She climbed the steps and brushed those thoughts away as she stopped in front of the massive wooden front door. The noise inside hadn't stopped, but instead of two masculine voices she heard only one now. The rage and bitterness coming from inside the house made the hair on the back of her neck prickle. Taking a deep breath, with a prayer that she had the strength to see this through, she knocked three times loudly before stepping back quickly.
Julie waited patiently, but no one came to the door. Again she raised her hand, but instead of knocking politely she hammered the door with her fist, in hopes of being heard over the yelling. On the third swing of her hand, the door opened and her fist landed on a solid chest.
Surprised, Julie yanked her hand to her own chest as her eyes rose, meeting the cold stare of the oldest Marshall brother, Clay. His eyes were narrowed as he glared down at her, his mouth slashed in an angry scowl.
"What?" His voice boomed, making her jump back.
"I, ah…." Julie cleared her throat, reached deep inside for any courage she could find, and cleared her throat again. "I'm, ah… Julie Daniels. I have an appointment with you and your brother, Bo."
Recognition flickered across his face as he stared at her, and it softened slightly. Raising his large hand, he ran it through his raven-black hair, his light blue eyes closing for a second. "I'm sorry, Ms. Daniels." His deep voice rumbled from his chest. "It's been a rough morning. I'm glad you're here. Please come in."
Julie passed him as he stepped aside, allowing her into his home. She glanced around briefly before turning toward Clay. "I'm sorry about your brother," Julie said keeping her voice low, knowing that one of the male voices she'd heard shouting was the younger brother, Bo. "How's he—"
"Not good," he replied, his eyes flickering toward the steps leading upstairs. Turning, he led her into another room and shut the door.
"Have a seat." He nodded toward two chairs sitting in front of a large desk cluttered with files, papers, and beer bottles. Clay didn't walk around to sit behind the desk; instead, he cocked his hip on the edge of the desk as he stared down at her. "He is refusing any help at all. I don't know the last time he was out of his room. He just lies in bed."
Nodding, Julie sighed. "That is typical and not unexpected," she replied, happy to be on a subject she knew something about. Clay Marshall had always made her nervous and the only thing she had ever said to him was "hi" as they passed in the halls of Woodland High, and that was maybe twice in the two years they attended high school together. He had been a junior when she was a freshman. "How long has his sight been completely gone?"
Clay's frown deepened as he stared down at her. "Over a month now."
"My sister said he has Retinitis Pigmentosa, which is rare. And twenty-five is pretty young for it to advance to full blindness." Julie fidgeted in her chair. She wished she hadn't sat down at all. His probing stare was making her antsy. She dealt better with the blind than she did with the seeing, especially if the one seeing was Clay Marshall. "Is there anyone or do you know of anyone else in the family who had Retinitis Pigmentosa?"
"Not that we know of." Clay shook his head. "Listen, we have been over all of this with too many doctors to count. I just need to know if you can help him. Dr. Phillips said that you're the best and will have him living a normal life in no time."
Julie was always uncomfortable when someone recommended her with the words "living a normal life in no time." It wasn't that easy and it gave families false hope. "Guess it's time to see Bo and find out." She hoped she gave the man wanting his brother back a confident enough smile.
"Let me go make sure he's calmed down first and break the news that you're here." Clay straightened from the desk, towering over her.
"Is that what all the yelling was about, me coming here?" Might as well know for sure what she was walking into.
"As I said, he refuses help." A small tinge of defeat edged Clay's words.
"And as I said, that's typical, so I think me meeting him now is important." Julie's shy persona made a quick exit as her work mode kicked in. She had worked with the blind for many years and she was damn good at it, but each case was unique. "There are things I'm going to do that you won't understand, but I need you to promise not to interfere."
"If you can help my brother be the man he was before, then I don't care if you hit him over the head with a two-by-four," Clay replied, his face serious.
"Hopefully it won't come to that, but good to know," Julie said, and waited for Clay to lead the way to his brother.
This was always the make-or-break point with the newly blind. They took their anger and bitterness out on anyone or anything in their path. She tried not to stare at Clay's broad back and ass as he led her up the stairs. He had always been good-looking, and he'd definitely turned out to be one damn handsome man. Everything about him was masculine, even his smell. She actually took a long sniff, rolling her eyes in pleasure. God, she was pathetic. She'd always had a small crush on Clay Marshall, but knew they came from opposite worlds, and wasn't
that
depressing as hell.
"Bo." Clay knocked on the closed door. "You dressed?"
"Go fuck yourself, asshole." The words were shouted with a bitterness Julie had heard more times than she cared to count. Clay looked back at her in apology, but Julie just raised her eyebrows at him.
Stepping up beside Clay, Julie placed her hand on his arm, easing her way in front of him. "If you want your brother back, you need to trust me."
Clay stared down at her for a second before nodding as he moved completely out of the way. Julie nodded back before facing the door, and with the turn of the knob her whole demeanor changed. It was go time. She was no longer nervous Julie Daniels. She was a force to be reckoned with, because her life's goal was to help the blind, and nothing got in her way of doing just that.
"Hello, Bo." Julie walked into the dark bedroom, her eyes purposely averted from where she thought Bo might be, just in case he wasn't dressed.
"Who the fuck are you?" Bo growled from his bed.
"Bo…," Clay warned, but Julie turned and shook her head at him, warning him to shut the hell up.
"I'm Julie, Julie Daniels. If you're not dressed, you better cover up." She walked over as if she owned the place and opened the shades, sending bright sunlight streaming through the room, which was a total disaster area. Clothes, dirty plates, and God knew what else littered the room. Her eyes found Bo and she was taken aback. Bo Marshall had been one of the most handsome boys in Woodland High, next to his older brother, but now looking at him she could honestly say if she passed him on the street she wouldn't have known him.
His hair, as dark as his brother's, was long and greasy. His beard was shaggy and knotted with what looked like dried food. Even though she hadn't seen him much since high school, she could tell he had lost a massive amount of weight by the way the skin sagged on his nearly naked body, but it was his dark sunken eyes that did her in. It didn't matter what he did to her in his anger and bitterness, there was a silent cry for help settled deep in his gaze. It was at that moment she knew that Bo Marshall would be the man he once was, because when Julie saw that look in people's eyes, she was relentless.
"Well Julie, Julie Daniels…." Bo's tone was way past sarcastic; it was plain hateful. "Get the fuck out of my room."
"Make me," Julie replied, placing her hands on her hips in a pose of rebellion, as if he could see her. When Bo remained quiet, Julie nodded. "That's what I thought."
"Clay." Bo's voice was steady, but held a certain edge.
"Yeah?" Clay replied, his eyes on Julie with a hint of respect.
"Get her the hell out of my room before I do something…." Bo's voice was beginning to rise.
"What are you going to do, Bo?" Julie shook her head at Clay before Clay had a chance to say anything. "From what I understand, you haven't been out of this room. Just lying around feeling sorry for yourself."
Clay's eyebrows shooting up into his hairline clearly indicated she'd just shocked the hell out of him, and he didn't seem very pleased with her approach. Most families and loved ones weren't happy with this approach, but it was something that had to be done when one had given up on life. She knew the Marshalls were fighters, and all she had to do was light a fire under his ass. It wasn't going to be easy, but her job never was and that's what she loved about it.
"You don't know shit!" He spat her way as he reached toward the table next to his bed. After knocking stuff over, he finally grabbed a whiskey bottle. "Get the fuck out of here, bitch."
Again Julie had to warn Clay, this time with a glare, as he started to say something to his brother. "I am leaving for just a bit, but not because you ordered it. I'm going to fix you something to eat, because you look like crap and need to put on some weight. Can't have you walking around weak and falling all over the place."
Call it a sixth sense or been there, done that, but she knew the whiskey bottle was going to be heading her way so she was ready when he let it sail across the room. Expertly, she dodged the flying golden missile, which then smashed against the wall behind her. She had to admit that was pretty adequate aim, but she'd be damned if she told him that.
Clay headed toward his brother, his face a mask of rage, but Julie headed him off. "Stop." She mouthed the words, both her hands on his chest pushing him or at least trying to push him backwards out of the room. "Looks like we need to work on your aim also, Bo, because you missed by a mile. I'll be back."
"I hate you, you bitch." Bo's words weren't laced with rage this time. No, this time he sounded like a young man who had just lost everything he knew of life and was totally clueless about what to do. That she understood. That was what she fought for, and what she would conquer for those whose souls were temporarily lost.
"Well, Bo, I really hate to hear that because—" Julie grunted as she was still pushing Clay out the door. "—it's only just begun. If you hate me now, just wait until tomorrow. I'm not going anywhere, so you just think on that a bit and get used to the idea." And with that she shut the door quietly behind her then glared up at Clay.
"This isn't going to work." Clay shook his head, still glaring at the door.
"If you don't stay out of my way, you're right… this won't work." Julie stared up at him, finally removing her hands from his warm tight chest. Her hands actually tingled with an itchy feeling and she briefly wondered if she was allergic to the man. What in the hell was that feeling?
"What do you mean, stay out of your way?" Clay finally looked down at her. "Are you saying this not working would be
my
fault?"
"Absolutely." Julie nodded, never more serious in her life. Most of the time the hardest part of her job was teaching the families and loved ones, not the blind individual.
"He is too dangerous to be around. Did you not see the whiskey bottle heading straight for your face?" Clay looked amazed and frustrated at the same time.
"Of course I did… I ducked." Julie snorted. "Listen, this is going to get much harder. He is going to curse me, throw things at me, try everything in his power to make me leave, but let me tell you he has never met anyone like me. I take my job seriously, Mr. Marshall, and I promise you when I'm done you will have your brother back, but you have to let me do my job."
Clay hesitated. He seemed to fight an inner struggle, and it was quite fascinating to watch. "I will be close by, but I will let you do your job without any interference," Clay finally agreed, then added, "I just want you to know that isn't Bo in there. He would never do anything to hurt a lady."
"Mr. Marshall, I'm no lady." Julie actually laughed. "And I'll probably be proving that really soon. I can and will probably out-curse your brother before this is done and over with."
"It's Clay, not Mr. Marshall." He hesitantly smiled down at her. "And that I will have to see."
"And it's Julie, not Ms. Daniels." She nodded, increasingly uncomfortable under his gaze. "Now, can you show me where the kitchen is? I need to make him something to eat. I don't want to leave him without my cheery disposition too long."
When Clay walked past her and down the hall to the steps, Julie frowned, hoping she could deliver everything she'd just promised. As her eyes automatically roamed down Clay's body, she hoped she could do it and keep her heart intact.
Chapter Two
Julie followed Clay into a kitchen that anyone who loved to cook would die for. Her eyes automatically went to the huge gas stove and she sighed. She loved to cook. Knowing she was probably gaping like an idiot, she glanced at Clay, who stood quietly watching her.
"Beautiful kitchen." She nodded, then closed her mouth, feeling so out of place she wanted to run. Instead, she stood firm like she always did. "What does your brother like to eat?"
Clay didn't say anything for a few seconds, but then moved toward the beautiful stainless steel double-door refrigerator with a bottom drawer freezer. Yeah, she needed to get a life.
"I have someone come in and cook daily." Clay pulled out a covered plate, taking the foil off it before placing it in the microwave. While the food was being nuked, Clay grabbed a bed tray and set it on the island, which came complete with a sink.