He’d think about it and about leaving Lyntacky until he forgot that night because he had a feeling only that or them in bed together again was going to stop whatever this was inside him.
Chapter 11
“Why are you still asleep at 10:00 a.m.? You’re the McAllister most likely to rise with the sun, usually. I’ll add to that why are you not in New York?”
The words jolted Blue awake. Looking up from her bed, she found her brother Finch.
“What are you doing here?”
“I got some leave, and I repeat, why aren’t you in New York, and instead sleeping in your parents’ house?”
“This is my bedroom.”
“You know that’s not what I meant, Blue.”
“I worked at the Rollaway for boys’ night. I’m tired.” She yawned.
The dogs, who had both slept on the bottom of the bed, were now on the floor, wagging their tails. The Labradors, Sage and Basil, greeted Finch enthusiastically.
Blue’s brother was big with short dirty-blond hair and brown eyes. Even dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, he looked military—neat, precise, and ruthlessly fit, his body lean and toned.
It was strange that a McAllister, from the hippie family of Lyntacky, had decided to enter the military, but then, Finch hadalways been the one who liked rules. Unfortunately for him, he lived in a family that didn’t have any.
She pushed herself upright and rubbed her eyes. Yawning, Blue swung her legs out of bed and stood, weaving slightly. She then hugged her brother.
“Hey, Bluebelle.” His big arms closed around her, and his head rested on top of hers.
“Hey, you.” She leaned into all that strength.
Her family were touchers. Raised by two parents who constantly talked about feelings and made their children sit for ten minutes each night, hugging and talking about their day, you learned to accept contact.
“What’s going on, Blue?” He eased her back, hands on her shoulders. “Something is off with you. I spoke to Lynx yesterday, and he wouldn’t tell me why, but he said he was worried about you.”
“That had to be annoying, and there is nothing to worry about.” She stepped back and slipped her feet into slippers that she always had with her summer or winter. To Blue, there was nothing as comfortable as well-worn slippers. She then left her old room and made for the kitchen.
It was a house that was loved. It was never about aesthetics to Hamish and Meadow McAllister but about their beliefs and comfort.
Walls were lined with kids’ drawings and handprints and then a quote saying something like, “I am at peace with who I am as a person.”
The hall gave way to a kitchen living space. The walls had been sunshine yellow for as long as Blue could remember and had two huge sunflowers painted on them. More drawings and inspirational quotes were hung about in here too.
If the furniture in the living area was broken, it was repaired and not replaced. Her parents cared nothing for materialpossession, which she kinda admired, as she was the opposite. Her apartment in New York held pieces she’d worked hard to pay off, and they matched. She’d gone for cool and classy and thought she’d succeeded.
Her parents didn’t drink coffee, but their children did. So Finch had purchased a coffee machine, which the older McAllisters hid in a cupboard when none of their offspring were visiting.
“Where are Mom and Dad?”
“They have gone to the lake to do sun salutations with a few others.”
In any other Lyntacky household, this could be seen as unusual, but not in the McAllister home. They’d been raised by being dragged out of bed to see the sunrise more times than she could ever hope to count.
Blue filled the coffee machine and switched it on. She then reached for the biscuits her mom made. The residual symptom from the bug she’d caught was that she felt nauseous at weird times throughout the day.
“How’s things in the army, Finch?”
Her brother was a first lieutenant, and she was proud of him. Their parents might not understand their firstborn child’s need for the career he’d chosen, but they supported him as best they could.
“Good, now back to you,” he said, getting down the mugs they hid where their parents couldn’t find them, not the mismatched and uneven ones Blue had made them when she was a child.
