8. Brandon
8
brANDON
S urveillance is a boring pain in the butt job. But the sight of Delia puttering around her house, backlit by the lights in the window. Her dark hair glows golden around her shoulders and my heart skips a beat.
What is it about this girl that makes me want to take care of her, protect her?
Settling back into the seat, I groan. I’m tired. I haven’t been able to sleep worrying about what’s going on here. I want to take care of all of Delia’s problems.
I don’t even get mad when she wakes me at the crack of dawn on my days off. The dang goat making all the racket at daybreak? The way she smiles at it and the little pain butts its head up against her? Adorable. I don’t know why.
As usual, Delia’s house is lit up like the Fourth of July and she’s got her new-age music pumping from the open windows as she dances like a willow in the wind around the house.
I can’t stop grinning. Her fashion choices are atrocious, her music makes my ears bleed and yet…I can’t stop grinning.
After another hour or so, the house goes dark and I sit up straighter, pulling out my binoculars to see more clearly. The digital clock on the dashboard shows that it’s 11:30. The house has been quiet for at least an hour. Yawning, I sink down further in my car seat, crossing my arms to my side. It’s a little chilly tonight and I didn’t want to fall asleep so I left my jacket off. Don’t want to be too comfortable.
A shadow separates itself from the side of the house and moves towards the downstairs window which for some loony reason Delia left partway open. Obviously she’s done this before. A hand reaches out and pushes at the screen, pushing it out of the way and then lifts a leg over the sill.
It all happens so fast that I barely have time to think before I slam my way out of the car and race to the house. The figure’s already out of sight and I groan.
I leap up over the sill and roll into the room, my hand on my gun. “Mrrow!” A scream and then thump, thump, thump!
“Dang cat!” But I growl and run around the corner just in time to see a dark figure stand up and then fall to the ground at the bottom of the stair case with a husky groan.
The lights go on upstairs. “Hello?”
“Stay upstairs, Del!”
“Who’s there?”
“I don’t know yet but I think Princess caught your visitor.”
I reach out and catch at the arm, clicking my flashlight on at the same time. “Felix? What are you doing here?”
“Doesn’t matter.” His eyes close and he sighs.
“It does. If you don’t tell me I’m going to run you in. How about that for a reason?”
“Brandon? Are you alright? Did you catch them?” Soft footprints come closer and I roll my eyes.
“Seriously, Del! Why don’t you ever listen to me?”
“Felix? What are you doing in my house?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It kinda does,” she grumbles. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“It’s Hetty. We’ve been seeing each other but she didn’t want her mom to find out. You know how controlling she is. She wouldn’t approve at all.”
“So you’ve been coming here…why? I didn’t know anything about this. Why break into my house?”
“Princess Peppercorn. She grabbed something from my house when Hetty was there…visiting.”
“Ah.” I nod my head. “Klepto kitty strikes again. What did she take this time?”
“Hetty’s…you know.” He flushes and hangs his head. Delia clears her throat, grinning at the floor, her face turning beet red.
“The panty thief again.”
“Yeah. We couldn’t take a chance that someone would find them before I did. For sure, Hetty’s mom would…well, she’d freak.”
“I get it. But next time just tell me. I’ll be happy to help you guys. I keep telling Princess that she has to stop this. It’s bad for her lives and her karma. Creates a ripple in the atmosphere around her that is just…bad. Brandon and I would be happy to help you look around. I know where most of her hiding places are. We’ll find Hetty’s…you know. But you guys should really let the truth out. You’ll never have a good relationship until you quit hiding things.”
I glance over at her and she flushes when she meets my eyes, clearing her throat.
“You’re being awfully forgiving about this, Del. This guy broke into your house. He scared you half to death.”
“I’m okay. I understand what happened. Hetty’s always been too afraid of her mother to stand up for herself. Parents can be a big problem for their children.”
“If you’re sure about not pressing charges, I guess that’s your choice. But I want to talk to you….alone.”
“Okay. Well, I guess that we can deal with your other problem later. I’ll make sure that your secret doesn’t get out. But I’m really tired tonight, Felix. It’s been a long few weeks.”
“Sure. No problem. We can take care of this later. I’m really sorry that I scared you, Delia. I appreciate you not pressing charges.”
Delia nods her head and smiles. “It’s alright, Felix. We all make mistakes sometimes. I’m just glad that the truth came out and we’re all going to help Hetty. She’s a good woman. She just doesn’t have enough strength to help herself yet. But she will.”
“You’re right.” Felix nods his dark head and smiles. “I hope so anyway.”
He walks away, his shoulders slumped. I don’t know if Hetty really will come clean before Felix actually gets tired of running around, hiding and living a lie. But that’s not my problem. It’s his.
I turn to face Delia, her soft eyes sparkling with tears. She’s such a soft-hearted woman. A beautiful, sweet, caring woman. And that is my problem.
I reach out a hand and touch hers, wrapping my fingers around hers and pulling her close, hugging her tight. I rest my chin on her head. “I told you to stay away. Why can’t you ever listen?”
She hums into my chest and giggles. “I’m not a dog, Brandon Courtney. I don’t sit or fetch either.”
I pull back and glare down at her pretty face. “I can’t protect you if you don’t listen, woman. And I plan on spending an entire life protecting. I have a feeling you’re not going to make it easy on me.”
Her grin is wide enough to brighten the dark of the night around us. “Why would I want to do that? I have to keep you on your toes.”
Groaning, I lean down and lightly caress her soft lips. Pulling back, her eyes dance with golden-green lights. “I love you, Del. You’re going to drive me to distraction but I love you desperately. I can’t eat or sleep unless I know you’re safe and happy. It’s my whole reason for being. Taking care of you.”
Her soft, full, pink lips quirk up. “I don’t need a keeper, Brandon. But I love you too. I hope that you can handle my life though. Annie and Princess, Jessie and the rest of the animals are important to me. So is my yoga. I don’t want to be a problem for you. But I am me. And you are you. Are you sure that you can handle me?”
Chuckling, I kiss her fingers. “I look forward to it, angel. More than you know.”
And I do. I can’t imagine anything better than spending our lives together. No matter what.
“You’re exactly what I didn’t know that I was missing, angel.” I grin wider. “Come with me for now though. We need to have a serious chat with Princess about her thieving. I’m not going to raise a klepto kitty, darling. She’s going to have to change her ways.”
“I’ll have a talk with her.”
“We will. From now on we’re a team.”
She smiles, big and wide. “Us against the world. For the rest of our lives, huh?”
“Absolutely, angel. You’re not getting away from me ever again.”
“I wouldn’t dare try.”
“Good. Cause I’d just hunt you down. I’ll always hunt you down.”
I’m going to enjoy spending the next lifetime with her. She’s going to drive me nuts and I’m going to love every minute of it.
And her.