Page 5 of Tank

“They’ll make sure that she doesn’t get out. And in the meantime, you’ll be safe here in this house with Brenin and me.” She rubbed her belly and thought of the child that was there. They’d not told Davy yet that he was going to be a big brother, but she hoped that he’d be happy. “You should be getting ready for when your dad comes home. He said that the two of you were going to be working on the project you have due together.”

“I know. I’m ready for him.” Davy sat down at his desk chair and looked at her. “I’m afraid of her. She’s not nice at all.”

“I know, sweetie. But like I said, it’s going to be a long time before she gets out. They’ll keep her locked up, too, if she doesn’t change her ways.” He nodded, but she wasn’t sure that he was getting it. “How about we have a snack before your dad gets home? I know that I could use some cheese and crackers.”

While they ate their snack, she thought about all the things that had happened since she’d met Brenin. Not only was she happily married, but her son was safe, and she wasn’t working as hard as she had been. True to his word, he’d not only kept them safe from Janice, but he’d provided them with a safe home and a good life. She loved Brenin more than she had ever loved her first husband, David Manchester.

After their little snack, Davy made his way up to his room. He had finished all his homework but for the project that he had going, and that was something that the two of them had been working on for two days. It wasn’t due until Monday, and it was only Thursday, so they were making it perfect for school. She thought for a second grader, that he’d done a great job on his diorama. Brenin reached out to her just as she was going to work on her paperwork from school. She’d been grading papers for them for the last two years, and it was good money as well as easy work.

“I’ve heard from the attorney we hired to get back the money that Janice stole from you. The fact that she took all his pension is against the law, too. Anyway, the banks are cooperating for us, and you should have the ten million dollar policy money returned to you in eight to ten business days.” She said that was good. “I thought so as well. It might take a little longer for you to start getting his pension, but as soon as it’s final, that’ll come to you as well. You’ll be able to quit working if you want to.”

“I still might hang onto grading papers. It keeps my mind busy, and I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have anything to do with my time.” He said that was the real reason that he worked too. “I know. You told me that you get into trouble when you’re lazing about. I can’t imagine you being lazy because you keep busy so much, but I do understand that.”

The two of them talked about dinner because it was the cook’s night off, and decided that they’d go to the burger joint in town to get some dinner. Neither one of them liked to cook, but it was the cleanup that they hated more. As soon as the connection was closed, she decided to finish off what she had to do and take a nap before dinner.

Next month, they were all headed to Disney. She was so excited that the entire family was going that she couldn’t wait. It would be fun for the adults who had never been, and she was sure that Davy and Trevor, Skye and Cassian’s son, would have a lot more fun with a lot of people going with them. She and Davy had gone the last three spring breaks, and they had so much fun.

After her nap, it was time for Brenin to come home, and she was excited about that. He would need to change after getting home, but they’d be on their way as soon as he was ready. She was suddenly starving and called for Davy to get dressed so that he’d be ready to go as well. He came down in his new jeans—he seemed to be growing out of everything lately—and tennis shoes. She smiled at him when he got to the bottom of the stairs.

“Your shoes look like they’ve seen better days. We’ll have to get you some before we go to Disney.” He said they pinched too. “All right. Tonight, while we’re out, we’ll look into getting you some new ones. There is no point in you hurting when you don’t have to.”

“Thanks, Mom.” They ended up in the living room together when Brenin came home. After giving him a kiss and a hug from Davy, he ran up the stairs to get changed. He said he’d not be but a few minutes, and she believed him. He could shower and change in no time.

After getting their meal and new shoes for Davy, she ended up getting him two new pairs to wear, they headed home. Davy had school in the morning, and she had papers to grade yet. Brenin told them about the woman that he’d met about her sister’s will.

“I have a feeling that she’s not going to have a good time with her sister.” She asked what he meant. “They’re triplets. And I’ve never met three sisters who were less alike than they were. Serenity and Helen, the one who died, had the most in common, but Beth is a troublemaker. I look for them to be at it from now until she goes back to her home state.”

“That’s too bad. You said that Helen died of cancer, is that right?” He said that she’d had it in her bloodstream. “It must have been hard for the two of them to take that. Perhaps that’s why she is such a troublemaker, she’s stressed about her sister dying.”

“I don’t know. She seemed to have a chip on her shoulder about Serenity having everything in the will. There will be plenty left once the house is sold. But that’s about it. Everything else was taken care of by Helen. She was organized even after death.” Lisa asked about the house. “It’s big. Bigger than our house by a bedroom. But it has a lovely yard where the toys that she used for babysitting were. The pack was glad to get them all by the way.”

“I bet they were.” She yawned once and told him she was sorry. “I’m so exhausted all the time. I know it’s the baby, but I never felt like this with Davy.”

“It’s a dragon you’re carrying. That could be it.” She said she was sure it was. “You nap when you want, and I’ll hold down the fort. Davy and I are going to be working on his project until bedtime, and I’ll get him ready. You just go lie down and rest. You want to feel better by next month, don’t you?”

“Yes, of course.” She laughed. “Davy has the days counted down until we leave. I can’t believe that we’re all going to be going together. It’s going to be so much fun to hit the rides with the two kids.”

They talked about Jancie before he went to work with Davy in his room. She laid down on the couch to read a little, but decided that was putting her to sleep. Getting up, she found the newspaper and was reading it over when she came to the auction listing on the back page.

The house was bigger than theirs, and it came with fifty acres. The listing of the furniture was a lot, too, and there was mention of a barn with yard equipment and other things that hadn’t been sorted as yet. She must have been selling everything because there was a list that told what sort of household furniture was selling as well. She read over the list twice and was amazed that there was that much stuff in the place. It must have looked like a horder nest.

Marking it on the calendar, she was going to go so that she could see what sort of stuff that was there. The list was extensive, but she didn’t know what some of the pieces were. She had no idea what a tall boy was, and there were four of them. Also, something called a bed warmer. Lots of antiques, it said. She would go, have a good time, and wonder what sort of family was hosting this auction.

“Are you going?” She said that she was. “I think I’ll go too. I have a feeling about something, but he’s not said anything to us yet.”

“Who about what?” She was distracted a little and turned to look at him when he didn’t answer right away. “Who is keeping secrets, and what about do you think they are?”

“Tank.” She asked again what Tank was keeping from them. “I think he’s mated to one of the sisters. I’m hoping it’s Serenity, but I just know it’s going to be Beth. She’s not going to fit in well with the rest of us.”

“Tank found his mate, you think, and he didn’t say anything? That’s not right. Have you spoken to him?” He said that he had to talk to them, but he didn’t say why. Now he’s acting all cagey about something. I thought at first it was nothing, but today he told me that he was looking for a house to buy. I mean, I thought that he was living with his brother and would be until he found his mate. Now he’s looking.”

“Do you think they’ll live in the house for sale?” He shrugged and told her that he and Davy had finished the project. “All right. I’ll go up and tell him good night. We’ll talk when I get back.”

“All right. I might be wrong, but he’s been acting really strange since we went over and picked up the toys for the pack. I asked him, but he said he had stuff on his mind. Do you think he could be waiting on her to get some of the grief out of the way? That’s the only thing I can think of that would make him wait to tell us. I suppose that it could be something else, but I just don’t know.”

Telling Davy goodnight, her mind was on Tank and the two women. She wanted it to be Serenity, too, but didn’t know the other woman. Perhaps she was just having a bad day when he met her, and that would be it. Instead of thinking bad things about her, Lisa was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. She didn’t know what sort of mood she’d be in if she just lost her sister, either.

Going back down to the living room, the two of them talked about the other two women. He told her that Serenity was overwhelmed when he spoke to her several days ago, but she’d been polite and nice. He told her how Helen, the sister who had died, had said there was tension between the three of them and that this would be hard on Serenity.