The Mitchell Family Series BoxSet 1-4.5 (113 page)

“Not tonight, sis. Just let it go for tonight.” He kept walking until he reached his room and closed the door behind them. I couldn’t understand why she was out in this weather and why she would have been crying. Obviously something major was going on. If Rick hurt her again, why hadn’t she called the police or gone to a hospital?

I stormed in my bedroom as Ty was climbing into bed. I pointed at him while I climbed in next to him. He wrapped his arms around me. “Is this how you stay out of things?” I was being rude, but he knew what was going on and wasn’t talking. It was pissing me off. Amy was supposed to be my best friend and for months she had been carrying on a secret friendship with my brother.

“I have nothing to do with your brother’s decision, baby. You know that. Just get some sleep and we can talk about this tomorrow. Amy is safe and I am sure your brother will get her to calm down. She knows where to find you if she needs you.” He was moving the hair out of my face to kiss me, but I was still angry. Maybe I was hurt that they all had a secret.

I sat up and looked him right in the eyes. “Tell me right now what happened. Why was she out driving in this mess?”

He held his hands up like he gave up. “Fine, if you will shut up about it, I will tell you what I know.” He sat up next to me and played with my hand while he talked. “I don’t know what’s going on between them, as in, what they are to each other. I know that Conner talks to her a lot. When he sneaks out, I think it’s to see her….”

I cut him off. “She is married.”

“Would you just chill? They could be friends. You don’t know.”

“Seriously Ty, do you know my brother at all? He has never been friends with a girl, unless they are related. It has to be more.” Conner was the last guy any woman needed to be friends with. His black book was a damn encyclopedia.

“Look, all I know is that we went down the lane and she was in her car, honking the horn with a bloody nose. I heard her tell him that she ran out of the house after Rick threw her cell phone against the wall. She probably didn’t know where else to go. Just let her be. Conner isn’t going to take advantage of the poor woman when she is all messed up. He’s more decent than that. Amy came here because she knew we would protect her. Now will you please go back to sleep?” He didn’t wait for my answer. Ty slid down on his pillow and rested one arm over my waist as he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

I was being hardheaded, but I sat up for a while still wanting to know every detail. The longer I waited, the more curious I became and I soon found myself in the hallway, standing outside my brother’s door, listening. When I couldn’t hear anything, I slowly opened the door to peek my head in. Conner had Amy wrapped tightly in his arms. He’d given her some dry clothes to wear and they were both covered up to their waists. As I looked closer, I could see their fingers were intertwined together as they slept. In all of my life, I had never seen my brother care for a woman that wasn’t our family. He’d had girlfriends, but had distanced himself from having any kind of feelings. This was a whole new side to my brother.

A tug caught me off guard and made me jump. I turned around to see Bella standing behind me. “Mommy, what are you doing?”

I put my finger to my lips and closed my brother’s door. I grabbed Bella by the hand and pulled her away from his bedroom. “I was just checking on everyone. What are you doing up?” Okay, it was a total lie, but she would have told him I was spying on him. I knew my daughter.

“I had to go to the bathroom and saw you standing there. Will you tuck me back in?” I led her into her room and got her back to bed, before heading to my own.

Spying on my brother had left me with more questions than I had before. He was going to have to start explaining, if Amy was going to be sleeping in his bed.

Chapter 8

Ty

When the boys got up around four in the morning, I hurried in their room and calmed them before they could wake up Miranda. She’d been so damn adamant about getting into her brothers business that I didn’t want to discuss it anymore.

I passed Conner walking to the bathroom and he apologized for upsetting his sister. Since he was in his underwear, I opted not to take our conversation to another level. There was nothing like standing around with another man, when we were both in our boxer shorts.

I figured when Miranda got up, the first thing she would do was head toward Conner’s room, but I was wrong. She steered clear of her brother and he did the same to her. In fact, Conner only came out of his room to grab a couple sandwiches and sodas and when he did, Miranda was in our room with the boys. When it got to be about three in the afternoon, I couldn’t take the three of them tiptoeing around each other. We were family and it was Christmas time.  I walked into my room to find my wife folding clothes on our bed. The boys were in the playpen sucking on pacifiers and playing with these plastic rings. Miranda smiled but kept on folding.  I reached my arms around her waist and tucked my head into her neck, as I kissed it.

She moved away when it began to tickle her. “I thought you were watchin’ a movie.”

“Boring!” I turned her around and kissed her softly on the lips. She grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled me into a deeper kind of kiss than I had expected. I looked down at the boys who were both looking at us. Jax was holding up one of the rings for us to take from him. I leaned over and grabbed the ring. “Thanks Buddy!” I handed him back the ring and patted him on the head. He started shaking it and forgetting all about me being there. I loved how they played together. They couldn’t talk, but they had this way of communicating with each other that boggled my mind. I turned back to my wife. “Where were we?”

“You said you got bored.” I kissed her again and then slowly worked my lips down to her chin.

She leaned her head back giving me a better angle to kiss her neck. “I can think of something else we can do on an icy day like today.”

“Lock the bedroom door.” It wasn’t a request from Miranda, it was a demand.

I made my way across the bedroom, noticing the twins were too busy with each other to even remotely know what was about to happen. I didn’t have time to think about them watching us, because as I got to the bedroom door, someone was knocking on the front door of our house. Being that it was still sleeting and snowing, I couldn’t imagine it being anyone other than our family that was staying at my parent’s house.

I looked back at Miranda and held up my hands. “If it ain’t one thing, it’s another. Hold that thought, baby. In fact, why don’t you get that little red Mrs. Claus outfit on for Mr. Claus to take off.” I threw her a wink and walked out of the room.

When I got to the door I didn’t know what to do. Rick, Amy’s abusive and drunk husband was standing there, blowing his heated breath into his hands. Since the door was glass, he’d already seen me approaching it. I opened the door, but didn’t offer for him to come in.

“Rick, I don’t want any trouble. My family is here visiting and it’s Christmas.”

He held his hands up like he was surrendering. “I just came for Amy. I know she’s here. I saw her car out by the road.”

To everyone in town, Rick was just a drunk. He’d never been a violent person at all. I didn’t believe he was going to get physical with anyone, well, not unless he knew where Amy was, at that very moment. It occurred to me that I needed to make sure Rick went nowhere near Conner; in fact he didn’t even need to know Conner even existed.

“She’s in the back bedroom resting. Wait here and I will get her.” I left him standing outside while I walked back to tell Miranda what was going on first. The man didn’t smell of alcohol and he seemed calm enough to not put up a fuss, but who really knew.

When I got to my bedroom and found my wife laying across our bed, in nothing but a skimpy Mrs. Claus outfit, I almost forgot all about Rick. She looked so smoking hot; I wanted to pounce right on that shit. “Oh, baby.” I licked my lips. “You don’t know how hard this is for me. God, I feel like I am going to kick myself in the face for this. Look, don’t be alarmed, Rick is here for Amy.”

She stood up before I could say anymore and started walking toward the bedroom door. “MIRANDA!”

She froze and looked down at her body. I threw her a t-shirt and a pair of my sweats off the bed. “Put this on.” While she pulled the clothes over top of her cute little number, I explained. “I don’t think Amy ever told him about Conner.”

She shook her head. “He doesn’t know. When he first moved in she said he was very jealous and if she told him that my single brother was living with us she would never be allowed over again.”

“Here’s the plan then. You go in Conner’s room and get Amy. I don’t care what you have to do, but do not let your brother come out of that room.”

We started walking out of the room. “He’s going to want to kill Rick, you know that.”

I patted her on the ass. “Then you should take him down like you did when we were kids.”

She was already walking away from me. “He’s a little bigger than when we were kids.”

“Do your best, baby.”

I walked toward the front door again, not wanting Rick to hear Conner when he got wind of who was at the door. I could hear commotion coming from the bedroom and I held my finger up to Rick to let him know it would be another minute and I walked back toward Conner’s room. Sure enough, he was fighting Miranda tooth and nail to get to Rick. Amy had him by one arm, while Miranda was blocking the door with her body.

“He needs to know what it’s like to have a fist thrown at his face.” Conner’s face was scrunched up and his eyebrows were creased.

I pushed my way past Miranda and stood in front of Conner. “Amy, I don’t care if you stay here for Christmas, hell, I don’t even care if there is something really happening between you and Conner, but right now your husband is at our door and he ain’t going to leave until you talk to him. Now, I will stand beside you the whole time if that’s what you want, but if you want to remain friends with Conner, or whatever else you are to each other, then I suggest he stays put in this room and keeps his mouth shut.” I looked Conner right in the eye when I said that last part.

I turned around to look at my wife’s reaction. She gave me a smile and grabbed my hand, like she somehow, at that very moment, had come to terms with the Conner/Amy situation. “I’ll stay back here with my brother. You two go do what you need to do. Amy, if you want to stay, you know you’re welcome. You don’t have to go back with him.”

Amy put her head down and started to cry. “I wish it were that easy.” She looked back at Conner and I saw the disappointment in his eyes. “Conner, you know I can’t stay. You know why I have to go.”

“You’d pick that over your own safety?” This conversation was deeper than Miranda and I knew.

“I have to. I’m so sorry you guys. I have to go with him.” She started putting on her jacket and walking out of the room. Conner looked pissed and he started following her out of the room, but him walking up to Rick in a pair of sweats with no shirt, wouldn’t go over good at all, and could put Amy in a worse situation.

I took my hands and pushed Conner back in his room slowly. “Ty, you don’t understand. She doesn’t want to go with him.”

I finally got him pushed down on his bed. Miranda had gone with Amy and I was ready to use force if I had to, in order to keep him from being discovered. We both heard the front door opening and we could hear voices, which meant they would be able to hear us. Conner shook his head, but began talking in a whisper. “She ain’t goin’ to leave him. He has somethin’ on her and she can’t afford to leave. I told her she has friends that would help her, but she’s adamant, man. I can’t just sit back here and know that he’s goin’ to be layin’ his hands on her, forcin’ himself on her again.”

I stood in front of Conner and looked down at him. He had his hands on his knees, but I knew firsthand that at any second he could take me down and run out into the living room. “You have to let her make the choice. Look, dude, I know she’s your friend and I know you care about her, but she’s a grown woman. If she wants to leave with him, you have to let her.”

We were distracted by a man’s cries and both of us stopped talking. Rick was begging Amy to come home for Christmas and he was really putting on a guilt trip.

Conner put his hands in his face and shook his head. “This is bullshit!”

I heard footsteps and saw Iz and Noah walking past the bedroom.  With ninja speed, I grabbed the two kids and pulled them into the room with us, closing the door so I could explain my quick reaction. “Somebody came to see Aunt Amy and we don’t want him knowing we are all back here. Can you two be quiet for a couple more minutes?”

They both shook their heads and stood there with us, just listening.

The front door closed and a few seconds later, Conner’s door opened. Amy was standing there with tears in her eyes. It didn’t take a genius for me to get that they needed to talk, so I grabbed the kids and we vacated the room promptly.

I found Miranda sitting on our bed. The boys were starting to get fussy and I think she just needed a second to herself. I grabbed Jake and Jax and put them on the bed with me and Miranda. They were rolling around, making noises with their mouths. “Why didn’t she go?”

“She told him that she wasn’t going to drive home with him after he’d been drinkin’. Since I was sittin’ there, he stayed calm and agreed that it was best she stay until he sobered up. Amy gave him the number to the house phone and he seemed to calm down a bit once he knew where she was. Although, he has no idea that she’s back there with my brother.” Miranda got comfortable on her side, so she was facing me and the boys.

I kept sitting the twins up and laughing when they fell back on the pillows. They were getting a kick out of it happening too and made it a game. “You know, we’re going to have a great Christmas.”

She smiled and looked me in the eye. “As long as my brother doesn’t go to jail for killin’ someone.”

I started to laugh. “Yeah, that could be a real buzz kill.” I reached over and grabbed her hand. “As long as I get to see you in that little outfit and be the one to take it off, it will be the Best. Christmas. Ever.”

Chapter 9

Miranda

After finally coming to the realization that whatever was going on between my brother and my best friend was out of my hands, things got better that evening. Conner and Amy came out of his room and we sat by the fire and played cards. None of us brought up her situation and although they were sitting close to each other, they weren’t acting like they were together.

Colt and Van didn’t make it to our house until noon the next day. It was fine by us since we’d stayed up way too late playing cards and then got up two more times with the boys. We ended up letting them sleep in our bed with us, in order to be able to sleep longer.

When I woke up I found both of them cuddled up against their father. Sweat was in all three of their hair, but it never woke them. I snapped a quick picture, before climbing out of bed and heading to the bathroom.

Ty and the boys slept until ten and when they woke up, my quiet house seemed like it was already filled. Once Colt and Van arrived, the chaos began. We carried in all of the gifts and hid them from Noah and Bella. Colt and Van looked at Amy and Conner with curious eyes, but never asked a single question. I knew at some point the guys would go out to the barn to shoot pool and they could ask Conner anything they wanted out there.

Christian had started walking and Van and I spent the first hour trying to remove everything she could get her hands on.  She liked to pick things up and taste them, even if it was an electrical cord, or a Christmas decoration.  Poor Van couldn’t take her eyes away from her for even a second.

Van’s parents had volunteered to pick up my aunt and Lucy from the airport, since they finally were able to get a flight in. The roads were still a mess, but the main highways were clear enough for safe travel.

Ty’s mother had made a huge spread and we all bundled up and headed next door for an early Christmas Eve dinner. We had to pull Amy’s arm, but she finally agreed to tag along. Of course, my mother eyed her up and kept pulling me to the side asking me a million questions. Since I really knew little, it was easy to dodge my mother.

With the whole family at my in-laws for the evening, Ty and I were able to relax for a change. Christian was walking around finding all types of new things she could fit into her mouth, while the boys were being passed all around from family member to family member, and of course, Noah and Bella were occupied with each other. John had brought them gingerbread house kits and they were sitting at the table with John and their Pop pop trying to assemble them. 

After we all ate so much that we could barely move us women helped clean up, while the guys were watching some kind of sports event in the family room. The twins were down for a nap and Colt was on Christian duty. If my boys were half as curious as that little girl, then this time next year was going to be interesting, to say the least.

Van and I tried to include Amy in everything we did. I think it was hard for her to feel comfortable when everyone there knew she was my boss and that she was married. They’d all met her at my baby shower and a few times since then, so she had to feel awkward.  It didn’t make it any easier for the family when Conner snuck out to feed Scotch and Amy went with him.  All eyes were on them as they walked out of the house, and even more so when Conner put his arm around her as they walked away.