Free Misha: Lanning's Leap by Kathi S. Barton Page A

she’s not insane.
    Carter found himself a hotel for the night. For whatever reason , he simply didn’t want to go home just yet. As he lay there on the bed with the lights off, he thought of what he should do. It was time, he realized, past time for him to move into his own place. He was going to start looking as soon as he got up tomorrow. Maybe he’d take that job out west. It was time for some changes.

Chapter 6
     
    Misha sat in the waiting room so that he could be close when things went wrong. He had no doubt that they would, either. His mom was pissed at him. Rider, too, but he had a good reason. And Carter was refusing to speak to him. He had too much on his plate right now to be fucking around with their emotions when his entire life hung in the balance.
    “ The list,” as it had come to be called, was making him look like the bad guy. He wanted to blame Hannah for it, but it was his list. She’d only asked for it. Misha actually had thought it was a reasonable explanation of what he expected. Contrary to their beliefs, he did want the same list from her, and he would take each and every one of her expectations under consideration. To his way of thinking, he was the one who had to make the most changes in his life. But he had to admit, he was enjoying having his own home.
    His mom was mad at him because of her idea of what he should have said to Hannah. He’d listed things like keeping herself neat and bathing daily. How the hell was he supposed to know that a woman would take offense to that? If she didn’t want to know, she shouldn’t have asked. He crossed those two things off, but he did leave in that she was to keep out of his bedroom unless he wanted to have sex. To him, that was a good way to convey that this was a marriage only to benefit them both and nothing more. She’d get a house and a roof over her head, and he’d not have to worry about finding a bed partner when he wanted sex. He didn’t need it that often anyway.
    The other things, like she’d have to ask him for expenses over five hundred dollars, was just smart. He didn’t want to be broke within a few months of them getting married. And he was going to marry her.
    “I should have beaten you more.” He was shocked that his mom said that to him. “Maybe then you’d be a great deal nicer when things didn’t go your way.”
    He didn’t understand that and left her in the kitchen. But Rider he’d hit, several times before he finally felt like he’d made his point. He was not going to put her name on anything that he had no control over. There was just no point in having her name on the house, the cars that he worked hard to get, or the insurance policy. What if she had another episode and he had to have her committed? That had earned him a black eye, three cracked ribs, and a bloodied lip. Rider wasn’t in any better shape, but now he wouldn’t answer his calls when he needed him.
    And Carter was leaving them. Misha thought of the phone call he’d gotten before leaving his new house that morning. One of his buddies from college, who worked as a private investigator, had called to tell him he was glad there weren’t going to be any hard feelings about Carter coming to work for him. Misha was confused at first, then Scott had told him that Carter was starting to work for him the following Monday.
    “I t was my understanding that he had your blessing on this.” Misha looked at the envelope that he’d found on his kitchen table when he’d gotten downstairs that morning. Had he opened it, like it told him to do immediately, he might not have been blindsided. As it was, he had been clueless until he got off the phone. Not only was Carter leaving Lanning Search and Rescue, but he was moving to the other end of the United States. His mom was, of course, blaming Misha for that decision as well.
    “Mr. Lanning?” Misha looked up at the pretty nurse. “Miss Oliver would like a quick word with you before they begin. She said that