She leans back into me and I can feel the sorrow coming off her in waves. “Her body, Mom’s body.”
The words leave her mouth on a sob, as she turns into me. Shay buries her face into the crook of my arm, and I can feel the tears drenching me. I wrap my arms around her, holding her as close as possible. I don’t know what to say, not sure there is anything I can say to ease her pain.
“It’s what she wanted, Laura.” Lock says in a quiet voice.
She finally pulls away from me, wiping the tears from her eyes. Then, she looks over to her brother. “My name is Shay; Laura’s dead.”
Anything He Wants
Shay
After my declaration, I walk back to the bedroom. Not wanting to be around anyone, not even my brother. Of course, he follows me. Trying to ignore him, I climb into the bed and close my eyes. I just want to sleep this day away, to not think of losing my mom anymore.
I feel the bed dip as Jeremy’s body settles in behind mine, right before his pulls me into him. He hugs me close as he starts to talk. “I think I’m going to propose to Dana.”
This shocks me. Not only is it a complete subject change, but I have no idea who the heck he is talking about. “Dana?”
“You haven’t met her, but we’ve been seeing each other for nearly a year.”
I block out the pain his words cause, each one reminding me of how alienated I had been while married to Marcus. “I can’t wait to meet her.”
“I’ll bring her to Rich Hill soon. I want her to know my lil’ sis.”
I know he’s trying to take my mind off Mom, so I let him. “Tell me about her.”
“She’s a lawyer for the DA’s office. Really damn smart and she’s fuckin’ gorgeous.”
Enjoying the diversion, I press for more. “Describe her.”
“I can do better.” He says as he moves away from me and sits up.
Pulling out his phone, he clicks on the screen for a second then lies back down. He hands it to me and says, “That was us at Key West last summer.”
Taking the phone from his hand, I stare at a picture of my brother and a beautiful woman. She has black hair, and her eyes show that she has Asian blood running through her veins. He is right; she is gorgeous, but there is something about her that turns me off. While my brother is smiling down at her and seems happy, she looks cold. There is a smile on her face, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Mom didn’t like her.” He says in a quiet voice. “She never said anything, but I could tell that she wasn’t Dana’s biggest fan.”
“Hmmm.” I mumble, not knowing what to say.
She didn’t like Marcus either. Even before we were married and he was just Dad’s boss, Mom would talk about how strange he seemed. At the time, I had no idea who he was. He was just the man that signed my dad’s check and nothing more. She has always been a good judge of character, and judging by the things she said to Bowie, she really liked him.
I go quiet, as I lay cocooned in my big brother’s arms. Silence fills the room, until I hear the sounds of footsteps coming down the hall. I turn my head, in time to see Bowie walking in the room wearing dry clothes. The wet jeans he had on earlier held in his hands. He tosses them on the floor at the end of the bed and looks at me.
“I’ve got to ride out with Shooter. I’ll be back later, and we’ll head home.”
He doesn’t give me a chance to ask where he is going, before he is talking to Jeremy. “You’re gonna stay here with her, right?”
My brother slides from the bed and stands up in front of Bowie. “I’ll stay here, but we need to have words first.”
Bowie’s face goes hard as he shoots daggers from his eyes. “I think I’ve had enough of your fuckin’ words.”
“I was wrong to say that shit.” Jeremy states, stepping closer to him. “But she’s my sister and I don’t want her to be hurt. Treat her right, and we won’t have any problems.”
The Bowie from the last week is gone, and the asshole I met the first day is back with a vengeance. “She’s mine, and I’ll treat her any fuckin’ way I want. If you don’t like it you can suck my damn dick.”
I sit up, ready to tell him to kiss my ass, but he doesn’t give me a chance. Before I can even open my mouth, he turns and stomps out of the room.
“Shit!” Jeremy says, sitting down on the bed and blowing out a frustrated breath. “I fucked up bad.”
“He didn’t mean it.” I say, hoping my words are true.
My brother turns his head to look at me. “Yeah, he did. I disrespected him. Bowie is not a man that is gonna take that shit.”