Unconditional

by Holly Copella

  “No, no,” Roman boldly announced in a tone louder than necessary.

  Indy held her breath. It was never wise for a man to raise his voice around Nate in debate. It would only turn the conversation into a louder pissing match.

  “You have to pretreat the stain before you put it in the washing machine,” Roman remarked. “Once you put it in the dryer, you’ve essentially baked the stain into your shirt.”

  “I did pretreat the stain,” Nate loudly announced. “All I got was big white spots all over my clothes.”

  Roman groaned, covered his eyes, and shook his head. “Nate, you don’t pretreat with bleach. That only applies to whites. Of course your clothes turned white.”

  Indy stared at the men with her mouth slightly open. Were they debating washing clothes? What messed up world had she just entered? She looked at Candy, who appeared mostly bored.

  “Are they serious?”

  “Please, make it stop,” Candy muttered to Indy. “They’ve been talking laundry the last twenty minutes. If I wanted to talk about clothing, I would have gone to my brother’s ‘ugly sweater’ party. At least that’s funny. This is just sad.”

  “You’re not kidding,” Indy remarked. “This is usually the part where I step in and break up the fight. I’ve got this though.”

  “Thank you,” Candy gasped softly while batting excessively long lashes.

  Indy linked onto Roman’s arm and leaned into him, distracting him from the conversation. He looked at her and appeared curious by her actions.

  “I need your opinion on something,” Indy announced in a soft tone.

  Roman was immediately curious and excused himself. Indy led him a few feet across the room, released his arm, and then casually indicated Margo and Jackson flirting like schoolchildren at a high school dance.

  “Is Margo actually flirting with Jackson?” Indy asked.

  Roman stared at the couple a moment and watched as Margo placed her hand on Jackson’s lower arm while laughing at something he’d said.

  “It certainly looks that way,” Roman replied, although he appeared unconvinced. “But that can’t be, because that’s Margo. She doesn’t flirt. She’s been boasting celibacy since I’d met her.”

  “I know,” Indy announced. “Ever since that bad breakup right before she started college. Honestly, Roman, I thought Margo was just using her bad breakup as an excuse to hide the fact that she was a lesbian.”

  Roman snorted a laugh while grinning. “Yeah, I’ve fantasized about that too.”

  Indy glared at Roman and slapped his arm. He yelped softly and rubbed his arm. Both looked back at the happily flirting couple. Indy was momentarily preoccupied.

  “She knows he’s a bit of a lady’s man,” Indy remarked. “I mean, I did mention that about a dozen times.”

  “As her friends,” Roman announced, “we should probably keep an eye on her. If she’s been drinking, we certainly can’t allow her to do something she’ll later regret.”

  “That’s what’s weird,” Indy informed him. “She’s not drunk. She’s been nursing that same glass of eggnog from the time she arrived.”

  “You’re right,” Roman replied. “That is weird.”

  Kale soon joined them. He had a strange look on his face and gave a general nod toward Jackson and Margo.

  “Is Margo flirting with Jackson?” Kale asked. “Did she suddenly switch teams?”

  †

  Indy entered the kitchen through the family room archway with an empty tray that once contained tasty h’orderves. Liz was leaning on the island counter, sobbing softly. Indy stared a moment with some surprise and then debated whether or not she should intrude on Liz’s privacy. She understood that sometimes women just needed to cry. Indy made her decision and approached the island counter, startling Liz. She quickly dried her eyes and attempted to cover that she’d been crying, although her slightly mussed mascara gave her away.

  “Is everything okay?” Indy gently asked as she paused only a couple of feet away.

  Liz sniffed and covered with a smile. “Yeah, I’m just a little emotional, that’s all. It’s been a tough few weeks.”

  “I understand,” Indy replied in a soft tone. She understood more than Liz realized. She again debated if she should leave her father’s girlfriend to her solitude, but it just wasn’t in Indy’s nature to allow someone to suffer alone. “You know,” Indy began, “my father tends to keep things bottled inside. Sometimes, with big things, he just needs to work through them.”

  Liz returned her attention to Indy and stared at her a long moment. “He keeps saying he needs time to recover,” she replied gently. “I understand, but I keep feeling he’s pushing me from his life.”

  “That’s not the case,” Indy informed her gently. “He’s feeling a lot of emotions, and that’s not who he is. It’s foreign to him. He loves you, I know he does.”

  Liz managed a tiny laugh and forced a smile. “I wish he’d show it,” she remarked then turned serious. “He hasn’t touched me since he’s been back. I’ve tried giving him space, but he always seems to be somewhere else.”

  “He’ll come around,” Indy promised then smiled knowingly. “He’s had nearly a gallon of eggnog, so he’s good and mellow right about now. I think you’ll find him surprisingly affectionate this evening, if you just give him a chance.”

  Liz smiled and nodded as she wiped her eyes. “I’ll take your advice.”

  “You may want to freshen up a little,” Indy announced and timidly indicated the running mascara beneath her eyes. “You, uh, have a little runoff.”

  Liz dabbed beneath her eyes then chuckled softly. “Yeah, I think I’ll do that.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Later that evening, Jackson helped Harlan back into the lounge from a trip to the hallway half-bath. Harlan was unusually unsteady on his feet, more so than he had been, and appeared almost drunk. Indy saw the way Harlan was walking alongside Jackson and approached them with concern on her face. Harlan was delighted to see her and reacted animatedly.

  “Oh, the pretty lady,” Harlan suddenly exclaimed in a cheerful tone that conveyed his obviously drunken condition. “Is it bath time?”

  Indy felt her cheeks immediately redden from the blurted comment. She hoped her father hadn’t overheard his enthusiastic outburst.

  “We've got a live one here,” Jackson muttered.

  “What happened?” Indy suddenly demanded while glaring at Jackson. “Is he drunk?”

  “Don't look at me,” Jackson protested with an innocent look on his face. “I only gave him one glass.”

  “Margo said she gave him his one glass earlier,” Indy announced sternly.

  “The bald guy gave me a glass,” Harlan announced then considered. “The pretty boy gave me a glass.” He chuckled softly while attempting to recall the events of the evening. “The big guy gave me a glass.” He then considered and grinned. “And his pretty girlfriend gave me a glass.”

  “God, he's drunk,” Indy muttered with disgust.

  Harlan chuckled at the expression on her face then looked up to the family room archway where the mistletoe proudly hung above them. He gasped with enthusiasm, pointed to the mistletoe, and grinned slyly.

  “You're supposed to kiss under the mistletoe, Nala,” Harlan announced then placed his finger to his lips in secrecy. “Don't tell the commander.”

  Jackson appeared surprised and looked from Harlan to Indy. “Did he just call you by your mother's name?”

  There were more pressing matters than his recall of her mother at the moment. Indy needed to figure out a way to get him sober, so he wouldn’t fall on his face later.

  “I'm going to get him some water,” Indy remarked with disgust. “See if you can get him back to his chair.”

  Indy hurried away from them and approached the bar between the family room and the kitchen. Harlan frowned, pointed to the mistletoe above him, and then to Indy while seemingly pouting at her departure.

  “She promised,”
he remarked.

  “Yeah, she's a tease,” Jackson muttered.

  Harlan suddenly grinned and raised his brows lustfully. “She loves me.”

  “Do you even know her name?” Jackson firmly asked while cocking his head to the side.

  Harlan considered the question with considerable seriousness then grinned deviously. “Want to blow up something?”

  Jackson appeared set back by the comment. “Well, at least you're sounding more like the Harlan I remember.” He then assisted Harlan back to his chair. Once he had him settled, he pointed a warning finger at him. “Now, behave yourself. I'm going to get you something to eat.”

  Jackson left Harlan to relax in his chair as he hurried to the kitchen for the buffet. Indy walked around the bar with a bottle of water in her hand. She was still fuming about Harlan’s current, drunken state when her father greeted her by the bar with his own slightly drunken grin.

  “Kale was just telling me about his work at the mortuary,” Flynn announced.

  Indy made a face of detest at the comment. “Not in detail, I hope.”

  “Every gory detail,” Flynn replied while grinning.

  She held back her groan. Kale enjoyed grossing out people with his funeral home tales almost as much as her father enjoyed telling his stories about how he came to lose two toes.

  “Could you do me a favor and spread the word that Harlan is officially off the eggnog for the rest of the night?” Indy asked, hoping her father was sober enough to complete the assignment. “If he throws up, I'm not cleaning it.”

  Flynn appeared surprised by the comment. “I thought he was only allowed one glass.”

  “Yeah, and apparently everyone gave him one glass.”

  Her father snorted in response, apparently finding the situation humorous. There was no chance he was going to play the adult tonight.

  “Ah, lighten up,” Flynn announced and placed his arm affectionately around her shoulder. “He needs to unwind more than any of us. I’ll be responsible for him tonight. You just let me handle him.”

  A glass was heard shattering in sync with a female scream that silenced the room. Indy and her father spun toward the commotion. Harlan, now on his feet, stood before Liz with her wrist clutched in his fingers. A shattered glass of eggnog lie on the floor several feet from them. Flynn, Indy, and Jackson ran to them. Without hesitation, Flynn easily unlocked Harlan's grip on Liz's wrist. He pulled Liz away from Harlan and into his arms. The look on Flynn’s face was stunned and almost unpredictable. Harlan suddenly lunged for them, surprising everyone. Jackson stepped into Harlan’s path and attempted to stop his charge. Harlan karate punched Jackson in the abdomen with amazing reflexes then swept his legs out from beneath him, despite almost knocking himself to his knees as a result. Jackson roughly struck the floor, unsuccessfully stopping Harlan, as he lunged for the couple.

  Indy suddenly jumped in front of Harlan as he swung at Liz and Flynn. She then realized the position she’d put herself into and attempted to deflect his flying fist, but she was a little too slow. Harlan stopped just short of hitting Indy, obviously not his intended target. He appeared slightly alarmed and quickly pulled his fist back. His eyes were wide with concern as he darted glances around the room like a madman.

  “Did you see the coyote?” Harlan demanded.

  Indy released her breath and held her chest as her heart pounded from the near miss. Had he actually connected with her face, she would have been on the floor alongside Jackson. It took a minute for her to collect herself and regain her composure.

  “No, I must have missed it,” she gasped softly, still seeing her life flash before her eyes.

  Jackson slowly moved to his feet and rubbed his abdomen while eyeing Harlan. “That felt like old times,” he muttered, clinging to the arm of the chair.

  Indy gently linked onto Harlan's casted arm and attempted to guide him away from the party as quickly as possible. There was only one thing she could think to say that would get him to move faster.

  “How about we visit the mistletoe on the way back to your room?”

  Harlan's mood immediately lightened as he grinned his approval while patting her lower arm with his fingers. “I'd like that.” Despite his unsteadiness, he practically dragged her to the archway with the mistletoe.

  “Maybe we could watch a Christmas movie before bed like we used to do,” Indy suggested.

  Harlan suddenly grinned and looked at her with childlike fascination. “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas?”

  Surprisingly, that was the one they usually watched. His small memory wasn’t enough to overshadow her concerns and the way her father was staring at his best friend and comrade as they crossed the room.

  “Yeah, that's the one.”

  Although attempting to avoid it, Indy met her father's gaze. Flynn held Liz in his arms and gave Harlan a strange look as they passed. She appeared concerned by his unpredictable look as they approached the archway leading into the safety of the back hallway. Harlan stopped her in the archway, smiled, and indicated the mistletoe. It was possibly the only thing he wasn’t about to forget. Indy knew everyone was staring, but she had promised him, and above all else, she needed to keep him as calm as possible. She kissed him quickly but warmly on the lips. She hated to admit she enjoyed it, despite everything that had just happened. As she pulled away, her mind momentarily reeling, Harlan slipped his arm around her waist, pulled her against him, and kissed her more passionately. His passionate kiss was enough to send a wave of lust throughout her entire body. She had to resist returning the kiss out of fear she might be unwilling to control her own desire.

  Everyone was now staring at them with their mouths hanging open. Flynn released Liz and made a motion toward them. Jackson grabbed his arm, risking bodily harm, and stopped him. Harlan broke off the kiss and smiled boyishly at Indy. She stared back at him a moment with surprise to the passionate and aggressive kiss. It was enough to shock her, momentarily causing her to freeze. She could almost feel her father’s stare cutting through them. Indy uncertainly smiled while attempting to slow her rapid heart rate, took Harlan’s arm, and quickly guided him to the hallway in the direction of the spare bedroom. She needed to put as much distance between Harlan and her father as possible.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Nearly an hour after Harlan’s ‘freak-out’ at the party, Indy returned to the kitchen and filled a plate with snacks for her and Harlan. Despite the minor gap in time, Harlan didn’t seem to remember any of what had happened. Indy was feeling the weight of the last few days beating her down, and she didn’t know how much more she could take. With his most recent outburst, she was certain her plight to keep Harlan in the house would soon be outnumbered by those who considered him a threat. She could hear the small gathering of their few friends having a good time in spite of Harlan’s floorshow. The family room was just beyond the large archway into the kitchen only separated by the massive wet bar, but, to her surprise, she could hear her father and Liz outside the kitchen doorway leading into the hallway. She wasn’t sure why they were in the hallway rather than the family room with the others, but she suspected it was to conduct a private conversation. It wasn’t in her nature, but Indy felt compelled to listen to their conversation beyond the door. She was almost positive their little talk had something to do with Harlan.

  “It's only been a few days,” Flynn assured Liz in a firm yet comforting tone. “He needs time, that's all.”

  “He needs to be committed,” Liz snapped hotly. “Maybe he's not crazy in the traditional sense, but he's going to hurt someone. He nearly broke my wrist, almost hit Indy, and took down Jackson. Do you need a bigger red flag?”

  There was an awkward silence. Indy knew exactly what words were about to come out of her father’s mouth, since she’d heard them time and again.

  “The man saved my life.”

  “I'm aware of that, but you can't let him kill you because you owe him one,” Liz informed him.

  “More like three,�
� Flynn muttered.

  “You know what I mean,” Liz countered then became unusually quiet, concerning Indy as she eavesdropped. “I didn't want to say anything, but I'd heard some disturbing things about his behavior during his baths.”

  Indy felt her heart suddenly stop then pound in response. How could Liz possibly know? She hadn’t told Kale. Only Jackson and Margo were given that information. She couldn’t imagine either of them telling Liz. Although, if Jackson opened his big mouth to Kale, that would explain everything. Indy cursed both Kale and Jackson softly under her breath.

  “What sort of disturbing things?” Flynn suddenly asked in a tone that nearly sent Indy’s neck hairs on end.

  “Apparently he's been masturbating while she washes him,” Liz informed him.

  The words outraged Indy. She knew that wasn’t true, but the allegation would be enough to cost Harlan his happy home. There was an awkward silence. Indy waited for the explosion. She could only imagine the look on her father’s face. To her surprise, the explosion never came.

  “He needs to be in a hospital,” Liz announced firmly.

  And then came the words that terrified Indy most.

  “It's him or me, Flynn.”

  Indy felt her heart sink. Harlan’s fate was practically sealed the moment the words left Liz’s mouth. She wanted to hate Liz, but she could understand her concerns, since she wasn’t as close to Flynn’s men as Indy was. Indy held back her tears while feeling her entire body become weak.

  “Can we talk about this later?” Flynn asked softly.