Page 76 of Fireworks
“Is that why Harper’s been trying to get me to go on some weekend break with her?” Fraser’s eyes flashed an intimidatingly icy shade of blue. “That infuriating bloody woman. Where is she? Where’s Eiley?”
He was already retrieving his phone, unlocking the screen with a firm jab of his finger.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t?” Fraser repeated incredulously.
Warren got it. He couldn’t believe he was saying it either, but if nothing else, this space with him and Eiley had made him see clearly. He still wanted to protect her, wanted to drive to wherever she was just to make sure that she and the kids were okay – butshedidn’t want that, and that mattered more than his fear.
“Look, I learned the hard way that trying to keep her safe only pushes her further away. That ex of hers is a bastard, aye, and I don’t trust him in the slightest. But she’s a smart, strong lass. Stronger than you give her credit for. Might be best to let her deal with this the way she needs to, for the kids ifnot for her. When it goes badly, she’ll have a lot of people around her to pick up the pieces.”
It was a shock to see his words make their impact, Fraser sinking back onto the couch. The muscles in his jaw leapt with tension beneath auburn stubble.
“She didn’t tell me,” he muttered. “She used to tell me everything.”
“She’s stubborn that way.”
“Harperdidn’t tell me.”
“Probably because she knew it would only cause you more stress. She’s another smart, strong lass. You’re lucky to have them.” Warren knelt back to his tools. Tried not to drop the screw in his clumsy hands as Fraser tore at a button on the cuff of his plaid shirt.
“I know that,” he snapped.
No, he didn’t. Not really. People like them wouldn’t know what it felt like to have nobody at all. When Warren broke, there was nobody to glue him back together. Nobody to worry about him when he put himself in harm’s way. Nobody to protect him when he couldn’t do it himself. Fraser might have loved his people, but it was natural to take them for granted unless he’d faced a world without them.
“Are the kids with her?” Fraser asked shakily.
“They’re the only reason she’s there at all. She’s not going to let them get hurt, but she wants them to know their father. Can’t blame her for that.” Even if she was looking in the wrong places.
When Warren fumbled with the other side of the bookcase, Fraser approached to steady it, making his job easier. He raised his brow, surprised, but dared not question it. The time for winning over Eiley’s loved ones was long gone.
“You care about her,” Fraser said, like the evidence wasn’t etched into every part of Warren.
“Yup. Like I said, though, you needn’t worry. It’s not reciprocated.”
“Eiley cares about everybody.” He cleared his throat. “She isn’t like me and Cam. She can’t hide it, and she feels … everything. That’s why I’ve only ever wanted to protect her. I’ve seen how bad it gets when she’s struggling.”
“Guess I’m the exception, then.” Which must have meant there truly was something rotten in him. Why else would he still be alone otherwise?
Warren’s mirthless smile was more of a grimace as he finished the last screw, then stepped back to admire his work. “There. Not wonky. Only a dozen more to go.”
“Give it here.” Fraser beckoned for the screwdriver. “I’ll show you how to do it quicker.”
Warren did, quietly contemplating him as he worked. “I’m glad she has you,” he said when the drilling stopped.
When Eiley came home, she likely wouldn’t want to talk to Fraser about it, and if he was anything like Warren, he would take it as a sign of failure. Warren saw now all the ways he wore fear and concern, in the creases of his eyes and the tension in his shoulders. Not a bad bloke. Just terrified of seeing his sister in a bad way, as any good brother would be.He deserved to know that, even if he was pushed away, he was doing a good job.
Fraser lowered his gaze, and Warren assumed that was the end of it. Until he said, “I’m sorry I was an arse to you. You’re actually not as terrible as I thought.”
To be seen, understood, meant more than Fraser could know, and Warren shook his hand with emotion tugging at the corners of his mouth. They worked in calm quiet until the bookstore finally looked like a bookstore again.
And when Warren left, his chest felt a little lighter than it had going in. Then, he went to work, and everything went wrong.
34
An eerie orange glow welcomed Eiley back to Belbarrow. In the back of the cab, she leaned forward in her seat, careful not to disrupt Saff, who slept soundly on her lap. Sky was also dead to the world, his snores fogging the window. It had been a long day for them all, and it seemed about to get longer.
What on earth had she come home to?
