The O’Connells Books 10 - 12

Chapter 9-1

Chapter Nine

Raymond was just getting out of the shower as Iris finished drying her hair. She knew that just on the other side of the closed bedroom door was a woman whose brother had thought nothing of pointing a gun at Eva, at her, and would have killed them without blinking an eye.

She remembered the look in his eyes, the same look she’d seen in the eyes of the man she’d shoved a knife into eighteen years ago.

“I can see you’re having some trouble with Rosemary, Iris,” Raymond said. “You may have put up a good front, but I know you well. You have something on your mind, so you should say it.”

She watched as he dried himself off and hung up the towel after running it over his short dark hair, which was starting to lighten. He strode into her bedroom, their bedroom, and rummaged through his bag of clothes on the bed. He pulled on socks and underwear, then stepped into a clean pair of jeans.

She stood there in her own blue jeans and long-sleeved white shirt, more for comfort than style. She wanted to check in with Marcus and talk to all her kids, her grandkids. Even though she could use some sleep, she wasn’t tired right now. She missed her kids and wanted to see them, and then there was the baby she’d eagerly waited to meet.

“What do you want me to say?” she replied. “I can’t believe Luke is involved with a woman whose brother tried to hurt us. No, he had every intention of hurting us and would’ve killed me if Luke hadn’t killed him first.”

“Did Rosemary try to hurt you or have a gun on you?” Raymond said, so matter of fact.

“No.” She stepped closer to the bed, running her hand over Raymond’s back.

He pulled out a maroon long-sleeved knit and pulled it over his head. “Then there’s your answer. She didn’t do it, so don’t go and put what her brother did on her. You can’t blame someone for what someone in her family did. If that started happening, then our kids would have a lot of people angry at them.”

Something about the way he said it had her hesitating. “Sounds like you know more about Rosemary than I do. How?”

He didn’t nod but looked across the room and pulled in a breath before sliding those bold O’Connell blues her way. “You think Luke wasn’t conflicted? He never planned to bring her here, because of who her brother is. Yeah, you’re right that I knew, and I told Luke to knock it off. He was sneaking around, but he really likes her, and you should know, if you don’t already, that the entire situation was complicated and arose out of a gray area. Luke was ordered to do something in the name of national security, and it caused Ben Schwartz to look for payback. Pretty sure Ben, who was holding the gun, is dead now, am I right? Luke killed him. It wasn’t Rosemary. Do you really think Luke would bring her around if she had any part in hurting his family? Yeah, I knew pretty much everything about the kids. Had my ways of finding out so that if I had to do something, I could.”

Why did he have to put it like that?

She pulled in a breath and then let it out. “It’s not always that simple, Raymond,” she said, and the way he looked at her had her lifting her hands. “I’m not calling you Jake in private. Then there’s the kids.”

He stepped closer and lifted his hands to her chin, then leaned in and kissed her. “It is that simple. Do it in private so you don’t slip in public. We’re talking about giving Rosemary a break, setting an example for the kids.” He ran his thumb over her chin and then stepped back. “You should call Marcus and find out about Charlotte and whether the baby is here yet. I’ll call Karen and Suzanne, and we’ll have everyone over here tonight,” he said, already at the bedroom door, pulling it open.

She could hear voices from the kitchen and living room, she thought, as she followed him and said, “You need to sit down with Brady before we see anyone.”

There it was, the hesitation. He rolled his shoulders. “Yeah, and then you need to get to know Rosemary. Again, Iris, if Luke’s bringing her home…”

“I know, I know. It’s serious,” she said, cutting him off.

She followed the man she loved as he strode into the living room, where the TV was on, Luke parked on the sofa. In the kitchen, Brady was making a sandwich and staring into the living room, where his dad was. The way he watched him, Iris knew this wasn’t just going to be a simple talk, after which everything would be fixed. It was going to be a lengthy process of working through a lot of anger.