Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 37793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Downstairs, having left him—which I wasn’t sure was a great idea with the others still sharing horror stories—I was suddenly joined by Thomasin’s boys, Toby, now twelve, and Dennis, now ten. They’d had their birthdays already this year, one in spring, one in the summer. I didn’t know the exact dates, but Kurt had included my name on their gifts. I appreciated that.
They were sort of crowding me, so I crouched down to their height. I used the same maneuver in the field when rescuing people because Chris had told me years ago that if you looked like you weren’t going to have to run, it wordlessly conveyed calm to others. It worked this time too, both boys taking a breath.
“There were a lot of men who came to take some other guys away,” Toby imparted, sounding worried. “So we wanted to make sure everything was all right with the wedding.”
I smiled at them. “It is. Those guys weren’t here for me or your uncle Kurt. They were here to see someone else.”
“And they’re leaving and not coming back?” Dennis was making sure.
“That’s correct,” I affirmed so they could hear the absoluteness in my voice.
“There was another man who left, and he seemed kind of mad,” Toby apprised me. “He said a lot of bad words on his way out.”
I was certain Horace Gleason had been swearing a blue streak on his way out of Dante’s B&B.
“Yes, well, some people showed up who weren’t invited, so they had to go home.”
Toby nodded. “You can’t crash a wedding.”
“That’s absolutely right. We had to plan this like your mother does one of her parties.”
They both understood that.
Brad and Thomasin joined us then.
“I thought you two wanted to walk around the lake with us?” Brad asked his boys.
Toby nodded. “We do, but there were those men that got walked to the room with the microphones and stuff, and we wanted to talk to George about it.”
Brad sighed. “I assured you both that it was fine.”
Dennis smiled at his father. “Yeah, but George knows about that stuff.” He shrugged. “He would know what to do in case something went wrong.”
Translation, I would protect them.
I glanced at Brad, whose furrowed brows and crossed arms told me he wasn’t happy. Thomasin slipped her hand around his bicep and leaned her head on his shoulder. He kissed her forehead, but I could tell from his expression that she’d only helped a little.
I couldn’t help the fact that the boys had explicit faith in me. I’d killed the men holding them and made sure they were safe afterward. Much like Hannah, her brother, and their friends, Toby and Dennis had the same feeling of safety when I was around. It happened when I unleashed lethal force on bad people.
Dennis moved closer to me, arm around my shoulder. “Thank you for taking care of that situation with Billy Shelton for me.”
It sounded vaguely like covert ops when he said it like that. Damn ten-year-old and his ridiculous vocabulary. Situation indeed.
“No worries,” I said, and wrapped him in my arms for a moment, squeezing tight.
He hugged me back, and when he let me go, I did as well, heeding Kurt’s words that always, the kid needed to be the one to say when. When I turned from him, Toby had a look like he too wanted a hug but wasn’t sure how to ask for one.
“Thank you for being at my wedding,” I said, and opened my arms for him.
Instant smile before he bumped into me, and I squeezed him tight. I noted that he didn’t release me as quickly as his brother, having been, I suspected, a bit more concerned about the men he’d seen the marshals escort off the property. Thomasin had mentioned that Toby was the more introspective of the two, holding on to things longer, running them over and over in his head.
When he eased back, he looked better, brighter, relieved, and then Kola, Hannah’s brother, came by with a soccer ball under his arm and asked Thomasin and Brad if the boys would like to kick around the ball with him and Finn. As they’d met him earlier, knew his connection to me, knew Finn worked with me, that was fine with them. The boys were both very happy to have something to do other than pick at appetizers and sit by the fire.
Rising, I waited while Brad formed his thoughts. When it started to take a bit longer than I thought it would, and as I had other people to talk to, I opened my mouth to offer a solution, since that was what I did. I fixed things.
Thomasin shook her head at me, so I waited some more.
“I want the boys to look to me for protection,” he finally got out.
What was I supposed to say in response? Sorry, Brad, they saw me kill the bad guys that were going to hurt them? “Okay.”