“Track her down, come clean about what we are and what she is to me — if nothing else it’ll prove I can protect her. And kill him sooner rather than later.”
“I suppose if she’s really hell bent against being with you, Tempest could erase her memory of you and what you and the rest of us are and let her go. She’d be relatively safe considering her husband would already be dead.”
“I don’t want her memory erased. I want her to know I’m here and how to find me if she needs me.”
“I understand that. But it might not be the best scenario.”
“How would she know to come back if she doesn’t remember me?”
“If she doesn’t stay, Ronan, what makes you think she’s coming back?”
Ronan’s jaw hardened as he rolled Brandt’s question around in his head for a moment or two. “I have no answer for you. I just know that I don’t want to be erased from her memory if she doesn’t accept me, even if she knows what I am.”
“Hopefully it won’t come to that. If it does, we worry about it then. But you know I will not leave us vulnerable in any way. If she runs from you, with information on what we are, that could make us vulnerable.”
“She won’t.”
“Hopefully not. Now, have you told your parents?”
“Yes. Mom is on board with it. Dad, not so much.”
“Why?”
“I don’t really even know. Because he thinks I’m not going to finish school. Because he thinks I’m in over my head becauseshe’s older than me and has kids? Because he knows she’s hiding from something? Pick one.”
“Knowing what we all know about your dad and his past, I’m pretty sure he’s not really bothered about her age and her kids. I’d bet on the other two things.”
“Regardless, I don’t care.”
“Maybe you can mention it to those of Kaid’s clan that are regularly around the shelter, or ask your mother to. They can help you keep an eye on her and make sure she’s okay until things between you are settled.”
“Yeah, I think I’ll do that.”
“The rest of us will of course do what we can and more, but they’re the ones who are volunteering at the shelter most often, so they’d be there more than we are.”
“I’ll definitely let them know.”
“Good. In the meantime, I’ll talk to my dad and find out if he’s got blue prints of his house. If not, we’ll draw up a set including the extra bedroom and get to work as soon as we can get the materials delivered.”
“Thanks, Brandt. I appreciate it. I’ll get to the bank tomorrow and see if I can take out a loan. I’ve got some cash saved up. Even with what I took out to pay for the upcoming semester today, it’s still a healthy balance. If I leave it there, hopefully they’ll give me a loan against it.”
“Maybe. If not, we can swing it until you can start making payments.”
“I don’t want to do that,” Ronan said.
Brandt shrugged. “How do you think I pay for the guest houses I built when I first bought this place, and still build so we have extras for family to stay in when they come visit?”
“I figure you’re doing well. Eventually I will be, too, but I don’t want to accept charity. I’ll pay for it.”
“I know you will. And this ain’t charity. This is family helping family, knowing eventually you’ll make the loan from us good. Don’t go to the damn bank. We got this. You got this. It’s just that you don’t have to pay us in advance.”
“I don’t feel good about this.”
“Why shouldn’t we help you when we’ve helped everyone else? Too damn proud, just like your father and your brother.”
Ronan laughed. “I just don’t want to be a burden, and I want to pay my own way.”
“You are not a burden, Ronan. We’re glad to have you home. And you’ll pay your own way. Just not right away. Besides, it’s not going to cost what you think it will because we get builder pricing on everything.”
