The O’Connells Books 10 - 12

Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

“I can’t ask him to leave,” Marcus said, the one thing Iris hadn’t expected.

Owen strode past her to the fridge and gave the door a hard yank, then reached for a beer and twisted off the cap, which he tossed in the sink. He looked at her before dragging his gaze over to Marcus. Yeah, evidently, he was as unsettled as she was, but all he did was take a swallow and walk back outside, where Charlotte, Eva, Luke, Jenny, Ryan, and Harold were. Everyone else was in the living room with Raymond.

“Well, I don’t understand why,” Iris said and crossed her arms, feeling tension pull across her chest, the kind of tension she thought she had left behind long ago. “Last night shouldn’t have happened. He shouldn’t be here. I want him gone.”

Marcus looked at her. “I know, Mom, but there’s some stuff going on. Brady is so angry, and he doesn’t want to leave. Do you want to toss him out, too?”

She let out a frustrated sigh. “No, I understand how Brady feels, and I’m sympathetic—but have you thought about Alison and how she’s feeling? I sat outside with both of them, amid their teenage misery and silence. They couldn’t even look at each other, let alone talk to each other. Maybe Brady should go…”

From the way Marcus leveled a glance at her, she could see he didn’t agree. “I can take him to my place if that’s what you want. I think you should know, though, that our father wants to do a press conference about the problems this town has caused for all of us, for you. You need to listen to what he’s brought up. I never realized the problems that could exist for all of us. You know what? This isn’t the time to toss anyone out. He’s right about us all checking in.”

She was aware of the way Marcus was avoiding using his dad’s name, and she could see he was having trouble with it all. Her girls, her daughters, were still in the living room, and she was worried about how they were looking at Raymond.

“So now Raymond is suddenly in charge?” she said. “He tells you a story, a good one, and you’re all suddenly falling into line?” She knew it had come out rather sharply, but she needed to get her son off the fence.

“Iris.”

Speak of the devil! Raymond strode into the kitchen, and she didn’t like the exchange between Marcus and him, as if to warn him she wasn’t about to make anything easy.

“Yes, Raymond, what now? Oh, let me guess. You’ve just figured out another way to ruin my life.”

Marcus stepped back and raised his brows. She was ready to fight and wasn’t going to take anything lying down.

Raymond, though, didn’t seem bothered in the least. “I want to talk to Alison and Brady together, to sit them down, because with everything going on, I think those two aren’t going to take seriously how problematic things are right now. I thought you might want to weigh in and be there, considering…”

“Considering Brady wants nothing to do with you?” Iris said. “So what is this, good cop, bad cop? Are you trying to tell them how to think and feel? I can honestly tell you, from raising teens, there’s nothing sweet about their personalities anymore. If you think they’ll automatically fall in line, they won’t. You seem to forget I raised six. I know how they think and the trouble they get into…”

“Not all the trouble,” he cut in, and it felt like a slap. She pulled back, but he took another step closer. “Do you want to be there or not, Iris? I already talked to Ryan, and he thinks Alison hearing from me is a good idea.”

For a second, she didn’t know what to say, as it seemed her kids had suddenly turned traitor. “Fine, but watch yourself. Those kids are hurting, and that’s entirely on you,” she said. When she went to step around him, his hand gripped her arm, holding her right there. She knew he was looking at her, but she refused to look up. “Take your hands off me.”

He leaned in closer, lowering his mouth to her ear. “Don’t fight me, Iris,” he said. “This isn’t a game.”

Then he stepped back, and Alison and Brady were behind him, standing in the doorway as if they’d been summoned. Iris was shaky, unsteady, but she’d be damned if she let this man hurt her, her children, her grandchildren again.

“Come on in here, you two,” Raymond said.

Iris gestured to Alison, who was dressed rather conservatively in yoga pants and a T-shirt that wasn’t unbelievably low cut. Even her normally heavy makeup was nonexistent today. She walked over to her grandmother, and Iris settled an arm over her shoulder, taking in an uncomfortable Brady, who walked around his dad, way around him, to the island, and pulled out a stool to sit down.

“It’s okay,” Iris said to Alison, feeling how tense she was, knowing she’d probably cried her eyes out all night.

“Actually, it’s not, Iris,” Raymond cut in. His expression was pissed, irritated, and for a moment, she thought it was directed at her. “Brady, Alison, I need you two to really listen, because there are some ground rules that are going to apply to everyone, and that includes you two. I’m no longer in the shadows now. We’re in the spotlight, and even though it’s me who’s responsible for this mess, this situation, it isn’t me that my enemies will come after. They could come for any of you to get to me, to hurt me.

“So no one goes anywhere alone. No sneaking off. We check in. I’ve already talked to Luke and will sit down with everyone so we have a plan in place. I know you’re both really angry with me, and rightly so. I’ve apologized to both of you and will continue to do so, because we, whether everyone likes it or not, are all family. Alison, you’re my granddaughter, and I’m sorry this had to happen. Brady, you’re my son, and I know you’re furious, but every choice I made was for you. I couldn’t be here, but you have to know everything I’m doing is to keep everyone safe. Right now, you probably both have a lot of questions, so let’s put it all out there so we can figure this out.”

Iris had to force herself not to look at Raymond, because even she wanted to believe him. She’d fight him all the way, though, if he thought she’d listen to him in any way or do what he wanted that easily. She understood the rebelliousness in her granddaughter more than anything now, because she couldn’t deny that she too wanted to rebel against him.

“So you’re my dad’s dad,” Alison said, crossing her arms over her breasts, and Iris didn’t miss the way Brady looked over to her.

“I am, Alison,” Raymond said. “I’m your grandfather.”

“Why the game?” she said. “I mean, I don’t get this. The way you watched me, before, I didn’t think you liked me.”

Iris stared at Raymond, not too willing to step in and help him out even when he glanced over to her.

“It was never that I didn’t like you, Alison,” he said. “It was that I knew who you were and knew that you and Brady couldn’t be more than friends.”

“But you should have told the truth before, Dad,” Brady said. “You shouldn’t have lied. If you knew Alison was family, you should have sat me down and told me the truth, told me I had brothers and sisters. Instead, you just kept it a secret all these years, and now I’m supposed to just listen to you?”

She could see the edge in Raymond. Maybe he was having to remind himself that putting his hands on Brady wasn’t the answer. She’d experienced that very same teenage angst from all her kids, each in a different way.

“Brady, I understand your anger better than anyone,” Iris said. “In fact, your dad just being here has me fighting the urge to claw his eyes out—but I won’t do that, because I’m civilized. Should Raymond have told you the truth?” She nodded, seeing the way Brady was listening to everything she was saying, and she gestured toward him, turning to Alison beside her, her other arm still around her. “Absolutely, without a doubt. He screwed up, big time, and not just with you, though you kids were the ones who suffered the biggest blow. I’d apologize, but I wasn’t the one who lied. Yes, he should have told you. Yes, he should have come clean to all of us instead of sneaking around the way he was. I agree. But this is where we are. It’s out. So right now, as a family…”

She stepped away from Alison, over to Brady, and reached for his hand, then held out her other to Alison, well aware that Raymond was watching everything. “We’re going to figure this out together, okay? It doesn’t mean you’re giving your dad a pass, Brady.” She let her meaning sink in and then dragged her gaze back over to Alison. “But staying safe is our number one priority right now.” She squeezed both their hands gently when neither said anything. “Why don’t you two go give Owen a hand outside?” She let them go and waited only a second, until Brady slipped off the stool, before sliding her hand around Alison’s shoulders again.

Brady walked around Raymond without saying a word, then waited at the back door for Alison.

“Go with Brady,” Iris said. “Come on. You’re going to have to figure things out.” She pressed a kiss to the side of Alison’s head.

Alison shrugged and stepped away, following Brady out the door, and Iris gave everything back to Raymond, who was staring at her with a look she knew well. He had just realized she was the one with power over the kids, not him, and he wasn’t happy about it.

“You know, it would help if you worked with me on this,” he said.

“You mean if I just agreed with you, don’t you?” she said, feeling as if she’d suddenly found her footing. “Yeah, well, you can get that idea out of your head.” She slid her hand over the island and took a step closer to him, feeling more confident than she had in a long time.

He seemed unimpressed, and he didn’t pull those eyes from her, those eyes that made her feel as though she were looking at her children.

“You see,” she said, “I’m not the naïve young woman you married. Oh, wait—we’re not really married.”

His hand shot out so fast, gripping her wrist, that it startled her. His face said everything: She’d pushed too far. “Well, that’s where you’re wrong, Iris. As I told the kids in there, our kids, as far as the paperwork is concerned, I am Raymond O’Connell, and, that being so, you and I are still very much married.”