Deadly Rivalry (Hardy Brothers Security Book 17)

C
opyright
© 2015 by Lily Harper Hart

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

“
H
e’s so cute
… I just want to eat him up!” Ally Hardy leaned forward and reached for her nephew Avery. “Gimme.”

Avery’s mother Emma Pritchard sighed as she relinquished the baby, meeting her future brother-in-law James’ amused gaze as he leaned against the wall in his living room. The family was spending the afternoon together for a barbecue, and Avery was the center of attention.

“He’s going to think Ally is his mother because she holds him more than I do,” Emma complained.

Avery Hardy was only one month old and already the apple of the Hardy family’s eye. He didn’t do anything but sleep, eat, cry, and soil diapers, but everyone was in love with him. Of course, two family members refused to put their hands on him until he could support his own head and Emma was doing her best to hide her agitation over that development.

If James knew Emma was angry about his repeated attempts to keep from holding Avery, he didn’t acknowledge it.

“I’m sure he knows who his mother is,” James replied. He enjoyed watching his sister heap adoration on his nephew, even as he preferred a more hands-off approach. “You’re the one who feeds him, after all. He’s a Hardy. He responds to food.”

“Ha, ha,” Emma intoned, glancing around the living room. Everyone was present except for one face – and it was the one Emma was desperate to see. “Where is Mandy?”

James shifted at the mention of his wife. “She’s upstairs,” he said, forcing a smile for Emma’s benefit. “We have that charity party tonight and I think she’s plucking her eyebrows or something.” That was a lie. Mandy did all that “chick” maintenance stuff on a weekly basis. She was usually in the thick of things when the family got together. That changed upon Avery’s arrival. In truth, she couldn’t take Emma’s accusatory glares when she didn’t want to hold him so she made herself scarce when no one was looking after dinner.

Mandy Avery-Hardy was actually the first person to hold her namesake nephew after his birth. She’d delivered him, after all. She looked him over, cleared his airway, and then handed him over to his terrified mother. After that she immediately took on an armed madman – convinced she was going to die to protect Emma and Avery in the process – and stabbed him to death instead.

While cradling a baby who couldn’t support his own head worried Mandy, that wasn’t the reason she refused to hold Avery. James had a feeling he knew why his wife struggled to hold the baby named after her, but he didn’t bring it up. He was giving her time to deal with her worries and fears without pressuring her.

It was killing him.

“I wanted her to hold the baby before I left,” Emma said, forcing a petulant pout. “When do you think she’ll be down?”

James opened his mouth to offer a lame response and then snapped it shut. He tilted his head to the side for a moment, and then decided to take advantage of Mandy’s absence from the room. “Stop doing this, Emma,” he instructed, taking everyone by surprise. “Mandy is doing the best she can right now. She’s not refusing to hold him because she’s trying to hurt you … or frightened of him … or generally unlikable. She needs time to deal with what happened. You’re not giving her that time.”

Emma’s brown eyes widened, although she refused to back down. “He’s my son and she hates him.”

“She doesn’t hate him.” Grady Hardy smoothly stepped between Emma and James before things could spiral out of control and held up his hands in a placating manner. He was the middle Hardy brother so he was used to putting out fires between his hotheaded siblings. Emma was usually the easiest family member to deal with. Something about giving birth to Avery under the worst possible circumstances kicked the mother bear instincts into overdrive. “She’s dealing with killing a man – your father, in case you’ve forgotten, Emma – and she doesn’t want to touch the baby because she’s conflicted about killing someone. Give it a rest.”

James was surprised by his brother’s reaction. In private Grady had been pushing him to take on Mandy’s mood regarding the baby. He appreciated Grady’s loyalty to Mandy in front of the family.

“I don’t understand why Mandy is so upset,” Ally said. In addition to being James’ sister, she was also Mandy’s lifelong best friend. “She killed a man to protect herself. She saved Emma and the baby. Lance Pritchard was a monster. She should be throwing a party.”

“That’s easy to say when it’s not you,” James hissed, leaning forward. “You didn’t have his blood all over your hands … and shirt … and in your hair. Do you know how long it took me to wash that blood out of her hair? You don’t wake up crying from the nightmares. You sit there and say what Mandy should do and say as if you know, even though you’re not the one dealing with everything. Shut your mouth!”

Ally was taken aback. “Maybe I should talk to her.”

“Leave her alone,” James instructed. “She’s doing the absolute best that she can. I’m sorry if that’s not good enough for everyone and she’s not getting over it fast enough to make Emma and Ally happy, but I don’t really care.”

“James, calm down,” Finn Hardy instructed, placing a soothing hand on Emma’s shoulder. He loved his fiancée and their son more than life itself, but he understood where his brother was coming from. “No one is here to pressure Mandy.”

“I would think she’d want to hold him,” Emma pressed. “She’s the reason we have him. I think we should make her hold him. She’ll feel better when she does.”

“Leave her alone, Emma,” James said, his tone dark. “She will come around when she’s ready. You want to protect your son – and I get that – but I’m going to protect my wife. Don’t push her. I’m not joking.”

James started moving toward the stairs, only stilling when Grady called out to him.

“We’ll pack everything up and give you and Mandy time to get ready for the party,” Grady said. “No one is going to pressure Mandy to do anything she’s not ready to do. I promise.”

“That’s not the way it sounds to me,” James said. “Let yourselves out and make sure the security system is engaged when you go.”

Ally watched her brother climb the stairs, her chocolate eyes troubled. “We have to do something.”

“We have to let them get through this on their own,” Grady said. “They’re both being eaten up by guilt.”

“What does James have to feel guilty about?” Ally challenged.

“Not being here when Pritchard attacked,” Jake Harrison answered, rubbing the back of Ally’s neck. He was Ally’s boyfriend and James’ employee, so he had split loyalties. “He feels he should’ve done a better job protecting her so she didn’t have to go through any of that.”

“I still think we should do something,” Ally said, jutting her lower lip out. “They’re closing themselves off in their own little world these days. I don’t think it’s healthy.”

“That’s not for us to say, Ally,” Grady countered. “If they need help, they’ll ask for it. Until then, our only job is to be there for them and not make them feel worse. I don’t think everyone has been doing their job.” He cast pointed stares at Ally and Emma.

“I’m not trying to be mean,” Emma protested. “I just … she saved me and the baby. It hurts that she won’t hold him.”

“Yeah? I’m sure it hurts her, too,” Grady said. “She’s the one who was ready to sacrifice herself to save you and Avery. Don’t you think you owe her a chance to do things on her own timetable?”

Emma chafed under the suggestion. “I am not trying to force her to do anything.”

“You are, Emma,” Grady countered. “I know James keeps a lot of this to himself, but Mandy has nightmares … and she still refuses to go into the guesthouse. I had that entire thing updated with her in mind and she hasn’t seen it yet. If she can’t force herself to walk into the place where she took a man’s life, what do you expect her to do with Avery?”

“I … .” Emma broke off, biting her lower lip. “If she doesn’t get better, this will always be my fault. He was my father. She had to protect us from my family. That means I’m to blame.”

“Your father was to blame,” Grady corrected. “He was a disgusting piece of filth and we have to deal with the fallout. No one here did anything wrong. That doesn’t mean there’s not a lot of guilt flying around. We have to do our best to let James and Mandy deal with stuff on their own timetable.”

“They’re pretending nothing is wrong, though,” Ally argued.

“That’s how they’re dealing with it,” Grady said. “We weren’t there. We can’t say what’s right and what’s wrong. They have to do the best thing for themselves … and frankly, that’s none of our business.”

“Everything in this family is my business,” Ally shot back, affronted.

“Not this, angel,” Jake said, leaning forward so he could kiss her cheek. “This is their problem to bear. We can’t get involved.”

Ally didn’t look convinced. “I think they need to scream at each other and then make up like they usually do. That’s the way they’re going to get through this.”

“I agree,” Grady said. “They have to do it on their own, though. We can’t force it.”

“We could hide all of their clothes and lock them in a room together,” Ally suggested, causing Grady to chuckle.

“Give them a little more time, Ally,” Grady said. “They’re strong. They love each other. If things aren’t back to normal in two weeks I’ll let you implement your plan.”

“Fine,” Ally said, smiling for her nephew’s benefit. “At this rate he’s going to be a teenager before Mandy holds him, though, and that’s going to be awkward.”

J
AMES
found
Mandy sitting on the end of their bed, her face blank as she stared at the far wall. He watched her for a moment, studying her features. He’d never loved anything as much as he loved her. He didn’t know it was possible to love someone that much. Now she was floundering, even though she put on a brave face when she thought he was looking. She didn’t realize he was always looking, and when she let her smile slip, the pain reflected in the depths of her blue eyes was enough to bring him to his knees.

He would never forget the look on her face when he discovered her huddled next to Pritchard’s body behind the bar. He’d been convinced he was going to find her dead when he gathered the courage to glance behind the wooden edifice. He was profoundly thankful she was still alive. Now he needed to break the spell Pritchard’s death cast over their lives.

“Hey, baby.”

Mandy jolted at his voice, pasting a wide smile on her pretty features as she turned. “Hi. Is everyone still downstairs? I was just about to go back down.”

“They left,” James replied, moving to sit beside her. “I told them we needed time to get ready for that charity party tonight.”

“Oh.” Mandy’s expression was unreadable. “I wish you would’ve told me. I wanted to say goodbye.”

“We’re going to see everyone but Finn and Emma at the party,” James reminded her. “We’re all going.”

“That’s true. How come you sent them home early? Were you hoping for a quickie before the party?” This time when Mandy smiled there was genuine merriment behind her expression. The sadness permeating her ebbed each day, but there were still pockets James couldn’t reach.

“I was hoping for a quickie
during
the party,” James clarified, causing Mandy to chuckle. He slipped an arm over her shoulders. “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to. We bought the tickets two months ago. I’m sure we can come up with an excuse if you would rather stay here and play shark in the hot tub with me.”

Mandy snorted. “I promised Judge MacIntosh I would go,” she said, referring to her boss at the county courthouse. “This is his personal charity. It’s the one for abused children. We have to put in an appearance. I wouldn’t feel right if we didn’t.”

“Okay, how about we stay for dinner and one dance and then sneak out?” James suggested. “You’re known for having a weak stomach. We can say you’re sick and then I’ll cure you in the healing hot tub.”

Mandy leaned in, resting her chin on his chest as she gazed up into his thoughtful dark eyes. “I love you. I got really lucky when I found you.”

James tightened his arms around his wife, basking in her warmth and the emotion in her eyes. Grady kept insisting that he push Mandy to get over Pritchard’s death – and her part in it. He couldn’t do that. He would never purposely hurt her. It wasn’t in him. “I’m the lucky one, baby,” he said. “You gave me the life I never knew I wanted. Thanks to you I have everything.”

“Okay, you’ve convinced me,” Mandy said. “We’ll go to dinner, make sure the judge sees us, and then we’ll leave early. You, a bottle of wine, and the hot tub sound a lot more appealing than a stuffy party.”

“And you haven’t even seen my new shark impression yet,” James said, pressing his lips to Mandy’s so they could exchange a soft kiss. “It’s a good thing we’re already going to be naked when you see it. You’d rip my clothes off otherwise.”

Mandy giggled, the sound warming James’ heart. Her capacity to heal was almost as great as her capacity to love. “Now that’s something to look forward to.”