Free Possession: Steel Brothers Saga: Book Three by Helen Hardt Page A

She didn’t look right.
    “Are you okay?” I asked.
    “Come on in,” she said.
    No answer to the “are you okay?” thing. “Marj…”
    She sighed. “Just a rough day around here.”
    “Yeah? Is everything okay at the ranch?”
    She bit her lower lip. “Yeah, just”—she sighed again—“a hard day. We have them sometimes. What are you doing here?”
    “I came to see Talon.”
    “He’s not home yet. I expect him anytime. You want a drink? I could sure use one.”
    “Sure. Whatever you’re having is fine.”
    “I’m having a stiff scotch.”
    That was so not like her. “Marj, what the hell is wrong? Have you eaten yet?”
    She shook her head. “Felicia just left. Dinner’s on the stove. You’re welcome to some.”
    “What about you?”
    “Not hungry.”
    Something was definitely wrong. “Spill it, Marj.”
    “I told you. I’m fine.”
    I gripped her shoulders. “Remember, best friends don’t have secrets.”
    She poured her scotch. “God, Jade, I wish I could tell you.”
    “You can.”
    The back door opened, and Talon walked in. Roger rushed from my feet over to him, panting.
    His eyes widened when he saw me. “Jade.”
    “Did you get my text?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Then why do you look so surprised to see me?”
    Marj jiggled her glass of scotch. The ice clinked against the glass. “That’s my cue to leave. Dinner is on the stove, guys.”
    “Marj? What in the hell?”
    “She’s okay,” Talon said.
    “No, she’s not. She’s not eating. She’s drinking scotch. She looks like hell. That’s not the Marj I know.”
    “Trust me, blue eyes. She’ll be fine. It was a rough day.”
    “Yeah, that’s what she said. Why didn’t you answer my text?”
    “I was at an appointment. And then I just wanted to get home.” He smiled, sort of. “How’s your mom doing?”
    “Better. And thank you for asking. She’s out of the coma. I wish I could spend more time with her, but I’m glad my dad is there.”
    “I’m sure that gives you peace of mind.”
    I nodded. “We need to talk, Talon.”
    “Did Marj say something to you?”
    “No. But she’s keeping something from me.”
    “I’m sure she’s not keeping anything from you.” He dropped his gaze to his feet, went to the refrigerator, and poured himself a glass of iced tea. “You want something?”
    “A glass of that tea would be great.”
    He poured me a glass. “So what do you want to talk about?”
    I cleared my throat. “Steve Dugan asked me out today.”
    Talon’s eyebrows shot up. “He what? ”
    “Simmer down. I told him no. In fact, I told him I had just gotten out of a long relationship and I wasn’t ready to date. But the fact of the matter is, I wanted to tell him about us. I just wasn’t sure I could. Can we…make our relationship public?”
    “That’s what you want to talk about?”
    “Yeah. What did you think I might want to talk about?”
    He sighed. “Me leaving you in Grand Junction the other night. Not meeting your dad.”
    I cracked a smile. “Well, yeah, that’s on my list as well. And it’s another one of the reasons why I wasn’t sure I could make our relationship public with Steve. I mean, if you say you’re not ready to meet my dad, what does that mean exactly?”
    Talon sat down at the table and gestured for me to do the same. “Blue eyes, you may not believe this, but I have never met a woman’s dad in my life.”
    “I’m sure you’ve met a lot of dads, Talon, and some of them probably had daughters.”
    He shook his head. “You know what I mean.”
    “Okay. So you’ve never met a girlfriend’s dad.”
    “I’ve never had a girlfriend.”
    I froze, silent. Beads of condensation emerged on my glass of iced tea. I didn’t know why I was surprised. He’d told me at the beginning that he used women, took what they offered and then went on. It would make sense he’d never had a relationship before.
    “Well, my dad is really easygoing. He’ll be great as a first dad.” And