Seven

Brendan’s heart sank to the soles of his rubber boots.

He’d been telling himself since he started this job that he didn’t want to get involved with Shanna and her little family, but with each passing day, he was grounding himself deeper and deeper into their lives. Now, even his mother was involved. And with Ray back in the picture, there was real trouble. He couldn’t step back.

Brendan didn’t trust Ray from the first moment he saw the man, and his gut feelings were right. He didn’t know what was wrong, but he wanted to protect Shanna and her children from whatever troubles her brother-in-law wrought.

“What’s the problem?”

Shanna drew in a shaky breath. His heart clenched into a little knot. “It’s complicated. I’m not sure I even understand it myself.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” The words were out before he thought about what he was offering, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t sincere about his offer.

She looked up at him, her eyes wide and glassy.

“There’s nothing you can do. Ray says that Roger owed him money that I didn’t know about. He’s come up with a crazy notion that between the money and work he did on Roger’s car, that I owe him the car.”

“Do you think it’s true?”

“No. Even if Ray did give Roger money, it was before we were married, and it only would have been a few hundred dollars. Nothing near the value of the car I have now. I don’t believe him, anyway, and he can’t prove it. I know Ray and Roger did a lot of work on the car, but there wasn’t anything really wrong with it. They just liked to polish off a case of beer while they tinkered with it. Most of what they did wasn’t really fixing anything.”

“Then it shouldn’t be an issue.”

She shook her head. “Ray is a lot like Roger. He thinks everyone owes him something, including me. He figures that if he can scare me enough, I’ll give him what he wants, but I can’t. I only have Roger’s car, and I can’t afford to make payments on another one. The night Roger died, I think he knew he shouldn’t have been driving. He took my car when he drank, just in case he had an accident; so it was my car he would have damaged, not his own. He just didn’t expect to die in it. Insurance didn’t cover it because he was well over the legal blood-alcohol limit, so now the only car I have is Roger’s car. I wish I could sell it and buy something else, but it does run well, and I’d never get something this good with the money I could get for it.”

“I still don’t understand why he would do this.”

“I heard from my mother-in-law that Ray had another accident with Evelyn’s car. Just like Roger, it was while he was drinking, so their insurance won’t cover the repairs. So Evelyn needs another car.” She drew in another shaky breath. “I told Ray he couldn’t threaten me anymore, so he threatened to hurt Matthew and Ashley.”

A wave of cold dread passed through Brendan. After his first encounter with Ray, Brendan didn’t doubt for a minute that Ray would hurt Shanna. From what the children had said about their father, Shanna had been in an abusive marriage. He knew that such things often cycled in families, and he suspected that the two brothers were very similar, including how they treated their wives. But as bad as that was, he couldn’t imagine an adult who would deliberately harm innocent children. Yet at the same time, he read the newspapers, and he knew that happened, too.

“That’s pretty serious. I think you should call the police.”

“It won’t make any difference. I’ve been through this before. Until something happens, there’s nothing they can do, because Ray doesn’t have a criminal record and no complaints have been filed against him. That’s what makes this so frightening. I’d almost think of giving him the car and doing without if it would make him go away, but then it would just fuel him. He’d demand more, and there’d be no end to it. We’ll never be safe.”

Now Brendan really wanted to do something, but he didn’t know what.

As if the thought struck them at the same time, they both looked into the yard to watch Matthew and Ashley. They had abandoned their task of counting the fence boards and were happily climbing the playscape.

Today they were safe. But how long would it last?

He turned to Shanna. “There has to be something that can be done to protect you. This is beyond just bullying. He can’t threaten you and the kids like this and get away with it.”

“He can. This kind of thing happens all the time.”

“What would stop him?”

“Nothing stopped Roger except a fight he knew he couldn’t win. Ray would be the same. He’s bigger and stronger than me, and he knows I couldn’t defend myself against him. Getting the police involved the next day doesn’t scare him, because he’s always been able to talk his way out of it. Roger always did, and like a fool, I went along with him, thinking it would hold the family together.”

A fight he couldn’t win.

The words echoed through Brendan’s head.

God, between You and me, help me show Ray that he can’t win this, that there is Someone greater than him out there and that You’re in charge of the bigger picture.

Shanna’s eyes glazed over. “He’ll be back tomorrow, probably about the same time.”

“Why do you say that?”

She stared out the window, her eyes unfocused. “Ray works afternoon shift at the mill, so he doesn’t get out of bed until noon. He has to be back at work by 4:00, so he’s limited to those hours. He never comes on the weekend, because more people are out and about, and he doesn’t want any witnesses.”

Brendan’s stomach tightened at the thought of why Ray didn’t like witnesses around when he visited Shanna.

She turned to Brendan, making direct eye contact. Her voice dropped to barely above a whisper. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this. But I’m so scared.”

He wanted to tell her not to be scared, but she had good reasons to be.

Brendan reached out to hold her hand, but she backed up, not allowing him to touch her.

It broke his heart to see her so nervous. “Please try not to worry. I have an idea, but I have to think about it some more.”

A silence hung between them, the air thick with tension.

“Before I forget, the reason I came in here in the first place was to tell you that I’ve got some leftover shingles from the playscape, so I was thinking of building a doghouse.”

“What do shingles have to do with a doghouse?”

Brendan stroked his beard, then crossed his arms over his chest. “It would match the house and the playscape. Don’t you think the three coordinated structures would look spectacular?”

“I don’t think Boffo would care.”

“No, but I would.” He didn’t know why; he wondered if he was going soft. He had never been much of an animal lover, but now that he was spending so much time around Boffo, he was growing fond of the goofy dog. When his job with Shanna was over, he’d even miss the crazy animal. “Maybe he needs someplace to go when he knows he’s in the doghouse.”

She didn’t smile, telling him that his pathetic attempt at humor had fallen flat. Considering what she was dealing with, he couldn’t blame her.

He stood. “I need to get back to work. Call me if you need me. Let me give you my cell number.” He watched as she punched his number into her auto dial. As he walked into her yard, Brendan made a mental note to set up a special ring tone on his own phone for calls from Shanna’s number.

The children frolicked happily on their new playscape for the rest of the afternoon, which was both a blessing and a relief. It allowed him to put together a plan, but it was a plan for which he couldn’t predict an ending. Ray didn’t listen to reason or play fair.

Not that this was a game. He’d never encountered a situation more serious.

Before Brendan returned to his task, he closed his eyes and prayed for wisdom, strength, and the discernment to do what was right in God’s sight.

❧

Shanna heard Ray’s truck before she actually saw it.

Without looking down the street to make sure, she hit the auto dial on her cell to get Brendan. He told her that he was already on the way and to stall for time.

Easier said than done.

She should have had the courage to face Ray herself, but she didn’t.

She prayed that God would somehow protect her and her children, because she knew she couldn’t protect herself. She’d wanted Brendan to be there to protect her, but he wasn’t. She wanted to trust him, but deep inside, she still wasn’t sure she could.

On the outside, Brendan seemed to be a nice man. He attended church, and according to Pastor Harry, Brendan was committed to serving his Savior. But like any man, Brendan wasn’t perfect, as much as she wanted him to be.

For now, he said he wanted to protect her.

Roger had also been protective, but it wasn’t long before he’d turned from merely protective to possessive. He wanted to know where she was and who she was with every minute, whether he was home or not. Toward the end, he flew into a rage if she talked to any man. When she started attending church, he didn’t even trust her talking to the men there, even though most were married and with their wives.

She couldn’t be sure that Brendan wouldn’t also become overly possessive and distrusting like Roger. It could be a sign of worse to come, and she couldn’t go through that again. And the fact that Brendan made Ray nervous told her a lot. Ray dealt mostly with unsavory characters, so when Brendan was able to put a little fear into Ray, that made her nervous.

Shanna peeked through the blinds and watched Ray park his truck. Her blood turned to ice in her veins to see that today Ray was alone.

Where was Brendan?

Part of her said not to answer the door right away, to stall for time. Yet the longer she made Ray wait, the angrier he would become, and the situation would turn more dangerous than it already was.

She told Matthew and Ashley to go into the backyard to play in the fort, which suited them fine. They didn’t want to see Ray any more than she did.

Shanna ran into the bathroom and listened. When the doorbell rang, she flushed the toilet, then yelled, “Just a minute!” to give herself some more time and to make Ray think it was understandable. She waited a few seconds and washed her hands to dispel the urge to phone Brendan. She expected that he was one of the few diligent drivers who would pull off the road and stop before answering his cell phone, so a phone call asking him to hurry would cause him to take even longer to arrive.

She walked down the stairs at a normal pace, knowing Ray would be watching through the window beside the door.

Just as she’d done the last time, she opened the door and stepped quickly outside, meaning to close the door behind her so they would stay in full view of the neighborhood.

Before she could grab the doorknob, Ray raised one hand and pushed so hard and fast on her left shoulder that the force caused her to stagger backward. Before she could regain her balance, Ray strode in and closed the door behind him.

In addition to the throbbing in her shoulder, hearing the click of the lock nearly caused her to throw up.

“Have you made up your mind?” he barked. “Of course you know there’s only one answer.”

“N–no,” she muttered.

Ray’s voice rose, and he stepped closer, backing Shanna against the wall. “I didn’t hear the right answer!”

“You can’t have the car. I don’t believe that you gave Roger any money. And most of the time you guys weren’t really working on the car; you were just tinkering. I don’t owe you anything, especially not the car.”

Ray stepped so close that their bodies almost touched, even though she flattened her back against the wall. He lifted one hand and pressed his palm on the wall beside her ear. “I must not have heard you properly. Would you like to repeat that?”

She forced herself to breathe. His hand was only inches from her throat. She had no chance of escape. She told herself to be rational—he wouldn’t strangle her to death, because then she wouldn’t be able to sign over the car. He was only trying to frighten her, and it was working. She couldn’t remember ever being so scared, not even in the seconds before Roger pushed her down the stairs.

Shanna gulped for air. “I—I said no.”

Ray’s fingers brushed her neck. “Then maybe—”

A male voice sounded from the entrance to the utility room, cutting off Ray’s words. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

A man stepped into view. A big man.

Shanna pressed herself even more into the wall. Her heart pounded. She didn’t know how or why this stranger had come into her house. If he were a burglar, he didn’t have her television under his arm, even though he looked big and strong enough to carry it easily.

Echoes of Matthew and Ashley laughing in the backyard sounded through the house. At least they were safe from this criminal who had somehow snuck inside.

She stared at him, struggling not to scream and show her fear.

This man could have been a pro wrestler. His worn, black T-shirt molded huge, well-defined pecs, a washboard stomach, and a trim waist. The sleeves were ripped off the shirt, probably because they couldn’t stand the strain of surrounding his upper arms—which were huge and bulging with well-shaped muscles. Tight jeans showed off the most muscular pair of male legs she’d ever seen. On his feet were scuffed cowboy boots—very large cowboy boots, but then a man so tall had to have feet to support his height.

She looked up. Way up.

He wasn’t movie-star handsome, but he was still quite good-looking. His dark blond hair was cut short on the sides and spiked up on top for a rough, trendy look, not the style of a business executive. He had full lips, which she’d never thought of as being attractive on a man, but on him they looked good. She couldn’t make out the exact color of his eyes from across the foyer, but they were light, so they weren’t brown. He narrowed those mesmerizing eyes and gritted his teeth, which accented the lines of his very masculine square jaw and high cheekbones. With the tightening in his expression, his nostrils flared slightly, drawing her attention to a nose that was a little too big for his face but added to his appeal.

The nose. . .long and accented with a rounded hump in the middle.

She’d seen that nose before.

Her heart pounded. “Brendan?” She gulped.

His tight expression relaxed, and he smiled. His eyes sparkled. “Hey, babe.” His voice came out low and husky. Flirty. And possessive. “You okay?”

A flock of butterflies went wild inside her stomach. Her voice wouldn’t work. She didn’t know whether to shake her head or nod.

He stepped toward her, causing Ray to back up. Brendan stepped between them, then brushed her cheek with the side of his thumb. The small movement flexed the muscles in his arm.

While he was still touching her, he turned his head toward Ray. The harsh tone of his voice contrasted vividly with his gentle touch. “I don’t believe you were invited.”

Ray backed up another step but didn’t leave. “I’ve got business with Shanna.”

“Then that makes it my business, too. Got a problem with that?” Brendan’s eyes narrowed.

Ray backed up again. One hand went behind him to the door handle. His eyes widened slightly when he realized it was locked, even though he was the one who had locked it.

One corner of Brendan’s mouth tipped up and one eyebrow quirked. He flexed the muscles in his arms, and his voice lowered in pitch. “I know where you live,” he said.

Ray spun around and turned the lock button. “This isn’t over,” he said as he stomped out.

Brendan moved so fast Shanna’s hair moved with the air current. He opened the door and stepped in the doorway, standing prominently with his arms crossed over his massive chest, making his presence known to Ray and anyone who cared to watch.

Shanna watched him from behind. This new Brendan looked mighty fine, even from the back. Fit and trim and confident—as if he knew how good he looked and wasn’t afraid to show it. The top of his spiked hair brushed the wooden edge of the doorframe, and his shoulders didn’t have far to go on either side.

“You know, Ray,” he shouted, “you’re wrong. It’s over because I think it’s over.”

Ray hopped into his truck and drove away with a squeal of rubber.

Brendan turned around to face her, then stepped forward, closing the door behind him. “I hope that makes him think twice.”

All she could do was stare. If she could turn the clock back ten years, he was everything she would have looked for in a man in her younger days. He was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome, except that he was blond. In addition to his good looks and obvious strength, he knew how to get what he wanted, and he followed through. Knowing him as she did, she knew that he was also ambitious and goal oriented, intelligent, and a hard worker.

Ten years ago she could have fallen in love with him. But now she knew what could happen. Now, older and wiser, she wanted a short, dignified, gentle, nearsighted accountant. Brendan wasn’t an accountant. He wasn’t even good with numbers. His boxes of business documents proved that.

He waited for her to say something, but no words would come.

He gave a short laugh and rubbed his chin with his thumb and index finger. “I found out this morning that I’m just as ugly as I was eight years ago.”

She wanted to reassure him that he was far from ugly, but her mouth didn’t work.

He lifted his hand and ran his palm along the tips of his spiked up hair. “You wouldn’t believe how much gel it took to do this. The woman at the salon assured me that it would all wash out easily, but I’m not so sure I believe her. Do you know how stiff this is?”

The short hair and the shaved face suited him. It suited him too much.

“Why did you do that?” she asked when she could finally find her voice.

“I’m not really sure. I thought I’d look a little more convincing if I didn’t look like just the gardener, but when I changed into my old clothes, my hair looked too sedate. So I went to get a haircut. The lady suggested that my new haircut would look better without the beard, so off it went.”

His expression told her that he really didn’t know how appealing he was, both clean-shaven and dressed as he was—or how tempting. If it were anyone but her looking at him.

“It suits you. I don’t understand why you cover your face with that beard.” Not that it was an ugly beard. It was always short and well trimmed. But it was always there.

He rubbed his chin again, the movement of his fingers causing the muscles in his arm to ripple. “It grows too fast. My five o’clock shadow begins at two. If I have to go anywhere in the evening, I have to shave twice. It was easier to just let it grow. I trim it once a week. It’s easier that way.”

She couldn’t imagine shaving her legs twice a day. Sometimes she didn’t even shave twice a week.

She continued to stare at him. In addition to the new haircut and missing beard, the clothes had changed his appearance. She knew he’d be muscular, but reality far exceeded what she’d imagined hidden beneath the loose flannel shirts he always wore.

Likewise, the baggy green work pants completely camouflaged everything his jeans showed off.

Even the cowboy boots looked good compared to his usual rubber boots.

“Thanks for stepping in like that. I hope this makes him think twice before he comes again.”

“I hope so, too. But I have a feeling he’s going to need to see more of me—and us together—to make him think that he’s not going to be able to talk to you without going through me first.”

“Excuse me?”

Brendan slid his hands down his sides, like he was going to slide his hands into his pockets, but his pants were too tight for that. He stiffened, then crossed his arms over his chest. “So far, no one has seen us together. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since we last talked. To give this relationship more strength, we should be seen together in public, in places where Ray or his friends will see us and then tell him you’re no longer alone.”

“I’m not going to the bar.”

“I didn’t mean places like that. I was kind of thinking of big, public places. Places where lots of people go, from all walks of life. Certainly he has friends who have families, friends who would report back to him if they saw us together. He’s got to think that he’s never going to catch you alone again, or that if he does, he’ll have to answer to me for anything he does. Although I hope and pray it never comes to that, because I don’t want to fight him. I just want to scare some sense into him.”

“I don’t know if that’s possible.”

Again Brendan rubbed his chin, like he couldn’t believe the feel of his own bare skin on his face. “I still think it’s a good idea to go out in public together. We could start out with something easy. Like on Sunday, I can go to church with you and the kids.”

“Church? You’re never going to see Ray or anyone Ray knows at church.”

Brendan grinned. “I know. But I was thinking of another reason. I haven’t seen Harry for a while. I want to see if he recognizes me with my new haircut.”

She certainly hadn’t recognized him. “I see you came in from the back, which was a good idea since Ray locked the front door on me. Did the kids recognize you?”

“Actually, they did. But that was because of Boffo. Boffo didn’t care about the beard or my new haircut, so he greeted me right away, and the kids heard me talking to him before they actually saw me. They were surprised, but they already knew it was me by the time they actually saw me. They said they liked the new me.”

That would explain why she hadn’t heard any commotion, allowing Brendan to sneak into the house.

He stepped closer to her. “What do you think? Should I stay this way?”

She stared upward. She did like the change. But she didn’t know why what she thought would make a difference. “I like it. Why are you asking me?”

His voice dropped to a gruff whisper. “I don’t know.” He reached forward again, cupping her cheek with his palm. His hand was rough and calloused. The hand of a workingman.

It had been a long time since a man had been so gentle with her. She couldn’t help herself. Shanna closed her eyes and leaned into his hand.

She hadn’t wanted to enjoy his touch, but she did. He made her crave what she had never had—someone who valued her and treated her gently and with respect, someone who, when there was no work to do and no pressing needs to fill, would relax with her and help shut out the problems of life for a while. She craved it more than anything, but she knew she couldn’t have it—at least not with Brendan. His gentleness now only served to remind her how strong he really was and how quickly the situation could turn around, if that was the way he wanted it to be.

For now it was good, but she knew things could turn very nasty. She’d lived that way for too many years. When the day came that God chose for her to marry again, He would send her that quiet accountant she’d been dreaming of.

But for now, she couldn’t help herself. She was attracted to Brendan, and that was wrong. Just like the books said, she was falling into the same predictable cycles, only she could now realize it and break the cycle.

Since she knew she was falling back into it, she obviously needed another self-help book for victims of abuse, only this time Roger wasn’t going to be around to threaten her for daring to read it. This time she could read it at her leisure and reread the parts she needed the most, which was to learn why she was falling into the same trap.

Brendan’s movement as he shuffled closer snapped her to attention. She opened her eyes and looked up just as his eyes closed and he lowered his mouth to hers. She was too shocked to resist.

His kiss was gentle and sweet, and she found herself drifting into him. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to enjoy the experience. It felt as if she were dreaming, but this was too good not to be real.

Slowly, he broke away, but instead of stepping back, his hand dropped to her shoulder. Using his other hand, he tipped her face up with one finger under her chin. “I was worried about you. When I saw Ray was already here and the door was closed, I thought I was too late. Are you sure you’re okay?”

She nodded, but when his other hand drifted to the shoulder Ray had shoved, she winced.

He jerked his hand up.

She blinked back a tear.

His eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong? Don’t lie to me. Did he hit you?”

“No. He only pushed me out of the way so he could close the door.”

“Let me see.”

She lifted her hand to shield herself from him, then winced at her own touch.

“That looks like it hurts. I want you to show me.”

“No!” If it were just her arm, it would have been easy to simply roll up her sleeve. She wasn’t going to unbutton her blouse and show him where it hurt. That was much too personal.

He pulled out his cell phone and pushed one of the buttons in his auto dial.

“Who are you calling?”

“My mother. She’s not working today. If it hurts that bad, he did more than just push you out of the way. I don’t know why you want to protect him. If he hit you, say so. By hiding what he’s done, you’re protecting him and only hurting yourself. We’re going to leave the kids with my mother, and I’m taking you to the clinic so this can be documented.”

One of the chapters of one of the self-help books flashed before her eyes.

Brendan was right. Ray would say he only “shoved” her, but by shoving her so hard, Ray really had hurt her. By any other name, he had hit her. She couldn’t allow it to continue, or she was going to make everything even worse.

“Okay. I’ll go. But don’t you have a job to go to?”

He punched a text message into the phone and hit Send. “Not anymore. Get your purse. The second my mother gets here, we’re gone.”