Page 22 of Honest Neglect

“Something like that,” I laughed, as I turned to add the carrots to the pot. The room was starting to fill with a deliciously savory scent, and my stomach grumbled hungrily once again.

A half-hour or so later, when Grace had finished her stew, Warren appeared in the doorway. He looked a little bleary from sleep, but he smiled as soon as he saw me.

“Hey,” he greeted me, coming over to give me a kiss. “It smells amazing in here. Are the two of you cooking?”

“We’re just serving up dinner,” Grace replied, nodding for him to take a seat at the table. I could hear Leroy moving around in the room next door. I wasn’t sure what time he had gotten back, but I wanted to interrogate him about how my mom seemed. He clearly had a good eye for people, and she might not have kept her guard up around him as much as she did when it came to me.

“Let me get you an extra-big plate,” I suggested. “You look like you need it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Warren asked, grinning.

“That a soldier always needs his sustenance,” Leroy announced as he entered the room to join us. “I would have thought you of all people would know that, Warren.”

“Leroy,” Warren greeted him. “You took Diane back to her place?”

“Yes, I left her with her friend Barry,” Leroy replied, putting a little more emphasis on the term friend than he strictly needed to. “I think she’s going to be okay. I can’t imagine the McCarthys would try anything with her when they know there’s someone else in the house, and she told me she has that cop around who she trusts to keep things in hand.”

“Frank, right,” I agreed. “We need to get in touch with him, let him know what’s going on.”

“Not before you’ve eaten something,” Grace fussed over the two of us. “Both of you need to relax for a while before you start thinking about what’s going to happen next.”

She glanced over at Leroy, sighed, and then shook her head. “Though I should know better than to try and get military men to relax,” she remarked. “Isn’t that right, Leroy?”

“It’s just not in our training,” Leroy remarked, exchanging a smile with Warren. I still didn’t know a whole lot about what Warren’s time in the military had been like, but it was clear he commanded a hell of a lot of respect. Leroy, someone who had been as high up as him, clearly thought he was a damn good soldier, and if what he’d done for us had been any indication, he was totally correct.

We sat down to eat together, and between us, we polished off the entire pot of stew. We had both been so stressed lately, it was no wonder our appetites had almost vanished completely.

“Grace, that was amazing,” Warren told the older woman as he leaned back in his seat. “You have no idea how grateful I am for that after having had to live on prison food lately.”

“Well, Lily helped,” Grace replied, flashing me a smile.

“I chopped some vegetables,” I protested. “I don’t think that actually counts as cooking.”

“Maybe I could teach you a few dishes while you’re here,” she suggested. “If you’d like to learn them.”

“Teach me,” Warren cut in. “I want to make that stew for myself. It’s delicious.”

She laughed. “I’m not sure it would be quite as delicious if you hadn’t been locked up in jail for a few days,” she pointed out, raising her eyebrows. “But I appreciate that.”

I leaned back in my seat, feeling a wash of calm pass through me. It was the first time I had felt truly safe in a while. I knew it wouldn’t be long till Tony and his father came looking for us again, but for now, this place was sacred—a sanctuary we could stay in for as long as it took to bring them down for good. It might not have been what I expected, but the kindness Leroy and Grace had shown us had bolstered my belief in humanity right when I had needed it most.

Warren reached for my hand beneath the table and gave it a squeeze, as though he was feeling the exact same things I was right now. I was so glad he was here with me. I glanced over at him, hoping to see the same sense of peace on his face.

But it wasn’t there. Not the way I wanted it to be, anyway. I could see dark rings beneath his eyes and a smattering of stubble on his jaw where he hadn’t been able to shave lately. It would be a long time before he truly felt like himself again, but I wasn’t going anywhere—I was there with him every step of the way, no matter how long it took, no matter what we had to do to bring an end to this.

When we got back, when this was over, we could start looking at getting his new house built. Maybe...our new house? I had been trying not to think too much about the future, when it all felt so uncertain, but since we had confessed our true feelings for each other, it was hard not to wonder what life might look like when we had finally closed this awful chapter.

But we were still a long way from that now. We could hide from it here for a while, but I wasn’t willing to just sit back and let the McCarthys do anything they wanted to us—no, they were going to have to contend with me, and after they had gone after Warren and Silver, they didn’t know the hell that was coming to them.

And I couldn’t wait to see the look on their faces when they figured it out.

Chapter Thirteen

Warren

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“COME ON, LET’S GET Silver into our room,” I suggested as I noticed Lily’s head lolling slightly. She was trying to stay awake and keep being part of this conversation, but I could tell the tiredness was getting the better of her, and she needed to rest before she passed out on the spot.