the Princess,” he murmured, slipping his hands underneath Heaven and shifting her easily onto his lap.

  “Thanks,” Harmony murmured gratefully as she stood. “I won’t be gone long. You’ll take care of her?”

  “Always,” he agreed, flashing her a sexy grin.

  Why was a man never hotter than when he was holding a sleeping child against his chest? Staring down at Heaven being held against Jake’s body, his strong tattooed arms cradling her close, something shifted in her chest and she had to blink back tears. They looked perfect natural together – like he’d been holding her baby like that all her short life.

  “Darlin’? You okay?” he asked, his eyes never straying from her face.

  “I’m fine,” she whispered. “Just enjoying watching you two together for a second.”

  “Well, you’ve got a lifetime to see that. Go on and freshen up. It’ll make you feel more human,” he suggested softly.

  Nodding, Harmony turned to find Honor rising from her own chair.

  “I’ll go with you. I wanna splash some water on my face anyway,” Honor offered, one hand rubbing her back as she walked toward Harmony.

  Both women walked into the hallway and grinned as they found Margaret bearing down on them as she strode quickly down the hallway. “Maggie,” Harmony greeted the other woman with a smile and a hug. “What’re you doing
here?”

  “That idiot boss of mine just called me! He called me and told me to bring Patience a change of clothes,” Maggie explained, returning Harmony’s hug before reaching one arm out to embrace Honor. “I can’t believe what happened. Are you both alright?” she asked, scanning both sisters from head to toe. “Tell me that bandage on Honor’s cheek is the worst of it.”

  “Other than the hole in Patience’s arm, yes,” Harmony replied tiredly. “All in all, we were pretty lucky.”

  “After getting a look at the café when I drove by, I tend to agree with you. It’s definitely a miracle,” Margaret said with a sigh. “Do either of you need anything? I’m supposed to hand these off to The Cross Dresser, but then I’m at your service,” she offered, holding up a plastic bag of clothing with the hand not holding her elegant briefcase.

  “The Cross Dresser?” Harmony asked, canting her head to the side.

  “I think she means Ice,” Honor murmured, chuckling as she stared at Maggie with amused eyes.

  “Yes, I’ve decided The Cross Dresser has a nicer ring to it than Mountain Man. Although, I thought about testing out Nancy Boy with him, too. I can’t wait to share how divine I thought he looked in pink feathers. Although, he and I need to discuss his manicure. Red is definitely not in his color wheel.”

  Harmony laughed, grateful for the tension reliever. “How did you know about that?”

  “Abel sent me the picture as a belated Christmas present,” Maggie returned with an evil grin. “It’s now my screensaver at work. A photograph of the supposedly unflappable Ice Monroe decked out in a pink feather boa and bejeweled tiara is entirely too delicious not to use,” she informed them both with a devious smile. “I’ve been doing my research on him. He’s something of a local legend. Everything I’ve read says that he’s quite the rough and tough type. I’m tempted to send that snapshot to be published in our local paper with a suggestion for an article. Something like, ‘Come See the Softer Side of Snipers’. It’d make an excellent article, I think.”

  “Maggie! You wouldn’t!” Honor hissed, her eyes widening.

  “You know me better than that, dear,” Maggie returned brightly. “Of course I would! I bet he’ll think twice before he ruins another woman’s favorite outfit,” she continued, her bright green eyes flashing as she spoke. “I warned that insufferable man that there’d be payback. He should have never invited me to do my worst. Abel warned him I’d see it as a challenge so he’s really only got himself to blame.”

  “Mags, you are a piece of work.” Harmony giggled, eyeing the woman with no small amount of admiration. Dressed today in an elegant teal pantsuit that very probably cost more than her monthly car payment, Maggie exuded confidence. “I hope you know what you’re doing with Ice. I have a feeling that he’ll give as good as he gets.”

  “He started it,” Maggie retorted. “One way or another, I’ll finish it.”

  “Well, good luck with that,” Harmony chuckled. “Everybody’s in the waiting room still. We’ll be back in a few minutes,” she remarked, taking Honor’s arm and pulling her sister down the hallway.

  As they moved down the corridor, Honor offered Harmony a sidelong glance. “How are you hanging in there, sis?” she asked as they found the door and walked inside the empty lavatory. “Are you okay?”

  Walking to one of the three porcelain sinks on the wall, Harmony stared at Honor’s reflection in the mirror. “I think I should be asking you that,” Harmony returned quietly, locking eyes with her sister in the mirror. “For the second time in your life, Tanner hurt you… because of me. I don’t know how you don’t hate me, Peanut.”

  “Stop that,” Honor retorted, rolling her eyes as she stomped toward her sister. “I’ve never blamed you, Harmony. I don’t blame anybody other than the men that hurt me. Not you. Not Zeke. Not anyone. You all think I do, but I don’t.”

  Turning to face the other woman, Harmony stared at her for a long moment. “How can you not? I brought him into your life, Honor. I’m the reason he ever laid eyes on you. How can you not resent me for that?”

  Lifting her chin, Honor glared at her Harmony. “If you’d known what was going to happen to me, would you have stopped it if you could?”

  Jaw dropping, Harmony sagged against the sink. “In a heartbeat.”

  “If you could have taken my place, would you?” Honor asked without missing a beat.

  “Absolutely.” Any of them would have done anything to spare Honor that pain; even if it meant taking her place. She would have done it without question.

  “That’s how. That’s why I’ll never resent you. That’s why I could never, ever hate you! You’d sacrifice anything for me, Harmony. And it’s not just me; you’d do it for either of our sisters. My God, you thought Tanner’s only sin was that he didn’t pick me up before I was kidnapped. The night I was found, you left the hospital and went home to confront him, determined to exact retribution for putting me in that position. He nearly killed you. He nearly killed your unborn baby. All because you were determined to get justice for what you thought happened to your baby sister. You knew he was violent, and you went home to take him on anyway. Even after he’d been beating you for months. Even though you knew you were putting yourself in danger. You didn’t care. You did it anyway. For me! You’re without doubt the most unselfish woman I know. You actually think I could hate you? You were fighting my battles for me long before even I realized the truth, Harmony. Long before I remembered that Tanner was one of my rapists, YOU tried to make him pay for his crimes. You tried to exact justice, and you got hurt for it. Even while I was locked in my own pain, I saw what he did to you. I remember what you looked like. And you still sat by my bedside and took care of me. When I was locked in that dark, airless place in my mind after the attack, YOU came in and dragged me out of it. You and Zeke! Why you two are determined to blame yourselves when you’re the ones that saved me, I’ll never understand, but it’s getting really irritating.” Honor let out a loud puff of air as she rolled her eyes. “You’re both morons and your guilt complexes are driving me insane!”

  Pressing a hand over her mouth, Harmony felt laughter bubbling up her throat. “You are the only woman in the world that would see it that way, Honor!”

  “What happened to me was a tragedy,” Honor whispered, wincing as her forehead throbbed. “I’m still not over it. I don’t know if I ever will be. Five men took something from me that night that I’ll never get back. But none of it…none of it was ever your fault.”

  “He scarred you,” Harmony whispered, lifting a hand to touch the bandage on Honor’s cheek. “Again.”

  “I have lots of scars on my body, Harmony,” Honor replied evenly. “Those don’t bother me. I look at them and think one thing about myself: I survived. They’re permanent reminders that I lived. The physical scars are easy to live with; it’s the ones on my mind…well, those are more troubling.”

  “I know you’ve always refused to talk to anybody about it, but maybe it’s time, Honor,” Harmony suggested carefully.

  “I don’t want to think about that right now,” Honor dismissed her quickly, turning to reach for a few brown paper towels from the dispenser on the wall, wetting them quickly. “I think we all have enough on our plate at the moment.”

  Opening her mouth to argue, Harmony frowned as her phone rang in her jacket pocket. “Who the hell can that be?” she asked, fishing out the cell from the inside pocket. “Everybody we know is in the waiting room or back of the hospital.” Peering down at the screen, a shiver ran down her spine as the display flashed: Unknown Caller.

  Swiping her thumb across the screen, her stomach cramped as she lifted the phone to her ear.

  “Hello?”

  Chapter Forty-nine

  Harmony felt her legs turn to jelly as she heard the deep, almost maniacal laughter that greeted her as she pressed the phone to her ear. God, she knew that evil sound as well as she knew her own name. She’d prayed for years to never hear it again, but evidently t
he Lord wasn’t taking requests from her anymore.

  Tanner Suarez’s laughter suddenly ended, and his cold voice came through the line. “Mi amigos need to improve their aim, puta. My sources tell me that my men only managed to wing one of your bitch sisters this afternoon. I’d sooo been hoping to put one in the ground and teach you a lesson about what happens when you fuck with me, Harmony.” He paused, breathing hard. “You and your fucking family are making things extremely difficult for me.”

  “Tanner, you have to stop this,” Harmony begged, her voice trembling with anger and frustration as Honor stiffened and paled beside her. “You hurt an innocent person today. My sister has nothing to do with you and me! Leave my family alone.”

  “Oh, we both know that Patience is no innocent. That whore has probably serviced more customers than McDonald’s. And nobody is off limits until I get what I want, bitch. And if you remember, I always take what I want. You should remember that, but if you’ve forgotten, ask your baby sister about it. I had a lot of fun taking what I wanted from her,” he added with a dark laugh. “She was so much tastier than you.”

  Harmony’s stomach rolled at his lewd, sick remark. “You’re a sick fuck! She was just a baby, you monster! She was a child! Do you have any idea what kind of scum that makes you? You’ll pay for what you did to all of us, Tanner, but there’s a special place in hell waiting for you for what you did to Honor and I pray I’m there to watch you die. Find some hole on the other side of the world to crawl in before it’s too late. Otherwise, Zeke and Jake are eventually going to find you and they will kill you for what you’ve done to us.”

  “Hang up, Harmony,” Honor whispered frantically, pulling at Harmony’s free arm. “Hang up now!”

  “You aren’t really in a position to threaten me, cunt. Your band of redneck fucks don’t have shit on my crew. I’ve already taken down one of your precious sisters. Consider Patience a warning shot. Now, tell me, who do you think I should go for next? Because I’m going to, Harmony. I’m going to keep coming until I get what I want. I’ll take every single one in that precious family of yours away from you one by fucking one,” he threatened with a vicious bite in his tone.