Forbidden With Me - Leigh Lennon Page 0,11
as the tears spring to my eyes when Jules pulls back from me. “Give me a second, Mal, honey.” She turns her body from me, but she hasn’t missed my reaction as her hand rubs my back in slow circular motions. “Nate, babe, can you take Stella in for me? I’ll be in shortly.” A woman meets him in the driveway, and I recognize her as Matt’s wife, but I can’t for the life of me remember her name. Jules guides me to the front steps that leads to the Montgomerys’ front door, though I’m positive no one still uses this way to enter the home.
“My car,” I argue as Jules’s sparkling eyes settle back on her husband. It’s like he has a read on this emotional reunion and runs to my car to parallel park it quickly. He then tosses his wife the keys before I realize what’s going on. But the whole time, her other hand lightly rubs my forearm.
“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry. I’m treating this like a happy homecoming when I know how hard this has to be for you.”
I can’t look her way, not in the midst of a panic attack I feel coming on. My aching head is between my knees, and I have no choice but to incorporate my therapist’s techniques unless I want every Montgomery to see me lose it.
“Malia, honey, just breathe, just breathe.” Her voice soothes me. “You’re not alone, Malia, not anymore. We’re here for you.”
My mind is on Jules and the hours we played Barbies together. She was only around two years older than Annie, my eldest sibling. I didn’t need a babysitter, not with the ages of my sisters, but Mom would let my older sisters go out and hire Jules because I loved her like she was my sister. And that fateful night, Jules had been scheduled to watch me, but Mom canceled because I’d spiked a fever. She would never have left me, sick—even with my sisters. Gracie and Annie were on their way out. They hadn’t left yet because Annie wasn’t quite ready.
My tears are soaking her hands, the sun is setting, and her arms encase me, something I’ve not felt since Mally hadn’t been able to sit up at the very end. “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry. But we’ve got you. We’ve got you.”
In the years since I’ve left Seattle, the Montgomerys have never forgotten my birthday or Christmas. A miscellaneous wire had shown up in my account after Aunt Mally died, and I wondered if that was from them.
They’d often wanted to come visit me, but with the connection I made between my parents' death and my life in Seattle, my therapist felt it could hinder my healing. Case in point, why I’m crying like a baby on the steps of my old neighbor’s house.
I want to flee. There’s no doubt I have to find my safe place, a safe place that doesn’t yield the same past. I don’t want the memories anymore. The sobs begin to overtake my ragged breathing.
There’s a small exchange with a foreign voice so low I can’t place it, and then Jules gives me one more squeeze of her hand. “Honey, we’re taking you inside through the basement, okay?” Her voice barely permeates my brain, but when I stand, I’m scooped up in strong arms, and a masculine aroma floods my senses.
“I got you, sweetie.” The voice is familiar. Its tone has been able to lull me to sleep on the worst nights. It’s the same words, the same aroma of mint and orange, and the same touch. When I was young, I called him my police angel, but now, he’s simply my angel—always here when I need him.
Chapter 5
Wells
Somehow, someway, Matt has convinced me to have dinner at his parents' house. Being around Matt’s happy family makes me realize what I don’t have at the age of thirty-three. I dodged a bullet with Vanessa, but being alone still stings.
“It’s small tonight. Not the whole clan. It’s just my group along with Jules and her little family,” Matt explains.
I’ve lost track of the number of grandchildren in this growing clan, but a home-cooked meal with some adult interaction is something I won’t turn down. I agree to ride over with him in order to discuss the case and compare our memories from so long ago.
“You can’t believe it’s Smith Turner?” I ask, but my question is not answered, or I don’t give him enough time before my