Page 47 of Intangible
“If you knew Knox and I were related, why didn’t you tell me?” Thayer remained silent for a moment, thinking about how to answer. She heard him hiss, turning in the shower. She could only imagine how it felt when the water hit his wounds.
“I wanted to,” she finally answered. “At first, in the cellar, I didn’t make the connection, though I should have. Knox never talked about his gift, but I knew it existed and should have realized his brother might have one too. Then in the cabin, I almost did tell you. But in the end, it wasn’t my secret to tell.”
“I guess I just don’t understand why he would keep something like that to himself. It wasn’t just his secret to keep, it was mine as well.”
“So, does this change us? I don’t think I can stand you not trusting me any longer,” Thayer asked. The water turned off, and Memphis pushed open the door of the shower. Even covered in bruises and staples, he still took her breath away.
“Look at me,” he said, stepping out. She was looking at him. As a matter of fact, she was slowly taking in every glorious inch of him.
“No, look up here where my eyes are,” he added, picking her chin up with his hand until her eyes met his. “This changes nothing. Do you understand? Nothing. This is on Knox, not you. Thayer, you trusted me to save you when you had no reason to. Nothing could ever alter how I feel about you. Nothing. Now, if you’re done admiring the view, help me get dressed.”
Thayer matched the smile that Memphis had on his face. She knew that if anyone in the future asked her when she knew she was in love with Memphis Prescott, she could honestly say it was at that moment. Standing in front of her, bruised, stapled, and dripping water with that laid-back smile on his face, he had won her heart forever.
Taking one of the towels, she carefully helped him dry off. Once he was in a pair of sweatpants and his staples were rebandaged, he followed her out to the living room. Knox was sitting on the couch with Murphy curled up at his side. Shifting the dog onto the floor, Memphis eased down on the opposite end of the couch.
“Reading anything good?” Thayer asked, pulling Knox’s ponytail on the way into the kitchen to start dinner. It was decided that he would stay with them for extra protection. Memphis had put up a weak argument, but he was the first to admit he could use the extra help in the end. Knox grunted at her before turning back to his paper.
“Your jaw has a bruise on it,” she stated, looking back over her shoulder.
“Well, if he hadn’t coldcocked me after shoving me through a screen door, I would have been able to avoid it,” Knox growled.
“Well, maybe if you hadn’t kept something that monumental from him, he wouldn’t have felt the need to shove you through a door. I told you this would bite you in the ass in the end. I didn’t even recognize him when he first appeared in that cellar.” Knox scowled over his paper at her before mumbling something incoherent as he refocused on his reading.
“Speaking of asses—” Memphis began when Knox slammed down his paper.
“For the love of God, let it go,” Knox said. “I didn’t tell you we were brothers, now you know, blah, blah, blah, get the fuck over it.”
Thayer bent farther over the broccoli she was cutting up, trying desperately not to laugh. She had learned long ago that Knox had a nasty bark and, yes, he could bite, but when it came to family, he actually had more patience than any one man should.
“Okay, before your tantrum gets any worse, I was going to ask what the plan is for tomorrow,” Memphis said. Looking over at Thayer, he rolled his eyes, causing her to bark out a snort.
“We did exactly what we agreed on today. Thayer used her new credit card to buy groceries and clothes. I ordered replacement contacts at one of the places downtown. We ate lunch at one of the places popular with tourists. There should be an impressive paper trail laid down. I still don’t like this plan.”
“I don’t like it any better than you do,” Knox responded. “But we can’t just continue to sit around and wait for the next attack. We have to lure them out from the shadows. If you have a better plan, please, inspire me with your brilliance.”
Memphis blew out a frustrated sounding breath. He picked up a piece of the paper Knox was working on, burying his face behind it. To be honest, Thayer was as frustrated by the situation as they were.
Neither man had said another word by the time Thayer had finished dinner. “Ready to eat?” she asked, setting the main course on the table.
“You’re not sitting at the table without a shirt,” Knox growled at Memphis, not bothering to look up from his paper. With a derisive snort, Memphis eased off the couch, heading back into the bedroom. In a few minutes, he threw a shirt at Knox when he returned.
“Help me put it on,” he groused. Knox stood, helping Memphis ease his sling back off before slipping his injured arm into the sleeve carefully.
Thayer shook her head, watching them wrestle with the buttons. She wondered if they realized how much they already acted like brothers after just a few short weeks. Both would deny it, of course, if she dared to point it out.
Memphis crossed into the kitchen, wrapping his arm around Thayer.
“It smells amazing,” he said, placing a kiss on her cheek. Handing him a basket of bread, she shooed him toward the table. Knox added bottles of water to the table from the refrigerator and they all sat down to eat.
Taking her first bite, Thayer had to admit it was better than even she expected. At least not bad for someone who had always had a cook since high school.
“Is your mother still alive?” Memphis asked, seemingly out of the blue.
“Yes,” Knox said without looking up. “She lives in a retirement village in Louisville. I thought she would want to move to Florida, but apparently, she doesn’t want to leave Kentucky. It took me a while to convince her to retire after I left the Navy.”
“Stubborn?” Memphis asked around bites.
Thayer smiled. She had spent one summer with Knox’s mom while his mother was recuperating from a broken leg she had acquired repelling off of a mountain to save a baby goat. She had argued with Knox until she was blue in the face when he happened to point out that the goat wasn’t really in need of rescuing. It was a mountain goat after all, and she was in the Rocky Mountains. She countered his argument, claiming the goat’s bleating was obviously an anguished cry for help.
