Under the Moon's Shadow (43 page)

“How do they look?” Richard asked from across the kitchen.

“Well, neither of them is limping, but Ethan’s shirt is torn, and they’re both covered in dirt. Jason, do you boys still have some clothes here?”

He poked his head through the dining room door. “Are they back?”

As his mother nodded, he hurried into the kitchen and watched as the men stopped at the gate. Hannah, Sampson, and Paulo followed him through from the dining room, and Hannah spoke quietly from where she stood behind Jason.

“Do they still look angry?”

He looked back at her and gave her a reassuring smile, then moved aside so that she could see. “They’re talking, so that’s a good sign.”

All conversation in the kitchen died as the door opened and they stepped inside. As Ethan met Beth’s worried gaze, he grinned crookedly, wincing when his split lip protested. She started to get up and go to him, but stopped when her mother cleared her throat. They all turned to Jackie, who stood with her hands on her hips. She was shaking her head slowly from side to side.

“Well, did you settle it?”

Ethan and Chase exchanged a wary look, recognizing the look on her face from when they were young men. They knew they were in trouble.

“Yes, ma’am,” they chorused. Chase squirmed a little and shuffled his feet under her stare.

“Hallelujah,” she said in a voice that was full of sarcasm. “Just think, you only had to beat the stuffing out of each other to do it. I’ll bet you managed to not swear once the entire time, too.” She held her hand out, palm up, and waited without saying a word as they each pulled their wallets out. They both winced as sore muscles protested, and silently handed her ten dollars each.

Jackie looked at the pitiful amount with raised eyebrows. She cleared her throat. “Boys, you’re adults now with good jobs, not teenagers on an allowance.”

Chase was indignant. “More? Geez, Mom, it was just a little fight.” He pulled out a fifty-dollar bill and handed it to her. “That’s all I have. Is it enough?”

Ethan’s face flushed as he handed over his cash. “I only have fifteen more. I don’t keep much cash on me these days. I don’t guess you take debit cards, do you?” As soon as the words left his mouth, he grimaced. “I didn’t - that didn’t come out right, Jackie. Sorry.”

Chase and Jason both snickered, and Jackie turned to level a warning glance at her youngest son before looking back to Ethan. “Ethan Javier Moore, don’t get smart with me. You can just owe me. Debit cards.” She rolled her eyes, but was unable to prevent a small smile. “Well, both of you are going to have to clean up before you sit at my table. Either of you need a doctor’s attention?”

“No, ma’am,” Ethan said. “I don’t, anyhow. Do you?” Chase shook his head.

“I’ve got a couple t-shirts upstairs you can wear,” Jason told them.

Jackie turned to Beth. “Take Ethan upstairs and get him cleaned up. There’s a first aid kit in our bathroom.”

With a nod, Beth headed for the stairs. Ethan kicked his shoes off at the door and followed behind her. Jackie pointed at Chase, who was sliding his own shoes off. “You go, too, but you’re on your own. Make it fast, kids. Dinner’s going to be cold before long.”

As Chase passed Jason and Hannah, Jason gave a low whistle. “Hope you don’t get thrown out of the snooty lawyers club for having that shiner, bro.” He fell into step behind his brother, winking at Hannah and Paulo as they went past. Paulo giggled, and Chase smiled at the sound, then turned to see Jason behind him.

He started up the stairs. “Why’re you following me?”

“Shirts, Chase. I’m getting you guys some clean t-shirts, remember?” Jason responded. “Besides, I’m hungry, and I know how you are about your clothes. If I leave you up here by yourself, you’ll take forever.”

“Keep talking, brother. You aren’t too big for me to kick your butt.”

Jason snickered. “Yeah, I’m real scared.”

Chase stopped on the landing and let Jason come alongside him. He leaned in so the others couldn’t hear and spoke.

“You’re just jealous because you don’t have any wounds for Hannah to attend to. If you want, I can bloody your nose so you can get some sympathy.”

Jason’s face flushed and he frowned. He looked Chase up and down. “You know, it isn’t too late to add a few more bumps to your bruises.” Scowling, he headed into his old room to get the promised shirts. When he heard Chase’s hearty laughter, he didn’t bother hiding his pleasure. “About time,” he said under his breath. It was nice to get his brothers back, both of them.

Chapter Sixty Two

Beth led Ethan into her parents’ bathroom and closed the door. She leaned up against it, and closed her eyes, her heart racing. Now that the confrontation was over, she didn’t know what to say.

 Ethan stripped off the ruined t-shirt and dropped it to the floor. He approached her slowly, his sock feet making his steps quiet on the tile. As she opened her eyes and looked at him, he stopped.

“Are you angry with me? You haven’t said a word since we came back in.”

She shook her head, pressing her lips together as she looked over his torso and saw the bruises and scrapes.

“Then what’s wrong?”

When she started to answer, there was a knock on the door, and Jason’s voice came through. “I’ve got a shirt for you.”

Ethan nudged Beth gently to the side and opened the door wide enough to accept the shirt. “Thanks. When you go down, could you let everyone know that we’ll be a few minutes and to not wait for us?”

Jason raised his eyebrows. “Okay, but you’re taking your life into your own hands. You’re the one who’ll have to face Mom.”

“I’ll risk it. Thanks.” He closed the door and turned around, laying the clean shirt on the counter. He watched quietly as Beth got the first aid kit out and opened it. She got everything she would need ready before she turned toward him.

“Go ahead and wash up. I’ll wait outside.”

As she moved to walk past him, Ethan stopped her with a hand at her waist. “You don’t have to go.” She looked away from him, and he whispered her name. He gently tipped her chin up so that he could see her eyes. When she finally met his gaze, he saw that she was fighting tears.

“Honey, what’s wrong? Please, tell me so that I can fix it.”

Beth shook her head wildly. The tears overflowed and slid down her cheeks. As he saw her despair, Ethan felt his heart stop and he grew cold all over. Certain that his fight with Chase had used up his last chance with Beth, he let his hands slid away from her and took a step backward.

“So this is it?”

She shook her head and walked to the door and spoke without looking at him. “I can’t do this right now, Ethan. I just can’t talk to you right now. I’m too - too ... I have to go.” She hurried through the door and left him standing there, at a complete loss as to what to do next. Cursing under his breath, he grabbed the shirt off the sink and hurried after her, tugging it on as he went downstairs.

“Beth, wait!”

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he heard exclamations coming from the dining room and headed that way just in time to see Beth hurry out through the door to the kitchen, Chase hot on her heels. The family turned to look at him with shocked expressions. Ethan ignored them and edged around the table, intent on following her. He heard several chairs being pushed back as he went into the kitchen, but didn’t let that stop him.

Exiting the French doors, he stopped on the patio, stunned to see Chase standing there with blood streaming down his face. The door to the guest house slammed just as everyone else came through the door behind Ethan.

Jackie took the situation in with a glance, and sent Jason back inside for the first aid kit while she went for ice and towels. Richard hurried over to examine Chase, who was holding his hands over his nose.

“What happened upstairs?” He shot Ethan a stern frown as he guided Chase to one of the patio chairs and eased him down into it.

“I don’t know.” Ethan was completely baffled. “She was upset and wouldn’t talk to me. She just ran out the door.”

Sampson spoke up, his hand on Paulo’s shoulder. “This young man and I are going to go inside and finish our dinners.” 

Hannah shot him a grateful smile. “I’ll go talk to Beth.” She headed around the pool to the guest house as Jackie came back outside, Jason not far behind her.

“What’d you say to her, Chase?” Jason asked as he put the first aid kit down.

Chase sent him a glare. “Why do you think I said anything to her?” His voice was muffled as his mother eased Richard aside and wiped the blood off his face.

“Gee, I don’t know - because you’ve done nothing but tick her off since she’s been back, maybe?” Jason drawled. Jackie shot him a chastising look as she rinsed the towel out in the bowl she’d brought. She wrung it out and wiped the last of the blood from Chase’s face. Stepping back, she let Richard back in to check the damage.

Chase held his hand up to stop his father for a moment and spoke. “All I asked was if she was okay. Next thing I know, I’m seeing stars and she’s yelling at me.”

“Why’d she yell at you?” Jackie asked.

“Apparently she’s mad because I hurt Ethan.” He looked toward his friend and shook his head, looking just as baffled as Ethan felt. “Was she angry with you?”

Richard stepped in and turned Chase’s face toward him. He gently checked the area around Chase’s nose.

“She wouldn’t say anything to me one way or another,” Ethan confessed.

Jackie glanced over and saw that his cuts still needed to be tended. She ordered him into a chair beside Chase and sent Jason inside to fetch a clean bowl of water and more ice. As she examined Ethan’s hands, Richard finished his examination of Chase’s nose. He wiped his hands on one of the towels before he looked over Ethan’s injuries. He gave Ethan the all clear, and squeezed his shoulder before he turned back to Chase.

“Well, I don’t know why your sister hit you, or why she’s not speaking to Ethan, but I’ll tell you this. The girl’s got a damned strong right hook.” As he turned to take the bowl of water Jason had brought out for Ethan, he looked at his oldest son, not quite able to hide a glimmer of amusement. “You’re going to have two black eyes, and as hard I imagine Ethan must have tried to avoid it when you were fighting, I’m not sure your sister didn’t just break your nose.”

Chapter Sixty Three

By Thursday, Beth had calmed down enough to feel guilty about hitting Chase, and she called him that morning to ask him out for lunch. He agreed, albeit somewhat reluctantly, and they decided to meet at the paper. When he arrived to pick her up, she was waiting for him on the sidewalk. As she got into his car, she turned to look at him, unable to see behind the dark sunglasses he was wearing.

“How bad is it?”

With a very put-upon sounding sigh, he removed the glasses. She winced as she took in the two rather spectacular black eyes her brother was sporting.

“Surely I didn’t do that...” Her voice trailed off as he glowered at her before putting the shades back on.

“Where are you taking me for lunch? It’d better be good, because you owe me for this.” He pointed at his face.

“How about the Brown Bag? I’ll even buy you a whole cheesecake and you can take it home.”

He grunted as he made the turns around the square. “A whole cheesecake? I don’t have to share?” He parked on the street in front of the café, and Beth shook her head.

“Not even with your cat, if you don’t want. Who, by the way, I told you would be a permanent addition, if you remember.”

Chase just sent her a look as a rueful smile crossed his lips. “So you did.”

The week after Beth had been shot, a half-drowned, nearly grown kitten had shown up at Chase’s condo. Chase had tried to find him a good home, but the kitten’s quirky behavior had made him a less-than-desirable adoptee. Even though he wasn’t a cat person, Chase had ended up adding Murphy to the family permanently, something Beth had predicted from the moment she’d learned Chase had named him.

They went inside and stood in line to place their orders. By the time they made it up to the counter, Chase had her laughing hysterically with the tales he was telling her about Murphy and his antics.

“You’re making that up,” Beth accused as she struggled to contain her laughter. Chase did his best to ignore her as Lauren waited to take their orders.

“Are you some big celebrity attorney this week, Chase Hudson?” she teased, a reference to his sunglasses. He pulled them off and tucked the earpiece into his shirt pocket.

Lauren whistled when she saw the black eyes. “Ethan sure can hit hard, no doubt about it.” Her eyes twinkled as Chase shook his head at Beth.

“You had to tell her about it, didn’t you?”

Beth apologized and tried to look innocent. “She is my best friend. It’s kind of the code that I tell her about certain things.”

As he leaned against the counter, he glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one else was in line behind them. “I guess Annie knows, too?”

Lauren snickered, and Beth hung her head to hide her grin. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about what Annie thinks. We might start believing you have a crush on her or something,” Lauren said. As he turned his scowl on her, she burst out laughing and covered her mouth with her hands. She tried to stop, but the harder she tried, the more she laughed.

Chase turned to glare down at Beth, who was struggling with her own laughter. “You’d better make it two cheesecakes.”

Lauren finally calmed down enough to take their orders, and as she was totaling it up, she glanced up to see Jason standing on the sidewalk outside the café, talking on his cell phone. “Hey, are you guys missing a member of your party?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Beth said as she and Chase turned to see who Lauren was pointing at. As they watched, he hurried inside, a somber expression on his face.