Page 40 of Night Blind

For the first time in her life, Abigail Barnes was good as well. The idea of staying home with her children, baking cookies, andhaving a hunk of meat ready when her man came home from work didn’t turn her stomach. Possibly, a year, maybe two at home would do her some good. It would do Helen some good as well. Finally, she could take it down a thousand and relax. Until now, she’d never realized how tight she lived with the fear of providing for the three of them and having to worry about not coming home after an assignment.

“Thank you,” she said softly, surprised by the arrival of tears.

“No, thank you,” he said. “This is going to be a good life. I love you, Abigail.”

“I love you as well, Michael,” she said, squeezing his hand. “I love building this family with you.”

Chapter 14 - Aim

Helen rose early to get in a bit of target practice before starting the day. While she walked the shooting lanes of the property, several rabbits decided to end their lives by stepping in front of the rifle she carried. In less than an hour, she secured four plump little bunnies that would make a great rabbit stew. Honestly, she’d never cared for the game. Until recently, she’d never cared for sex, but her life was changing on the daily, and if Mustang walked his sexy behind through the front door, the man was going to get got.

She found herself smiling as she approached the back decking of the home where her cousin lived with her husband and daughter. There was no surprise to see the man of the house on the porch as if he were awaiting her arrival. She presented the rabbits first.

“Morning, Michael,” she said, ensuring the weapon was pointed away from him.

“Helen,” he replied, passing her a steamy hot cup of coffee.

“I’ve never cared for rabbit stew, but I have to contribute to the food stores,” she said, thanking him for the hot cup of deliciousness.

“You have your own money now; did you think this was necessary?”

“This,” she said, pointing to the rabbits, “is always necessary, Mr. Neary. The Cherry on Top is on hiatus, bringing us down an income. If you get hurt or injured on assignment, then I must know how to maintain and provide for the family. You don’t have to do it all. We can carry our weight.”

“I have reserves, Helen,” he explained.

“I have to bring something to the table if I’m going to live here as a member of your family,” she explained, “and we havealready set the boundary that my contribution would not come in the form of sharing your bed.”

“Well, it’s not coming in the form of your cooking either,” he said, chuckling at his own honesty. “Again, we have reserves for such emergencies.”

“As do we, but for once, it would be nice if my cousin could use some of those reserves to get nice things for herself,” she explained. “Abi deserves to be able to go to the closet to select from her collection of designer handbags to match with an expensive pair of shoes she bought just because. She deserves a fave pair of diamond earrings to match the tennis bracelet you will purchase for her next birthday. My cousin has sacrificed so much for us to live and eat; she needs a break. I want to make sure she is well rested this pregnancy.”

“Helen, I can take care of my family, you included.”

“I’m not questioning your ability to be head of the house, I’m simply letting you know that, as a family, we all must pull our weight. I’m making you aware that I am pulling mine,” she told him. “The family is growing. I don’t know what is next for me, but right now, I’m going to help where I can.”

“Your home is here with us.”

“For now,” she told him.

The silence between them hovered with unsaid words. He had things he needed and wanted to say to her, but the approach would need to be guided. When he looked up, she was staring at him. She was reading him. She’d learned to do that very well as if she knew his thoughts. Helen was also teaching his daughter to do the same thing. It was the reason she sat quietly around people she didn’t know. Like her aunt and mother, she assessed every person in the room, understanding, on a level he didn’t comprehend, how to approach each person. Instinctually, like Helen and even Cherry, Naomi knew how to handle Jay. She knew how to handle his father. Hell, his daughter even knewhow to handle him. He looked at Helen with fresh eyes. She’d read the men, assessing the second man next to Karlton, and she’d acted, but he didn’t understand how she knew. An eyebrow arched and she offered a weak smile.

“The white belt and shoes,” she told him.

“Excuse me?”

“I dropped the second man because he wore a white belt and a pair of those white leather loafers and no socks,” she told him.

The expression on his face showed interest and confusion at the same time. He was thinking about the question, but afraid to ask. Mr. Slow wanted to understand what in her mind made her see the second man as a threat, taking it upon herself to take him down without an assigned order. He needed to know how she knew he was a bad man.

“Helen, you can’t expect me to believe you knew he was a bad man because he was wearing a white belt with white leather loafers,” he told her.

“The only grown men who should be wearing a white belt are starting a martial arts class,” she told him. “In my experience, ten times out of ten, men with those white belts, white shoes, and no socks are pervs. Every one of them my mother brought home, always, always, found a way to slither around me sucking on that front tooth like he’d gotten a piece of lettuce wedge in his incisor. Pervs. Plus, he was yanking on the girl child who was terrified of him. Hopefully, she is somewhere safe.”

“She is,” he said.

“Okay, what’s next in my training?”

He stood for a minute. The coffee in his mug had grown cold. His concerns for Helen were only warming up. He didn’t want to beat around the bush, therefore he forged ahead, head on.

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