Sandpipers' Secrets (13 page)

“Shut up. That’s the most useful thing your ass has done all day!” Lark quipped as he closed his eyes with a cheeky grin and snuggled down into the cushions.

Zak growled, but didn’t stir himself any more than that. He was far too tired and comfortable and it wouldn’t do any good anyway—he was bound to lose whatever argument might start up between them.

Besides, he didn’t exactly mind having Lark’s feet where they were, so what was the point.

Having lost his place, Zak found his concentration drifting to thoughts of the day. Overall, it had been a remarkably good one—unlike last Monday. Today Lark had insisted they take a proper day off, right away from the restaurant. They’d spent it on the beach, lazing in the sun and occasionally cooling off in the rolling waves of the ocean. It had been a magnificent way to unwind and de-stress. Zak hadn’t felt so relaxed and calm in ages. The only thing missing had been Brody.

Having spent all week slaving away with him in the kitchen, then at least an hour or two after they closed up rolling around with him in their bed, Zak felt his absence keenly. It was becoming more and more obvious to Zak that he wanted Brody as part of their everyday lives, not just for the minutes or hours they could steal. But it was equally clear it wasn’t going to happen on its own. Something was going to have to be done.

The fact that Brody always insisted on going home at the end of the night ate at Zak. He was trying to let the man come to them at his own speed, but it was hard to watch him walk away. And it had been harder again when Brody had said he wouldn’t be joining them today.

Oh, Brody had been very apologetic. He’d said he wanted to join them. He’d said all the right things, even called this morning and explained that a family emergency meant he wouldn’t be able to join them this evening either. It had all sounded very plausible, very reasonable. And it made Zak as nervous as hell.

Gradually, all the calm, relaxed feeling he’d managed to store up through the day—the store that was supposed to last him all week—drained away. Was Brody trying to edge away from them? Was he feeling smothered? Were they being demanding and clingy? Had asking Brody to join them on his day off been too much? Was he looking for a break from them already?

Zak forced himself to stop thinking about it. It was completely unproductive and it would give him an ulcer before he was thirty if he wasn’t careful. Lark would never let him live it down.

Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Zak let the tension drain out of him again. He closed his eyes for a second and concentrated on the feeling of being connected to Lark and relaxed.

Settled again, Zak returned to his book, hoping to get another chapter or two read before they turned in for the night and letting his worries go for a few more hours of peace.

Then the doorbell rang with a drawn out, jarring insistence. Zak groaned wretchedly. Lark’s grin only grew wider and Zak thought he might have even heard a tiny, evil chuckle escape the little shit’s mouth.

Lark never answered the door, and Zak knew there was no way he was going to win no matter how hard be begged or complained or yelled. They’d been over that old ground for years and nothing was ever going to change.

With a loud, discontented grunt, Zak heaved himself up out of the lounge and stomped towards the front door.

Someone’s ass better be on fire, he thought irritably as the buzzer sounded again, loud and far too long.

Lark just stretched out his legs and adjusted to make himself more comfortable. Smug bastard.

The angry tirade he had been about to unleash on the poor unsuspecting sod on the other side of their door died in his throat. Zak was completely speechless as he was confronted with a bedraggled looking Brody, carrying a small, sleepy bundle protectively in his arms. When the light from the hall spilled out across the sleeping child, who appeared to Zak’s uneducated eye to be about three or four years old, it stirred and began to whimper.

“Shh, Wolf. It’s all right. Go back to sleep,” Brody whispered.

Wolf!Zak stared in amazement at the pair.What the—

At the sound of Brody’s voice the boy—Brody’s brother?—settled and seemed to drift straight back off to sleep contentedly.

Brody’s pale, strained face turned up to regard Zak with wide, tormented eyes. “I’m sorry. I just…I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

Zak suddenly realised he could smell the heavy scent of smoke on Brody and the little boy. Smudges of ash dotted their faces and clothes.

“What the hell happened?” he asked, stepping back and ushering them inside when it finally registered that he was keeping them on the doorstep. “Come in. Come in.”

“Thanks,” Brody said, the weary, tight sound of his voice rubbing against Zak’s senses.

“Brody? What are you—” Lark’s questions cut off abruptly when he rounded the corner into the hall and caught sight of Brody and the boy. “What happened?”

“I…ah…” Brody looked increasingly lost and Zak suspected he was probably edging towards shock.

“Let’s just get you two inside, huh? Then you can tell us what’s going on.” Zak hoped by keeping his voice even and firm and giving Brody clear direction he would be able to keep him calm and focused, too. It seemed to work. Brody walked steadily towards the living room.

“Are you okay? Are either of you hurt?” Lark asked, hovering anxiously at Brody’s side and looking between him and the boy in his arms.

“No…I mean yes, we’re fine. We managed to get out before…” Brody shivered. He didn’t seem to know what to do with himself now that he was standing in the middle of the living room. He just stared around blankly.

“That boy doesn’t look real big, but I bet he’s getting heavy. You want me to take him?” Zak asked, reaching out to help, but Brody pulled away sharply.

“No!” He clutched the sleeping child tightly, but quickly eased his hold when the boy stirred restlessly again. “It’s fine. I just…”

Lark stepped up and laid his hand gently over Brody’s forearm.

“It’s okay, Brody. Why don’t you take…Wolf?” Brody nodded, and Zak continued. “Why don’t you take Wolf and go settle him down in the spare room?”

Brody nodded again and turned mechanically towards the bedrooms.

“Do you need a hand?” Zak worried about the wooden, stilted way Brody was moving and his muted responses. He wasn’t sure the man was fully functional right now.

“I’ll be okay, I just…” Brody’s voice trailed off as if he wasn’t sure what he was at the moment.

“If you want you can take a shower in the en suite,” Lark suggested.

Zak wasn’t so sure Brody should be anywhere near slippery, wet surfaces at the moment, but he held back on saying anything when Brody nodded. Then again, it was quite possible Brody was just agreeing to everything right now because he couldn’t muster any other reply.

“Thanks. I’ll just…”

At least he was still responding.

“I’ll leave a fresh towel and a change of clothes out for you. Come out when you’re ready and you can tell us what’s going on,” Lark continued as if everything was fine and men turned up every day with boys in their arms smelling of smoke and in the early stages of shock.

“If you need anything—” Zak started to offer, but Brody cut him off.

“It’s fine. I’ll…thanks. I’ll…I’ll be back in a few. I’ll just settle Wolf in and then…”

“Take your time, Brody. We’ll wait for you in the kitchen.” With that Lark turned and started dragging Zak by the arm out of the living room.

And wasn’t that a turn up for the books. Normally Zak was the one restraining Lark from going in guns blazing. But right now, Zak was fighting tooth and nail to resist jumping in and demanding to know what the hell was going on right now so that he could fix it. Then he could get on with telling Brody off for not sharing some very significant details with them. And obviously putting himself in danger if he was coming to them smelling of smoke and covered in soot.

Zak found himself feeling vaguely hurt, mostly confused and extremely frustrated. And he wasn’t used to feeling any of those things. Worse still, he wasn’t entirely convinced it was going to get better any time soon.

* * * *

They’d heard Brody use the shower about fifteen minutes ago, and Zak figured the man had about thirty seconds before he barged in to make sure Brody was all right.

“Why didn’t he tell us about Wolf?” Zak demanded as he jumped up to begin pacing when his nerves couldn’t take staying still anymore.

“He did, when we bumped into him downtown. We just—”

“That doesn’t count and you know it.”

“Hey! I was the one that wanted to follow him home. Find out what was going on. You were the one that said to wait until he was ready to tell us.”

“I didn’t think he—”

Just when Zak was about to say something really stupid about something he knew absolutely nothing about, Brody stepped into the kitchen. Water droplets clung to his hair and eyelashes, or perhaps…no.

Water droplets. Zak couldn’t handle anything but water droplets right now.

“Is he asleep?” Lark asked, jumping up from his stool as Brody nodded. He went to fetch another cup from the cabinet. “You want coffee?”

Zak was relieved to see Lark was already pouring it before Brody answered. Obviously, Lark wasn’t as calm and collected as he was making out. Which was a relief, because Zak felt about as far from either calm or collected as he could get. And he’d hate to be alone.

“Yeah. Yeah, that would be great.” Brody fiddled with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. It was one of Zak’s
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and it hung long and loose on Brody’s shorter, slighter frame.

“Sit down,” Lark suggested as he poured the thick, rich coffee they preferred into Brody’s mug and refilled his own. Zak declined a second cup; he was edgy enough as it was.

“Are you angry?” Brody blurted, not looking at either of them as Lark set his mug in front of him.

Brody looked incredibly young and vulnerable in that moment and Zak sighed. He was and he wasn’t. It was more…

“Not angry, Brody, just—” Lark began, but Brody cut him off.

“Look, I understand if you don’t want to get involved with someone who’s raising a kid, but if you could just give us a couple of days to get—”

“Stop right there!” Zak’s level of pissed off skyrocketed to new heights unexpectedly. “No one said anything about not wanting you, and we certainly won’t be kicking you out. So you can get those thoughts out of your head right now.”

“It was just a bit…” Lark, ever the peacemaker, tried to explain. But his voice trailed off again when it obviously became too much to try and contain in one sentence. “Why didn’t you say anything? About Wolf? Is he really your brother, or is he—”

“Of course he’s my brother.” Brody bristled. Perhaps there was even more to Brody’s story yet to come out.

Well, this time Zak wasn’t prepared to wait until Brody was ready to give them answers.

“I just thought maybe he was your son or something,” Lark continued quietly.

“Shit! Things would be so much easier if he was,” Brody replied, bitterness and frustration lacing his voice now.

“How about you start at the beginning?” Zak suggested, staring down at the top of Brody’s head, which was once again bowed over his coffee mug. He wouldn’t look at either of them.

“I have a better idea,” Lark announced, reaching for Brody’s hand and tugging gently until he stood up.

“Why don’t we all snuggle up on the couch and we can be comfy while Brody tells us his story.”

It was obvious Lark wasn’t going to be denied. They all trouped obediently in behind him. The coffee was abandoned in favour of cuddling together, with Brody sandwiched in the middle and Lark spreading a large afghan over all three of them on the couch.

“That’s better,” Lark announced, apparently happy now for the story to begin.

A long silence began to stretch out between them all. Zak was just wondering whether he was going to have to give Brody a nudge to get him to start, when he felt the man take a deep, shuddering breath.

“Do you know why my brother’s called Wolf?”

Zak felt a little off kilter as Brody paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. Not quite the direction he
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had expected, but Zak shook his head anyway, willing to play along if Brody was starting to open up.

“It’s because our mom was a mean bitch. She said Wolf’s father—and God knows who that could have been—left her, and it was all Wolf’s fault. She said Wolf was bad luck. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. A bloody greedy dog. She was always making some nasty little comment or snide remark. She said Wolf was…anyway, it’s what she made them put on his birth certificate, so it’s his name. And after a while it kind of stopped being a way for her to hurt us. It became something to be proud of. I never want him to feel bad about it. Wolf’s a little fighter. He’s seen more… Wolf’s a good name now.”

Brody began to pick at the afghan, but Zak didn’t care. All his attention was focused on the pain and tension radiating off their lover right now. Lark covered Brody’s hand with his own and gave it a reassuring squeeze, which seemed to ease some of the stiffness in Brody’s shoulders and help him carry on.

“Anyway, Wolf was about six weeks old when I met him. I was doing a…” Brody cleared his throat and hesitated, Zak knew whatever Brody had to say next wasn’t going to be good, but he wanted to hear it anyway.

He wanted everything. No hiding anymore. Zak reached out and put his hand over Lark’s, joining in to offer his support and encouragement.

Brody took another deep breath before ploughing on. “I was doing another stint in juvie when he was born. Shoplifting and…” Brody looked up at Zak with sad, frightened eyes, as if expecting disgust and rejection.

Zak suddenly had a pretty fair idea what was coming. “It’s okay—”