Dylan (Bowen Boys, #3)(55)

“Come into the house with me. I’ll open it, and you can fix us breakfast.” She took his hand when he offered it. “I would love some waffles. The kind you made the first night we were here. And ham. I love fried ham.”

She went to the refrigerator and started taking out the things to make waffles, and he sat in the chair. The box sat there in front of him, and she tried to ignore it by changing the subject. She glanced at the calendar and asked him about school.

“When do you need to go back to class? I’m assuming you have to go in before school actually starts to do some things.” He said he would, yes. “I don’t even know what grade you teach.”

“Fifth. I teach fifth grade and gym on Tuesdays all day. It’s sort of nice. I get to know a great many of the kids I might not have being just a teacher. What are you going to do now?”

She had had offers to go back to work for Caitlynne, but she wasn’t sure she could do that right now. She’d received a nice bonus for solving the case against the country when she’d figured out Mann’s last two overseas accounts. And that money was still in an uncashed check with the one she’d gotten from the Vampire Council for taking care of Lucius. That check was considerably bigger. But until she cashed one or both of them she had to find a job.

“Your brother Marc offered me a job. He might have been kidding, but I was thinking of going into that line of work if he didn’t want me.” She tried not to think about that and moved on. “I could open my own investigating firm, something like he has. Monica said he’s very good.”

“He wasn’t kidding when he offered you the job. He has asked me several times if you were ready to talk business yet.” Dylan got up and started making a pot of tea for them. “My dad said that Mom misses you. I think he does more; you and he got along very well.”

They had, too. He was funny and witty, just like she’d always dreamed of a dad being. He had texted her every day since they’d been there and had sent her pictures of the babies, all three of them, as well.

As they sat down to eat, she tried not to see the box. She thought about asking him to put it on the floor, but that would be like admitting that she was afraid of it. She looked at him when he laughed.

“I have been really good about not invading your mind. I’ve wanted to a great deal and have just been worried enough about you to do it anyway. But it’s your face that gives you away sometimes. When you think you’re alone or deep in thought, you have the most telling face.” She started to get up and toss her plate in the sink when he stopped her. “We never have to open this box. Never. I don’t care what’s in it enough to force you to open it, any more than I care why he gave it to us. But he did.”

“What if it’s something from the vampire?” Once she said it she knew she had to tell him. “I’m terrified it’s some sort of award for killing him. I don’t want anything for killing him. Nothing at all. I murdered him because he’d taken Reed. I killed him because I didn’t want him to hurt your family, my family. I cut off his head because I didn’t want to have to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life.”

“That does not make you a murderer. It makes you human. And had you not killed him, who else do you suppose he would have killed? My mother? My dad? Or even me? How long do you think the council would have been able to hold him before he escaped?” He pushed the box toward her. “We can take it to the river right now and toss it in. I don’t want you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”

“And the money?” He shrugged. “So if I told you that I want to shred the checks and not cash them, you’d be okay with that?”

“We didn’t have it before, so not having it now makes no difference to me.” He stood up and pulled her into his arms. “I have all I need right here, right now. I love you, very much, and will never leave you no matter what you decide.”

He held her so tightly that she believed him. Burying her head in his chest, she felt the tears that she’d been hiding from for over a week start to flow. Before long she was sobbing and clinging to him. At some point, he picked her up and sat in the chair while she continued to cry. Exhausted, her body began to relax and ease. The last thing she remembered was being put to bed, and she rolled over and slept.

~~~

Dylan watched her sleep for a few minutes before he left the bedroom and went to the kitchen. He was cleaning up their leftovers when his cell phone rang. He smiled when he realized it was his dad.

“She bringing you home soon?” He laughed at his dad’s greeting. “I can’t say I miss you overly much, but your mother does. The girl, too. We’re fixing to have a big family dinner when you and she get your bottoms here.”

“She’s sleeping.” He heard his dad sigh. “I’m hoping that she’ll sleep for a few hours. Then we’ll talk some more.”

“She still not sleeping, then?” He’d talked to his parents every day since they’d gotten there. “Poor thing. That girl has more guts and balls than most men I know of. Saved not just your brother, but you, too. I knew she was going to be good for you.”

She was, too, and he glanced toward the bedroom. “Dad, what if she never learns to deal with this? What if this haunts her for the rest of her life? I don’t want her to suffer because she feels like a failure.”