“I’m sorry, love, sorry that I’m causing you this pain, but I’m not going away, neither I suspect is Jake, or for that matter, Macy. It’s my belief that she will be around for a while and need us both to hold her up.”
“The bruises, Dad, they were all over her body, some old some new. He’s been beating her for years and no one knew. She just caked on her makeup, put on her high heels, and faced the world each day, knowing that when she shut herself back inside her house at night, she was once again in the hands of that monster.”
“Do you want more tea?”
“Whisky, I think.” Branna went to rise, but he placed a hand on her head.
“I’ll get it. Tell me where it is.”
“Kitchen cupboard, top left.”
Had she forgiven him? No, it would take time for that. Did she want him back in her life? Branna tested those words in her tired mind and realized she did. The door was open again, and she was letting people in. But forgiveness would take time.
“Here.”
She took the glass he handed her and watched him drag the chair across the room and place it before her.
“Here’s the thing, daughter.” He sat and cradled the glass between his long fingers. “I’m not leaving you again, so you can live your life apart from mine, and I will respect that, but I will stay here, Branna, never doubt that. I know it’s hard for you to forgive me, but if you will just try, love, please.”
She looked down into the amber liquid as he spoke; she heard the pain in his words now that she allowed herself to. “I’m just scared because I don’t want to ever hurt like that again, and now it’s not just you that has that power over me, Dad. Jake does too.”
“And you think we’ll both hurt you?”
“No.” She looked up at him, daring to hope. “I know he wouldn’t, and I want to believe you won’t again.”
“Sweetheart”—he lowered his glass to the floor and she noticed his hands shook—“I can only promise you again and again that I won’t, but if you don’t believe me, then I can do no more.”
“What will we do for her, Dad? Macy is hurting, and I don’t know how to go about fixing her, fixing the mess that is about to unfold around her.”
He understood that she didn’t want to talk about them anymore. Picking up his glass, he took another mouthful, sighing as the liquid burned its way down.
“We take it in small steps, love. When she wakes, we give her breakfast, and then we talk to her. She will have to tell someone she’s safe, maybe her parents? But she doesn’t have to give away her location if she doesn’t want to. We can keep that a secret, and for now, we will just keep her here, out of the hands of that monster.”
“Jake will know because I can’t keep this from him.” Branna wanted him so much right at the moment, needed his strength and his wisdom, but most of all, she wanted him to hold her.
“Go to sleep now, Branna, and I’ll watch over us.”
She struggled to her feet and let her father brush a kiss on her forehead before she stumbled up the stairs and fell into his bed.
Chapter21
Jake and Ethan arrived back in Howling as the sun rose. They covered his helicopter and made their way into the house.
“You going to Branna’s now, Jake?”
“Yeah, I’ll just wash and change, then head over.”
“Pretty early, bud,” the Texan said, as he put on the coffee.
“I need to see her.” Twenty minutes later, he was walking out the door. Ethan had already disappeared into one of the spare rooms and would be asleep.
Jumping into his pickup, he made his way out the driveway and drove along the lake. This early, the sun was coloring the water as it rose, and all around him Jake could see the signs of a day about to begin. Pulling into Branna’s drive a few minutes later, he stopped the pickup behind her van, which was parked close to the house. Relieved that she appeared to be here, along with her father—his rental was parked too—Jake headed for the front door and knocked. He heard footsteps, then the door was opened to reveal Declan O’Donnell.
“Jake.”
“Mr. O’Donnell.” He stepped inside when the man moved back to allow him room. “Is Branna awake?”
“She’s not, but I thought I heard her stirring. If you’ll tell her breakfast will be ready soon, I’ll put on some more for you.”
