Wrapping Up(38)

I turned around to look at my wife’s reaction. She gave me a smile and grabbed my hand, like she somehow, at that very moment, had come to terms with the Conner/Amy situation. “I’ll stay back here with my brother. You two go do what you need to do. Amy, if you want to stay, you know you’re welcome. You don’t have to go back with him.”

Amy put her head down and started to cry. “I wish it were that easy.” She looked back at Conner and I saw the disappointment in his eyes. “Conner, you know I can’t stay. You know why I have to go.”

“You’d pick that over your own safety?” This conversation was deeper than Miranda and I knew.

“I have to. I’m so sorry you guys. I have to go with him.” She started putting on her jacket and walking out of the room. Conner looked pissed and he started following her out of the room, but him walking up to Rick in a pair of sweats with no shirt, wouldn’t go over good at all, and could put Amy in a worse situation.

I took my hands and pushed Conner back in his room slowly. “Ty, you don’t understand. She doesn’t want to go with him.”

I finally got him pushed down on his bed. Miranda had gone with Amy and I was ready to use force if I had to, in order to keep him from being discovered. We both heard the front door opening and we could hear voices, which meant they would be able to hear us. Conner shook his head, but began talking in a whisper. “She ain’t goin’ to leave him. He has somethin’ on her and she can’t afford to leave. I told her she has friends that would help her, but she’s adamant, man. I can’t just sit back here and know that he’s goin’ to be layin’ his hands on her, forcin’ himself on her again.”

I stood in front of Conner and looked down at him. He had his hands on his knees, but I knew firsthand that at any second he could take me down and run out into the living room. “You have to let her make the choice. Look, dude, I know she’s your friend and I know you care about her, but she’s a grown woman. If she wants to leave with him, you have to let her.”

We were distracted by a man’s cries and both of us stopped talking. Rick was begging Amy to come home for Christmas and he was really putting on a guilt trip.

Conner put his hands in his face and shook his head. “This is bullshit!”

I heard footsteps and saw Iz and Noah walking past the bedroom. With ninja speed, I grabbed the two kids and pulled them into the room with us, closing the door so I could explain my quick reaction. “Somebody came to see Aunt Amy and we don’t want him knowing we are all back here. Can you two be quiet for a couple more minutes?”

They both shook their heads and stood there with us, just listening.

The front door closed and a few seconds later, Conner’s door opened. Amy was standing there with tears in her eyes. It didn’t take a genius for me to get that they needed to talk, so I grabbed the kids and we vacated the room promptly.

I found Miranda sitting on our bed. The boys were starting to get fussy and I think she just needed a second to herself. I grabbed Jake and Jax and put them on the bed with me and Miranda. They were rolling around, making noises with their mouths. “Why didn’t she go?”

“She told him that she wasn’t going to drive home with him after he’d been drinkin’. Since I was sittin’ there, he stayed calm and agreed that it was best she stay until he sobered up. Amy gave him the number to the house phone and he seemed to calm down a bit once he knew where she was. Although, he has no idea that she’s back there with my brother.” Miranda got comfortable on her side, so she was facing me and the boys.

I kept sitting the twins up and laughing when they fell back on the pillows. They were getting a kick out of it happening too and made it a game. “You know, we’re going to have a great Christmas.”

She smiled and looked me in the eye. “As long as my brother doesn’t go to jail for killin’ someone.”

I started to laugh. “Yeah, that could be a real buzzkill.” I reached over and grabbed her hand. “As long as I get to see you in that little outfit and be the one to take it off, it will be the Best. Christmas. Ever.”



Chapter 9

Miranda

After finally coming to the realization that whatever was going on between my brother and my best friend was out of my hands, things got better that evening. Conner and Amy came out of his room and we sat by the fire and played cards. None of us brought up her situation and although they were sitting close to each other, they weren’t acting like they were together.

Colt and Van didn’t make it to our house until noon the next day. It was fine by us since we’d stayed up way too late playing cards and then got up two more times with the boys. We ended up letting them sleep in our bed with us, in order to be able to sleep longer.