Page 38 of The Defiant Curse

She nodded.

“Yeah, I’m coming to grips with making the choice to take some time away from everyone. I won’t lie. It wasn’t an easy one to make.”

Michael sat beside her.

“It’s a good plan, Mom. I meant what I said. They will live. Again, they’re in Fiji. It’s not like they’re at a slave labor camp digging in the mines. They’re in a private mansion with their own beach. They aren’t worried about you taking some time for yourself.”

She hoped he was right. A part of her wanted to go pick them up herself, but she knew she was in no way able to carry more load.

Not right now.

“My sons should be in the mines. They have too much of me in them, and their fathers. They are trouble on a good day. I can’t wait until they get a load of this place. They’re not going to know what to do with it.”

“Probably scale it,” Michael said. “It’s a good thing Muriel likes rock climbing.”

She snorted.

Yeah, no one doubted that.

When the Blackhawk boys, and Elizabeth LaRue made a child, the genetics were wild. Not only did they get the good looks, but they got the wild behavior.

Plus, literally climbing the walls was their most favorite pastime.

If they could climb it, or swing from it, they were doing it.

When her plate was ready, Graham handed it to her, and went to work on theirs.

“Dig in. We’re not formal,” Graham stated. “You have to be hungry.”

Oh, she was.

“Thank God because my last meal was pancakes, and before that, I think I only ate a burger and some coffee. It’s vague. When I’m working, I’m not thinking about food. I’m thinking about not getting killed.”

Graham paused to look at her.

That’s when Michael shared.

“She’s not exaggerating. People are always trying to kill her,” he said. “Dodging bullets is a regular thing in her world.”

Jesus.

He was never gladder that his husband had retired. Still, he felt horrible that was her life. As a soldier, he understood what that felt like, and it wasn’t easy being on edge twenty-four-seven. It wore a person down.

Instead of commenting, Graham passed a plate to his husband, and made his own. Then, they all sat there, and ate. Graham put a chair facing her on the side of the island, so he could face her.

“I made plenty,” he stated. “So, eat as much as you want. My husband likes leftovers,” he said. “We tend to cook lots for that reason.”

Oh, her too.

She loved some cold food in the middle of the night as a late-night snack.

From beside her, Michael watched her inhale the food. That told him all he needed to know. She hadn’t been exaggerating one bit. He recalled from protection duty that she’d run on coffee and sarcasm while making sure security had access to food.

She was a mom to her core.

“Someone lost some weight,” Michael said. “Oh, and that someone isn’t us.”

She snorted.