Page 95 of Speechless

Jenna walked off, his robe draped on her like some ridiculously sexy shapeless ballgown, with her faithful hound on her heels. Subtle changes had taken place recently—good ones, he hoped. A touch of confidence in her walk, the strength of her speech and length of her sentences. Inch by painful inch, Jenna was crawling her way back to humanity.

Her ordeal had made her wise beyond her years.

She was right—he grieved for something he couldn’t say for certain had even been conceived. Just because sperm swam in the right direction didn’t mean it found the treasure marked at X. Better to view the eventful morning as a lesson in how not to ravage your lover without a condom, than to dwell on what could have been.

The kicker, of course, was that his morning from hell had only just begun. No doubt Sarah would arrive soon, shimmering with vibrant outrage, and then they had Hadley’s arrival to look forward to. Joy of joys.

Connor foresaw his day going to the devil in a handbasket, decorated with pretty flowers and a massive box offuck youwith a ribbon tied around it on top. Things felt…off this morning. Not between him and Jenna, not even after the last thirty minutes, but something dark and oppressive seemed to sit on his shoulders like a mountain.

He gazed out the window to the snowy yard. The damn stuff kept coming without reprieve, growing layer by layer, faster and thicker. He hoped Sarah had the sense to get Zeke to drive her—her husband owned the Creek’s biggest, throatiest sonofabitch truck in the county. It would have to snow for a week straight before the beautiful silver monster even struggled to get anywhere.

If you needed a tow in bad weather, Zeke was your guy.

Hadley might find his way more difficult. His SUV could make it through if the Special Agent was any kind of driver. But then, Montana snowstorms weren’t like anything found elsewhere in the country.

Jenna came back, holding her glass carefully in two hands like a child. There was no hesitation after she set her drink down—she sat on his lap and offered him comfort he hadn’t known he’d needed. Simple physical contact in the form of a hug, and his world righted back onto an even keel.

She curled into him, snuggling hard, and his arms came around her instinctively. He couldn’t envision a time, ever, when he wouldn’t hold her just like this. He propped his chin gently on her head and sighed.

They stayed there, watching the flurries dance in the sky outside the frosty windows while they were warm inside, with the carnage-committing Luna at their feet.

Connor couldn’t give a fuck about the damp patches where snow had melted into the carpet and couch. The feathers were mostly cleaned up, although he suspected a few stragglers would make their appearance over the next few weeks.

All he cared about was what he felt when Jenna was like this in his arms. She calmed his storm when he lost his cool, lifted his spirits when he sank under the pressure. She did it all without realizing how much she levelled him back out into a functioning adult.

That was her gift.

Luna rose to her feet slowly, hackles raised and the beginning of a snarl in her throat. Ears pricked, she trotted out of the room toward the front door, then let loose with a maelstrom of vicious barks.

Someone knocked.

Hadley, Connor guessed and cursed under his breath. The next adventure of this shitty day had come faster than anticipated. He kissed Jenna’s hair, then her mouth when she turned her head with questions in her eyes. He picked her up and dropped her on the seat beside him. “Get your blankie and pillows if you need them,” he told her quietly. “Do you need Moose?”

She went dead white, her eyes shadowed with understanding. “Hadley?”

“Yeah, baby. There’s some important stuff he needs to talk to us about. Luna, quiet!” he shouted when the dog wouldn’t shut up. “He shouldn’t be here long.”

“Okay.” She folded her hands on her lap, blew out a long breath. “I’ll be okay. We trust him, right?”

Connor nodded, giving her the verification she wanted even though she didn’t need it. Trusting Hadley came as easy to her now as trusting Connor. “Call your dog, Jenna. Keep her under control.”

The dog would not stop barking as Connor went to answer the door. She whined when Jenna shouted for her, torn between her duty to see off intruders and protecting her mistress, but she chose Jenna after a few extended seconds of fierce barking.

Connor checked his watch as he opened the door, and the ominous feeling in his belly morphed into warning bells. He glanced over his shoulder and stepped onto his porch in his socked feet. “What the hell is this, Hadley?”

The agent looked highly apologetic as he stood stiff and unyielding with snow dusted over his broad shoulders and hair. Flanking him, two middle-aged guys wearing winter gear stood silently. They nodded at Connor as he eyed them, noting their outerwear resembled uniforms. “Things went up shit creek this morning, Connor.”

“How?”

“I…look, it’s freezing out here. Why don’t we step inside and talk so we don’t start losing our extremities? I’m sure you need your toes and I’d like to hang on to my ears if possible.”

Connor shook his head slowly. “I’d rather lose my toes.”

Hadley winced. “I’ll say what I have to say then and get this over with quickly. Ilene and Aaron Abernathy filed a mental-health petition this morning at seven a.m. for custody of Jen—Penelope’s rights as a mentally-ill individual. It was pushed through as a priority due to the ongoing investigation and FBI involvement. I’m sorry, Connor. Judge Swinton signed the petition within thirty minutes, before I even knew it had gone before him.”

Connor’s world shattered into little pieces, leaving him standing on the welcome mat in his socks while the earth crumbled away around his feet. “No. Jenna should be defended, there are people willing to stand up in court—in person or by letter—in support of her staying right where she is. Not to mention there should have been an evaluation.”

“Swinton waived it. Took one look at the casefile on his desk and ordered Jenna to be remanded into psychiatric care under parental guidance. I’m sorry, Connor, but it’s with immediate effect.”

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