“Yeah, it is, Dad. Because she’s my mom, and she’s done everything she can to help you through this and keep the business going. Doug has too. What have you done lately to show them your appreciation?”
With that, he walked away before Jameson had could come back with anything or get too angry.
He took his time getting the rest of the bags out of the car. His mom had spent some time writing cards, thanking the staff for everything they’d done.
He’d delivered the cut flower arrangements to the nursing stations in the pediatric wings, and given the rest to one of the volunteers to pass on to patients who had no family visiting during their stay at the hospital. They’d sent a fruit basket to the ICU, surgery, and emergency.
His mom brought two live arrangements home, and he put the delicate begonia in a moss pot in the living room on an end table, and the other, a mixed planter, in the dining room on a side table so it would get the morning sun.
He left the bags of toiletries and hospital paraphernalia in the mudroom off the kitchen, put in a load of laundry, and opened the refrigerator to see what was available for dinner. Neighbors had brought in a ton of food in the last two days. Casseroles and takeout items. So there was no need to cook. He’d put one of the casseroles in the oven in an hour or so.
He stepped into the den to find his dad asleep in his recliner, his breathing even, his color much better than when he first arrived. With nothing else to do, Cal wandered through the French doors to the back patio and took a seat on one of the Adirondack lounges under the canvas awning stretching twenty feet across the back of the house. Sunlight glistened off the pool, and he narrowed his eyes against the glare.
He hadn’t forgotten the mid-ninety days, but he longed for the mid-seventies he worked in at home. Sweat beaded his skin in moments, but he preferred the outdoor air to the oppression of the house.
He’d been gone long enough to have gained some distance from his family. Everyone was making excuses for his father’s behavior, but his illness wasn’t what had triggered this. The truth was he wasn’t any different now than he’d been the whole time Cal was growing up.
What his father was doing to his brother and mother was abusive. And he didn’t like it one bit. He needed to figure out how he could talk to his mom about it. But what good would it do? She’d lived with the man for nearly thirty years and stood by while he verbally abused all of them.
He slipped his phone out of his pocket. Was it fair to Kathleen to bring her into the middle of this? Or would her presence trigger some restraint in his dad?
God, he missed her. He needed her here, but would his dad embarrass him by acting like the asshole he was? Fuck!
He tapped Kathleen’s number and waited for her to pick up.
“Hey, handsome,” she answered, and he smiled. His mood lightened.
“I can’t wait for you to get out here. I want us to take an afternoon and do the river walk and eat somewhere nice. Maybe go to the tower of the Americas so you can check out the city.
“It’s okay if you have things to do to help your mom and dad instead. You don’t have to entertain me.”
“Tomorrow we’ll be putting the finishing touches on one of the three projects I’ve worked on, so I’ll be able to take a day off.” He paused. “I helped Mom bring Dad home from the hospital today.”
“How is he?”
“Ornery as ever, but his color’s good, and he walked into the house under his own steam.”
“Wonderful!”
He had to talk to her about this. “He’s copping an attitude with Mom I don’t like. I’m trying to guilt him into giving her a break.”
“From what you’ve told me, he’s always been strong, independent, and hates to be helpless. Does any of that sound familiar?”
Cal smiled weakly. “Yeah-yeah.” And his anger issues sounded familiar, too. “I was hoping to keep Dad from making the same mistakes I made.”
“It’s early days. He’s just been through two really bad scares, plus major surgery. Give him some time.”
“I will. But I don’t know how Mom has put up with him for the past thirty-five years. I may not have a tongue left by the time I leave here. I spend half my time biting it to keep from giving him hell for being a jerk.”
“I’m rather pleased with the things you do with your tongue. You need to think about that when you start gnawing on it.
Which made a nice dent in the knot in his stomach. “Maybe I’ll have more luck getting my mind off things by thinking of some of the sounds you make when I’m—”
“Don’t say it. I’m not going to be able to concentrate on work.”
Cal laughed. He knew her cheeks were red right now. “You need to get it done so you can get on that plane tomorrow. I really want to see you.”
“I’m working hard, and I’ve missed you. It’s too quiet around here without you.”
“Quiet, huh?”
“And lonely. I’m almost done. I just have a couple of small changes to make, then my part of the plans will be done. The whole team was excited about the design, too.”
“Good. I’m not surprised. I’ll let you go so you can finish. I love you. See you tomorrow.”
“I love you, too. I’m looking forward to it.”
“I wanted to warn you.” About everything. “Mom’s putting you in the guest room, but I’m sleeping in my room.”
“It’s okay. Remember how we had to pretend we weren’t sleeping together for my parents?”
“Yeah, I do. I don’t think we fooled them a bit.”
“No. But the fantasy put them at ease while they were here. So I won’t mind doing the same for your parents.”
“Thanks, Kathleen.” God, he was so lucky to have her.
“See you tomorrow.”
He should have told her to cancel her flight. That he’d be home in a few days. In fact, he already could hardly wait to leave.
Chapter 22
‡
Kathleen focused on the computer screen, though she didn’t attempt to move the mouse in her hand. Cal’s tension had seeped through more in how he said things than what he said. He had told her more than once how overbearing his father was, and his brother seemed to be following in the man’s footsteps.
But they were still his family. She loved him, so she’d try to love them, too.
She just hoped they liked her. His mother in particular, because when Cal talked about her his expression and body language changed. He was more relaxed and open.
After having spoken with Dr. Dowling about her job, and giving it some thought, she’d made up her mind to move on. But she wanted to talk to Cal about it first. It wasn’t really surprising she wanted to talk to him about it. She loved him, was in love with him. And she valued his opinion.
A tap sounded on the wall dividing their pod. “Kathleen?”
“Yes.” She swiveled her chair and looked over her shoulder. Tyler Unger was the epitome of a nerd, with the light overhead reflecting off his wire-rim glasses when he moved his head. He was in his late forties, and always looked like he’d just shoved his fingers through his thick mop of brown hair, leaving it disheveled. He wore a uniform of blue jeans and a T-shirt, but he kept a white short-sleeved dress shirt at work to throw on for meetings. Kathleen liked his laid-back style, the way he made it easy for her to work with him.
“The client has moved the meeting up to today at five instead of tomorrow morning. Is it going to be an issue for you?”
“No. I’m finishing up right now.”
“Excellent!”
“I’d like you to look over the file, just to be certain I haven’t missed anything.”
“Sure, just buzz me when you’re done.”
“Will do.”
She turned her attention back to the project and used the mouse to manipulate a small section of the schematic. In just a few minutes she had finished and rolled back to study the screen. The sense of accomplishment when she finished a project gave her a hi
gh she never tired of.
She reached for the phone and buzzed Tyler. He answered immediately, and she stood and stretched to relieve the tension in her back and shoulders.
She turned to find Tyler standing at the edge of her pod watching her. She folded her arms against her, an instant rush of anxiety seizing her lungs.
She forced a smile. “I think we need loops hung from the ceiling in here to stretch out the kinks after sitting hunched over the computer all day.”
“I’ll mention it to human resources,” he commented. He moved to her desk chair. “Why don’t you go get something to drink while I look this over?”
“I think I will.” She wandered out and went into the break room. After heating some water in the microwave and adding a tea bag, she returned and leaned against the dividing wall while Tyler went over the schematic with his eagle eye. When he rolled back from the desk and smiled she sighed.
“It looks great, Kathleen. You’ve done good work.”
She smiled in relief. “Thanks.”
“Pull up a chair. I’d like to talk to you about something.”
She rolled the extra office chair out from under the counter and sat down.
“How are you doing here with us?”
“I’m good.”
“If you don’t feel comfortable, I can see about a transfer to another pod.”
A dropping sensation struck her stomach. Quick tears blurred her eyes and she looked away. “Have I done something wrong?”
“God, no. No, not at all. I wasn’t suggesting the other guys or I want you to leave, either. I’m trying to be sensitive to your needs, Kathleen. You’re still a little anxious sometimes. Like when I first came in here.”
“I wasn’t anxious…I was stretching, and I didn’t want you to think I was trying to draw attention to myself.”
“I didn’t think you were putting on a show for me, Kathleen. I know you’re in a relationship with a guy, and that it’s pretty serious.”
“Yes, it is.” She finally looked up.
“I know we’ve avoided talking about what happened in your other pod. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. It’s left an elephant in the room, and we’ve been walking around it for months.”
Kathleen moistened her lips.
“How would you feel about the four of us having a meeting right now, just talking about what happened and what we can do to help you get past it?”
Just when she was ready to throw in the towel… But was she ready to tell other people about what happened?
How would they feel about her after she told them?
How much worse could it get since she was already thinking about quitting?
“Okay.”
He reached for her phone and punched in Jack’s and Kenton’s phone numbers.
“Bring your chairs, guys and roll on over to Kathleen’s work station for a few minutes.”
Tyler got up to close the door.
Jack Sutton, the oldest member of their group, rolled his chair over. He was tall and lanky, his shoulders slightly hunched. He reminded Kathleen of Jimmy Stewart, except his brows and hair were graying. He was quiet and rarely said anything, even in meetings, but Kathleen had found his laid-back attitude was deceiving. Jack never missed anything. He was apt to pop out with information the rest of them had overlooked.
Kenton Frazier was five-nine and slightly built, with dark hair and blue eyes. When he wheeled around the corner of her station, Kathleen thought he might be the prettiest man she’d ever seen. She envied his long eyelashes and naturally rosy cheeks. “Is there a problem with the design?” he asked in his slightly fussy tone. He was openly gay, and didn’t mind letting other people know. He was the least threatening member in the group, though none of them had ever shown the least inclination to provoke an issue with her or each other.
Tyler answered him, “No. Kathleen’s finished her part of the design in record time, so you two probably need to step up your game.”
Kenton wiggled his eyebrows. “You trying to show us up, girlfriend?”
Kathleen smiled at him. “I don’t think it’s possible, Kenton. You guys are too good for that. I’m going out of town for a few days, and didn’t want to hang you up by being late with my part of the design.”
“That’s real considerate of you, Kathleen.”
“What do you need, Tyler?” Jack asked. He stretched out his legs and crossed them at the ankles.
“I thought we could take a few minutes to talk. We’ve skirted around the issue of what happened to Kathleen when she first started working here. I’ve asked her to tell us what happened straight out. Maybe it will help us understand. And help her feel more like one of us.”
Jack moved to lean forward in his seat. “For what it’s worth, I always thought Paul Warren was an asshole.” He looked around the circle they had created with their chairs. “We had some dealings with him.” He grimaced. “He wasn’t shy about taking credit for the work, even if he didn’t do it.”
That he was the first one to speak when he usually hung back was telling. How long had he wanted to tell her?
“I can see that. He was a little overly friendly my first day on the job, and made me uncomfortable. He had a reputation for dating the recent hires.”
“Not something the company condones, Kathleen,” Ryan said.
She nodded. “My brother urged me to file a complaint, but I had just been hired, and it didn’t seem the way to go after just signing a contract a few days before. I thought if I continued to turn him down, things would level out.
“The first day, while we were on one of the sites, a man went over the side on the twentieth floor, but was caught in time. The man I’m dating now, Cal, is the crewmember who saved the man’s life.
“Warren had an issue with him. At the time he said it was because he’s an amputee, and therefore a danger to the rest of the crew, but there was another issue that didn’t come to light until later.”
“How did your boyfriend lose his leg?”
“Cal was driving the Humvee he and three other men were riding in when they hit an IED and the vehicle was destroyed. Cal almost died. His leg was blown off below the knee, his jaw was broken, some of his teeth gone, and he had two cracked vertebrae in his neck. It took him a year to recover.”
“And Warren’s nephew was one of the other men.”
“Yes.” She went into Warren’s reasons for being vengeful toward Cal, and about his false forgiveness for what had happened, and his relationship with Hillary Bryant.
“She was a brilliant architect. Truly brilliant. And very ill. She shocked me with a Taser until the battery went dead. Locked me in the trunk of her car in a parking structure for hours. I was dehydrated and weak by the time I got out. Every part of my body felt pulverized, and my sugar level was so low I couldn’t think clearly.
“I don’t know what Warren said to her that caused her to kill him, but she wasn’t in her right mind when she did it. She believed he was still alive until the very end.”
“Jesus,” Jack murmured. “You’re being more forgiving than I would be, Kathleen.”
“I felt sorry for her. She loved him. I really believe she did. And he manipulated her like he did me, and used her as a weapon.”
Kenton’s beautiful face was creased in a rare frown. “How many other women do you think he might have victimized with her help?” Kenton asked.
Kathleen shook her head. “I don’t know. I think they kept things quiet so there wouldn’t be any suits filed against the company.”
“You didn’t file?” Kenton asked.
“No.” A lawyer had contacted her about it, but it felt wrong to hold Willey Construction and Design accountable for something they had no control over. And she couldn’t face legal action after everything she’d been through. “It wasn’t the company’s fault that Warren was an asshole, or that Hillary was mentally unstable.”
Jack laughed, then leaned forward to cover his face. For several moments his shoul
ders shook with silent laughter. “I’m sorry. I didn’t laugh because it was funny it was just… You said that the same way I would have said it.”
“I have eight brothers. I suppose they’ve rubbed off on me a little.”
“Eight brothers!” Kenton said hopefully. “Any of them gay?”
Kathleen raised her brows. “I’m sorry, Kenton, but no.”
He feigned a look of exaggerated disappointment, then winked at her.
She smiled. He was trying so hard to put her at ease. She hadn’t given these three nearly enough credit. She reached over and patted his hand. He gave hers a squeeze.
“If I’ve seemed distant, it’s because I started out friendly with Warren, and he pushed the barriers. He had this passive-aggressive thing he did which kept me off balance and made me anxious. I kept second-guessing myself. Had I been too friendly? Had I said something to lead him to believe I was interested in him?
“I know I put up walls or look for behaviors when they’re not there. But after this happened, I questioned everything I’d done from the first day on, thinking it was somehow my fault.”
“Nothing you did could have been responsible for what happened, Kathleen,” Jack said. “You were harassed by one and attacked by the other.”
He leaned forward in his chair and put his elbows on his knees. “You can be friendly and joke around with me, and I promise not to think you’re coming on to me. Besides, the guy you’re dating could kick all three of our asses with one arm tied behind his back. All three of us at once. We’re nerds, not warriors.”
Kathleen laughed. “Cal wouldn’t have to kick your ass, Jack. My brother is in the Navy, and he’s taught me a few things since this happened. I could probably take you out all by myself.”
Tyler laughed. “I guess we’re forewarned, then. Is there any particular thing that makes you anxious we should be aware of?”
She thought about the anxiety of walking to her car. They’d think her a total wuss. After all, she did have those moves Zach had taught her. “I’ve recently continued my sessions with a PTSD specialist. I’m going to be fine. It’s just going to take some time.” She didn’t want to mention the medication, either. “You guys have been great, really. If I’ve been too weird around you, I’m sorry.”
Breaking Out (Military Romantic Suspense) (SEAL Team Heartbreakers Book 6) Page 19