Vengeful Desires

Chapter 7

“What hole did you dig that one out of?” John Gardner asked his nephew. His voice was flat enough to let Theodore know his uncle wasn’t amused.

Seated next to his uncle, Theodore grimaced. He leaned back into the shadows, hoping it offered some cover. It didn't.

Feeling a little flushed, he looked away from the only man he had known as a parent figure for almost three decades and looked across the little backyard into the kitchen sink window at his girlfriend. Hattie was still there, seemingly engrossed in the process of cleaning the dishes they had used for their lunch.

Hattie had been more than excited that Theodore had finally taken her to meet his uncle. The woman had practically bounced in his passenger seat like a toddler high on sugar. The two-and-a-half-hour drive out of the city had felt like ten before they were even halfway. Theodore had nearly turned the vehicle around and canceled the entire thing. Maybe he should have turned around. It would have saved him a lot of questions.

As soon as they had arrived, Hattie had turned into an overzealous maid and chef in a heartbeat. An interesting side of her he had never seen before. Not even when she visited his apartment and spent the night.

She wanted to do everything and help everywhere. Unfortunately, the more she insisted on helping John in the kitchen or bringing him a glass of juice or water, the more John disliked her. It had almost been painful to watch. So the question wasn’t much of a surprise.

Theodore cleared his throat before he rebuked his uncle gently. “Uncle John, be nice.

At forty-eight years old, only sixteen years older than Theodore, John felt he was more of an older brother than an uncle, but Theodore always called him ‘uncle’ if he wanted to push the man’s button. And it worked every time.

John’s eyes narrowed on him, his lips pursed. After a beat, he asked, “Don’t I have the right to be curious about my nephew’s future wife?”

The water Theodore had just sipped from his glass spurted out of his mouth and nose in an instant. Damn! That hurt. Coughing, he carelessly set his glass back on the table and was only vaguely aware of John taking it from him.

Theodore coughed and wheezed for several seconds like a dying smoker, trying to clear his airway. Tears filled his eyes and blurred his vision. As far as reactions went, it was overkill, but Theodore couldn’t do anything about it except ride the wave to the finish.

Finally, the coughing stopped. Miraculously, his lungs were still in his chest. He had almost been certain he would huck one out for a second there. No. Everything was still inside. Great. Done with his physical assessment, Theodore blinked his eyes clear. The first thing he saw was John’s amused expression, and he wanted to groan.

John chuckled, reading him well. “Did I say something wrong?” the older man asked with mock innocence.

Theodore glared, wiping droplets of water off his chin and hand. “That’s not funny.” He looked toward the window but didn’t catch sight of Hattie. “What if she heard you?”

To Theodore’s irritation, laughter burst out of John. He threw his head back, the sound carrying on the soft breeze in the backyard garden for several seconds. When he finally sobered, he shook his head at Theodore, his shoulder still shaking.

“That woman is already picking the deco for the wedding, maybe even the nursery.”

A cold shudder ran through Theodore’s body. “We have not spoken of marriage. I have only been seeing her for a few months.”

John shrugged. “I am only telling you what I can already see.”

Theodore narrowed his eyes but didn’t argue. If he was being honest, he had seen it too, and had just been ignoring it. Hoping he was wrong. That meant he wasn’t in any mood to talk about it now. He exhaled quietly and stretched his legs out in front of him. “I like what you have done with the yard.”

John scoffed, obviously not impressed by his attempt to change the subject. Thankfully, he didn’t fight him on it.

The older man looked out at the green grass and meticulously kept flower beds. For a moment, a faraway look settled in his eyes. Then he blinked and it was gone. He shrugged. “I had a lot of time on my hands.”

“Still set on not going back to work?” Theodore pressed.

John hummed. It was neither an agreement nor a decline to the question. Arching a brow, Theodore studied his uncle. “Are you going to retire early?”

Sighing, John shook his head. “Not yet sure.” He suddenly frowned and met Theodore’s gaze. “And you? I heard whispers that you have gone rogue.” The tone in his voice told Theodore how much he disapproved of such a thing.

Buying himself a few seconds, Theodore reached for his glass of water and drank half of it. When he set it down again, he cleared his throat and said, “I just took a few days off.”

John’s expression didn’t change. “I warned you about kicking the hornet’s nest.”

Before Theodore could respond and reassure his uncle that he wasn’t going to do something stupid, the sound of the back door opening grabbed both men’s attention. Theodore watched as Hattie walked toward them with a bright smile on her face and almost grimaced. Damn. He had made a major mistake bringing her here, and he knew it would come back to bite him.

Beside him, he felt the disapproval waft off John in almost palpable waves. That just made his irritation go up a few notches. John had never been married, and the man claimed he was too self-loving to ever subject himself to that torture.

Theodore wouldn’t have said he dreamed of settling down and having two-point-five kids, but he at least liked to have some female company for longer than a one-night stand. Although he conceded that Hattie should have remained a one-night adventure and nothing more. The woman was getting too clingy.

An image of what had happened in the bookstore while he had been talking to Mirabelle replayed in his mind. Hattie had seriously messed things up for him. Not that he hadn't been doing a great job of that himself before she plastered herself to his side like a blood-sucking tick. He wasn’t sure how he was going to get things back on track again.

Sighing, Theodore grubbed his water again just as Hattie reached the small garden table they were seated at. If it were any other matter, Theodore would have asked John for some advice. But his uncle couldn’t know about his plans or Mirabelle. John wouldn’t approve and would probably kick his ass to pump some sense back into his head.

And he would do it too. John was very fit for a man his age and he had taught Theodore everything he knew about fighting. But Theodore didn’t need sense. He knew what he was doing and he couldn’t back down.

“I’m all done,” Hattie announced like a little girl desperately seeking praise.

Theodore forced a smile on his lips and nodded. “That’s great. You are just on time. We’ll be leaving soon.”

“Oh.” Hattie’s smile faltered for a second, but she quickly recovered and beamed wider. “Cool. I will go in and grab my handbag.” Then she was gone, walking back toward the kitchen door.

As soon as she was out of earshot, John scoffed and stood up from his seat. He turned and looked down at Theodore. “Take that IV pumping you full of poison out of your vein before it kills you.”

Rolling his eyes, Theodore stood and followed after his uncle toward the house. “That’s a little too morbid even for you, John.”

“The truth is morbid. So is life.”

Theodore shook his head, a dry chuckle falling from his lips. He decided not to argue with the man. It wasn’t as though John was completely wrong. Sometimes life was dark and deadly. A fact he wondered if Mirabelle was aware of.