Chapter 13
LEAH
"Are you sure about this?" Fiona stopped in front of Gavin's front door, her hand raised. "Once we do this, it's done. Whatever the result is, there's no going back."
In her other hand, she held a bag containing two swabs.
One for me and one for him. It all looked so harmless, and yet it could put a bomb under everything and everyone I'd ever known.
The fallout could be catastrophic, but I didn't see a choice.
I didn't want to spend the rest of my life wondering, selfish though I knew that was.
I sucked in a breath, held it for a moment and let it back out.
"I'm sure," I said finally. For a moment, I wished one of my guys was with me.
Connor and Riley were with a group zip lining, and Brooks was in the pub, learning the basics.
Jacob Ferguson agreed to take him on, but he'd have to start from the bottom.
Working behind the bar, serving customers and wiping tables.
I'd half-expected Brooks to object, but he hadn't seemed to mind.
For now. Honestly, I couldn't remember a time when I saw him as relaxed as he was after last night.
As if fucking me took the weight of the world off his shoulders.
And the pressure out of his balls. I'd run his dirty talk through my mind over and over again, my pulse ratcheting up each time.
We weren't related and we didn't grown up together, but if it got him going I'd take every word of it. And give it back in equal measure.
Fiona nodded and knocked on the door before turning the knob to open it. "Gavin? Are you decent?"
Hopefully he was, because she marched on in.
If he wasn't, I suspected she wouldn't be too concerned.
After all, she'd taken care of one human being, what was another here or there?
Although, there was a big difference between a little girl and an adult male.
Especially when she was related to one of them and not the other.
Holding back a laugh, I followed her inside, closing the door behind me. The inside of the house was immediately warmer, the cold left behind out on the street.
"Morning." Gavin was sitting in the same chair as the last time I was here.
This time, he was finishing off a plate of toast and what smelled like a cup of tea.
A fire was burning happily in the wood stove to the side of the room.
It was small, but it kept the place cosy.
A pile of logs sat beside it, ready to be tossed in to keep the flames fed.
"Oh good, you're eating," Fiona said. "You're looking well." She placed the packets on the table and her hands on her hips.
"Fighting fit," he said with a grunt. "Louisa is doing my laundry."
"I'm not here about your laundry," Fiona said. "Just a quick check up. I'm going to need you to finish your tea and brush your teeth."
"Are you my mother?" But Gavin picked up his tea and drank down the rest of it.
"Lucky for both of us, no." Fiona laughed. "Just looking out for you."
"You're not the nurse," Gavin observed.
"You're very sharp today." Fiona picked up his plate and cup and took them into the kitchen. "I haven't seen you so sassy in a long time."
Gavin grunted. "You're the sassy one, girl." He gripped the arms of his chair and levered himself to his feet. "What am I doing?" He glanced around. Started to sit back down.
Fiona grabbed his shoulders before he could.
"Your teeth, Gavin. I need you to brush your teeth.
Good dental health is important, remember?
" She nodded encouragingly a few times and with a little bit too much enthusiasm, but he didn't seem to realise how cagey she was behaving. Or he did and he let it slide.
Gavin muttered something, but shuffled off to the bathroom to brush his teeth before returning and flopping back down into his chair. He got himself settled and frowned at us.
"What are you doing here?"
Fiona glanced at me and grimaced. "This won't take a moment. We just need you to open your mouth so I can put this inside." She picked up a swab and tore the packet open. "I just need to swipe the inside of your cheek and then we're done."
She made it sound easy, but Gavin eyed her like she was out of her mind.
"It really is that simple," I said, hoping to reassure him.
Also really hoping to get out of here before Louisa returned and wondered what the hell we were up to.
This would be difficult to explain without telling her more than I was ready for her to know.
Not to mention, there might be laws against what we were doing.
"Fiona, maybe you can do mine first. Show him it's painless." I'd have to have my cheek swabbed sooner or later anyway. If it helped to get this over with, then I'd offer myself up, happily.
"Good idea." She stepped over to me and waited for me to open my mouth. Carefully, she swiped the swab up and down the inside of my cheek before pulling it back and dropping it into the bag with my name on it.
"See, nothing to it." She pulled out another and got it ready.
Gavin still gave us both the side eye, but he opened his mouth and let her work quickly before closing it again and flopping back in his chair.
My heart raced as I watched her drop the second swab in the bag with his name on it. Would that give me all the answers I needed? What would I do if it did? I also had to consider the possibility it wouldn't, but that was a bridge I'd deal with when I got to it.
"That was perfect." Fiona closed the Ziploc bag and handed both of them to me. "Thank you so much, Gavin. We'll leave you to it."
He muttered something and nestled down in his chair, looking very much like he was prepared to take a nap. He closed his eyes and a few moments later he was snoring.
I wished I could fall asleep that quickly and easily. Although, after several orgasms the night before, and a bath with the guys’ help, I'd slept better than I had in a long time.
I watched him for a few moments, looking for any resemblance between us. Our hair was both brown, but his was mostly grey now. My eyes were blue, his were blue-green. It was possible I resembled my mother. I had no idea what his former wife looked like.
Fiona turned me around and gave me a gentle push towards the door. "I know this is a lot," she whispered.
"What's a lot?" Louisa asked as she stepped through the door, a basket of dry, folded clothes in her arms.
"Making sure Gavin has enough to eat," Fiona said quickly. "I wasn't sure if anyone dropped by today, but I see you have. That's great. I have to get to work." She gave me a quick hug and hurried out, making a quick getaway before Louisa asked her anything else.
Louisa stared after her for a moment, blinked a couple of times and shook her head. "That girl has a good heart, but sometimes she's flighty."
I held back a smile. "Do you need any help?" I gestured toward the laundry basket.
"No, no." She waved me off. "I have everything under control." She placed the basket down on the table. "How's the gallery idea going?"
"I'm still thinking about it," I said honestly. "I like the idea, but it's a big undertaking."
"Anything worth doing usually is," she said. "If you need any help, you only have to ask. You'll have more help than you know what to do with before you can blink."
"I appreciate that, thank you," I said. Everyone told me that from the beginning and they weren't wrong. I couldn't turn around without seeing someone helping someone else, or offering help. Some day, I might even get used to it.
"I better get to work myself," I said.
"How are those boys treating you?" She adjusted her long braid. "Well, I hope."
"Very well," I agreed. "They're good to work for." And even better to play with. Of course, I wasn't going to say that out loud.
"Great." She patted me on the shoulder and bustled about, putting away Gavin's clothes and washing dishes.
I gave him a last, long look before stepping out into the frigid, morning air.
Someone had started to put up decorations for Halloween.
Here and there, jack-o'-lanterns and cardboard skeletons hung in the windows.
Before long it would be Christmas and we'd be up to our chins in snow.
Riley and Connor would be in their element.
I thought about Josiah up there by himself during a blizzard.
He must be even lonelier then. Stuck inside his little cottage with only himself for company.
If I could, I'd change that for him this year.
If he'd let me. Either way, Christmas this year was going to be very different from any I'd had before.
Pulling my coat tighter around myself, I hurried to the post office.