Cherishing Brianna [Fate Harbor 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)
Page 26
Beauty was resting with her head in Brianna’s lap. It was like the dog knew she needed comfort this morning. She was scared. Really, really scared. This was it. She’d been dreading this day ever since the day she was sixteen and her grandmother had told her that her dad’s illness was hereditary. Now she was finally going to find out if she had it.
“But you’re going to love me no matter what, aren’t you, Beauty? No matter how bad it gets, as long as I don’t hurt you, you’re going to love me, aren’t you?” Beauty wouldn’t care if she talked to herself, if she didn’t make sense, if she was delusional, if she heard voices. As long as she remembered to feed her, and never harmed her, then Beauty would love her.
“But what if I do harm you?” Memories swirled in Brianna’s head. So many memories. She rested her head on Beauty’s neck and sighed. “You know Zac loves you, don’t you, girl? I bet you miss playing with Chaos.” Beauty whined, and lifted her head, and licked Brianna’s cheek. Her meaning was clear as day. Intelligent brown eyes looked at her, and Brianna felt like Beauty was channeling every single person from Fate Harbor. She straightened her shoulders.
“Okay. I hear you. It’s about damn time I see what this is all about.” She stroked Beauty with a trembling hand. Beauty barked at her, and she could swear the dog was giving her a smile of encouragement.
* * * *
“It’s a simple questionnaire. Did you answer it honestly?” Brianna looked over her copy of the form. She’d taken the test online many times, but she’d really thought the psychiatrist would have something more to offer. One of the questions was whether she believed in something that no one else believed. The only thing she believed in was that she needed to be isolated because she could be sick, and her family thought that was stupid.
“Let’s talk about that, Brianna. The question is, do you believe in more than one thing about reality and the world around you that nobody else seems to believe in? Is that what’s going on with you and your loved ones?”
She took a deep breath. It was the only question she had answered positively. She knew that every other question on the simple test she had answered in the negative. Basically, despite the incident in Dallas, she still didn’t have any symptoms.
“No, what’s going on with my family and I is just a disagreement. It’s not a matter of me having a different perception of reality.”
“Then why are you withdrawing from everyone? Why did you leave California for Dallas in the first place? I remember you as a teenager. You were happy with the Hutchins.”
She looked at him in amazement. “Don’t you remember? You said that if Dad had lived in a very strict environment, if he had lived a very regimented life, that along with his medication, his symptoms would have been greatly reduced.”
“Yes, that’s true for many severe cases of schizophrenia. Those measures could have helped your father. But you and I both know that your mother never once sought help for him when he went off his meds. Instead she bought into his psychosis. Your circumstances are completely different.”
“But when I got my diagnosis I wanted to be prepared.”
“I really wish you had come and talked to me before you had left for Dallas. You’ve only seen the most severe end of the schizophrenic spectrum. I run a support group that I would like you to sit in on. There are nine members who have varying degrees of the disease. I want you to meet them and see how they live their lives. Not one of them is like your father. Nor have they shut themselves away from the people or the things they love.”
Brianna was silent, trying to take in what the doctor was saying. His words were shifting her world on its axis.
“Brianna? You will come, won’t you? It’s two days from now.”
“Yes.” She felt like she was under water, her voice coming from a long ways away.
“Brianna. I think you also need to start seeing a psychologist. This is a pretty big shock to your system.” She frowned.
“What is?”
“You’re twenty-six years old. Basically signs of schizophrenia would have likely manifested by now. They haven’t. I think this is going to be quite a paradigm shift for you, and I think you’re going to need to see someone to help you cope.”
Brianna walked out of Dr. Lester’s office in a daze.
Chapter 28
Zac and Charlie were losing their fourth game of pool to Jack and Leo and neither of them cared.
“This is no fun. Why doesn’t somebody start a good old-fashioned bar fight? Now that would be fun.” Zac looked at Leo’s brother and realized he wasn’t kidding.
“Damn it, Jack, just because you pay for the damages, doesn’t make up for the lost profits when we have to do the repairs. You’re an irresponsible idiot!” Jack just grinned and meandered over to the bar to flirt with the waitress and get another beer. Leo turned to look at Charlie and Zac. “And you two are just as idiotic. When the hell are you going after your woman?”
“She’s got to come to us. We’ve made all the overtures we can, but ultimately it’s got to be her decision.”
“Nope, Jack’s right. I say we go down there this weekend. I’m done waiting.”
“We’ve discussed this.”
“No, we haven’t discussed this. You’ve talked, and made all these girlie sounds, and I’m sick of it. She’s been down there for over six weeks. It’s time we brought her home.”
“Now you’re talking, Meade.”
“Shut up, Jack, he doesn’t need any encouragement,” Zac said, rounding on the seaplane pilot who was obviously so much more than a seaplane pilot. Then he turned to Charlie. “Have you bothered to talk to any of her family?”
“Huh?”
“You’ve been drowning yourself in so many double shifts, I haven’t been able to get ahold of you. Well, she’s doing well, our girl is. I went out to lunch with Olivia, and apparently Brianna has made tremendous progress.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“She finally realizes that the likelihood of her getting sick at her age is slim. She has also met some people who have their disease well managed and are living highly productive lives. She is spending a lot of time with them.”
“Halle-fucking-lujah.”
“So does that mean you’re going to go get her and bring her home?” Leo asked as he sank his third ball in a row.
“No, this means she is so much closer to coming home to us,” Charlie said with a wealth of satisfaction. He smiled when Leo missed his next shot, and then proceeded to clear the table and sink the eight ball. He slammed his hand against Zac’s back.
“So did Olivia give you an ETA?”
“Whoa there, big guy. Just because she is coming to grips with this doesn’t mean that she is ready to jump into a permanent relationship with us. As a matter of fact, for the first time in her life, she’s actually truly free. We don’t know what she’s going to decide.”
“Jesus, Zac, could you be more of a downer? Leo, I need another beer.”
“No you don’t,” Zac said. He looked at his partner, understanding how he felt. He desperately wanted to go down to California and bring back Brianna, too, but she had to come back because she wanted to.
* * * *
Charlie wanted a cigarette. He watched as Zac’s SUV pulled into the bakery parking lot. It was 7:00 p.m. on Sunday night, and Olivia was waiting inside the apartment to talk to them both. Really, a phone call could have sufficed. Hell, a text could have sufficed. Brianna’s not coming home.
Zac got out of his vehicle and looked at Charlie.
“So Olivia’s inside?”
“Guess so, that’s where she told us she’d be.”
“So Ian and Joshua will be there, too,” Zac surmised. “I wonder where their truck is.”
“Who the fuck cares? You know she wants to tell us that Brianna is never coming back, and to tell us not to go after her.” Charlie watched as Zac lowered his head.
“I know,” he said softly. “She just can’t stand to hurt us.
”
“I know that, too. I would have preferred a text.”
“We would have been on a plane in an instant. Olivia’s going to have to explain things. The girls know it.” Charlie thought he might throw up.
“Let’s go upstairs.” He led the way, feeling like he was walking up toward the gallows. He knocked on the door. When there was no answer, he tried the knob and found it open. “Olivia?” he called as he pushed the door open. His knees buckled as he saw Brianna tucked up on the couch, her knees clasped to her chin.
Zac pushed past him and was kneeling in front her, and he was still holding the doorknob staring at her like she would vanish if he moved. He watched as Brianna and Zac stared at one another, and then, as if they were one person, they turned their heads to look at him.
“Come here, Charlie.” Her voice was husky.
He turned around and slowly closed the door, taking deep breaths. Please, please, please.
* * * *
He looked so lost, she couldn’t stand it.
“Charlie?” She stood up and Zac stood with her, his arms wrapped around her. Charlie strode across the room, and cupped her cheeks.
“Are you here for good?”
“I finally figured some things out.” Her voice trembled slightly. She looked at him intently, searching, hopeful.
“What did you figure out, baby?”
“That I can deal with this, that even if I were to get sick, the illness wouldn’t define me.”
“Well done Angel,” Zac murmured into her neck as she watched Charlie’s eyes water.
“About fucking time, Brianna.”
Charlie pressed forward and plundered, pushing her into Zac, who must have been braced for it. It was the most devastating, most powerful, most loving kiss of her entire life. And as it went on and on, Zac kept up a litany in her ear.
“You’re ours, Angel, and we’re never letting you leave again. We love you, and you’re going to marry us. Our futures are tied together, and however they unfold will be beautiful, because they will be together.”
Every word Zac said solidified what she had come to believe. She loved these two men with all of her heart. She would never willingly leave them again. Melting into their arms, she knew she was cherished.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Caitlyn O’Leary was raised in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. She has been an avid reader. Her earliest creative writing endeavors consisted of “ghost writing” exercises in which she pretended to be her younger brothers and sisters when she did their homework assignments before they turned them in as their own.
Years in corporate America honed her ability to manipulate words by day, and at night she read everything she could get her hands on, including many, many steamy romances!
Now happily married to her long, tall Texan and living in Southern California, Caitlyn has finally found the time to write erotic happily ever afters for Siren. She enjoys swimming, traveling, babysitting her nieces and nephews, spending time with friends and family, and doing lots of “research” for upcoming novels with her husband.
Website: Caitlynoleary.com
E-Mail: Caitlyn@caitlynoleary.com
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