Always and Forever (24 page)

Every bone
and muscle in Pat’s body protested. But those days she’d been gone, he’d vowed to do what was best for his wife to get better. He glanced at the kids—they were open mouthed and looked to him.

He said gently, “Right now we have to do what’s best for Mom, guys.”

Kathleen turned and hugged Sinead, whose expression was so sad, Pat could barely stand to look at him. Sean hung his head. Isabella,
sensing the upset, began to cry.

Brie held her mother’s hand. “I know you think that might be better, Mom.”

Please let me handle this right.

“But I have to be with Patrick and my children. It’s what I need now.”

Mariana looked to Joseph. Her father said, “All right. But can we visit frequently?”

Relief swamped Pat to the point that he was only able to nod. Then, suddenly, he
was filled with hope that they would be able to move past this horrible ordeal.

The next morning, Pat’s parents came to the hospital first. Ma rushed to Brie and hugged her. Pa went to Pat and embraced him. “You okay, son?”

“I am now.” He’d stayed all night. The nurses had heard about Brie’s ordeal and brought in a cot so Pat didn’t have to sleep in the lounger. He’d nudged
it close to Brie’s bed and held her hand as they both slept.

“We love you, Brie,” Ma told her. “We’ll help you in any way we can.”

“I know, Mama. I know.”

His ma came to him, put her hand at his neck and tugged him until his forehead met hers. “You are the strongest man I know, son. I’m so proud of how you handled this.”

Thinking of his tumultuous relationship with Brie, Pat shook
his head. “I gotta treat her better,” he whispered to his ma. “I’ve been so stupid.”

“Every husband and wife make mistakes, son.” She captured his gaze. “There’s time to fix anything you think you did wrong, now that she’s back safe.”

“I know. And I will.”

Accompanied by two Secret Service agents, Bailey came in next. She was heading back to D.C. today, but she’d told Pat she had to
see her sister-in-law before she flew out in an hour.

“Bay? You came, too?”

When Bailey hugged Brie, she said, “Of course, I did.”

“She more than came,” Pat told his wife. He was rested today, felt relaxed, but he knew he wouldn’t get over this incident for a very long time. He explained to Brie about Clay’s involvement.

“Wow, all those resources. Tell him thanks.”

“He’ll call
when he can. Right now he’s trying to make peace in Turkey.”

Soon, Aidan barged in. “I couldn’t wait any longer.” Aidan went to Brie. His eyes clouded and he couldn’t say anything.

C.J. hugged her extra-long. “Damn, I’m a Secret Service agent and I couldn’t find you.”

“Because the FBI was working against you, lass.” Pat explained what had gone down in the end.

Aidan hugged him,
too. “You were amazing, bro. A good role model for me. For all of us.”

Liam’s and Sophie’s faces brightened when they saw Brie.

“Liam was the one who busted the thing open,” Pat told his wife. “He was the first to suspect Carson.”

Brie frowned. “Why, Liam?”

“Because he always seemed off to me. I suspected Gale, too, but he wasn’t the one.”

Pat recognized the explanation was
weak. Jack Masters had told Pat that Liam knew about Isabella and he obviously didn’t want to let on to them that he did. They’d have to talk soon, but not now.

When Dylan and Rachel entered the room, Dylan grinned at Brie. “Hey, there she is.” He tried to keep his tone light. “We were worried, girl.”

“I was, too.” She turned to Rachel. “How are you feeling?”

Rachel froze. “I…”

“Tell her the truth,” Pat said. “She needs to know she can trust us.”

Gently, Rachel took Brie’s hand. “I had a miscarriage right before you were taken.”

Brie’s gaze flew to Pat’s.

“That’s where I was honey, the night before you were kidnapped.”

“Rachel, I’m so sorry.”

“We are, too. But we’re dealing.”

To change the subject, they told her about Rachel’s broadcast. The woman
had risen to the occasion, and Pat respected and admired her for it.

Pat looked at all his family, lined up around the perimeter of the room, and thanked his stars he hadn’t been alone in this.

When they’d left, he checked his watch. The visits had lasted an hour.

A nurse bustled in and smiled. “That’s quite a clan.” She winked at Pat. “And wow, the First Lady. We’ll be talking about
that around here for weeks.”

Brie frowned at the tray.

“Just a small dose of medicine.” The nurse cocked her head. “You only need a few, Mrs. O’Neil, but it’s dangerous to your health to come down from three days of drugs without help.”

Brie bit her lip. But she said, “I know. I just hate to have to have any more of that in my system.”

The nurse spoke matter-of-factly and made
quick work with the injection. “It’ll be over soon.”

The shot and the company made Brie drowsy. After Pat closed the door, he climbed on the bed and under the covers with her. She nuzzled back against him and the weight of her, the warmth of her body made him sigh. “There, this is more like it. Go to sleep,
a ghrá
. I’ll just hold you.”

“I love you, Pat.”

“I love you, too.”

“Sing
me to sleep, like you used to do the kids.”

“All right. Anything you want.”

And Pat began to sing.

Brie came home two days after they’d found her imprisoned in Jonathan Forbes’s mansion. She’d be free of drugs today and was looking forward to it. Now she lay in bed, enjoying the sun that peeked in through the skylight and the familiar scents of her own space. Even
though she’d been out of those awful rooms and in the hospital seventy-two hours, everything seemed bigger, brighter and more pleasant to her.

Sinead came to the door. She’d spent time alone with each of the kids, but her oldest was still very raw. “Hey, Mom. Need anything?”

Shaking her head, she patted the mattress. “Come get on my bed, like you used to when you were little.”

He didn’t
object, just crossed to her and kicked off his shoes. Instead of snuggling in to her, though, he circled his arm around her and tugged her close. Brie noted how hard and wide his chest was. Her son was a man. “So, tell me the truth,” she said mischievously.

“About what?”

“About Laurie. Dad said she was here almost the whole time.”

“Yeah, she helped me deal with your kidnapping.”

“You never broke up with her, did you?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“When your dad told me how much time and support she’d given to you, I put the pieces together. You only pretended to split so we’d stop bugging you about being too young to get serious.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry I lied to you.” He choked on the last words.

Drawing back, Brie looked up at him. His eyes were wet. “Honey, no big
deal.”

“I was so worried, Mom. I love you so much. If you really want us to break up, I’ll do it this time.”

“No, I don’t want that. You’re a man now, and she’s a young woman. You can make your own decisions.” She waited. “Just use protection, and I’ll be happy.”

His face reddened. And for the first time in a long while, Brie laughed.

Later that day, she recounted the conversation
to Pat.

“Yeah, I pretty much figured that out, too. But I didn’t wanna upset you with it.”

“I’m not upset. First of all, he has a right to lead his own life. Second, we all need to live each day better. They should have the same opportunity to do that as us.”

“You’re right.”

“So, when are you going back to work?”

“Not for a while. Sweeney’s son, Joey, who pitched in while I
was gone, can cover me. I’m stayin’ home with you.”

She smiled. “Hmm. Good.”

He nodded to the TV. “We’re gonna do some binge watching, baby.”

“I loved doing that with
Lost
. But we’ve been so busy…”

“Too busy. We should do simple things more.” He turned on the TV. They scrolled through the shows and when
Friday Night Lights
came up, Pat said, “Hey, here’s one.”

Brie frowned.
“No way. It’s all about football. Keep going.” Pat sighed but kept surfing. “Stop. That one.”

“House of Cards?
I think that’ll be over my head.”

“Don’t be silly. You’re a smart man. And besides, it’ll be relevant to Bailey.”

“Okay, how about if we alternate?”

“That’s a good compromise.” She touched his shoulder. “We’ll do more of that, Pat, I promise.”

He kissed her nose. “I
promise, too.”

Just as he downloaded
House of Cards
, the phone rang. Pat picked it up. “Yeah, sure. She can talk.” He smiled at his wife. “The president of the United States wants to wish you well.”

She laughed. “Never a dull moment around here.”

After Clay clicked off the cell phone the Secret Service had lent him, he turned to Bailey in the limo. “She seems good.”

Dressed in the slinky blue sheath she’d worn to a fund-raiser a while ago, Bailey thought about her sister-in-law. “She’s a strong woman.”

He sighed. “This bothers me a lot, honey.”

“Me, too.” She watched him. He looked stunning, as usual, in a raven black tux and snowy white shirt, but his scowl alerted her. “Her welfare isn’t what you mean, is it?”

“Of course that’s the most important
thing in all this. But what happened to her brings home other things that are important.”

She glanced toward the glass separating them from the agents, glad for its privacy. Clay needed to talk. She moved closer so their shoulders touched. His spicy scent rose up to her. “What is it, Clay?”

“I had to go to Turkey during Brie’s disappearance when what I wanted was to be with you and Pat.”
He shook his head. “But there’s more. Rory hates living in a fishbowl.” He leaned in close. “And you do, too. Don’t deny it.”

“I’m not going to deny it. But I’ll do anything for you.”

His expression became even more grim.

“What are you thinking, Clay?”

“I want to spend more time with my wife and kids. I want to go out to dinner, without all this fanfare.” He gestured to the limo
that would take them to their favorite restaurant, which had been vetted beforehand. Their romantic night would be supervised by several agents.

“We’ll always have fanfare, even when we leave the White House.”

“I know. But it would be a lot less than this.” He stared out the window as the streets of D.C. scrolled by. “I guess Brie’s experience is making me reevaluate things.”

“That’s
okay, love. It’s good when tragedy makes you think about things. We can reevaluate together.”

Pat was sound asleep when he heard the scream. “No, no, leave me alone. No, don’t do this to me.”

He rolled over and moved in close to his wife. “Brie, wake up. You’re havin’ a bad dream.” Through the windows, moonlight sparkled off her tears. He grasped her shoulders. “Honey,
wake up.”

She hit him, twice, until he grabbed her wrists. “Brie, baby.” He shook her harder. “Wake up.”

It took a few more seconds, but finally she came out of the dream. Her eyes flew open. “What, what…?” She sank back into the pillows. “Oh.”

He reached to switch on the lamp on her night table.

“No, don’t turn it on. Just hold me.”

“Whatever you want.” Pat situated himself
and drew her to his chest. He kissed her hair, loving its flowery scent, totally aware of how he could have lost her. “You know, it’s normal to have these dreams after a trauma.”

He’d had nightmares when she wouldn’t marry him.

“Is it? I didn’t have any in the hospital.”

“Delayed reaction. Want to tell me what about the abduction?”

He felt her body stiffen. And Pat let into his
consciousness what he’d been keeping at bay, intentionally, since they’d found her. What had happened to Brie in that house? Carson had had angry scratches on his face. How did he get them? And even Harlan had been a danger to her. He was the kind of man who could be bribed to snatch her, so what else could he have done to her?

“I…I…” She burrowed into him. “If I do, I’ll remember it all.”

He waited a beat. “Sometimes, you gotta get the demons out in the open to get rid of them.”

“When did you get so philosophical?”

“When I had hours to think about us. You were right. I don’t share enough. I don’t confide in you enough. I’m gonna be better. And right now maybe you need to open up.”

“I can’t talk about it yet, Pat.”

“Okay. Then think about this. There are counselors
for people who’ve been kidnapped. Liam looked it up on the Internet. He found one in the city with great credentials. A woman. I think you should call her.”

“I’ll consider that.” Again she settled in closer. “Can we go back to sleep now?”

“Uh-huh. Close your eyes and think about something nice.”

“I’ll think about you and the kids.”

“Music to my ears, babe.”

A couple of days later, with Sinead at his side, Pat walked into the pub. It seemed as if he’d been away for a long time. Instantly, he was soothed by the place itself. Scents of cooking meat and the quiet sounds of the bar refrigerator and the air conditioner comforted his troubled soul. Since the pub was closed between lunch and dinner, he found his three brothers at a table. Liam and Aidan had
their arms propped up at right angles and their hands clasped. “Hey, you arm wrestlin’ without me?”

Aidan’s smile was broad when he looked over. “Good to see you here, buddy.”

Liam took advantage of his distraction and slammed Aidan’s arm down on the table.

“Hey, no fair.”

Liam repeated the sentence in a singsong voice. “You sound like a kid again.” He glanced at Pat. “Now, you’re
a sight for sore eyes.”

“Hell,” Dylan put in. “He’ll just start bossing us around again.” But he toasted Pat with his coffee cup. “Welcome back, bro.”

After they greeted Sinead, his son asked, “Uncle Liam, can I get some food? I’m starved.”

“Hogan’s in the back eating,” Dylan told him. “Go join him.”