Brazing (Forged in Fire #2) (28 page)

Chapter One

Six Months after Grady died.

              I snuggled back into the cradle of his body while his arms wrapped around me tightly. He buried his scruffy face against the nape of my neck and I sighed contentedly. We fit perfectly together, but then again we always had- his big spoon nestled up against my little spoon.

              “It’s your turn,” he rumbled against my skin with that deep morning voice I would always drink in.

              “No,” I argued half-heartedly. “It’s always my turn.”

              “But you’re so good at it,” he teased.

              I giggled, “It’s one of my many talents, pouring cereal into bowls, making juice cups. I might just take this show on the road.”

              He laughed behind me and his chest shook with the movement. I pushed back into him, loving the feel of his hard, firm chest against my back. He was so hot first thing in the morning, his whole body radiating warmth.

              His hand splayed out across my belly possessively and he pressed a kiss just below my ear. I could feel his lips through my tangle of hair and the tickle of his breath which wasn’t all that pleasant first thing in the morning, but it was Grady and it was familiar.

              “It’s probably time we had another one, don’t you think?” His hand rubbed a circle around my stomach and I could feel him vibrating happily with the thought.

              “Grady, we already have three,” I reminded him on a laugh. “If we have another one, people are going to start thinking we’re weird.”

              “No, they won’t,” he soothed. “They might get an idea of how fertile you are, but they won’t think we’re weird.”

              I snorted a laugh. “They already think we’re weird.” 

              “Then we don’t want to disappoint them,” he murmured. His hand slid up my chest and cupped my breast, giving it a gentle squeeze.

              “You are obsessed with those things,” I grinned.

              “Definitely,” he agreed quickly, while continuing to fondle me. “What do you think, Lizzy? Will you give me another baby?”

              I was getting wrapped up in the way he was touching me, the way he was caressing me with so much love I thought I would burst. “I’ll think about it,” I finally conceded, knowing he would get his way- knowing I always let him have his way.

              “While you’re mulling it over, we should probably practice. I mean, we want to get this right when the time comes.” Grady trailed kisses down the column of my throat and I moaned my consent.

              I rolled over to kiss him on the mouth.

              But he wasn’t there.

              My arm swung wide and hit cold, empty mattress.

              I opened my eyes and stared at the slow moving ceiling fan over my head. The early morning light streamed in through cracks in my closed blinds and I let the silent tears fall.

              I hated waking up like this; thinking he was there, next to me, still able to support me, love me- hold me. And unfortunately it happened more often than it didn’t.

              The fresh pain clawed and cut at my heart and I thought I would die just from sheer heartbreak. My chin quivered and I sniffled, trying desperately to wrestle my emotions under control. But the pain was too much, too consuming.

              “Mom!” Blake called from the kitchen, ripping me away from my peaceful grief. “Moooooom!”

              That was a distressed cry, and I was up out of my bed and racing downstairs immediately. I grabbed my silk robe on the way and threw it over my black cami and plaid pajama bottoms. When the kids were younger I wouldn’t have bothered, but Blake was eight now and he’d been traumatized enough in life- I wasn’t going to add to that by walking around bra-less first thing in the morning.

              He continued to yell at me, while I barreled into the kitchen still wiping at the fresh tears. I found him at the bay windows, staring out in horror.

              “Mom, Abby went swimming,” he explained in a rush of words.

              A sick feeling knotted my stomach and I looked around wild-eyed at what his words could possibly mean. “What do you mean, Abby
went swimming
?” I gasped, a little out of breath.

              “There,” he pointed to the neighbor’s backyard with a shaky finger.

              I followed the direction of his outstretched hand and from the elevated vantage point of our kitchen I could see that the neighbor’s pool was filled with water, and my six-year-old daughter was swimming morning laps like she was on a regulated workout routine.

              “What the f-“ I started and then stopped, shooting a glance down at Blake who was looking up at me with more exaggerated shock than he’d given his sister.

              I watched her for point one more second and then sprinted for the front door. “Keep an eye on the other ones,” I shouted at Blake as I pushed open our heavy red door.

              It was just early fall in rural Connecticut; the grass was still green, the mornings foggy but mostly still warm. The house next to us had been empty for almost a year. The owner had been asking too much for it in this economy, but I understood why- it was a beautiful, stately colonial with cream stucco siding and black decorative shutters. There were big oak trees offering shade and character in the sprawling front yard and in the back, an in-ground pool that was the drool-worthy envy of my children.

              I raced down my yard and into my new neighbors. I hadn’t noticed the house had sold, but that didn’t surprise me. I wasn’t the most observant person these days. Vaguely I noted a moving truck parked in the long drive.

              The backyard gate must have been left open, because even though Abby had taught herself how to swim at the age of four- all by herself, the end result giving me several gray hairs- there was no way she could reach the flip lock at the top of the tall, iron fence.

              I rounded the corner and hopped/ran to the edge of the pool, the gravel of the patio cutting into my bare feet. I took a steadying breath and focused my panic-flooded mind, long enough to assess whether Abby was still breathing or not.

              She was, and happily swimming in circles
in the deep end
.

              Fear and dread quickly turned to blinding anger and I took a step closer to the edge of the pool while I threw my silk robe on the ground.

              “Abigail Elizabeth, you get out of there right this minute!” I shouted loud enough to wake up the entire neighborhood.

              She popped her head up out of the water, acknowledged me by sticking out her tongue, and promptly went back to swimming.
That little brat.
   

              “Abigail, I am
not
joking. Get out of the pool.
Now
!” I hollered again. And was ignored- again. “Abby, if I have to come in there and get you, you will rue the day you were born!”

              She poked her head back up out of the water, shooting me a confused look. Her light green eyebrows drew together, just like her father’s used to, and her little freckled nose wrinkled at something I said. I was smart enough or experienced enough to know that she was not on the verge of obeying, just because I’d threatened her.

              “Mommy?” she asked, somehow making her little body tread water in a red polk-a-dot bikini my sister picked up from Gap last summer- it was too small which for some reason made me
more
angry. “What does
rue
mean?”

              “It means you’re grounded from the iPad, your Leapster and the Wii for the next two years of your life,” I threatened. “Now get out of that pool right now before I come in there and get you myself.”

              She giggled in reply, not believing me for one second and resumed her play.

              “Damn it, Abigail,” I growled under my breath- not that I was surprised by her behavior. She was naturally an adventurous child. Since she could walk, she’d been climbing to the highest point of anything she could, swinging precariously from branches, light fixtures and aisles at the grocery store. She was a dare-devil and there were moments when I absolutely adored her “the world is my playground” attitude about life. But then there were moments like this, when every mom instinct in me screamed she was in danger and her little, rotten life flashed before my eyes.

              Those moments happened more and more often. She tested me, pushing every limit and boundary I’d set. She had been reckless before Grady died, now she was just wild. And I didn’t know what to do about it.

              I didn’t know how to tame my uncontrollable child- how to be both parents to a little girl who desperately missed her daddy.

              I focused on my outrage, pushing those tragic thoughts down, into the abyss of my soul. I was pissed, I didn’t have time for this first thing in the morning and no doubt we were going to be late for school- again.

              I slipped off my pajama pants, hoping whomever had moved into the house, if they were watching, would be more concerned with the little girl on the verge of drowning than me flashing my black, bikini briefs at them over morning coffee. I said a few more choice curses and then dove into the barely warm water after my second born.

              I surfaced, sputtering water and shivering from the cool morning air pebbling my skin. “Abigail, when I get you out of this pool, you are going to be in
so
much trouble.”

              “Okay,” she agreed happily. “But first you have to catch me.”

              She proceeded to swim around me in circles while I reached out helplessly for her. First thing I was doing when I got out of this pool was throwing away every electronic device in our house just to teach her a lesson. Then I was going to sign her up for a swim team- because the little hellion was very, very fast.

              We struggled like this for a few more minutes. Well, I struggled. She splashed at me and laughed at my efforts to wrangle her.

              I was aware of a presence hovering by the edge of the pool but I was equally too embarrassed as I was preoccupied to look. Images of walking my children into school late
again
, kept looping through my head and I cringed at the dirty looks I was bound to get from teachers and other parents alike.

              “You look hungry,” a deep masculine voice announced from above me.

              I whipped my head around to find an incredibly tall man standing by my discarded pajama pants holding two beach towels and a box of Poptarts in one arm, while he munched casually on said Poptarts with the other.

              “I look hungry?” I screeched in hysterical anger.

              His eyes flickered down at me for just a second, “No, you look mad.” He pointed at Abby, who had come to a stop next to me, treading water again with her short child-sized limbs waving wildly in the water. “
She
looks hungry.” He grinned at me, his mouth full of food, and then looked back at Abby. “Want a Poptart? They’re brown sugar.”

              Abby nodded excitedly and swam to the edge of the pool. Not even using the ladder, she heaved herself out of the water and ran over to the stranger holding out his breakfast to her. He handed her a towel and she hastily draped it around her shoulders and then took the offered Poptart.

              A million warnings about taking food from strangers ran through my head, but in the end I decided getting us out of his pool was probably more important to him than offing his brand new neighbors with poisoned Poptarts.

              With a defeated sigh, I swam over to the ladder closest to my pants and robe, and pulled myself from the water. I was a dripping, limp mess and I was frozen to the bone after my body adjusted to the temperature of the water.

              Abby took her Poptart and plopped down on one of the loungers that were still stacked on top of two others and wrapped in plastic. She began munching on it happily, grinning at me like she’d just won the lottery.

              She was in
so
much trouble.

              I walked over to the stranger, eying him skeptically. He held out his remaining beach towel to me and after realizing I stood before him in just a soaking wet tank top and bikini briefs, I took it quickly and wrapped it around my body. I shivered violently, and my dark blonde hair dripped down my face and back. But I didn’t dare adjust the towel, afraid I’d give him more of a show than he’d paid for.

              “Good morning,” he laughed at me.

              “Good morning,” I replied slowly, carefully.

Up close, he wasn’t the giant I’d originally thought. Now that we were both ground level, I could see that while he was tall, at least six inches taller than me, he wasn’t freakishly tall- which relieved some of my concerns. He still wore his pajamas: blue cotton pants and a white t-shirt that had been stretched out from sleep. He had almost black hair that appeared still mussed and disheveled, but swept over to the side in what could be a trendy style if he brushed it. He seemed to be a few years older than me- if I had to guess thirty-five or thirty-six- and he had dark, intelligent eyes that crinkled in the corners with amusement. He was tanned, and muscular, and imposing. And I hated that he was laughing at me.