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“Harlow? Come with us, honey. This calls for food, wine, and some girl time,” smiled Kat. She nodded, standing to hug Nate.
“I love you, Nate. I thought all of this was crazy and sooner or later, you’d realize what a mistake you’d made. But you’ve stayed by my side no matter what horrible discoveries we’ve made. I love you.”
“I love you, too, baby. I’ll be along in a while. Go.” He kissed her again, nodding a thanks to his mother and grandmother. When they were gone from the room, he stared at the other men.
“I’m going to kill Spencer Judge.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Did you all hear that? It was pretty disturbing, right?” asked Harlow, staring at all the other women.
“Honey, we’ve all been privy to some pretty horrible shit around here,” said Gabi. Kennedy stood beside her, Lucinda in front of her. They’d had a large surgical case that morning involving a motor vehicle accident. Five teenagers with a desire to play chicken at top speeds. Unfortunately, none of them won. One died, the other four with critical injuries, now recovering.
“That only makes me sadder,” she frowned. “I’ll never understand people who do such horrible things.”
“That’s the business we’re in,” said Scout. “It’s what these men do. Stop horrible things from happening or continuing.”
“I know. I understand that, but all these amazing minds here and these amazing inventions, it’s a shame we can’t invent something to change the way people think and act.”
“That would be wonderful,” smiled Calla. “I also think it would be impossible.” Harlow stared out the window. There were a dozen children playing in the grove.
Pierre and Alistair had their heads together, no doubt making plans to take over the world. They giggled, laughing like friends do, and Harlow smiled. Connor and Forrest were chasing Walker, Leif, and Sebastian. The other children were playing board games as the cafeteria staff set out afternoon snacks.
It was a perfect scene. Harlow thought that if she could paint the scene, it would rival Norman Rockwell and his perfect Americana. This is what the world should look like. The laughter of children, the friendship of women, the camaraderie of men. Not evil. Not hate.
“It’s hard to understand, isn’t it, baby?” said Claudette. Everyone looked up, expecting to see Mama Irene. Her voice was exactly like her mother’s. The maternal gaze and knowing smile told them all she had some wisdom to throw their way.
“It is,” nodded Harlow.
“The world can be a terrible, cruel, evil place. It’s why Mama and Pops built this. They knew that my brothers, all of us really, had seen enough evil for one lifetime. To give them a safe, happy place to return to was the best gift they could give them.
“Evil doesn’t just go away, Harlow. You gotta beat it back. You gotta let folks know it won’t be tolerated. Not here. Not today. You make a stand and say, ‘it ain’t happenin’ on my watch.’”
Camille looked at her sister, Marie, raising a brow. It was eerie how much Claudette sounded like their mother. Everything was a mimic of Irene.
“I’m trying to beat it away, really I am,” she said.
“I know you are, baby. You just have to stay strong and know that those men over there will protect you and help you.”
“But who protects them?” she asked. “I took that bullet out of Nate, and I don’t want to do it again. He’s not invincible, but he thinks he is. They all think they are.”
“They don’t think that, honey,” said Jake, wrapping his big arm around his wife. “They’re different men. You know that. They’re trained better than anyone in the world. They prepare for any scenario, any course of action. When they go in somewhere, they already know their plan A, plan B, and so on. All the way to plan Z.”
“That’s a lot of plans,” murmured Harlow.
“It is. It takes a lot of time and a lot of training to get us all there. Folks think you can paint a picture of bravery or take a photo of it. It’s not something you can see,” said Jake. “Oh, sometimes you can see it. You see the firefighter rescuing the child from the burning building. Or the police officer talkin’ the distraught man or woman off the ledge. You can see that. But you can’t see the soul of a man. His heart. That’s where true bravery lies.”
“But bravery doesn’t stop a bullet, Jake. I can’t let anyone take a bullet for me,” she said, shaking her head.
“No, you can’t,” said Claudette, taking her hand. “All you can do is pray that all their hard work, all their training and experience is better than the bad guy they’re facing. Trust in that, Harlow. Trust in what they tell you, and you’ll be just fine.”
“Trust them, little one,” said the ghostly specter of Nathan. She laughed, shaking her head.
“You know, I just spent a whole lot of time proving to the world that I’m not insane. Seeing and talking to ghosts kind of goes against that diagnosis.” Nathan gave her a tiny smile and wink. “I’m glad you’re here. You’ve seen much in your life. Can you see the future? Can you see Nate in the future?”
The others all stared at Nathan, waiting patiently for the answer. They’d never thought to ask that question of any of them.
“I see many men and women on this property for generations to come. They will all be safe. Including your children that you will have.” She gasped, flattening her hand to her belly. “Not yet, little one. Not yet. But I cannot wait to see my great-great-grandchildren. Don’t make me wait too long.”
