Free Sanctuary (Family Justice Book 3) by Suzanne Halliday Page B

understanding.
    Out of the shower, she was toweling off when her mind simply went blank. It was a very odd feeling. There always seemed to be this endless loop of sadness and horror queued up and ready to go inside her head. It was why she kept busy.
    Clutching the damp towel to her chest, Heather straightened and looked at her reflection in the steamy mirror. Wiping away the condensation, she examined the face peering back at her. First glance told her everything looked as it usually did. And then she made eye contact and it hit her. Travis divulged during a family therapy session that he couldn’t handle seeing her dead eyes and said he hated Jason for that the most. For taking the light from her expression.
    But right here and right now, something different was happening around her eyes. They didn’t have that sad emptiness she was used to seeing. Unusually colored, her mom called the hue dark bronze because brown didn’t do justice to the soft golden accents, Heather’s eyes were more like mud these last years. Hollow. Dull. Lifeless.
    Only that wasn’t what she was seeing as she leaned closer for a better look. Instead of vacant, her expression was lighter. It seemed … spirited.
    She jerked upright. Spirited? Dismissing the thought, she went back to dressing. Ten minutes later, she was puttering around the kitchen when she heard Brody’s phone ring. Oh, no. He must have left it on the table after taking that damn selfie. Scurrying quickly into the living room, she peered at the screen and startled when a woman’s face, a beautiful redhead wearing a cowboy hat and the name ‘Meghan,’ flashed.
    Without the buffer of her emotional armor, she was unprepared for the mess of reactions slamming into her. Meghan? Who the fuck was Meghan? Oh, my god. Did he have a girlfriend somewhere else? It was New Year’s Eve, after all. Maybe this woman was calling him because they were in a relationship. I mean, shit. Her contact picture wasn’t some realtor’s headshot. Nope. What she was seeing was a photograph way more intimate than that.
    Intimate? Intimate? No, no, no, no, no. She couldn’t do this. Couldn’t have these questions and feelings where Brody was concerned. Her knee-jerk reaction of gloom, doom, and betrayal was uncalled for. He wasn’t Jason. And she might be more than a little confused at the moment about the way their unusual relationship was progressing, but that didn’t mean he was out to fuck with her. Fuck her … yes. Fuck with her? No. He wasn’t like that. And besides, her gut instinct told her that loners like Brody didn’t play games. He was the type who couldn’t be bothered.
    “Don’t go there,” she muttered. “Just don’t go there.” Her ex-husband saw to it she’d forever have this fucked-up reminder of the worst day of her life. The completely overwrought behavior she’d exhibited earlier and the manic frenzy she’d been in all day illustrated her point. But be that as it may, Brody’s unexpected presence, and the way he dealt with what he knew was a tough time for her, cut through her emotional armor like a chainsaw through whipped cream. Little bits and pieces flew everywhere, making for some interesting mayhem, but somehow, this guy found a way around her defenses. She owed him the benefit of the doubt because, after all, she was the one insisting on the no-strings-attached relationship.
    She was back in the kitchen, fussing with the flowers he’d brought and trying to arrange the ridiculous bouquet into some sort of acceptable presentation when she heard George pawing at the door. Determined to act normal, the smile that she’d forced became a real one when she found Brody and her dog wrestling like kids out in the hallway.
    “What are you doing?” She chuckled. Both heads popped up and stared at her when she spoke. Both blinked at the same time. Brody with his bright bluish eyes and George with his clear brown, happy puppy eyes.
    Jumping off Brody, who’d been