Courage To Live. Morgan Q O'Reilly

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СКАЧАТЬ problem, ma’am. I wanted the exercise. Not like there’s much lawn here. Want me to do the rest?”

      The other side and the back yard were equally small. With the power mower, he could do it in ten minutes or less. Tempting though his offer was, I didn’t want to create a debt. “No. We’ll finish it up tomorrow. Rob needs the practice.”

      The green scent of fresh-cut grass, hot oil and someone’s hamburgers on the grill drifted up to me. As the man below wiped his brow with a bandana, I watched his muscles flex beneath his camo green t-shirt. Old jeans rode low on his lean hips. The boy did some serious physical activity. All gym? Or did he play hard, too? I hadn’t seen any signs. Then again, I hadn’t been looking and he’d only been in the neighborhood a day. He didn’t even have a car yet. Probably still on a barge coming up from Seattle.

      He squinted up at me, a frown forming between his bright blue eyes. “What happened to your face? You okay?”

      Automatic reflex kicked in and my hand flew up to cover the part of my cheek the sunglasses didn’t hide. I’d forgotten that my hair pulled back in a ponytail didn’t provide cover. “Nothing big. It was an accident.”

      “What kind of accident?” He wrinkled his brow with a dark frown and fisted his hands on the mower handle.

      Instinct to flee kicked in and I pulled back. “None of your business. Keep to your side of the property line.” I hissed down at him and hoped my words hadn’t carried. It occurred to me Ben and his officer friend had stopped talking and watched my exchange with the new guy in town. Furious, I grabbed my book and shuffled inside.

      A few minutes later, the doorbell rang. Probably Ben’s cop friend. And he knew I was home. Dammit. With shaking fingers, I pulled the elastic band from my hair and finger combed it over my face.

      “Want me to get that, Mom?” Rob looked up from his racing game.

      “No, I’ll get it.”

      The trip downstairs took another full minute. I opened the door to three men shoehorned onto my tiny porch–Ben, his cop friend and the sweaty lieutenant. Sunglasses back in place, I didn’t say a word.

      “Ma’am.” The policeman extended his card. “I’m Detective Burrows and I’d like to come in and talk with you for a few minutes.”

      “Regarding?”

      “Friends are concerned about your husband.”

      Nice of them to worry about Quint now. Never mind the man was twice my size. Did they ever consider what Quint had done to me? To Rob? Already high, my blood pressure cranked up a notch.

      “I’ll talk to you, but it’s none of their business,” I told the detective.

      “What happened to your face, Candy?” the lieutenant asked.

      “The name is Candace, Lieutenant.” My hand flew to my cheek again. “I told you. I was in an accident. The police have the report already. What business is it of yours anyway?”

      “Call me Cay,” he said, not fazed one bit by my growling.

      Ben gave him an annoyed glance, but spoke to me. “Where’s Quint? He tore out of here like the hounds of hell were after him six months ago and he never came back.” The detective held up a hand, but Ben ignored him. “After all the yelling we heard, I can only assume he finally got fed up with your bullshit. What’d you do? Poison him? Dump him in the woods?”

      As thin as my nerves were, I lost it, shouldered the detective aside and got up in Ben’s face. Well, considering he was a good ten inches taller than me, I did my best. I ripped off my sunglasses and pointed to my eye. “Yeah, he outweighs me by more than a hundred pounds and packs a punch that would knock you out, and did worse than this to me, but I’m still standing, dammit. If he’s running, he’d better keep running because if he ever dares to show his face back here I’ll have his forty-four loaded and aimed his way.” Trembling with fury, I poked his chest with my finger. “The bastard will never touch me again. By the way, thanks for coming to help when you heard the screams. Six months have passed and you just now think to ask? Nice to know you think I can kick his ass. Which means you better keep away from me, because I might kick yours.”

      Ben backed up enough he nearly fell down the three steps down to the walkway hugging the side of the house.

      Detective Burrows wrapped an arm around my waist to pull me back and I yelped.

      “God dammit! Get your hands off me! Those ribs hurt, bubba!”

      The man released me. I hugged myself, doing my best to breathe.

      Fly-boy grabbed my shoulders, holding me upright. “He broke your ribs?” He vibrated with fury, but his hold was gentle. I was too dizzy to notice much more.

      “All but. They were cracked but good. After I hit the ground, he kicked me. That was right before he left, and they’d pretty much healed. They were bruised again last Saturday when some drunk decided to play chicken.” I gasped for air. He carefully leaned me against the side of the house. “Shit.” The secrets I’d meant to keep had pretty much leaped from my mouth. My damn propensity for venting out loud. I fought to keep from lapsing into what I knew would be a painful coughing fit.

      “Nice neighborhood here, when men sworn to protect citizens let a bully beat up on a woman.” The words were growled at Ben, who’d been stunned into immobility.

      The detective pulled out his notebook. “You’re the vic in the accident on Tudor Saturday afternoon?”

      Nodding, I continued to focus on breathing. “It was on the news and in the paper. The police have full documentation on my injuries from the accident and from the night Quint left. Feel free to look it up. Two separate events.” It was more than I’d planned on saying. More than my bruised body was able to handle. “Detective, get these two out of here,” I gasped. “One has never lifted a finger to help, the other…wasn’t in town at the time. They’re not…part of this.”

      “Mom!” Rob’s feet hit the entryway floor and he pushed the detective aside, also forcing the lieutenant to release me. “Are you okay?” His worry erased my anger.

      “I’m okay, sweetie. These men were just leaving.” I glanced at the detective, but spoke to Rob. “They want to know where your dad is. The detective can look up our case and figure out everything from the file.” Thankfully my breath was coming back by then.

      Burrows wasn’t letting me go so easily. “I need your phone number, ma’am.”

      I gave him the numbers and noted the lieutenant apparently concentrated on memorizing them. I’d never given Ben our new numbers for the HOA roster. Let him figure it out.

      The detective made a note as Rob took control. “She needs to rest.”

      Lord love him, Rob grew an inch taller in that minute. He carefully wrapped his arms around me while glaring at the men, and helped me into the house. He locked the door and stayed beside me step by step up to the main floor.

      Through the open windows, I heard men growling. Ten minutes later, a lawn mower and weed whacker simultaneously circled my house. The sound of raking was soon followed by sweeping coming from the drive. Then the outdoor faucets came on. Rob didn’t СКАЧАТЬ