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They walked down the steps in silence and headed toward the kitchen from where the warm scent of coffee was flowing. When they walked into the room nothing appeared out of place other than the presence of the massive man in jeans and a tight T-shirt sitting at the counter scowling at them over a mug.
“Morning,” Sean greeted, none too cheery.
“Good morning,” Mason replied.
Beside him Liberty made a grunt of distress and quickly untangled their hands and went to the coffee pot. She took the pot out and dumped it down the drain and followed it with the still steaming soggy grounds. She ran the garbage disposal six times. Not the best sign. Sean looked concerned, but Mason just shook his head and gave him a signal to ignore her.
He took his seat on the stool he usually occupied and watched as Libby scoured the counter and proceeded to brew a fresh pot of coffee. He could tell she was upset, but waited for her to work it all out.
When she opened the cabinet to pull down the mugs and found one already missing another sound of panic left her throat. Sean shot him another look of concern and then guiltily glanced down at his cup.
Fuck. Mason was going to have to do something. He couldn’t leave her like this and he doubted she would be over it by the time he left. He looked at the clock. Shit. Less than an hour and a half before he had to leave. Maybe he should just call out. But he left early on Sunday. He couldn’t keep doing this.
Sean cleared his throat as Libby proceeded to make breakfast. “Uh, look, I was thinking. Maybe it would be best if I headed out today. You guys have been great to put me up and I really appreciate it, but maybe—” Whatever he was going to say was cut off by the sound of a pan slamming down on the counter.
That was it. Mason looked at Sean. “Living room. Now.” To his wife he said, “Liberty, enough. I’ll deal with it. Remember your promise the other day. Those are my hands too. We’ll be back in ten minutes.”
He silently led Sean out of the kitchen, but they didn’t make it to the living room. Once in the foyer Sean turned on him. “Dude, what the fuck? What are you handling? Look, I’m sorry. Thank you for your hospitality, but I really can’t deal with this. Your wife’s great, but I obviously did something to piss her off. I’m just gonna go.”
Before he could turn away Mason grabbed a fistful of his shirt and dragged him into the living room and quietly shut the French doors. “You can’t go.”
“What? Why?”
“Because you need to stay for twelve more days or she’ll lose it.”
“What’s in twelve more days?”
“Nothing, it’s just how long she expects you to stay. Besides, I need to go to work in a little over an hour and I need you to stay with her. She’s having a bad day and I can’t call out again.”
Sean held up his palms. “What? No, dude, I don’t know enough about what she has. I gotta get out of here—”
Mason instantly became irate and defensive. He got into Sean’s face, hissing, “What she has is a good heart. It’s not like she’s a fucking leper so stop acting like you can catch it, you prick!” Realizing how badly he just lashed out, he quickly stepped back. “I’m sorry. This isn’t your fault.”
“You sure about that? Would this be happening if I’d never shown up?”
Good point. “It doesn’t matter. You’re here now, you might as well stay.”
“I can’t.”
Mason shook his head and let out an exasperated breath. “I guess some things don’t change. Things get a little too real and you go running. Fine. Go. I’ll deal with it.”
“Hey, that isn’t even a bit fair!”
Mason accused, “No? You show up uninvited and surprise my wife, barging in here when I’m not even home—”
“She invited me in!”
“What else was she supposed to do?” Mason shouted. “You told her we were old friends. Unlike you, my wife puts everyone else’s comfort first. After you give her some sob story about losing your father, a father you never even liked, I remind you, and how you traveled all this way just to reconnect with an old friend, well, she felt for you and only wanted to put you at ease. You took advantage of that and you know it!”
“That’s not true.”
“No? Then you tell me how it happened.”
“I stayed because I felt like she shouldn’t be alone. I can’t explain it. I was just going to go and she told me to wait. I knew you weren’t home and for some reason I couldn’t leave.”
“Never had a problem leaving before,” Mason said snidely.
