Page 133 of The Hero Within
Adam's wife smiled. "You and Eden McClain? Were youtryingto push Adam's buttons?"
"Frankly, what's going on between Eden and me has nothing to do with McClain," Johnny replied, pausing to open the door. "I'll go talk to him."
Boots echoed on the veranda as he vanished.
"Sorry," Mia said.
"You didn't do anything." She crossed to her sister-in-law and hugged her. "I missed you."
Mia hugged her back. "And your brother missed you too. He's just having a moment of shock." A wry smile curved her lips as she drew back. "The second he received your letter he went into a panic. Thought he was going to arrive home and find bodies everywhere, so he's been pushing us across the Wasteland. He's been worried sick about you, only to walk into this. You know how he handles stress."
"As well as he handles women," she said with a sigh. Her voice grew small. "Do you think—"
"He'll be fine with it, Eden. He loves you very much and all he wants is to see you happy." The other woman's smile grew big. "And judging from everything I've seen, Johnny Colton makes you happy, am I right?"
A flush of relief went through her. She hadn't had a chance to share her good fortune with anyone. Maggie had been too busy dealing with the repercussions post-plague, and baby Tommy had colic, so Riley hadn't been getting enough sleep to sit and have a cup of tea with her. She needed to share with someone. She needed friends. A hug. Laughter. And someone who wouldn't judge her for the choices she'd made, like the council had.
A warm glow suffused her. "Very. I can't explain it, but I'm so happy. He makes me feel.... It's—" She had no words.
Mia threaded her arm through Eden's. "Good. I want to hear everything. All the juicy details you're not going to tell your brother...."
Johnny foundMcClain chopping wood out the back of the house. There was a small courtyard planted with an overgrown cumquat tree and packed with overgrown weeds. Eden's green thumb was as evident as her cooking skills.
Still, there was a serenity here he hadn't expected, if one didn't count a pissed-off older brother setting a log on the splitting block.
McClain's gray-green gaze flickered over him, his lips thinning, and then he drove the ax down into the log he had set up. It didn't merely crack or split; both pieces flew apart like they'd been shot from a catapult.
"Do I dare come any closer?" Johnny called, pausing a few yards away. "Or wait until you put the ax down?"
"I distinctly recall saying we were even when we parted ways at Rust City." McClain pointed a finger toward him. "You messing with my sister again? Unforgivable—"
"I'm not messing with her." Anger rose to choke him, the warg cutting him up inside like it had goddamned claws.Easy. Sarcasm had always been a defense mechanism, and he'd given in to it inside Eden's room with disastrous consequences for the woman he loved. He had to fix this. Maybe drop his shields a little. He scraped his hand across the back of his neck.
"I love her, McClain. She's the one good thing that's ever happened to me and I would fucking die for that woman. But here's the thing... she loves you too. And you and I being at odds? That's going to cut her heart out of her chest. I won't do that. And if you love your sister, then neither will you."
McClain lowered the head of the ax to the ground, always a good sign. "You love my sister."
It wasn't a question.
He crossed his arms over his chest. "More than anything in this world. I'm going to marry her, McClain. One day. And I would like to have your permission to ask her, when it comes time. You're the only family she has. It would be important to her. I'm pretty sure she'd like it if you gave her away too."
"Motherfucker." McClain tossed the ax aside with a curse. "You're actually serious about this."
He grinned. "I'm going to be the father of her children. Brother." "Why?" McClain demanded hoarsely. "Why her? I can't help but think—"
"This has something to do with you?" Johnny quirked a brow. "That's either astoundingly arrogant, or rather dismissive of your sister's charms. McClain, she's incredible. Eden's smart, she's stubborn, she's determined.... Sometimes when I look at her I know there's not a damned thing that can stop her when she sets her mind to something. Your sister crossed a brutal desert packed full of wargs to bring a cure back for those she loved, regardless of the risk to herself. When we got to Cortez City, she outsmarted two of the most powerful men in this hell-forsaken world. And then, after all was said and done, she arm wrestled the council of Absolution and the Confederacy into making a deal to get me out of there, all without killing a single soul." His voice dropped. "I know... I will never clear my slate. I know why you doubt me—trust me, I understand where you're coming from. But the question isn't why would I fall in love with your sister, it's why would she fall in love with me?"
He still wasn't sure he had an answer to that, though it was getting easier to believe it.
McClain chewed over the words, suspicion slowly turning to grudging acceptance in his eyes. "My sister's not an idiot. If she sees something good in you, then it must be there." He sighed. "Hell. EvenImight have been warming up to you last year. I jumped off a fucking four-story building with you."
"We survived."
McClain slowly tipped his head. "You saved my life. You saved Mia. I was two minutes away from maybe offering you a place back in Haven when you stole my bag and took off. I won't pretend we don't have to sit down and talk about the past, but... you're not as bad as I once thought you were."
"Don't choke on it. I'd hate to have to tell Eden if you went down like this."
McClain sighed. "Word of advice. Don't put her up on a pedestal. I love my sister, but she's not perfect, and this won't survive if you think she is."
