Ryker (Hope City #6) - Kris Michaels Page 0,30

sanctimonious bullshit and stick it up your ass, Brody.” She spun on the ball of her foot and headed back to the surgical ward.

“Brie.” He jogged after her and spun her around. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“The only thing hurting me is your attitude. You know him. You know the man he is!” She shook off his hand. “Just leave me alone. I can’t do this with you right now.”

“Brianna.” She spun at her mother’s voice. Brie launched herself into her mom’s arms. All the worry, the terror of the call, the stupid low-life scum threatening her, and her scuffles with Fenton and Brody exploded into a barrage of tears. She felt herself being led to a bench where her mother held her and stroked her hair as she cried. Her mom thrust a tuft of tissue into her hand. She blew her nose and hiccupped, “I’m sorry.” Her mom shushed her and continued to stroke her hair. “Brody pissed me off.”

“Yes, I heard. Normally, I’d suggest that you need to apologize, but in this case, I think my son needs to pull his head out of his ass.”

“Mom!” She sat up and gaped at her mother.

“What? It’s the truth. I heard most of what he said about Ryker. I agree with you. One hundred percent. Your relationship has nothing to do with Brody or your father or the force.” She tugged more tissue from her purse. Her mother pointed to her own eyes and whispered, “You need to de-raccoon yourself.”

Brie chuffed a laugh and dabbed at her eyes. “Better?”

“Much. Now, tell me how your man is doing.”

“They did a shoulder replacement. He looks good. Pale and tired, but good. The nurse said she’d come get me when they transferred him to the post-op ward.”

“He was shot?”

“Yeah. At his house.”

“Well, neither of you will stay there for the foreseeable future. I can get the guest room ready and you can have your old room. They wouldn’t dare come to our house.” Hannah dropped her hands into her lap and smiled as if she had the entire situation handled.

“Ah, Mom, I don’t want you to take any offense at this, but... no.”

Her mother blinked and then broke into a wide smile. “Spoken like a woman in love. We will need to find a place for him to stay and recuperate.”

“I agree.”

“Is his family here? Maybe they have a suggestion.” Her mom twisted to look down the corridor at the people milling around. Amber was talking to Brody. No, make that scolding Brody. She couldn’t hear, but she could see Amber’s attitude from where they sat.

“Brie?”

“Oh, sorry.” What were they talking about? Ryker’s family. “No, I don’t think so.” She toyed with the phone. “I wasn’t sure if I should call them without his permission.”

“Why?”

“They aren’t as close as we are. A gut feeling based on things not said. There may be substantial discord running through the family.” She looked at the screensaver on his phone. It was a selfie of them together at the inner harbor boardwalk.

“Is that him?” Her mother pointed to the picture.

“Yes. This is Ryker. Mom, he is so good to me and I love him so much. What Brody said was hurtful.”

“How much older is he?”

“Thirteen and a half years.” She traced her finger over the picture.

“Oh goodness, that isn’t bad. I have a friend who married a man twenty-five years older than she was. He was fifty when they married. First serious relationship for her and second for him. They had four kids and at seventy-five he is still as handsome and strong as he ever was. A silver-haired fox. They have had twenty-five years together and are still going strong.” Her mother pushed her hair behind her ear and smiled at her. “If you love that man, you grab ahold of him and you don’t let anyone or anything stand in the way of what you have together.”

“Brody said it would cause problems for Dad.”

“Brody needs to mind his own business. If your father has issues with your relationship with Ryker, he’ll tell you and Ryker, not Brody.” Her mom snorted. “Believe me, two people in love is a minor bump on the mountain of bullshit he has to deal with on a day-to-day basis.”

“Mom!” Shocked, she glanced around the hall. “That is the second time you’ve cussed in less than thirty minutes.”

Hannah chuckled. “What? You think I don’t know how to use curse words? I do, and I let them fly