Riordan (6 page)

“She was hurt when she pulled a gun on me. I didn’t mean to startle her. It was entirely my

fault, but she was hurting and I felt terrible about it. Even more after I was told what had

happened to her. You should know that you hurt her, too, when you jumped at her.”

Riordan felt the roaring in his head when his dad said gun. He was standing up when his

mom barked at him to sit. Riordan nearly missed the chair when he sat down, but he was as hot

as he could be about this shit. She was going to pay for this. And pay dearly.

“What do you plan to do, Riordan? Go down there and demand that she tell you what she

was thinking when your father just told you it was his fault? Will you shoot her, maybe? Make

her mad at you before you get all the facts?” He glared at his mom, and she glared back. “You

can take that look off your face right now, before I make you regret it.”

“She tried to shoot Dad and you’re defending her?” He looked at his dad as he continued.

“What the hell is she doing with a gun anyway? Is that how she gets what she wants from

people? Is that why you’re thinking of investing in her little shop, because she’s using

extortion?”

“She’s a vet. A wounded vet who nearly died less than two years ago while fighting for our

country.” That had him leaning back in his chair, and anything that might have spilled from his

mouth felt like bile in his throat. His mom sat down, her voice low now that she was upset. And

she was. He could see that now. “I’ve seen her. Her legs. And her aunts told me what little they

know of what happened to her. Her commanding officer only told them a little, and Storm tells

them nothing is wrong, of course. I’ve talked to her, and I think she believes she’s protecting

them.”

“Protecting them from what?” She said she didn’t know. “I don’t understand what this has to

do with her pulling a gun on Dad. What the hell was she thinking?”

“She wasn’t. Thinking, I mean. And as I said, it’s more my fault than hers.” He asked him

how. “I went there that day to see her. To tell her…to tell her that we’d raised you better than

you’d acted before. But the shop was busy, and Lynn told me to go on back to see her. She was

in the kitchen at the table when I got there. It never occurred to me that she was asleep, so I

touched her arm. Just as a warning that I was there so as not to startle her from her work.”

“And she tried to kill you.” Riordan got up to pace. “She’s a vet, I get that, but what the hell

was she doing with a gun? I mean, really?”

“Here. I was given this to read.” His mom handed him a sheaf of papers. “Read this. It

doesn’t say her name because of her ranking in the service or something like that, her aunt told

me. But it does tell what happened over the two days that left her in the pain that she’s in. And

I’m talking real pain, the kind that would cripple most people.”

Riordan held the papers and looked around the room at his parents’ home before speaking.

Having them defend her was beyond anything he would have thought they’d do. And the fact

that they were blowing off this thing with the gun so casually pissed him off, too. Riordan stood

to leave. “You do know that this means nothing to me. She hurt you and she’s going to—”

“Shut up and sit down.” His father never raised his voice. Not when they were children and

not since Riordan had been an adult. But he did now, and Riordan sat down. He watched as his

dad paced the room much the same as he had. “When did you become so cold, son? And you are.

Cold as a stone. And why? This girl has done nothing to you. She’s been telling us to keep you

away from her since we been helping her. And yes, before you get yourself all pissed off again,

we have been helping her. We’ve been running the shop with her aunts. Your mom has been

baking a little. And we’ve had fun getting to know her aunts. Her great aunts, as a matter of fact.

I was called a young man. Imagine that…someone thinking of me as a young man. And I had

fun. We both did. Now read the damned papers. This isn’t like you to be so…so halfcocked

about something.”

He was left in the room alone. The ticking of the grandfather clock near the fireplace was

the only sound in the big room. Riordan didn’t want to read about some phantom person who

may or may not be the woman who had pulled a gun on his dad. But he knew that he’d better or

he’d face the wrath of his parents again.

Starting at the headline, Riordan laughed. Someone had made this shit up, he thought.

Humvee Massacre Results in Best Intel. But by the second paragraph he was trying to fit the girl

that he’d met briefly to the story that was being told. And by the time he was on the third page of

the long article, Riordan knew that not only had he been wrong about the woman, but about

nearly everything he’d been thinking about her as his mate, too. She was a bigger and better

person than he was or ever would be. By the time he read the last line, where the person who

wrote it explained why there was no mention of a name because of security reasons, he felt like a

real shit. Riordan went to find his mom in the kitchen.

“Your dad was called away. He wanted to be here when you finished, but something has

come up. Did you read it?” He nodded and sat down with her. “And do you still think she’s this

horrible person only out to harm us?”

“I honestly don’t know what to think now. How do you know this is her? I mean, it’s a

horrific story, but how do you know this is her and not someone else? As you’ve said, there is no

mention of her name.”

His mom got up and poured him a cup of hot tea. He watched her, knowing that she was

working out in her head how to answer him. Riordan wanted to ask her to just say it, but he knew

that she’d not be able to do that anymore than he could have.

“The article came to me from Mac. He said he pulled some strings when he figured out who

she was. Mac said that he’d heard her name, a while ago, in a conversation he’d been having

with his friend, that guy in the service, Blackson. He’s high up on the ranking order, I think. He

went to talk to him.” She sat down and sipped her tea before continuing. “Mac told him what she

was to you and asked him to confirm or deny who she was. He said that not only was this her,

but she’s still considered active and will have the full pay and ranking for as long as she lives.

The president has made it perfectly clear that not only did she save hundreds of men that day, but

without her observations and help when it came to a covert operation, the war would have taken

a terrible turn.”

“What did she do?” Mom shrugged and sipped her tea again. “This thing with Dad, she was

asleep and she attacked him. Why? Do you know that?”

“Yes.” When she said nothing else, he asked her what she knew. “I’m sorry, son, but I’m not

going to tell you everything I know, which I might add, is not a great deal. What I will tell you is

this. She’s been living with her aunts since she was released a few months ago. The aunts own

the building that the bakery is now in, and decided that they wanted to add to their pension some

and opened the bakery with her help. I don’t know why she lives above the place when I know

from them that she has a house somewhere near here. I don’t know, other than the damage done

to her legs, what else was done to her or how she was hurt, other than what you’ve read there.”

“She’s my mate.” Mom nodded and smiled at him. “Why do I get the feeling that you’re

enjoying this? I don’t know what this is, but you’re having a good time with it.”

“I am. You have met your match, son. And I don’t mean just your mate. Storm is strong-

willed, strong-minded, and she’s smart. She’ll have you in knots so tight that you won’t know

which way is up.” Mom stood up, taking both of their now-empty cups to the counter to rinse

out. She turned to continue. “But she will love you like no one else ever will, protect you in ways

that you can’t her, and there will never be a time when you think that she’s not the right person

for you, when you give her half a chance.”

“That’s the problem right there. I don’t want to be tied up. Not over a woman, and I don’t

want to have to worry about whether or not she’s going to pull a gun on the next person that

touches her. I have my life just the way I like it. A nice bank account. I was dating a woman that,

while I know she’s not my mate, she did suit me. And a job that I love.” He stood up then and

kissed his mom on the cheek. “I’m going to leave her where she is. We’ve not touched each

other except for that one time, and I have no intentions of going back there to see her again. As

far as I’m concerned, she can live in her little part of the world and I can live in mine.”

“You really think it’s going to work like that?” He told her that it was going to have to.

“Well, then I wish you the best of luck with that. But I like her and her aunts. I’m going to

continue to see her. Go to her shop and work a little if she’ll let me. And whether you like it or

not, I’m going to have her here for dinner sometimes. If you would rather be left out of those

family times, then I can arrange that, too.”

Riordan left a little while later. He was hot, and he was pretty sure his mom knew it. This

was the stupidest thing he’d ever had happen to him, and his parents were taking the side of a

stranger. A human stranger, as a matter of fact. Driving to his apartment complex, he parked in

the garage and sat there for ten minutes before he started cursing. Starting up his truck again, he

made his way to The Bakery to have a word or two with Storm Browning.

“Stormy, that man is here again. The idiot.” Aunt Lynn came more into the room with her

and leaned into her ear. “He’s not any happier about being here than I am having him here. And

so you know, Sally is giving him what for.”

Storm could have told her to toss him out, but she was pretty sure that her aunt would. Right

out on the front walk and then clap her hands about it. Instead of making more trouble for them

and herself, she moved to the front of the shop just as one of the men from the VA hospital came

in the door. This could not be good.

Pointing to Riordan, she told him to stand right where he was and went to deal with Doctor

Keller. The man had been calling here for two weeks, and she’d had about all she could take of

him. When he put out his hand to shake hers, Storm just stared at it until he dropped it.

“You were told to keep your distance.” The man actually grinned at her. “And by distance, it

was supposed to be over one hundred yards. This is less than a few feet. Even you should know

the difference.”

“You missed an appointment. Again.” Storm said nothing but knew that Riordan had come

up behind her. “Hello. I’m Doctor Andy Keller. The sergeant major here has missed a few

appointments at the hospital where she’s being treated.”

“Is that so?” Riordan put out his hand for the doctor, and Storm had to cover a laugh when

Andy winced from the obvious tight grip that Riordan was giving him. “What are you treating

her for?”

“I’m not at liberty to say. But I will say this…she must attend the meetings or she’ll be in

trouble.” Riordan asked him if they were meetings or appointments. “Meetings. Why does that

matter?”

“What sort of meetings? Something she’s, I don’t know, required to go to pending some sort

of firing?” He said no, they weren’t like that. “So, who else is in this meeting? I’m assuming that

since she just said that she has an order with someone that you have to stay away from her, that

it’s not with you.”

“No, it’s a group meeting. Another doctor is running these meetings. I’m doing him a favor

by coming by and checking on her. The meetings are where she talks about her feelings and what

she’s been going through. It’s to help her with some of the stress that she could be dealing with.

All vets should come to meetings like that.”

Riordan nodded and looked at her before speaking. “I’ve not known Storm for that long, but

I’m pretty sure that if she had a problem, she’d tell you straight out. And if she had a problem,

I’m betting she can fix it a good deal faster than you could. Or this doctor friend you have.”

Riordan pulled out his cell phone. “I tell you what, you give me his phone number and I’ll

explain to him just why you can’t come here anymore. And that sending you here on a fool’s

errand like he did is going to get your ass and his kicked all over this pretty little restaurant.”

“Are you threatening me? I’ll have you know that I work for the United States government,

and I will not be—”

“I’m not going to do a damned thing to you. I’m talking about her. I’m pretty sure that—

like I said, not knowing her well—but I’m pretty sure that she can use your ass to mop up this

floor and not even break a nail doing it.” They both looked at her, and she stretched her neck.

The popping sound had Andy backing up two steps. “Did you know that’s she more than likely