Let's Move On (The New Pioneers Book 4)

by Deborah Nam-Krane

  "Right. And you need a ride—home. Ahem." She walked over to pick up his bag, but he grabbed it before she could and casually placed it on his uninjured shoulder.

  He opened the door. "After you."

  She walked behind him until they were in the elevator, looking down or to the side the whole time. Then someone came into the elevator. She sighed with relief.

  "So," she managed. "If you can carry your bag, what did you need me here for?"

  "Someone has to drive me."

  She opened her hands. "I didn’t bring my car."

  He shrugged. "Then someone has to keep me company on the way home, so I don’t start talking to myself in the cab."

  "You could talk to the cab driver. I have all kinds of conversations with a lot of them."

  "Yeah, but they might be a little—what’s the word—creeped out by me. I’ve been told I have that effect on people."

  "Yeah," she said, looking away again. "Imagine that."

  She stood on the curb with him, waiting for a cab. She swayed back and forth on her heels, then absently swung her arms. He looked down at her. "Something wrong? You seem a little nervous about something."

  "I…what? What would I have to be nervous about?" Damn. She was turning pink.

  He kept smiling. "Oh, I can’t think of anything."

  "Good," she said softly.

  At last, a cab came to them. Michael opened the door before she could. "Please, I insist." She nodded, getting in. He gave the address as they drove away.

  She alternated between looking down at her feet and then looking at him. His smile only got broader. He was much more handsome when he smiled. But did he have to smile like that?

  The cab stopped. Miranda handed the driver some cash. Michael took her hand. "We should get out," he said softly.

  She blinked. "Right!" She jumped out of the cab and opened the door for him, but he still wouldn’t let her take the bag.

  "Okay, great," she said once they were on the curb. "You’re home now, and I really need to get back to work. So I’ll call you tonight—I mean, tomorrow—just to make sure—"

  "I’m actually not home yet."

  "It’s right there," she said, pointing to the house by her side.

  "But I have to be inside."

  She blinked. "You opened all the other doors just fine."

  "I did," he said softly. "But this one needs a key, and I can’t use my arm that well. For keys."

  "Okay," Miranda said quietly.

  Michael took the keys out of his pocket and handed them to her. Miranda turned and walked to the door. She hadn’t used a key for the door since they’d both lived here. But that was a while ago.

  She opened the door and handed him the keys. "So I’ll call you—next week. But do give Richard a call sometime today so he knows you’re okay."

  "Really?" he said, tossing his bag into the house. "You’re satisfied with my well-being?"

  "As satisfied as I ever am. You’re obviously well enough to play all the little games you like so much."

  "I must be doing something right if I’ve gotten you this mad."

  "You’ve always been good at that."

  He shook his head. "I don’t remember you being too angry with me when we were married."

  "I wasn’t," she heard herself say.

  He touched her arm. "You’re cold," he said, not taking his eyes off of her. "I can feel the goose bumps under your shirt."

  "I didn’t think I’d need my coat."

  "So come inside." He wet his lips. "So I can warm you up."

  "No," she said. "Not like that." He closed his eyes for a moment. "You have to ask me." She touched his face. "You have to tell me."

  "Please come inside," he said. "I’ve missed you."

  "I’ve missed you too." Then she interlaced her fingers into his and followed him inside.

  He kissed her before the door closed. She’d kissed him many times at the hospital, but he’d been confined to his bed. Now he pulled her close with his good arm, and she marveled again at his natural strength. Good, because she was in danger of collapsing into him.

  "Let me take this off," he said, working on his sling. "Ow, ow!" he said as he twisted his shoulder, and that snapped her back to reality.

  "Okay, babe," she sighed. "That was fun, but I think you need to sit this one out."

  "I’m fine," Michael said, but he screwed up his face in pain. "Argh!"

  She forced him to sit on the couch. "Where are your pain meds?"

  "I didn’t get any," he grunted.

  "Are you crazy?"

  "I didn’t want them. I told you, I’m clean now."

  "You idiot!" she said, hitting him on his good arm. "I didn’t see you rip the IV out when you were first there."

  "I am human, but can you explain to me why you only beat me up when I’ve already been injured?"

  "Because you’re even more of a fool once you’ve been hurt." She gently scratched his neck. "How are you going to manage the pain?"

  "It is nothing worse than what I’ve lived with for a little while. And right now, it doesn’t hurt." He kissed her, and she was in danger of forgetting where and when she was.

  "Lie back," she whispered a few minutes later, and he happily complied.

  ~~~

  Ten minutes later, he gasped for breath and moaned at the same time. "Remind me to get shot more often," he sighed, playing with her hair, happier than he’d been in years.

  She kissed his stomach before she zipped up his pants and sat up. He grabbed her hand and pulled himself up. "Your turn," he whispered.

  She kissed him softly and shook her head. "I can’t. I’d love to, but I have to go."

  "I am sure Richard will understand," Michael insisted.

  "Not today he won’t."

  Michael pulled back but didn’t let go of her. "Why?"

  Miranda grimaced. "We’re sort of...um...moving today."

  "Moving?" She nodded. He looked at his watch. "It’s the middle of the month. They let you out of your lease in the middle of the month?"

  "That’s one way of putting it," she said with a blank face.

  He tightened his jaw. "Is the other way that you got kicked out?"

  "Let’s say we want to leave on good terms while we still can."

  "Is Richard disbanding?"

  "No. We’re just moving."

  "To where?"

  "Richard’s house," she said quietly.

  "I’m not letting you go until you tell me why Richard can’t pay his rent."

  "You know that I could hurt your arm really badly if I wanted to, right?"

  "So then just tell me anyway."

  Miranda sighed. "A lot of our investments...evaporated," Miranda hedged.

  "Did someone pull out?"

  "Not exactly." Miranda smiled. "More like Richard returned someone’s money."

  Michael’s face went dark. "Son of a bitch!" he railed as he shot up. "Are you kidding me? Alex owed Richard that money and a lifetime besides it—"

  "Do you really think Richard would want anything to do with him after what he found out?"

  "That’s Hendrickson money!" he raged. "Alex would be a clerk at this point if it weren’t for our grandfather."

  "By ‘our’, I assume you mean yours and Richard’s, not yours and mine," Miranda smiled.

  "Cute," Michael said as she stood up. "Why is it funny now?"

  She shrugged. "Because it’s too much for it not to be."

  "So then...you’re not going to start going on about how wrong this is?"

  "Did I say anything?"

  He searched her face. "Do you promise?" he said at last.

  "I do," she said, then kissed him gently. "But I do have to go. They need me. In fact, if you hadn’t gone and injured yourself, I’d bring you with me to help."

  He kissed her back. "So when are you coming back?"

  "I’ll call you tonight," she said.

  He held onto her waist. "But when are you coming back?"
>
  "I can’t come back tonight—I have to watch Hellie."

  "Hellie?" Michael frowned. "Is that Emily’s kid?"

  Miranda made a face. "Yes, and only the cutest little girl in the world."

  Emily and Mitch were still among Michael’s least favorite people, as unfair as that might be. "If you say so," he grumbled. "But why can’t Emily watch her own kid?"

  "Because it’s my turn."

  "What do you mean it’s your turn?"

  "Tonight she works late, and I go home to Hellie. Tomorrow she goes home and I work late."

  "I thought you said you were moving the office to Richard’s house?"

  "I did, but that’s not where I live anymore."

  He held his breath. "You moved into Emily’s house?"

  She squirmed again. "It just seemed like the best thing to do," she said weakly. "Mitch is out, and Emily and Zainab need the company and Hellie’s so much fun. Plus Richard really needs the space now—"

  "Uh huh," he said, thoroughly unconvinced. "Isn’t Jessie still there?"

  "She’s spending a lot of time with Martin now."

  "Isn’t Mitch kind of cramping his style?"

  Miranda twisted her mouth. "Fortunately, he’s still working late."

  "Uh huh."

  "Oh, Jesus Christ!" she said in exasperation, pulling away. "Would you give the paranoia a rest?"

  "As soon as you admit that you moved into Emily’s house because you’re afraid of me."

  "I just told you—"

  "You just told me that Michael Abbot Senior isn’t an issue anymore. But then you moved into possibly the only place on this planet that is entirely off-limits to me."

  "Michael," she said, turning away. "Where would you have liked me to move? Martin’s? It’s a small place, according to Jessie. Zainab gave up her apartment. Alex is completely off—"

  "Don’t you even start."

  She chuckled. "Ah, so you see my problem."

  He put his hand on her hip. "You can stay here, and you know it."

  "Right, because you have plenty of room. Were you thinking of the bedroom you used when you were a little boy?"

  "You know exactly what I was thinking. What’s the problem?"

  She took a deep breath. "Okay, fine. I’m not ready yet."

  "And why is that?"

  She put her arms around his neck. "Michael, when I saw you get shot, and when I saw you in the hospital those first few hours, I knew I’d been fooling myself that I could stay away and that I didn’t want to be with you."

  "Was that before or after Jessie dropped her little bombshell?"

  Miranda rolled her eyes. "God, why are you still the most insecure man on the planet? Alex—was never the issue."

  "If you say so. So if not him, what? You’re still afraid of your friends?"

  She straightened up and let go of him. "I am not afraid, thank you. And for the record, no one objects. Getting shot really does have its benefits. That, plus everyone hates Alex as much as you do now. Feel better?"

  "No, because you’re still not answering my question."

  "Can’t we just do this like two normal people? Why do we have to move in together immediately? Can’t we just take it slow, talk on the phone, send each other email, make out, go out on dates? Get to know each other?"

  "I think we know each other pretty well."

  "That was then and this is now, and things have changed, alright? Don’t you want to know who I am right now?"

  He didn’t say anything, but he seemed to soften. She looked at her watch. "I’ll call you, okay?" She kissed him and headed to the door. "But call Richard, alright?" She ran out the door and walked to the train station, clutching her bag to her body.

  ~~~

  Miranda was right. She had changed. Since he’d returned and starting watching her, he had noticed something different. Not just sadness. Something haunted her. She had her friends, and she could have him. And he believed her when she said that an accident of fate and someone else’s manipulations didn’t bother her. It was something else.

  He looked at the door for a good long time before he realized what it was. He nodded his head. Fine. Then he went to his computer.

  CHAPTER 3

  By the time Miranda got to the office, just about all of it was packed up. Richard looked up from the box he was taping. "Do I even need to ask where you were?"

  "No," she said with a smile, "and I told him to call you."

  "Good," he said, handing her a box. "Do you think you can load this up now?"

  "Yes sir," she said, heading to the stairs. She was halfway down when she passed Emily.

  "Lovely of you to join us," Emily said, not looking at her.

  "I’ll make up for it at Richard’s house."

  "No, you make up for it with Hellie," Emily said gently. "I’ll take care of everything at the house."

  "Thanks," Miranda said softly. She sighed with relief as she loaded the box in. It was a dream come true that Emily was still talking to her.

  ~~~

  A few hours later, Miranda arrived at the Graham house in time to see Zainab getting ready. Miranda smiled as she looked her over. Zainab was very beautiful, but she rarely got dressed up to go out, at least, not since she’d started seeing Richard.

  "Wow," Miranda said. "And where are you off to tonight?"

  Zainab shrugged. "Oh, a little of this, and a little of that."

  "I see," Miranda laughed. "And with the same man of mystery as before?"

  "That’s very possible," Zainab said, swishing her dress back and forth in the mirror. She kissed Miranda on the cheek. "Hellie’s playing in her room, and Emily left something to be heated up for dinner. Don’t wait up!"

  Miranda nodded her head to herself. Good. She didn’t know who this date was, but Zainab deserved to be happy. She thought about Richard, the man who was practically her big brother. He deserved to be happy too, but he had a lot to make up to Zainab.

  She walked up the tiny flight of stairs into Hellie’s room. Hellie had taken down all of her blocks, then tired of those and took all of the books out of her little bookshelf. She was sitting in her little pile, looking at her favorite Little Einstein picture book.

  "Look, Randy, it’s an apple."

  "You’re right," Miranda said, stroking her hair. Her hair was still like her dad’s—light brown and wavy. But it was soft and full like Emily’s. And she had her mother’s eyebrows and cheekbones. She was tall, like Mitch, but very flexible like her Mom.

  "Is that an A?" she asked, pointing to the first letter of the word apple.

  "It is," Miranda smiled. She marveled again at how brilliant Hellie was at just barely two. She had thought Jessie was really smart at this age, but Hellie was possibly a year ahead of her. Of course, when Miranda had mentioned this to Jessie, she had taken all the credit for it. Who knew a steady diet of Cartoon Network could work such wonders for budding intelligence?

  "Where’s Mommy?" Hellie asked, tired of the book. Smart, but easily bored.

  "She’s at Uncle Richard’s house right now."

  "Is she coming back?"

  "Of course," Miranda said, pulling Hellie onto her lap.

  "When is Daddy coming back?"

  Miranda tried to smooth out her expression. "I don’t know," she said honestly. "But I know that Daddy’s going to see you this weekend."

  "That’s what Mommy said."

  "Mommy’s right."

  "But Mommy won’t tell me why Daddy left. Do you know why Daddy left?"

  "I do," Miranda said. She didn’t want to lie to the little girl. "It’s not for you to worry about. Daddy really didn’t want to leave you, and I know he’s so happy when he gets to see you."

  "Me too," Hellie said, and then hugged Miranda. "I miss him. Do you ever miss your dad?"

  Miranda sighed. "Sometimes, but I never got to meet him. He died before I was born."

  "Do you ever miss your mom?"

  "I miss her lots and lots," Miranda said, clo
sing her eyes. "You are so lucky that your mom is here with you, and that she takes really good care of you."

  "Who takes care of you?" Hellie said, hanging onto Miranda’s neck and pulling back.

  "I’m a big girl. I don’t need anyone to take care of me."

  "Then how come you look so sad sometimes?"

  Miranda took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to cry in front of the little girl. "Sometimes I just wish things had been different," she said, playing with Hellie’s hair again. "But that’s just silly."

  CHAPTER 4

  Martin ran to the door. It was Jessie, of course, holding a bag. "Hey," he said, kissing her tenderly. "Didn’t I give you a key?"

  "You did, but I didn’t want to risk messing up these cupcakes to use it." She kissed Martin again, then put the bag of cupcakes on the table. "And you," she said, pointing at Mitch, "owe me big. I almost lost my cupcake privileges tonight."

  "Why is that?" Mitch said sullenly.

  "Because while Emily isn’t as smart as she thinks she is, she did know that the only person who would ask for those would-be Hostess Cupcakes is you. But she agreed to make lemon cupcakes anyway."

  "Oh, that’s too bad," Martin said as he stuffed one into his mouth. "But she still did the yummy decorations."

  "And excuse me," Jessie said as she handed a despondent Mitch a cupcake, "but aren’t I the one who should be pulling these high school theatrics? Just talk to her."

  Mitch took a small bite out of the cupcake. "Did you ever try to ‘just talk’ to Emily when she’s mad?"

  "She’s never been this mad at me before, but maybe that’s because she’s a little bit more afraid of me."

  "Since she feels like our relationship is based on lies, I’m not sure fear is going to improve it."

  "Dude, the fear is already there," Martin said as he plopped down on the couch next to Mitch. Jessie sat on the other side of him and put her hands on his shoulder. "You’re obviously terrified of her."

  "Oh yeah," Mitch said, rolling his eyes. "Because she could kick my ass so easily."

  "So if you’re not afraid of that, then get her to sit down and talk to you."

  "That’s going to be a little bit tough since I don’t even know where she’s working anymore."

  "Oh, they’re at my house now," Jessie said casually as she got up to eat a cupcake.