Break in the Storm (WeHo Book 2)

by Sherryl Hancock

  BJ walked toward Quinn. Hearing his boots on the pavement, she lifted her head. BJ immediately saw the devastation on her face. If he hadn’t already heard from the nurse that Xandy wasn’t dead, he would have thought she was from the look of distress on Quinn’s face.

  Without a word, BJ walked up, took Quinn into his arms and hugged her.

  “Don’t do this to yourself,” he told her, knowing that no matter what had happened, Quinn would blame herself as Xandy’s bodyguard.

  Quinn gritted her teeth, not wanting to cry. She did, however step out of the hug BJ was giving her, pulling her head up as she did. BJ nodded, understanding that she wasn’t willing to take any comfort at this point.

  “What happened?” BJ asked, devoid of accusation.

  Quinn shook her head. “I fucked up… I fucked up and Xandy hurt herself because of it.”

  BJ winced, he’d been afraid of this. “Quinn…” he began, but Quinn shook her head.

  “No, don’t,” Quinn said, making a cutting gesture with her hand, her eyes narrowed.

  BJ looked back at her and shook his head, she wasn’t in a place to listen to him now.

  The doctor walked out into the courtyard at that moment. BJ and Quinn walked over to talk to him.

  “How is she doc?” BJ asked.

  “She’s going to be just fine,” he said. “She’s going to need some rest, and I’m going to prescribe an anti-depressant for her. She lost a lot of blood,” the doctor said, but then looked at Quinn, “but your quick thinking saved her life.”

  Quinn looked like she wanted to argue, but didn’t.

  “Now, you need to let us take a look at that,” the doctor said, pointing to Quinn’s hand.

  “It’s fine.”

  “And it’s going to get looked at,” BJ said, his tone stern.

  “BJ, it’s fine.”

  “That’s great,” BJ said, his smile wintery, “but since you don’t have a medical degree, the man that does is going to look at it.”

  Quinn looked back at BJ with narrowed eyes.

  “Don’t test me on this one, Quinn,” BJ said, with a sigh.

  Quinn’s lips twitched, but finally she nodded.

  Two hours later, Quinn sat next to the hospital bed Xandy lay in. She had one elbow up on the bed, her head resting on her fist. Her now bandaged hand rested on the bed. She was watching the girl sleep. Xandy’s left wrist was bandaged, her color had improved with the infusion of blood she’d been given.

  Xandy stirred, opening her eyes slowly. She looked up at the ceiling for a long moment, then a devastated look crossed her face, as she started to come to terms with what had happened. Quinn reached out and touched her shoulder. Xandy turned her head, looking at Quinn, shock reflected in her eyes.

  “Wot?” Quinn asked softly.

  “You’re here,” Xandy said quietly.

  “Where else would I be?”

  Xandy didn’t answer, her lavender-blue eyes searching Quinn’s, then her eyes dropped to Quinn’s bandaged hand.

  “Did I do that?”

  “I did that.”

  “How?”

  “Blade removal gone wrong.”

  Xandy breathed out audibly, near tears.

  “Hey…” Quinn said, her voice imploring. “I’m okay, you don’t need to worry about this, okay?”

  “But I hurt you…” Xandy said. “I didn’t want to hurt you…”

  Quinn moved to sit on the bed next to Xandy, moving to put her head on the same level as Xandy’s, her eyes searching Xandy’s.

  “No,” Quinn said, gently, “you wanted to hurt you.”

  Xandy swallowed convulsively, but then nodded.

  “Can you tell me why?” Quinn asked.

  Xandy didn’t answer at first, her face showing that she was trying to gather her thoughts.

  “I guess I just couldn’t handle things.”

  “What things?” Quinn asked.

  Xandy shook her head, moving back from Quinn.

  “Okay, okay,” Quinn said gently, sensing that she was pushing too hard. “We don’t have to talk about that now,” she said, reaching up to touch Xandy’s face softly. “So, BJ and I have been talking…”

  “BJ is here?” Xandy asked, suddenly afraid.

  “It’s okay,” Quinn said, her tone reassuring. “We both think that you need to get away from here for a little bit.”

  Once again Xandy’s eyes became round with fear. “You’re sending me away?”

  “No, Xan, no, listen to me, will you?” Quinn said, her voice still soft.

  Xandy nodded her head, but was biting her lip in worry.

  “I want to take you home,” Quinn said.

  “Home?” Xandy repeated, shocked. “I can’t go home, I don’t have anyone in Kansas, not my family,” she said, shaking her head, and in her upset moving to sit up.

  “Xan!” Quinn said, her voice sharper than she meant it to be in her worry that Xandy would get up too quickly and pass out or get hurt. “Will you listen?” she repeated, her voice calming. “I meant my home.”

  “Belfast?” Xandy asked, breathless.

  “That’s where I’m from,” Quinn said with a grin.

  Xandy looked like it was Christmas morning and Quinn couldn’t help but be heartened by that.

  Three days later they touched down at Belfast International airport at ten o’clock at night, local time. BJ had sent them in his private jet. Xandy had slept for some of the trip, but had been too excited to sleep for long. Quinn had purposely kept any and all conversations light, not wanting to upset Xandy again.

  Quinn gestured for Xandy to precede her down the stairs from the plane, having picked up Xandy’s overnight bag, knowing the plane’s crew would off load their luggage. When they got off the plane a man was waiting on the tarmac for them. Quinn led Xandy over to the man who stood beside a black Mercedes E-Class.

  “Kavanaugh,” the man queried.

  “That’s me,” Quinn said, nodding.

  “For you,” the man said, handing her a key and a clipboard for her to sign on.

  “Thanks,” Quinn said, nodding at the crew who were already loading the bags in the trunk of the car.

  Glancing over at Xandy, Quinn grinned. “Looks like BJ’s reach is far and wide.”

  Xandy smiled. “I guess.”

  Xandy was in sensory overload. The night air smelled so clean and crisp, and it was cool. She knew just beyond the airport there was so much to see, but it was dark so she knew she wouldn’t be seeing it that night. Regardless, she knew she was in Northern Ireland, and it felt a little bit surreal.

  When they got into the car, Xandy had to adjust to Quinn sitting on the opposite side to normal. Quinn noticed her discomfort and grinned, giving her a wink. With that, Quinn drove out of the private terminal area and got onto the road to take them ‘home.’

  Xandy hadn’t wanted to ask too many questions about the trip, not wanting to seem ungrateful for this gift that Quinn and BJ were bestowing on her. She felt a lot of guilt about everything that had happened, but she continued to push that away in her mind.

  The two lane road that Quinn drove onto, going what Xandy perceived as the wrong way, was more like where she’d grown up in Kansas, than Los Angeles. There were no street lights, only reflectors and occasional decorative lights when they passed a house. Even the houses were few and far between. After about twenty minutes they came upon a lit-up store and a few other commercial buildings.

  “This area is called Templepatrick,” Quinn told Xandy.

  Xandy nodded, trying to take in everything she could see in the lights of the area. Quinn continued to drive. Within three minutes they were through the town and back in the country again. They went through another area that Quinn said was called Newtonabbey. There were street lights in this area, and Xandy could see the tidy little one story brick houses that lined the road they were on. This area was bigger and it took them longer to get through the town, but then they were back out in the country. />
  At one point, Quinn pulled up to a light. There were street lights on across the road, and Xandy could see water.

  “Is that the ocean?” Xandy asked pointing across the street.

  “That’s the Belfast Lough,” Quinn said, pronouncing the last word “lock.”

  “The Titanic actually followed this lough up out of Belfast on her way to start her maiden voyage.”

  The light turned green, and Quinn turned left onto the road that ran alongside the lough. Xandy stared past Quinn, trying desperately to see the lough, but in the dark it was impossible.

  “Relax, we’ll see everything,” Quinn assured Xandy.

  They passed a few lit areas, including a car dealership and even a KFC, much to Xandy’s surprise, then Quinn took a right. Within a minute she was stopping, not in front of a hotel, but in front of a house. It was a two story brick house, with large picture windows and lights burning warmly inside. There were double front doors that were a pristine white.

  Quinn looked over at her. “Ready?”

  “To what?” Xandy asked, her eyes wide.

  “To meet my family?” Quinn asked, grinning.

  “This is your family’s home?” Xandy asked, shocked.

  Quinn nodded grinning, as an outside light turned on. She got out of the car and walked around to open the door for Xandy, putting her hand out to help Xandy out of the car. As Xandy got out of the car, the front door of the house opened and two screaming women came out, yelling Quinn’s name.

  Quinn let go of Xandy quickly enough to keep her from being bowled over by the two red heads barreling toward her. Quinn grabbed up both women, one in each arm. There was much laughing and squealing from the younger women. When Quinn finally put the women down, she turned them toward Xandy. Xandy noticed that the women looked exactly alike, they were twins.

  “Xan, this is Ida and Maggie,” Quinn said, motioning to each woman in turn, “my two younger sisters.”

  Xandy smiled, extending her hand to them in turn. They both smiled, each taking Xandy’s hand and smiling sweetly.

  “It’s great to meet ya,” Ida said, smiling brightly, her accent thick.

  “It is very lovely to meet you, Xandy,” said Maggie.

  “Come on, let’s get inside,” Quinn said, nodding toward the house, “it’s getting cold out here.”

  “Has your blood thinned so in California?” Ida asked, poking a finger at her sister.

  “Feck off,” Quinn countered, grinning.

  The house inside was beautiful with rich wood wainscoting, and beautiful colors on the walls. Xandy was overwhelmed looking around her, as they wandered through to the living room.

  “And this must be my lovely gel?” an older woman asked as she walked into the room, wiping her hands on a towel.

  “Ma,” Quinn said, smiling as she walked over to her mother, giving her a big hug.

  “Och, you’re still too thin!” said the woman, swatting Quinn on the butt, smiling all the same.

  “Fightin’ weight, Ma, just fightin’ weight,” Quinn replied.

  “Away on that!” the woman replied.

  Quinn turned to Xandy, holding her hand out to the girl. Xandy walked forward taking Quinn’s hand.

  “Ma, this is Xandy, my friend,” Quinn said. “Xan, this is my mom, Brann Kavanaugh, the true head of the Kavanaugh clan.”

  “Don’t be sayin’ that ‘round yer da,” Brann said, laughing even as she stepped forward to hug Xandy.

  “It’s lovely to meet ya,” Brann said to Xandy after a quick hug.

  “You too,” Xandy said, smiling warmly.

  To Quinn, Brann said, “Cara nó leannán?”

  “Cara mháthair,” Quinn replied, glancing at Xandy.

  Brann looked at her daughter, her look very skeptical.

  “Where’s da?” Quinn asked then trying to get off the topic that had just been brought up, knowing her father would be out there to greet them already if he was home.

  “Still at university,” Brann said rolling her eyes, “he’s deep in exams.”

  “Aw, yeah,” Quinn said, nodding her head.

  Quinn reached up to scratch her nose, which pushed her sleeve up enough to expose the bandage on her hand.

  “What happened, Quinn?” Brann said, instantly concerned.

  Xandy grimaced, still feeling a lot of guilt about the injury to Quinn’s hand.

  “I’m fine, ma,” Quinn said, catching Xandy’s grimace, “all good.”

  Quinn stifled a yawn; she’d been up for the past twenty-four hours and was starting to feel it. There’d been a lot of preparation to make sure Xandy would be safe in Northern Ireland. BJ had pre-released some songs from her upcoming album and they’d flown up the charts. Xandy Blue was about to be a very busy girl. It also meant that there were extra precautions to take, plus getting a passport rushed for Xandy.

  “Ma we need to hit the four post inn,” Quinn said, telling her mom that she and Xandy needed to go to bed.

  “Right you are,” Brann said, nodding. “I put you in your old room.”

  Quinn nodded, looking at Xandy and held out her hand.

  “I’ll be back down in a minute,” she told them.

  Quinn lead Xandy to her old bedroom, opening the door and realizing that not much had changed in her room. Her mother had hung more pictures, but the bed was the same, as was the rest of the furniture. Fortunately, she’d had a queen sized bed before she’d left home.

  “Okay, you get settled,” she told Xandy. “I’ll get the bags.”

  “Quinn, I can help you,” Xandy said, worried. “What if you open your hand up again?”

  Quinn had already pulled the stitches in her hand twice in the last three days. She wasn’t used to being hindered.

  “I’ll be fine,” Quinn said.

  With that she turned and left the room.

  An hour later, Quinn lay on her bed on her stomach watching Xandy who was wandering around the room looking at things. Quinn glanced at the bedside clock, it was just past midnight.

  “Xan…” Quinn said, her voice pleading, “you need to get some sleep.”

  “I can’t,” Xandy said, glancing over her shoulder at Quinn and smiling. “I’m just way too keyed up. I’m dying to see this place in the day time.”

  “Babe, it’s gonna be day time in like five hours,” Quinn said. “You need to sleep, because if you don’t you’re gonna be jet lagged the whole time we’re here…”

  Xandy sighed. “Okay,” then she turned to the bed, and hesitated. “Is this going to be okay? I mean…”

  “Xandy Blue Hayes,” Quinn said, her voice firm, “get in this bed right now.”

  “How do you know my full name?” Xandy asked, moving to get into the bed all the same.

  “Magic”

  Xandy lay down, but Quinn could see that she was trying to stay back from her. Making an annoyed sound in the back of her throat, Quinn slid her arm under Xandy’s neck, and pulled her close. Regardless of her original hesitation, Xandy immediately relaxed against Quinn.

  “What your mom said to you earlier,” Xandy said, looking up at Quinn. “That was Gaelic, wasn’t it?”

  “Yeah, it was.”

  “What did she ask you?”

  “She asked if you were a friend or a lover.”

  “And you told her I’m a friend?”

  “Yes.”

  “But she didn’t believe you, did she?”

  Quinn smiled. “No.”

  “Why?” Xandy asked.

  “’Cause she knows I have a thing for pretty girls.”

  “Uh-huh,” Xandy said, sounding unconvinced.

  “Might be because I’ve never brought a girl home before either.” Quinn said, her tone so off-handed that Xandy almost missed what she said.

  “You haven’t?”

  Quinn shook her head. “Not my thing.”

  “To bring girls home to your parents?”

  “Yeah, I have too much respect for them, to do that.”

/>   “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t bring random people home to meet my family, least of all girls,” Quinn said.

  “Well, yeah, but in this case there’s a different reason for you bringing me here,” Xandy reasoned.

  “Is there?”

  Xandy looked back at Quinn, unable to think of a response.

  “Xan, I could have taken you anywhere,” Quinn said, her eyes looking down into Xandy’s. “I wanted to bring you here.”

  Xandy blinked a couple of times. Quinn could see her mind working.

  “Because I said I wanted to see Ireland,” Xandy offered softly.

  “Because I wanted to show you my homeland,” Quinn said, “because I wanted you to meet my family, because I wanted you here.”

  “But…” Xandy began, but her voice trailed off as she shook her head.

  “Look,” Quinn said, her finger reaching up to touch Xandy’s lips, as if to still not only her words, but her mind. “I know that night I said that I couldn’t do this with you, but then… what you did…” Quinn said, with a pained look. “It wasn’t that I didn’t want you, it was that I didn’t want to compromise my ability to do my job, to protect you.”

  Her fingers moved to touch Xandy’s cheek, her eyes searching Xandy’s face. “But what you did…” she said, her voice trailing off as she shook her head, her eyes never leaving Xandy’s face. “I can’t let that happen again, I can’t take that chance.” Xandy’s eyes reflected tears at the sadness in Quinn’s voice. “So, now I need figure out how to do my job and be with you at the same time.”

  Again Xandy had to pause to take in what Quinn had just said. She’d already made up her mind that Quinn just didn’t want her in that way, and had used her job to try to keep from hurting her feelings. But now she was saying she wanted to be with her? Was that possible? Was she really hearing this?

  “Xan?” Quinn queried, seeing so many questions in Xandy’s eyes, but seeing that the girl was clearly shocked.

  “I…” Xandy began, clearly searching for the right words to say.

  Quinn pulled Xandy toward her, lowering her head, and kissed Xandy gently. She felt Xandy sigh softly, and Quinn gathered her even closer, moving her hand to the back of Xandy’s head, to kiss her deeper. Xandy’s hand came up, grasping Quinn’s shoulder almost desperately. Quinn pulled back, looking down into Xandy’s eyes, and reached up to take the hand that was on her shoulder. She held it between them, her thumb rubbing near the bandage on Xandy’s wrist.