by Lori Foster
Leaning in close, her voice hushed, Lexie said, “Think about what you’d want to do if it was me. How would you react?”
When all else failed, Lexie always knew how to sway her. Nodding, Honor admitted, “If it was you, I’d want to help. I’m just not sure how—”
“I’m going along so I can do just that,” Lexie cut in. “Helping in whatever way I can.” She rubbed Honor’s shoulder. “And I vote that Jason gets to go along, as well.”
But Jason wasn’t Lexie. Her...association with him was new and uncertain. It would be asking a lot to want him to stay involved after meeting her relatives.
With Honor’s long, agonized hesitation, Lexie retrenched. “Unless you really don’t want him there for some reason. Then I’ll personally run him off. No matter what, I’m on your side, hon. Always.”
Jason frowned at Lexie. “Stop helping.”
Holding up her hands, she backed away again.
Belaboring the point just made Honor feel...mean. She’d never intended her independence to be off-putting to others. Just the opposite. She’d always hoped it’d make her more appealing.
“I need to be with you.” Unrelenting more than cajoling, Jason insisted, “Say yes, Honor.”
How could she possibly refuse him? Trying a small smile, she nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”
“Holy guacamole,” Lexie breathed. “This is potent stuff.”
Jason surprised Lexie by hugging her off her feet. “I’m glad she has such a good friend.”
Dazed, Lexie put a hand to her heart. “You are the most unpredictable man.”
Honor was trying to assimilate all that had just happened when her cell phone rang. Frantic, she nearly dumped her purse to get to it and when she finally answered, an unfamiliar voice asked, “Honor Brown?”
Fear smothering her, she sank to sit on the couch and was immediately flanked by Jason and Lexie. With dread, she said, “Yes?”
“Hello. My name is Neil Mosely. I’m a very good friend to your grandfather, as well as his lawyer.”
Her throat tightened until all she could get out was a strained, horrified whisper. “Is Granddad...?”
“Oh no, no! I’m sorry if I alarmed you. There’s no current change.”
Breath left her in a whoosh, and even though she sat, she reeled. “Thank God.”
“I’m calling to inform you that, through Hugh’s wishes, you’re the only family member listed to visit him. He took care of that well before the dementia took over.”
Her eyes rounded. “He did?”
“It’s the others who are trespassing, not you. Never you. And because time is clearly limited, I’m hoping—”
She surged to her feet again. “I was just about to head back.”
Satisfaction lightened the gravity of his tone. “Good, good. I’m pleased to hear it.” He paused before pressing forward. “I realize it’s a very emotional time, but could I meet you there in say, half an hour?”
Honor didn’t understand that at all, but he claimed to be her grandfather’s friend, and that made him special. After she met him, she’d find out why she hadn’t known him sooner. Right now, with timing so urgent, she only wanted to concentrate on getting back to her grandfather. “Yes, of course.”
“Excellent. You’ll find me at his side.”
When the call died, she looked at Lexie.
“I heard,” Lexie said, as astounded as Honor. “You’ve never heard of him?”
She shook her head. “No, but I never got involved in Grandfather’s business contacts, so... I don’t know what to think.”
Clearly Jason had heard as well, given the way he took her shoulders. “We can sort it out later.”
We again. Each time he said it, it stunned her anew—but she was starting to get used to it, at least a little.
“While you get yourself ready I’m going to go grab a shirt and slacks. I’ll drive and along the way you can tell me everything.”
Everything. She wouldn’t even know where to start, but she wouldn’t waste more time battling, not when she needed to get back to the facility. “Okay.” When things changed, she’d deal with them—
“Trust me, Honor.” He smoothed her insanely messy hair. “I don’t scare easily.”
She watched him leave with a purposeful stride.
So did Lexie, until she finally got herself together. “Come on. I won’t let you face them looking so upset, and Jason will be right back. Men are always faster at prep work than women.”
Honor allowed herself to be dragged into the bedroom. Then she stalled.
Her bed was neatly made.
Meaning Jason had made it before he went home.
Awwww. Her heart had taken one blow after another today, first from the predawn call telling her that her grandfather could go at any minute. Then the chaos with her insane relatives. And now this.
This...hope. Long ago she’d learned how dangerous hope could be. It built you up, often just to let you down. It kept you from accepting the inevitable. But she felt it all the same.
Hand to her heart, she said, “He made my bed.”
“Yeah.” Lexie went straight to the closet. “I’m anxious to hear all about that.” She riffled through Honor’s clothes until she’d chosen a pretty but casual summer dress, a lightweight cardigan and comfortable sandals. “You can give me the deets while you change, but we have to hurry or I won’t have a chance to fix your hair and makeup.”
As Honor stripped off her clothes with haste, she said, “I can fix my own hair and makeup. I’m a stylist, remember?”
Lexie ignored that to say, “So you slept with the stud next door.”
Popping her head clear of the dress she’d just pulled on, Honor said, “Yes, and it was amazing.”
“Awesome-sauce!”
Honor stepped into the sandals, turned to the mirror over her dresser and cringed.
“Don’t worry.” Lexie snatched up a brush. “We have time to repair it all. But while I work, you talk. I want to know everything.”
Honor headed for the bathroom. “I’ve already given you all the details you’re going to get. Just know that it was well beyond my expectations.”
“Unfair! I always tell you about my sexcapades.”
Mostly true, but Honor’s involvement with Jason didn’t feel like a sexcapade. It was a precious moment in time that she wanted to cherish and protect. While holding a cold wet washcloth to her eyes, Honor said, “You didn’t give me details on Sullivan.”
“Eh.” Lexie dug through Honor’s makeup bag. “I haven’t yet found the right words, or I would have.”
Honor lowered the cloth. “That good?”
With a dreamy smile, Lexie nodded, then almost immediately shook herself. “Stop trying to divert me. We’re talking about you.”
It took Honor all of thirty seconds to finish removing her ruined makeup. “I, um... I snuck out on him.”
“No way.”
“I know.” She took the brush from Lexie. Her thoughts, her feelings, were all in a jumble. As she brushed, she explained. “He stayed with me, and all night long, whenever I’d move, he’d hug me closer, and oh God, Lexie, I loved it.”
“Snuggling is good,” Lexie agreed. “So, how’d you sneak out?”
“He was asleep when I heard my phone beep. I’d forgotten it and my purse in the living room, so luckily it didn’t wake him.” She lowered the brush. “When I first went to slide away, his arms tightened.” And it had felt so good, so comforting, Honor had badly wanted to stay put. But she loved her grandfather and she knew what the phone call might mean. It was why she always answered.
Lexie fixed a headband into her hair. “Quit beating yourself up, Honor. So you were extra sneaky? It’s okay.”
Inch by inch, she’d freed herself from Jason’s embrace. “I took my clothes and stuff with me when I crept out, and after I got the message, I...”
“You went to your grandfather.” Lexie turned her, looked over her hair and nodded approval.
“I’m sure Jason understands.”
Feeling haunted, she closed her eyes. “I didn’t even write him a note.”
Lexie paused, but only for a moment. “Yeah, sorry, hon, but that’s pretty much a dick move. If the situation were reversed, I’d be furious on your behalf.”
Slumping, Honor said, “I know.”
“I’m not all that well acquainted with men like Jason, but it seemed to me he wasn’t holding a grudge.”
“I’m not.”
They both jumped.
Forgetting to be contrite, Honor turned and said, “Stop sneaking up on me!”
Wearing khakis and a white button-up, Jason stepped in, tipped up her face, searched her eyes, and gave her a soft, gentle kiss. “Ready?”
His personal brand of affection made her knees wobbly.
“Yes.” She grabbed her makeup bag from Lexie. “I’ll do repair work during the drive.”
“Speaking of that...” Lexie set aside the brush and smiled at them both. “I’ll take my own car. It’s only a ten-minute drive, so it’ll give you both a chance to talk.”
“That’s actually a good idea, because it could run late.” With that perfect opening, she faced Jason and tried again. “Maybe I should drive, too. That way if I decide to stay—”
Jason scooped an arm around her. “We already covered this, honey. Let’s go.”
Honor had all kinds of objections, but she couldn’t seem to remember them. And then they were on their way and she had so much to think about it, she gave up the fight.
* * *
It amazed Jason how easily Honor applied a few touches of makeup while he drove. Her hair swung loose around her shoulders, soft and smooth, and though she used concealer to hide the shadows from her upset, the slightly wounded look remained in her expressive eyes, gnawing at his protective instincts.
He had a very bad feeling about things. He’d like nothing more than to bundle her back to his place where he could insulate her from any and all ugliness. But she’d been so resistant to him accompanying her he wasn’t about to do anything to press his luck.
Dividing his attention between the road and watching her, he considered what to say. Every so often she visibly rallied, pulling herself together while pushing aside sadness.
“We’ll be there soon.”
She nodded. “I should probably prepare you. My relatives can be...difficult.”
Given what he’d overheard from Lexie, “difficult” was a massive understatement. “Why don’t you tell me about them? I’d like to understand.” He needed the lay of the land before facing off with them.
Ill at ease, Honor pleated the hem of her skirt before smoothing it out again. “Granddad is everything to me. He took me in when I was twelve and raised me as his own.”
“I didn’t realize.” He remembered when she first moved in, she’d claimed to be alone except for Lexie. At the time, he hadn’t known her well enough to push. But now, as he’d told her, they were involved.
Even if she wanted to deny it.
He put a hand on her slender thigh. “Your parents passed away?”
“Not back then, no.”
Needing the contact, he put his hand under the bottom of her skirt so he could feel the warmth of her bare skin. “How about you elaborate a little on that?”
She stared blindly out the window. “My mother left my dad and me.”
That scared him and he asked, “She was abusive?”
With the slightest of smiles, rife with bleak sadness, she shook her head. “No. She was a wonderful mother. We did everything together. But then she met someone else and I guess he was more important to her. She told me she loved me, that she’d get in touch, but she never did.”
Jason so badly wanted to pull over so he could hold her, so he could somehow make up for what her mother had stolen. But her grandfather was her current priority, and so it became his, as well. “Your father?”
She shrugged. “Dad took care of me for a while. He was solemn, but otherwise the same. A workaholic, kind but distracted. I think he tried, but it was just too inconvenient and one day, when I left school, Granddad was there to pick me up. He explained that I’d be living with him from now on.” She chewed her trembling bottom lip, then swallowed and continued. “Granddad said that my father loved me, and that he knew I’d be well cared for. He told me we’d have an adventure, that he wanted to get me all new things, better things. I left my school, my town...everything.”
Empathy got a death grip on him. “That must have been an awful adjustment for you.”
She was quiet, introspective; then she said very softly, “Granddad did whatever he could to make it easier. I had a fancy new bedroom twice the size of my old room, filled with new clothes, computers, games...whatever he could think of that I might want or need. It meant so much to him that I tried to be happy.”
For her grandfather, she’d buried her grief. Jason couldn’t imagine a woman more innately caring.
When she looked at him, her eyes were damp. “One night he caught me crying.” When she blinked, the tears trickled out and she quickly swiped them away, then smiled. “He was so upset that I ended up comforting him. You see, he felt the pain of what his daughter had done in walking away. He told me that it was his failing, not mine, and I realized that he was hurting as much as me, maybe more. I think that, in part, made us even closer. We relied on each other then—and we still do. Just because he’s forgotten most of it doesn’t mean I’ll ever turn my back on him.”
Jason probably wouldn’t be so drawn to her if she could. “I get the feeling that you’ve really condensed the whole story.”
“I shared all the pertinent parts. There’s no reason to go into a young girl’s melodrama.”
That was how she saw her hurt and disappointment?
Understanding her pride, and that she needed to be strong now, he let it go. “So the other relatives you mentioned, the ones who might be at the facility?”
“There’s no might to it. They’ll be there and unless someone has drugged them, they’ll still be fired up.”
At a time like this, he couldn’t imagine anyone treating Honor with less than kid gloves. “How are you related?”
She rested her head back. “Two aunts, a cousin and a great-aunt. All on my mother’s side, of course. I’ve never really known my father’s family. He wasn’t close with them and they didn’t live nearby.”
“So the relatives at the hospital, you don’t get along with them?”
“My great-aunt, Granddad’s sister, gets impatient, but for the most part she tolerates me. The aunts, though...” She made a face.
Jason patiently waited as she searched for the right words.
“In some weird way, they blame me for my mother taking off. And they really dislike that Granddad showed me so much attention.”
Attention they thought should be theirs? “And the cousin?”
With a humorless laugh, Honor said, “She really, really dislikes me.”
Impossible. In the time he’d known her, Honor hadn’t shown a single objectionable trait. “What’s her issue?”
Talking about her family had left her neck stiff, her hands balled tightly together in her lap. “Mostly she just follows her mother’s lead. They think Granddad favored me, and it’s partially true. We are...were really close. But that’s because I spent so much time with him. The others missed every holiday, even his birthday. They’d only come around when they wanted something.”
He’d be willing to bet Honor had never missed a chance to show her love and appreciation, especially on holidays. “What would they want?”
“Usually money.” She shrugged. “He’s fairly well off. I think they all expected him to be more generous.”
One thought immediately struck Jason: if her grandfather was wealthy, Honor hadn’t taken advantage of that fact when she purchased her house. “You didn’t expect the same?”
She shook her head. “The family forever accused me of using him,
even when I was a kid. They thought my folks had dumped me on him as a way to get to his bank account. Though how that would work when they’ve never come back around, I have no idea. And I’ve always tried to be as independent as I can.”
That explained a few things about her, especially her determination to do things on her own. “You wanted to prove them wrong.” Just as she’d wanted to prove him wrong.
“Maybe a little. But mostly I wanted Granddad to know that I loved him for him, not for any other reason.”
Maybe she was also afraid that if she leaned on her grandfather, if she became a burden in any way, he’d also leave her.
What a terrible assumption for a kid.
“Was he proud of you for getting your own home?”
Her fretful hands opened and smoothed over her skirt. “He would have been, I’m sure. Though we probably would have argued about it.” She flashed a brief smile. “He always wanted to make things easier for me, and I always wanted to prove I could do everything on my own.”
“Even if your way was difficult?”
“Everything worth doing is. But since it’s my responsibility, I don’t mind. Until he got too sick, Granddad worked really hard every single day.” Her voice softened. “And still he always had time for me. I didn’t want to make it any harder on him than it already was.”
Something occurred to Jason, and he asked, “The location of your house...?”
“It’s a lot closer to the facility than I was before.”
And he’d made that move harder on her. Feeling like a bastard, Jason imagined her as a young girl, so lost and alone, everything familiar to her gone, discarded by the people who should have made her a priority. He stroked her thigh with his thumb, offering what little comfort he could. “Your grandfather doesn’t know about the house?”
“He’s had health issues for a while now. His heart, his lungs, cholesterol, blood pressure...and with every issue his dementia got worse. It’s been pretty bad for about two years now.”
The same amount of time Honor had gone without a date. “I’m sorry.” For many things.