Deadly Addition (Hardy Brothers Security Book 9) (5 page)

Sheila made a face. “Emma, I want you to understand … .”

Finn cut her off. “Go!”

Sheila pursed her lips. “I’m staying at the Best Western on Gratiot in Clinton Township,” she said. “It’s the one with that new fancy conference center. It has an indoor pool, if you’re interested. When you get away from your … friend … come and visit me. I think we’ll have a better shot of reconnecting without any distractions.”

“Go,” Finn roared, pointing at the door.

Emma’s body was shaking when Finn pulled her to him, and she buried her face in his neck. She didn’t even hear the front door slam shut to signify Sheila’s exit.

“It’s okay, sweetie,” Finn said, kissing Emma’s forehead. “I’m so sorry.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry about,” Emma said, bursting into tears. “She’s exactly the same as I remember her.”

“Oh, Emma,” Finn said, holding her tight. “I’m sorry this keeps happening to you. Your family is … .”

“Horrible,” Emma finished.

“That’s why you’re a part of my family now,” Finn said. “You’re my family, and you always will be. Just, oh, don’t cry. You have a family, Emma. You’re my family. You’re my family, sweetheart.” Finn rocked her in his arms. “Shh. It’s going to be okay.”

“I cannot believe your mother showed up,” Sophie said, biting into her spring roll and shooting Emma a remorseful look. “How did she even find you?”

Emma had still been shaken when she awoke Monday morning, so she’d called the only people she knew who could make her feel better. Mandy, Sophie, and Ally had all cleared their schedules to have an extended lunch with the morose model.

“Can’t she just look in the phone book?”

“When was the last time you saw a phone book?” Sophie asked.

Emma was uncertain. “I don’t know.” She swiveled in her chair so she could face Mandy. “What do you think?”

“I think she’s a horrible woman,” Mandy said, twirling some rice noodles around her fork.

“Not about that,” Emma said, frowning. “How do you think she found me?”

“It’s not that hard to find someone,” Ally said. “She probably just Googled you.”

“And anyone can find me that way?” Emma was horrified.

“Someone would probably have to be looking pretty hard to stumble across your home address,” Sophie replied. “They could find you, though. That’s how the Internet works.”

“So, all those geeks at all those science fiction conventions can find me that way?” Emma was mortified.

“Do you tell them your real name?”

Emma’s shoulders slumped. “No.”

“Then I’m going to guess no,” Sophie said. “Calm down. What’s got you so worked up?”

“You mean the woman who abandoned me showing back up and finding out I’m pregnant aren’t enough on their own?”

Sophie faltered. “Oh, sorry. I kind of forgot about the pregnancy thing.”

“How can you forget about the pregnancy thing?” Ally asked, scandalized. “I’ve already started looking at clothes. You need to go to the doctor and get a due date. I want to know if you’re having a boy or girl, too. So far, I’ve had to buy unisex onesies.”

Emma made a face. “You’ve already shopped?”

“I’m getting a jump on favorite-aunt status,” Ally said, extending her tongue in Mandy’s direction. “No one else stands a chance.”

Mandy smirked. “I’m ceding the title,” she said, turning to Emma and rubbing her shoulder sympathetically. “I know you’re upset, but you should try and eat something.”

“I can’t,” Emma said. “I threw up all morning.”

“You have morning sickness,” Ally said. “That’s usually gone by the second trimester. Don’t worry.”

“Since when did you become the Wikipedia of pregnancy?” Mandy challenged.

“Since I looked stuff up,” Ally said.

“You’d better be careful,” Mandy warned. “If Jake sees all that stuff on your computer, he’s going to think you’re pregnant. Trust me.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because James found the pregnancy test in the bathroom and thought it was mine.”

Ally choked on her lunch, her eyes watering with the effort it took to keep it from shooting back with a righteous comeback because she was laughing so hard.

Sophie hit her on the back to make sure she was breathing. “Are you okay?”

Ally nodded.

“Well, then I’ll take advantage of your momentary lack of verbal skills and ask the obvious question,” Sophie teased. “How did James take it?”

“He just kept saying it was fine,” Mandy said, smiling at the memory. “He said it wasn’t in our plans, but we could turn one of the guestrooms into a baby room. It was kind of sweet.”

“He said it was fine?” Emma’s face was ashen. “He wasn’t excited? Not even a little?”

“He was excited when I told him it wasn’t me,” Mandy replied. Emma’s white countenance made the blonde court reporter realize the error of her words. “But, it’s different for us, Emma. We’ve already decided we don’t want kids.”

“You’re married,” Emma pointed out.

“So?”

“Finn and I aren’t married,” Emma said. “He’s going to think I’m trapping him. He just got an earful from my mother the other night about how I should be using my looks to trap people. He’s going to think that’s what I’m doing.”

“He’s not going to think that,” Ally scoffed. “Emma … I’m not going to promise that he’s going to be jumping up and down right away because he’s so excited, but I am going to promise that he’s not going to turn his back on you. He loves you.”

“He’s never told me that.”

Mandy sighed. The Hardy men were idiots when it came to emotional proclamations. “He will.”

“After he finds out about the baby … it won’t be the same,” Emma said.

“I know,” Mandy replied. “It’s going to be even more special. You guys are responsible for bringing a whole new life into this world.”

“That’s right,” Sophie said. “You’re going to leapfrog right over Ally and become her mother’s favorite.”

“I am?”

Ally’s eyes widened. “Oh, crap, you are,” she said. “Once there’s an actual baby, I won’t be the one who gets spoiled anymore.”

Mandy fought the mad urge to laugh. “I think you’ll survive.”

“Jake will always spoil you,” Sophie offered.

“This isn’t fair,” Ally said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Peter is rich. He spoils you rotten,” she said, referring to Sophie’s foster father. “Mandy isn’t having kids, so James will always spoil her. Now that Emma is giving my parents their first grandchild, this means she’s going to be the favorite until the baby comes.”

“You’re such a baby,” Sophie said, laughing.

“Until the actual baby comes along and everyone forgets her name,” Mandy teased.

Ally’s face darkened.

“I’m sorry,” Emma said, a tear rolling down her cheek. “Now I’ve ruined your life, too.”

Ally’s face softened. “Oh, stop that right now,” she said, moving around the table so she could kneel next to Emma. “I’m happy to give up my spoiled status. You deserve it. You need to stop freaking about dumb stuff – like me – and start thinking about the fact that you’re going to have a baby.”

“What if … what if Finn runs when I tell him?” Emma’s face was filled with misery.

“He won’t,” Ally said, giving Emma a reassuring hug. “Finn’s going to be a great dad, and you’re going to be a great mom. You just have to … man, these hormones aren’t doing you any favors.”

Emma burst into uncontrollable tears.

“Oh, nice Ally,” Mandy muttered.

“What? How was I supposed to know?”

“You’re not going to be the favorite aunt if you keep doing this,” Sophie said sagely. “A baby knows things. This baby is going to know that you kept making his mommy cry.”

Ally’s face contorted. “Do you really think that?”

“No,” Mandy said, shooting Sophie a look. “Really? Do you want both of them to freak out at the same time?”

“They both tend to go to you more than me, so I’m fine with it,” Sophie replied.

“I hate all this girl stuff,” Mandy admitted. “Sometimes I think I should’ve been a guy.”

“Then I think your relationship with James might have taken on an entirely different form,” Sophie teased.

“Eat your lunch, Sophie,” Mandy snapped.

Sophie happily did as she was told. This was going to be a long pregnancy, Mandy realized. Emma was barely pregnant and she was already falling apart. What was going to happen when there was an actual baby on the horizon?

“HOW
is Emma after the whole ordeal with her mother the other night?” James asked, fixing his attention on Finn as the youngest Hardy brother sank into one of the open chairs across from his desk.

“She’s … hard to read,” Finn replied.

“Is she upset?”

“She always seems upset these days,” Finn said. “Well, that’s not exactly true. For the past two weeks or so, though, it’s like she’s always crying. The slightest thing sends her over the edge. She cries at commercials, for crying out loud.”

James bit his bottom lip. He’d promised Mandy he wouldn’t share Emma’s pregnancy secret. It seemed like a reasonable oath to take when it was just him and his blonde. When he was alone with his brother – a brother clearly worrying about the mental stability of the woman he loved – that promise was getting harder and harder to keep.

“Have you tried talking to her about it?” James asked.

“Not really.”

“Why not?”

“It’s … hard,” Finn admitted. “I don’t trust
that
woman. I can’t believe that she didn’t know what her husband was doing to Emma and Jeff. Those kids were … screaming.”

James made a face. The realities of Emma’s childhood were the stuff of nightmares. He had no idea how he would deal with something like that if it had happened to Mandy. Mandy’s biggest problem was random insecurity. James could deal with the minor flare-ups. Emma’s issues were much more profound.

“Have you ever considered that Emma might benefit by talking to someone?” James asked.

“Like a psychiatrist?” Finn asked.

“Yes.”

“I have,” he said. “She doesn’t want to talk about it. I can’t blame her. How do I suggest that? She won’t even really talk about it with me. Until she’s ready, until she’s ready to really deal with it, I can’t force her.”

“Do you think her mother really knew?”

Finn shrugged. “That house was a ranch,” he said. “It was one story and a basement. How did she not hear what was going on?”

“Then that means she knew her children were being raped and ignored it,” James said.

“Exactly.”

“How can you even stand being in the room with that woman?” James asked, disgusted.

“What am I supposed to do?” Finn asked. “Emma has no family to lean on. That woman is still her mother. Deep down inside, every kid wants their mother to love them. Every kid wants to please their mother.

“The problem is, Emma’s mother seems to think Emma should be making a living off of her looks,” Finn continued. “She doesn’t think Emma has any skills other than her body. It’s … sickening.”

“Ban her from the apartment,” James suggested.

“First off, that’s not my apartment,” Finn said. “We don’t technically live together.”

“Maybe you should change that.”

“We spend every night together anyway,” Finn said. “It’s just a technicality.”

“That’s what I thought,” James said. “I thought Mandy and I were living together until she freaked out and ran away to her old apartment in the middle of a crisis. You have to spell it out for women. I can guarantee Emma doesn’t think you’re living together.”

Finn frowned.

“Why do you think Grady actually made a big deal about moving in together with Sophie?” James continued. “He learned from my mistake.”

“So, you think Emma would feel more stable if I asked her to move in together?” Finn asked.

“I don’t think it could hurt,” James said. “And here’s another suggestion … .”

Finn waited, interested despite himself.

“Pick another apartment to share,” James said. “Don’t just have her move into your apartment.”

“Why not?”

“Because I found out when we came back from our honeymoon that Mandy never felt that my apartment was her home,” James answered. “She said she was fine there, but she didn’t start actually feeling like we had a home together until we moved into the house we picked out together.

“Pick a place together,” James said. “Give Emma a spot that feels like home.”

Finn worried his bottom lip with his teeth. “Do you ever think that women are a lot of work?”

James snorted. “Every day.”

“You’re happy, though, right? Even with all the crazy stuff Mandy does?”

James stilled. “I’ve never been happier. Why? Aren’t you happy?”

“I’m happy,” Finn said. “I’d be a lot happier if I knew that Emma was happy. She just seems so … overwhelmed.”

James fought the urge to tell his brother the truth. “Talk to her, man.”

“What if she doesn’t answer? Or, worse, what if she answers and I hear something that crushes me?”

James sighed. “I honestly don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said. “You need to talk to her, though. That’s the only way you two are going to settle this.”

Finn rubbed the top of his head. “I know. I’m going to do it tonight.”

“Good,” James said, turning his attention back to his laptop. “I don’t like it when this family is all worked up.”

“This family is always worked up,” Finn said.

“Yes, but I like minor disturbances, not major ones.”

“Do you think Emma’s mother is a major disturbance?”

James met Finn’s gaze evenly. “Let’s just say I’m running a background check on her.”

“I was considering doing that,” Finn admitted.

“I know,” James said. “This way you’re in the clear, though. You honestly have nothing to do with the background check, and that’s not a lie if Emma asks. It also gives us some idea of what this woman has been doing – and why she suddenly showed back up here.”

“You don’t think it’s because she had a burning desire to put her family back together, do you?”