Bridges Burned (Going Down in Flames #2)(81)

Her grandmother had lost a baby, too? What the hell?

“Can I get either of you anything?” Bryn asked.

“Why don’t you bring us some cookies and cocoa,” her grandmother said.

Bryn did as she was asked. After she approached the buffet, other women did the same. Had that been her grandmother’s plan?

Back at the couches, Bryn kicked off her shoes, which made her grandmother’s eyebrows shoot up.

“If it weren’t for my current obligation, I’d be up there helping with the counterattack. Consider shoes off to be a small rebellion by comparison.”

“Then it’s good Jaxon asked you to take care of me,” Lillith said. Her color seemed to be returning.

“If he hadn’t, I would’ve dragged you down here kicking and screaming,” her grandmother said. “And I could do it.”

“I have no doubt about that.” Bryn laughed. “Now I know where my stubborn streak comes from.”

The sound of women talking and eating drifted through the room. Bryn glared up at the ceiling. “We can’t even hear what’s going on, can we?”

“Sonic wave–proofing has the side effect of soundproofing. Which isn’t bad.”

Unless you wanted to know what was going on. Bryn tried to focus on what she could do, which was talk to Lillith and keep her calm.

“Have you picked out a theme for your nursery?” she asked.

“Theme?” her grandmother said. “What do you mean?”

Okay, so she’d never decorated a nursery herself, but she’d seen nurseries on television and seen the things for sale in the stores. “You know, some people decorate with ducks or Disney characters.”

Lillith pressed her lips together like she was trying not to say something.

“Most of the nurseries I’ve seen are decorated either blue or pink,” her grandmother said, “None of them had a theme.”

“Jaxon’s room had the cutest teddy bear theme,” Lillith gushed. “Ferrin didn’t think it was masculine enough but I loved it.”

Bryn filed that information away for later. For right now, she’d keep Lillith talking to keep both their minds off the attack. “Have you picked out something for Asher yet?”

“I can’t decide. There are so many cute things but I can’t ask Ferrin, because he’ll say none of them are masculine enough, and Jaxon practically runs from the room whenever I ask him to look at anything baby-related.”

“I’d be happy to look at baby things with you. It sounds like fun.”

“Really?” Lillith grinned like she’d just received the best Christmas present. “That would be wonderful. Maybe we could go shopping one day and have lunch.”

“I’d like that.” The funny thing was, she meant it. Lillith was fun to hang around with and she laughed at Ferrin’s pretentiousness. How she lived with the man without killing him was a mystery.

Lillith leaned back on the couch and sighed. “Would it be all right if I closed my eyes for a bit?”

“Of course,” her grandmother said. “There are bedrooms down the hall if you’d like to lie down.”

“Thank you, but this will do just fine.” Lillith kicked off her shoes and tucked her feet up underneath her.

“I’m going to make the rounds and check on all my guests. Bryn, why don’t you stay here with Lillith so I know you won’t wander off.”

“Yes, ma’am. I can do that.” Her grandmother floated from group to group, checking on the women and children scattered throughout the shelter. Through all of it, she remained calm and composed, projecting confidence like there wasn’t a thing to worry about. How did she do that?

Lillith’s breathing became regular. Now that she was asleep, could Bryn run upstairs to check on the situation? Not without her grandmother finding out and kicking her butt. So she stayed where she was, working her way through the plate of cookies.

Were Clint and Ivy having a fun Christmas Eve? They lived next door to each other, so they were probably celebrating together. Valmont was probably knee-deep in homemade food. What else had he told her they did on Christmas Eve? Some kind of tournament. Ping-pong, that was it. His family had a ping-pong tournament. Which was kind of strange, but in a fun, wholesome family values kind of way.

What she wouldn’t give to have Valmont here right now. Not that she couldn’t stand on her own two feet, but having backup in the form of a handsome knight would be a bonus.

Boredom and a full stomach made her eyelids heavy. How long had they been down here? An hour? Women and children slept on the couches. Her grandmother sat across the room speaking with the ladies who’d shared their table during dinner. They looked to be the same age as her grandmother. Maybe they were her friends.

Falling asleep on the sidelines while Jaxon fought upstairs was not an option. Time for caffeine. Standing up, she made her way over to the buffet and asked for coffee. While she was there, she grabbed another plate of cookies.

Now what? Polite conversation with strangers would be awkward. She walked over to a bookshelf and spotted a sudoku book. Maybe that would keep her mind off how little control she had at the moment.

Five completed puzzles later, a phone rang. Everyone turned toward the sound. The phone, which Bryn had overlooked, hung on the wall by the entrance into the shelter. Keeping a sedate pace, Bryn’s grandmother crossed to the phone and answered it as if it were any other phone call.