Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
brENT
The end came three weeks later. I got the call from the hospice telling me he’d gone in his sleep.
I’ll be honest, for a while I wasn’t sure how I should feel.
Especially after the nurse said he’d been in no pain, but her voice told a different story.
He’d suffered, and I wasn’t sure if I felt happy or sad.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Uly asked, wrapping an arm around my waist as we lay in bed.
“Just wondering if I was wrong. Should I have let him stay here?”
“Only you can answer that question. You’re one of the few who knew everything he’d done. If I’m honest, I think Chaim would agree with your choice. He dared to attack Benjy, he swiped at our kids, and—”
“You said our kids.” My insides went all gooey.
“I’m sorry, I thought—”
“No! You said it, and you aren’t allowed to take it back.”
“I wasn’t going to. Still, I should have talked to you before I assumed.”
“You heard me tell him they were our boys, so you didn’t need to ask anything. I do need to know, though. What would you have done?”
He sighed. “I’m not a bear. I haven’t spent my whole life in a sleuth, learning the ways of your people. For me, it would have been a different approach based on what I was taught. I wouldn’t have forgiven him, but I would have let him die at home.”
“You should have said something.”
A quick scowl that was clear, even in the darkened room. “Really? He attacked you. Benjy. Chaim. The boys. My limited supply of sympathy would have been gone immediately after that.”
I rolled over and pulled him to me. He sighed and snuggled in.
“No, it wouldn’t. That’s one of the reasons I love you so much. You seem to have a limitless supply of goodness in your heart. You balance out my anger issues.”
“Psh, please. You are one of the most levelheaded people I know. When the kids broke that vase you had in the great room, did you yell?”
“No, but not for the reason you think.”
“Fine. Tell me why.”
“Because it was fugly, man. Who the hell put a neon orange and neon purple color scheme like that on something you’re meant to display? In fact, after they knocked it over, it was only cracked. I might have accidentally given it a kick to finish the job.”
“You did not!”
“I said might have!” I protested. Even though I totally did.
Uly chuckled. “I told Deb she shouldn’t have let Jamie spend money on it. I swear, I thought it was a gag gift, but he liked the combination. And so you know? I nudged it the day before.”
“You little asshole. I only put it up because your brother sent it.”
“Well, accidents happen. I told them we had it in a place of honor, and the boys accidentally knocked it over. Jamie said he’d get another, but I told him the boys weren’t old enough to have something that fragile in the house.”
“Sneaky bastard.” He chuckled. “I’m thinking you might be the more devious of us all.”
“Back to the subject at hand. You’re a good, kind leader. I went for coffee with Cait last week, and she regaled me with the story of how you helped to save her marriage.”
My cheeks heated. “She’s a sweet person, and I didn’t want her to choose between her marriage and the job.”
“That’s what she said too. So if you care for your people, then you care for them all. I think, though I won’t swear to it, that your father would have brought an infection into town with him. Try to poison the minds of the people.”
“Probably. I spoke with Louis who swore he hadn’t even known the old man had come back into town, and no way would he have written him, because he was quite happy with how the sleuth was operating.
Even Peter, his son, had turned his life around and was enjoying being here.
He’s apologized like a million times for his behavior when we were kids, and he volunteers to help out by talking at the schools about how tough it can be growing up, but it gets worse when you’re being picked on. ”
“You have good people here,” Uly said, his voice filled with sleep.
“C’mere, you.” I pulled him in and he put his head on my chest, letting his fingers trail along my stomach. “Get some rest. I’ll do the same.”
And that was what we did.
ULY
“Why am I doing this?” Brent demanded. “He’s dead, I don’t care, so let’s just stay home. I’ll even give you an extra blow job.”
“You’ll give me an extra one anyway,” I said. “And we’re doing this because I’m going to guess very few others will. It feels like we should.” I sighed. “If you’d rather not, we’ll stay home. I still get the blow job, though.”
He scowled as he grabbed his jacket, crushing it in his grip. “No, we’ll go. I don’t like it, but you’re right. And as the leader of the sleuth, I should be seen.”
The flight to Spring, Texas was far too long, and when we got there, it was way too hot.
At home it had been in the thirties. In Spring it felt like summer and was seventy-eight.
We arrived at the funeral home and our guess had been right.
There were only three people there, and two of them were employees.
The casket was closed, which I was grateful for.
I didn’t want to see Gavin’s body, mostly because I didn’t want to feel guilty.
“Holy fuck,” Brent whispered, his voice harsh. “Do you know who that woman is?”
Looking at her, I had a guess. Her face was soft, even with the fine lines that bracketed her mouth and eyes, but she looked very familiar. I turned to Brent.
“Is that your mom?”
He nodded mutely, then took a step toward her. She turned and her eyes went wide.
“Brenton?” she whispered, her voice cracking.
“Brenton?” I repeated, not believing I hadn’t known his full name.
“Hey, Mom,” he said, his voice tight, filled with anger and tinged with sadness.
I grabbed his arm. “We are at a funeral,” I whispered harshly. “Keep your emotions in check.”
He jerked away from me, which I admit shocked me. “Fuck that. I need this dead and buried, because it’s eating me up inside.”
She threw herself into his arms, and he caught her, bent and put his face in her hair as they hugged. Then she stiffened and stepped away, wrapping her arms around herself.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why not?” I asked. “I mean, he’s your son, after all.”
She turned and looked at me. “I’m sorry, do we know each other?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Mom, this is Ulysses McNamara, my mate. Uly, this is my mother, Beatrice.”
“Your….?” Her lip wobbled. “You found your mate? And he’s human?”
“Will that be a problem?” Brent asked, an edge to his voice.
“What? No, absolutely not! Love is love, no matter who it involves.” She held out a hand. “It’s lovely to meet you, Ulysses.”
“Uly, please.”
“Uly, then. And you will call me Bea,” she said, wrapping me in her arms. She smelled lovely, something light and breezy.
Brent relaxed. “Uly is my second mate. My first died a few years ago. Our sons—”
“You have children? Oh, Brenton.” She twisted her head to look around. “What are their names? Are they here?”
“No, they’re at home. We didn’t want to drag them across the country to see someone they only saw when he attacked their mother!”
She cocked her head. “Their mother? I don’t understand. I thought their mother died? And what do you mean they didn’t meet him?”
“She did die. The boys picked up Uly’s scent, and in it they found something similar to their mother, so they call him Momma. And yes, they never met him until the psychopath attacked Uly in our home!” Brent bellowed.
“I’m so confused. He told me you lived with him. He never mentioned children, and I didn’t know anything about your wife.”
“Of course not! You left. You abandoned me, left me to suffer with him!”
Her lip curled, showing off teeth. One thing for certain, this woman was no shrinking violet.
“I did no such thing!” she ground out. “He forced me to leave, and wouldn’t let me see you or talk to you.
It wasn’t like I could go to a human court, and seeing as how he had the money, he could do what he wanted.
I came here today just to ensure the bastard was dead. ”
Brent staggered back a step. “You mean…. You didn’t leave me?”
She sneered. “I most certainly did not!” Then her voice softened.
“I wanted to take you with me, but he was punishing me and said I hadn’t earned the right.
He threw me out of the house. I lived with my parents for a while, until I got my footing again.
Even then, he refused to let me see you.
I had no pictures or anything else. The only reason I recognized you now is because of your scent. ”
Now Brent looked dazed. He dropped down into a chair, which groaned under his weight. He put his face in his hands. I took a seat next to him and put a hand on his arm.
“Brent, sweetheart, I tried to get you away from him. Against the advice of my lawyer, I went to the human courts. They told me in no uncertain terms that he could provide a better life for you. I am so sorry. I should have tried harder or maybe if I had—”
“No,” Brent said, his head snapping up, his voice gravelly. “None of this is your fault. It’s all that son of a bitch!” He got up and stormed to the casket, then pounded on the lid. “You hear me, you bastard? I’m happy you’re dead and I’m fucking glad it hurt!”
Then he turned and grabbed my arm, pulling me to him. He sobbed into my neck. I waved off the staff who came to see what was going on. They didn’t need to be involved.
“He took everything from me. My mother, my friends. Why? If he hated me so damn much, why not just let me go?”
“Maybe he couldn’t. Maybe there was some bit of him that wanted to hold onto you.”
“You don’t believe that, do you?”
I wanted to say yes. I wanted to give him the comfort of a lie, but I couldn’t. “No. I think he wanted something no one else could have. I think he was a selfish bastard.”
Brent chuckled, then dissolved into sobs again. “He fucked my whole life. Every goddamn aspect of it.”