“What?” Liam asked his brother, eyes wide with innocence. “That’s the way it always worked, wasn’t it? Mari Itani comes around, and Marc suddenly has to double anything he’s doing…dive twice as high, swim twice as fast, flirt twice as much…”
“Tackle his brother twice as hard,” Marc muttered under his breath as he came the rest of the way up the stairs.
“Man,” Brendan muttered in awe as he looked at Mari. “You should come with us next time, Mari.”
Colleen snorted, but Marc seemed to have forgotten Liam’s teasing as he leaned against the rail, his arms loosely crossed, his stare on Mari.
“What are you doing here?”
“Catching up,” Mari replied, nodding toward Colleen.
Marc nodded slowly, his laserlike gaze never wavering from her. “You never called me today.”
“Oh…” She furtively glanced over at Colleen and Liam, suddenly feeling like she and Marc were in a spotlight on a stage. “I…I forgot.”
His eyebrows arched. “Not about dinner, too, I hope.”
“No,” she replied, trying to be nonchalant. It was difficult with not only Liam and Colleen, but Brendan watching their exchange with apparent interest. Mari wondered if Brendan thought his uncle was going to do a double somersault from the porch to the front yard. “I went shopping earlier and have some salmon marinating in the fridge.”
Liam clapped his hands together loudly. “Great. I love salmon.”
“Shut up, Liam,” Colleen said without heat.
Mari was staring at Marc and laughing when a vehicle pulled into the drive. She recognized Brigit behind the wheel and hopped up from her sitting position like she was on springs. She’d been enjoying herself so much she’d forgotten the time.
“I should be going,” she said as she hurried toward the stairs.
Both Colleen and Marc called out to her. Ignoring them, she rushed down the steps. She realized she’d stood up too abruptly. It seemed as if she was walking underwater as she made her way down the sidewalk. Her sense of unreality only deepened when she heard a man’s voice coming from down the street.
She knew that voice.
She peered at her house. Wearing jeans and a dark red T-shirt, her brother Ryan stood next to a blue car. He stared back. Even at this distance, she sensed his surprise…his shock. Her feet slowed. Her vision blurred. Oh no…not again…not now, she thought in dazed irritation, recognizing the symptoms from this morning in Dr. Hardy’s office.
Suddenly, a pair of arms encircled her from the back. Somehow, despite her disorientation, she knew it was Marc. She didn’t resist when he took most of her weight and leaned her body back against the length of him.
“It’s okay, Mari. I’ve got you. Take a some nice, easy breaths,” Marc’s voice rumbled near her ear.
She did what he said and soon the green canopy of the giant sycamore tree overhead resolved into separate, rustling leaves.
“I’m okay,” she murmured. She tried to straighten and resume her flight from the Kavanaugh house. Marc allowed her to take her weight back on her feet, but he refused to move the circle of his arms from around her waist. In her new, upright position, she could see directly in front of her.
What she saw made her wish she’d passed out.
Brigit Kavanaugh stood to her right, her face pale and stony as she stared at them. To the left, her brother Ryan stalked down the sidewalk toward the scene. Despite her disorientation, she was so happy to see him. He was safe. Ryan was home. She gave a soft moan when she saw Eric Reyes jog up behind Ryan. She realized it was Eric’s car her brother had stood next to a moment ago.
“Ryan? What are you doing here?” she asked through numb lips. She still wasn’t entirely convinced she wasn’t hallucinating.
Her brother’s mouth was clamped tight in a straight line.
“I got sent home early,” Ryan said stiffly. “I’ll explain later. Let’s get you home.”
Out of the corner of her vision, she saw Brigit walk past them. Most of her attention was on her brother’s fixed, furious expression as he looked over Mari’s shoulder. She felt Marc’s arms stiffen around her waist when Ryan reached toward her.
“Come on, Mari,” Ryan said, never removing his gaze from the man who held her.
“Let go of her this instant, Marc. I don’t want them here,” Mari heard Brigit say behind them.
“You heard her,” Ryan said in such a soft, deadly tone that Mari doubted anyone else heard him.