Mel
gaped slack-jawed at her brother, whose palm covered his face. “Why did you
kidnap Grandma?”
“I
did not—ugh!” He answered from behind his hand before shaking off his
frustration and moving to the back seat of the truck to grab their bags. “Mom
forced me to bring her. That’s what the delay was all about. She’s been driving
her crazy, and then this morning she lit the kitchen on fire.”
“She
what?!”
“I
wasn’t there, so I don’t know exactly, something about the toaster and a
curtain. Anyway, Mom convinced her she should come help you out and halfway up
the mountain she wove this kidnapping story.”
“Help
me? How, by greeting guests with her charming personality?” She loved her
grandmother, but her salutation and scathing condemnation of the inn with just
one glance were pretty mild for the old woman. When she really got on a tear,
the best thing was to go to a movie until she wore herself out.
“Beats
me but pro tip, do not let her in the kitchen.” Balancing the bags in one hand,
Liam enveloped her with his free arm. “At least, not until we make sure the
insurance covers curtain fires.”
“No
need to worry, I just hired someone today who is great in the kitchen.”
He
looked at her askance. “Great as in better than you or someone who is actually
a good cook?”
“Shut
up.” She laughed in response to the insult. “The guests this morning raved
about the food. For however long she stays, I think she’ll be a plus in the
breakfast department, anyway.”
“Where
did you find this culinary genius? Did you put out an ad already?” He held the
door open for Mel and they entered the lobby.
“We
didn’t, she found me.” She looked around. “Where’s Grandma?”
The
echoes of laughter led the siblings into the Great Room where their grandmother
sat in front of the fireplace chatting away with Poppy. They turned toward Mel
and Liam as they entered.
“Mel,
your mother is a hoot,” she gushed.
She
narrowed her eyes at the alleged ex-thief, who had to know perfectly well the
woman in front of her was too old to be her mother. Grandma O, however, took
the compliment to heart and patted Poppy’s hand, gracing her with one of her
rare beaming smiles.
To
Mel’s surprise, Liam skidded to a dead halt. She turned back to see why and
received the icy blast of the unmistakable storm in his eyes. She’d seen the
same dark expression in the mirror when she was furious. What did he have to be
so angry about? Before she could ask, he dropped their bags and launched into
full hissy fit mode.
“You!”
he bellowed at Poppy.
The
brunette seemed sincerely surprised at his response. Swiveling her head to see
who else was in the room and finding no one, she met his gaze and pointed to
herself with an exaggerated, “Who, me?” expression.
Her
brother spun, targeting his rage at her. “Don’t tell me this is who you hired?”
“You’re
only being a grump because you haven’t tried her bacon,” she joked, hoping to
deflate the situation. Years of trying to nail her for any number of jobs she’d
pulled off had frustrated Mel, but she had to admit she always liked her style.
Despite her suspicions when she found Poppy in the lobby this morning, so far
she’d been nothing but charming and kind of fun, so what had she done to piss
off easy-going Liam in the two minutes since they met?
Her
brother crossed his arms, stubbornly jutting out his square jaw. “There’s no
way that woman is working here. She nearly killed you once, I’m not giving her
a second chance.”
“You
two have met?” The information surprised her, so she let the macho b.s. slide
for now. She didn’t need anyone to protect her, but his anger rolled off him so
calling him on his chauvinism skittered close to throwing gasoline on a fire.
“We
had to watch her on the news sound bites, taking her bows for saving your life,
while you lay in that hospital bed, broken and in agony.” Mel had never seen
his eyes blaze with such fury before. She’d been so focused on her own
suffering she’d never thought about what her family had gone through. Liam
clearly had been carrying steamer-trunk sized baggage. “Nobody bothered to
mention she’s the one who put you in danger in the first place. Or that you’re
crippled for life, thanks to her.”
“Crippled?”
Poppy’s brows furrowed, her eyes darkening.
“Easy,
drama queen,” Mel snarled, “nobody’s crippled.”
“We
used to go rock climbing and now you can’t even mount a set of stairs without
getting dizzy.” His exasperation exploded as he paced to the far end of the
Great Room to stare out the floor-to-ceiling glass door at the patio and brook
beyond. What really hurt was he sounded more bummed out for himself losing a
climbing partner than concerned about her.
“Is
that true?” Poppy sprang up.
“I’m
working on it.” Embarrassed by the whole conversation, she busied herself with
tidying the morning newspapers the guests had left strewn around the sitting
area.
“She
nearly killed you, she’s not working here,” Liam repeated without turning away
from the view outside.
Grandma
O’Rourke rose to her feet with more nobility than agility, stood between her
two grandchildren, and pronounced, “I like her, and I say she stays,” before
tottering off to the kitchen in a self-professed search for the infamous bacon.
Of
course, she liked Poppy, she just paid her a huge compliment. Never mind if she
was guilty of what Liam accused her of doing or not. After putting the last
section of the newspaper back in place, Mel noticed the below the fold story on
the front page and tightened her fist until she almost tore the paper in two.
Scientist Killed in Daring Heist
