Forsaken Duty (Red Team #9)(50)

“The meeting Mandy and Rocco will be at too. No?”

“Yes, they’ll be there. And while they are, Casey will babysit the boys. It’s just a sleepover, Addy. Remember when I’d come for the weekend?”

“And you and my brother would pick on me?”

Owen looked shocked. “Never. Really, we strive for normalcy here. There’s so little of it in what we do,” Owen said. “Let the boys have a sleepover.”

“Please, Mom!” Troy said.

“I’ll talk to Mr. and Mrs. Silas,” Addy replied. “If it’s all right with them, it’s all right with me.”

“Yes!” Troy shouted, then both boys ran off down the hall.

She looked at Owen, thinking she should put her sunglasses back on just to block him from getting in. They started toward the big living room. She stepped closer to him and said quietly, “I very clearly remember an October night that you were over. You dangled a life-sized scarecrow outside my window, making it dance and move.”

Owen chuckled.

“It made this horrible moaning noise.”

“Scared you, huh?” Owen laughed.

“Scared me?” she said, like that was the understatement of the year. “You then spent the whole weekend popping out of hiding places, shouting ‘boo!’”

Owen squeezed his eyes shut as he laughed. “And every time you were startled. Every damned time.”

“I’m so glad I could be the source of your jollies.”

“I never knew screams could hit the octave you did when you saw that scarecrow.” He laughed. “Oh, your face…”

“Are you laughing at me?”

“Not at you. With you.” He shook his head, still laughing. “No. No, I am laughing at you.”

She leaned near him. “Well, I do believe I wet the bed as well. Roberta was not happy.”

Owen looked at her in shock, then laughed. The more he thought about it, the more he laughed, until he bent over and held his knees, he was laughing so hard. He lifted a hand. “No. Wait. I can’t take any more. It hurts.”

She couldn’t quite keep a smile from her face. Owen used to laugh so easily when they were children…before…everything. She used to laugh, too.

He straightened, sobering as the last ripples of laughter faded away. His pale blue eyes held hers. She fought a shiver. How many nights and days had she conjured up the image of them like this, standing close as they were now, just him and her, their eyes dancing, saying things they didn’t openly acknowledge?

“I had to sleep with Wendell for days after you left. I couldn’t go to my parents. They never liked their sleep interrupted. You know how they were. But Wendell let me stay with him when I got scared. He was there for me when it counted. In those days. I thought he still was, but now I don’t know.”

He gave her a slight bow, and, to his credit, kept a straight face. “My deepest apologies, my Laidy. I’ll find a way to atone for that terrible weekend. I have a lifetime of sins to make up to you. It’s a debt I take seriously.”

Addy felt heat rise from her neck to her face. She wondered if her eyes were changing to yet another color.

“And we’ll figure out where Jax stands,” he said. “I have my doubts, too, but that doesn’t mean they’re real.”

She turned from him to see everyone who was gathered in the living room watching their exchange in stunned silence. They all seemed in awe of Owen, just as she was.

She whispered, “We have an audience.”

As Owen looked into the room, everyone quickly returned to what they were doing. Except Val. He gave her a wink and lifted his beer. As they stepped down from the foyer into the living room, he went behind the bar and poured a glass of Balcones for Owen.

“Addy, what’s your pleasure?” Val asked.

She blinked, taken aback by his question. Memories so horrible that they needed to be burned jumped to the front of her mind.

“To drink,” Val clarified, yanking her back to the present. “What can I pour for you?”

Addy lowered her gaze and forced herself to slow her breathing. “Um. Wine. I guess.” She flashed a glance around the bar. “Whatever’s open.”

“Pinot Noir it is.”

He poured the glass. She grabbed it and quickly lifted it for a sip, just catching the tail end of the confused look Val shared with Owen. “I’m glad you’re being brave,” Val said in a quiet voice not meant for the whole room.

Again, she missed his meaning. He pointed to her sunglasses, which were perched on her head. “Smart to keep them near. Wear them when you feel uncomfortable. Or don’t wear them at all. Either way, be at ease with us. You and Troy are safe here. Soon Augie will be, too.”

His words of kindness left her feeling raw and exposed. Kindness had been so scarce in her world that it actually hurt to feel it. She looked over at Owen, who was watching her. Val stepped away from the bar and went to the oversized armchair Ace was sitting in. Lifting her like she was a mere pillow, he sat down and settled her on his lap. She leaned against him, entirely comfortable with his open affection in front of all these people.

“There’s something I’ve been curious about for a while,” Val said, looking at Ty. “As far as you know, was Jax ever here at the house?”