Contracted: America's Secret Warriors by Kerry Patton

Author:Kerry Patton
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Quiet Owl Books
Published: 2012-12-05T00:00:00+00:00

NINETEEN

Brannagh shoved the argument with her mom to the back of her mind. She’d gotten the job she wanted, and more important, Declan was home. Although she knew he wasn’t that excited about going to a wedding, she couldn’t desert Lisa. Besides, doing normal things, going to normal places, made her life feel more settled than it had in a long time.

The wedding was held in Cape May in south Jersey, and Brannagh wore an off-the-shoulder dress in sea-foam green. She’d bought it because Declan had once said the color set off her eyes. Today he’d told her she looked nice, but he hadn’t seemed to notice the dress or anything else about her. It was as if he was back, but he wasn’t back. Not in his head. He’d explained it once as a light switch in his mind, and they both needed to figure out a way to flip that switch from off to on.

With his beard and sharp, prominent cheekbones, he looked older than his years, and even more handsome than she remembered. During the ceremony, she reached over to hold his hand. Something was wrong.

She felt no surge of energy between them, no connection. It was as if she were holding the hand of a stranger.

Brannagh looked over at him. She understood the beard, with its glint of red and tiny streaks of gray. He had grown it to blend in with the locals back in his other life. That didn’t make her like it any more, though. Part of her wished he could just shave it and be like everyone else instead of looking like a freak of nature in the middle of summer.

They spoke little in the car on the way to the reception. Once they were there, mingling with the others in the Victorian gazebo, Brannagh was grateful that he took the glass of wine from a passing waiter. Maybe alcohol would loosen him up. Something he sure needed.

“It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?” She motioned to the ocean beyond the gazebo where they crowded with the rest of the guests.

“Chilly,” he said. “You need your wrap?” He seemed eager to return to the car.

“No, I’m fine,” she replied. His hazel eyes lacked their usual sparkle. They were softer, and admit it, she thought, sadder. “What about you?”

“Couldn’t be better.” The waiter passed by and Declan reached for another glass. He wasn’t much of a drinker. Maybe he was trying to close the distance between them as well.

“Come on.” She tugged on his arm. “I want to show you off to my friends.”

“Can’t we just talk?” he asked.

“Yes. That’s what people do at these things.”

Across the room, she spotted Daphne Wong and waved. Daph was easy to pick out in her short dress of tangerine silk. She met Brannagh’s gaze with a smile and made her way through the crowd. A friendly face. That was what she needed to bring Declan out of his shell.

They hugged and Daph said, “You look beautiful. Who’s the hot guy?”

That got a smile out of him.

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