AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She’s appalled at her brother’s behavior. She wants him back in the justice system too.” Cath seemed to have better morals than her brother.
“That’s not what I asked.” Jack slammed a fist on the newel post. “Do you trust her?”
“I have to.” Cath had avoided explaining her actions. She’d tried everything to get rid of him short of tying him up and tossing him out the door. What if he’d misjudged her honesty? What if she undermined him? What if offering her sanctuary was a major mistake?
“If you jeopardize Aunt Edi’s safety, I’ll whump your tail good.”
Mitch stuck his hands in his pockets, a heavy weight dragging his gut so low, he would no doubt wake up tomorrow underground. He knew next to nothing about Cath Hurley except she didn’t behave like a junkie. He needed the goodwill of his family like he needed the blood in his veins. Should he expose them to someone whose motives he didn’t trust? He swallowed a lump the size of an uneaten MRE. “As soon as we find her brother, she’ll be out of here.”
* * *
Mitch’s aunt took a saucer from the kitchen cabinet. “You can use this for her food too. She’s probably hungry.”
“She will be in the morning.” Cath shredded more newsprint into the makeshift box they’d found on the back porch. The woman must be seventy-five or eighty, but she’d welcomed Cath and Tiger like long-lost friends.
Why had Mitch been so reticent about his family? They would have been a selling point for her. Besides, with both of them having hearing-impaired siblings, his family—except maybe Jack—could be another connection to build on. A business connection. They didn’t need any other kind.
“What about you?” Aunt Edi asked. “Are you hungry?”
“Please don’t bother.”
“It’s no bother.” Aunt Edi opened the refrigerator. “I don’t get a chance to entertain very often. I used to have people over all the time when my Arthur was alive. He’s gone now. So are a lot of my friends, but I have my hands full with the boys.”
She looked in the fridge. “I have apple pie, or would you like a ham and cheese sandwich?”
“Mitch and I stopped for burgers on the way over.” He’d actually only paused to collect their meal from the drive-through, and he’d insisted on paying. She should buy lunch tomorrow and start evening the score again. But she should be a gracious guest now. “A piece of pie sounds yummy.”
Mitch’s aunt cut a slice and put the plate on the table before levering herself into a chair. “Sit down, dear, and tell me how long you’ve known Mitch.”
Cath finished filling the box with paper strips and perched on the edge of a chair. “We’ve only known each other a little while.” She ate some pie. “The last two days we’ve spent a lot of time together.”
Aunt Edi nodded. “He only got out of the army a few months ago. He was special forces, you know.”
“I didn’t know.” That’s where he must have learned to clear houses, and being in the military went a long way to explaining his irritating take-no-prisoners attitude.
The older woman adjusted her glasses. “A lot can happen in a day.”
“A lot did happen.” Today’s events could have filled a calendar week.
Aunt Edi pulled a string of Mardi Gras beads over her head. “They were giving out some of last year’s parade beads for bingo prizes today.”
She displayed the medallion on her wrinkled palm and added the necklace to the souvenir drink glass overflowing with green, gold, and purple beads. “Most of this is what the boys bring me back from parades. The only krewe I’m missing is Bacchus.”
They chatted about Carnival a few more minutes, and Cath stifled a yawn.
“You must be exhausted. Go on upstairs. I expect Mitch will have everything ready now.”
Cath pulled her purse strap over her shoulder and collected the box and saucer. A lot had already happened today. A lot could still happen, but if Mitch thought they were going to share a room, she had to set him straight.
At the top of the stairs, she tiptoed down the long hall of closed doors to the only open one. Would she find Mitch spread out like a magazine centerfold on a white rug?
Her pulse pounded. He wouldn’t do that in front of his older brothers. Maybe he would. Army guys took showers in big communal bathrooms. Like football players in a locker room, they wouldn’t think twice about walking around naked.
Mitch bent over a bed, his strong arms bare under the rolled-up sleeves of his brown checkered shirt. His efficient movements showed off the lean and muscled body that spoke of hours of calisthenics to build toughness. To face danger. To tuck a bedsheet?
On a double bed. She swallowed to moisten her parched throat. At least it wasn’t a white rug. “I didn’t realize how multitalented you were.” Cath stepped into the room.
He glanced over his shoulder. “Thanks to my sergeant I can tuck a mean corner. Come over here and drop your phone. I guarantee it’ll bounce.”
