Before Sunrise (24 page)

“
Of course sweetheart, I
only meant—”

“
Mmhmm.” Kennedy rolled her
eyes. “Can I speak to daddy?”

“
Hi, honey.” Her father’s
deep baritone came through the phone, flooding her with strength,
energy she could take to go on.

“
Daddy, I’ll call you
tonight okay?”

“
I’m so happy Liam’s alive.
I can’t wait to see him. This is wonderful news, for us
all.”

“
Thanks, daddy. I’m sure he
wants to see you, too. I love you both. Bye.”

The moment the call ended, the phone rang
loudly in her hand. Suddenly, Kennedy remembered she’d put Harper
on hold. “Hey? Sorry, sis.”

“
Damn. You forgot about
me!”

“
It was mom and daddy. They
want to come down here.”

“
Oh, brother. You better
block that. Mama is the president of the Phil Freeman fan club. She
will just stir stuff up. She’ll pour gasoline on Liam’s
temper.”

“
I know. I told them to give
me a few days. I can’t take on any more pressure right
now.”

The line beeped again.

“
Harper, it’s the phone. I
will see you when you get here.”

“
Okay.”

“
Hello?” she said again,
clicking over.

“
Kennedy, its
Eric.”

“
Eric. Oh wow, hey. Thanks
for calling me.”

“
Hey love, how are
you?”

“
Pissed at you.” She walked
out of the kitchen.

“
I can explain.”

“
I know I’m not a special
agent or some military commando trained on treacherous behavior,
but I have a funny feeling you’ve been holding out on me. A month
ago I get this call, from some random Department of Defense number.
My guess is that Alexa wouldn’t call here to share the news, so
that leaves you. You had him, all this time you had my Liam and you
didn’t say a word. You of all people, Eric, know how badly I begged
that you continue to search for him. Why didn’t you tell
me?”

“
I’m sorry, I really am. I
had no choice. He wasn’t well when we found him. Hell, at first we
didn’t know if he’d even wake up.”

Kennedy stopped at the door to the family
room. Mackenzie lay in front of the TV with her chin in her hands.
Eric had all the details, and she had to decide quickly how much of
Liam’s suffering she really wanted to know. “How bad was he?”

“
Bad.”

Kennedy felt light-headed. She pulled out a
chair and sat down. “How is he now?”

“
Better.”

“
The truth,
Eric.”

“
He’ll recover. Just got a
lot on him, lot of shit in his mind he won’t let anyone reach. The
world has changed some, things have changed on him.”

“
You mean me. Me and
Phil.”

Eric didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. What
was there to say? “You were protecting him, is that it? From
me?”

“
No. Kennedy. When he came
out from hell, he spoke your name first. I know he’s bitter and I
heard from Ant how he lost it with you. I’m calling to tell you to
keep the faith. Liam loves you. For him, time hasn’t moved on, even
if you have.”

“
I haven’t. Not really. You
know that, Eric.”

“
Of course. I didn’t mean it
that way. I’m trying to say that he loves only you. He needs your
patience. He needs to talk to someone about his time in
Afghanistan. He rejected it at first, but….”

“
But what, Eric?” The
nervousness in his voice alarmed her. Eric Drake was never
nervous.

“
Look. I know a guy…Liam
would kill me if he knew I suggested this. But I read his psych
eval before I landed. You need to convince him to get into therapy.
I don’t want him to have a break. Do you understand?”

“
You’re scaring
me.”

“
I’m probably making it
sound worse than it is. He’s tough. He’s always been a tough guy.
But he’s human. He has to release his anger, deal with his pain.
Your love is a good start.”

“
I’ve hurt him so
badly.”

“
Not intentionally, and deep
down he knows that.”

Kennedy nodded. She tried to accept Eric’s
words as their truth. But hidden in her heart, she feared there
were a lot of truths she wasn’t ready to accept. “What should I do,
Eric? If you spoke to Anthony, then you know what Liam wants.”

“
Is it what you
want?”

“
Yes,” she said. “I do. It’s
just—well it’s not as easy as Liam thinks it is. Phil, he, he’s
been a friend, a father to Mac and I owe him…I guess I owe him
closure.”

“
Yeah, well you know how I
feel about that brother.”

“
He has a stake in this too,
Eric.”

“
You know I love you like a
sister, but Phil has hated on my boy from day one. C’mon,
Kennedy.”

“
That feud between them, it
makes no sense. It was Liam who asked him to watch out for me when
he was in the field.”

“
Ever heard of keeping your
enemies close?”

“
It’s such a horrible mess,”
she sighed. Mackenzie looked back at her. She blew a kiss and her
daughter smiled. She went back to watching her Dora
program.

“
There’s more.”

“
How could there be more?”
Kennedy groaned.

“
I wanted to let you know
that Alexa is here and she’s doing everything in her power to pull
him back into her nasty web. She has some strong supporters on the
Senate Intelligence Committee.”

“
She’s pathetic. She’ll
never change.”

“
I can’t get into matters of
national security, but I suggest you settle the matter of your
position as Liam’s wife. Things move fast when under the umbrella
of Homeland Security.”

“
Are you saying they want to
take Liam away?”
How the hell can they
make him go when they just brought him back
? screamed the voice inside her head.

“
I’m saying you and Liam
need to decide on the future now, before it’s decided for
you.”

“
They can’t do
that.”

“
Kennedy, you’re his wife.
You know the organizations he’s tied into. You know how this goes.
They can and they will.”

“
Jeez, Eric. How much time
do we have?” Kennedy asked.

“
I’d say Christmas at
best.”

“
Okay, okay, I get
it.”

“
I love you both. I got my
boy’s back. But that tarantula Sinclair? Just be on your
guard.”

“
I will. Thank you for the
warning.”

“
Where is that gorgeous
sister of yours?”

“
Oh, she’s on her way. But
don’t let Liam hear you talk about her like that.”

“
Girl is eighteen, last I
checked,” Eric joked.

“
Going on forty, yes, and
you think her crush is cute, but I’m telling you, keep your
distance. You know Liam probably thinks she’s still eight. Before
he left, she hadn’t even started dating, but he had a contract out
on every thirteen-year-old boy who looked her way that summer she
stayed with us.”

Eric gave a deep, throaty chuckle. “Yeah, I
was kidding.”

Kennedy laughed. She saw the stars in her
sister’s eyes whenever Eric entered a room. She remembered the
potency of that kind of attraction. Eric might see it as harmless
flirting, but she was sure Harper didn’t. “Will you come by
later?”

“
I’ll try. Got a lot of
meetings and other stuff. Call me if you need me.”

“
I will.”

Kennedy set the phone down. She thought of
calling Liam and inviting him to breakfast, but if she did that, it
might send the wrong message. She had to be sure of everything,
make sure she wasn’t pregnant, before she made any moves. She
wouldn’t lie or deny her feelings, but she knew the drill. She
would need to wait at least a week to get a good test result. How
was she ever going to manage a week of this?

Someone knocked at her door.

Kennedy wondered if Liam would return this
early. She rose and checked herself in the hall mirror. Her face
was flushed, her hair limp and listless. She didn’t look her best.
The knock came again.

“
Mommy, who is it?”
Mackenzie emerged; she stood behind her mother with fear in her
eyes. Kennedy remembered how disastrous it had been for her
daughter the last time someone had come to the door. “Go watch TV,
okay?”

“
Who is it,
mommy?”

“
Go watch TV, baby,
please.”

Kennedy went to the window first. She carefully
parted the curtains. At least three news vans were parked at the
curb, one almost-but-not-quite blocking her driveway. Several
reporters with cameras milled about under the watchful eyes of
military personnel, men Kennedy didn’t know. A young lieutenant
stood erect, attentive, and alert on the other side of her door,
just like the one who’d visited her to deliver the news that Liam
had been killed in action. He’d been confronted by a hysterical,
screaming Kennedy who’d flung herself at him, scratching and
kicking, screaming at the top of her lungs that they were all
liars. Back then, she’d been so confident Liam was alive. She’d
shouted it at anyone who said differently. She’d felt it in her
bones. He was out there, in need of them. And somehow, she’d let
all those non-believers convince her otherwise.

“
Morning, ma’am.”

“
I see the reporters have
arrived,” Kennedy said, standing to the side of the doorway, out of
view, just in case the cameras were already running. Even the idea
of a reporter sticking a camera in her face gave her the shakes.
Just knowing they were out there, waiting, made her want to throw
up.

“
Yes, ma’am. We’ll be here
all day and evening to assist you. My name is Lieutenant Bryant. If
you need anything, receive any strange calls, anything, ma’am,
please don’t hesitate to let me know. We’ll be posted in two
vehicles on the street, and another at the entrance of your
subdivision.”

She nodded, accepting his card. He was in
the JAG Corps. She wondered if this man’s presence was Phil’s
doing, or Alexa Sinclair’s. Or Liam’s.

“
Your husband is an American
hero, ma’am. We are all so proud to have him back. Congratulations
to you and your family on his safe return.”

Kennedy nodded. She loved the fact that the
lieutenant afforded Liam respect by referring to him as her
husband.

“
Thank you. I’m proud of
him, too. If my sister comes, please let her through. Her name is
Harper Washington.”

“
Yes, ma’am.
Absolutely.”

Before she thanked him again, her phone
began to ring.

“
Mommy! Phone!”

“
I hear it, Mac.” With a nod
to the lieutenant, Kennedy shut the door. Suddenly she felt like an
over-wound yo-yo, careening from situation to situation. She
grabbed up the phone and nearly yelped into the
receiver.

“
Hello?”

“
How are you, girl?”
Angelina asked softly.

“
Trapped,” Kennedy admitted.
She dropped into the chair at the kitchen table.

“
Trapped?”

“
The media. Phil. My folks,
Mac, and Liam. All of them want something I can’t give them right
now.”

“
What’s that?”

“
Answers.”

“
Oh, Kennedy.”

“
Angie, what am I going to
do? How did this happen? How did I give up on him like this? He
should have walked through that door into my arms.”

“
Hey! You didn’t give up on
him, you didn’t. You never did, Kennedy.”

“
But—”

“
I know. I know.”

Kennedy dropped her forehead into her hand
and stared at her reflection in the polished finish of the dining
table. A tear dropped onto the surface, leaving a small, round
bead. “He came back to me. If I had just believed a little longer,
this would have never happened. He’s been through hell, my poor
baby.”

“
So have you,
Kennedy.”

“
Not even close. You should
have seen the pain in his face. As if he felt he had to compete for
my love. I just feel so lost. And Phil. God, I can’t stomach the
idea of him and me together now. I feel so guilty over that. Angie,
I feel like I used him. I did use him, and all he’s ever been was
good to me and Mac. What the hell am I going to do?”

“
Well, there may be a little
more guilt to spread around. Phil knew of your love for Liam. He
signed on for this.”

“
But marrying Phil was a
mistake. I just wanted the pain of losing Liam to go away. I let my
mother and Phil convince me that starting over was the best for
Mackenzie. I lost faith.”

“
Stop it,
Kennedy.”

“
It hurts so bad. And God,
Angie, I think I might be pregnant. I’m so scared I can’t even
bring myself to take a test. If I am, I’ll lose him. I know Liam.
This would be the final straw.”

“
I will get a test. You can
take it with me.”

“
No. Not yet. Too soon. I
have to wait until the weekend at least. I told Phil to give me a
few days. I need a few days, okay?”