Page 29 of Hurricane's House
“I take it you met James?” the woman asked.
“Not really,” Brandi admitted. “I tried to introduce myself, but your son seems to be in a hurry to get out of here.”
“I’m not her son,” the guy grumbled, “but you’re right that I’m in a hurry to get out of here.” He crossed the room to kiss Gloria’s cheek, promising to see her tomorrow and turned back to Brandi. “The name’s Reacher,” he said, holding his hand out to her. This time, it was her turn to look his offered hand over before shaking it.
“Nice to meet you, Reacher,” she said. “I’ve got things here if you need to go.”
“Thanks,” he breathed. “You’re a lifesaver.” She wasn’t sure how she had just saved his life, but the guy seemed a bit nicer than when she had first met him at least.
“You’ll get used to him,” Gloria promised. “Reacher is a hard nut to crack, but once you peel away some of the layers, he’s a good guy.”
“I’ll take your word for it, Gloria,” she said. “How about we sit down and get to know each other a bit?” Brandi asked. Brandi looked out the front screen door to see Reacher sitting on his bike, looking back at the house as though he was trying to decideif he wanted to leave or not. Maybe she had misjudged the guy from their initial meeting, but then again, she was usually a pretty good judge of character.
Brandi had spent most of the last evening going over intake questions with Gloria. She seemed like a wonderful lady and Brandi was looking forward to taking care of her.
She told Brandi all about her new granddaughter and her son who had just moved back to Yonkers from Alabama with his new wife. She didn’t miss the way that Gloria smiled every time she mentioned any of them. But what really surprised her was the way Gloria gushed over Reacher. She told Brandi all about how he had been helping her son out, taking care of her when no one else was available and Brandi had to admit that was nice of him.
She went home to her tiny apartment at about midnight and crashed, getting up with the sun because Mr. Cuddles Worth was standing on top of her, shouting for food. Brandi got up and fed him, putting on a pot of coffee that she planned to drink all by herself.
By the time her brain finally woke up, and she showered, it was time to leave to go back over to Gloria’s house to get started for the day. She had a few appointments with doctors and then, Brandi was going to take her for her chemo treatment. That was the part of her job that she hated the worst. Sure, she liked the fact that she was helping her patients, but the chemo usually made them so sick, and that was the part that she hated.
She pulled up to Gloria’s house and noticed the same motorcycle sitting in her driveway. How had Reacher beaten her to Gloria’s when she practically left her apartment at the butt crack of dawn? He stood in Gloria’s doorway again and whenshe smiled at him, he nodded at her. Brandi decided to take that little gesture as a win as he held the door open for her.
“Good to see you again,” she said. Reacher threw back his head and laughed, and Brandi wondered what she had said that was so funny.
“Care to tell me what’s funny?” she asked. She sounded more uppity than she wanted, but he was beginning to grate on her last nerve, and she didn’t care who knew it.
“You being so polite,” he admitted. “I guess I just find it a bit funny.”
“And what’s wrong with being polite?” she asked. Brandi put her bag on the sofa and slipped out of her jacket, tossing it on top of her bag.
“Nothing,” Reacher said, “I just didn’t expect it is all.”
“Well, you don’t really know me yet, Reacher, so you don’t know what to expect from me,” she said.
“You’re right,” he admitted, “I don’t know you and I shouldn’t assume things about you, Brandi. I apologize,” he said.
She smiled and nodded, “I was just giving you shit, Reacher,” she admitted. “I’m not usually polite at all, but you seemed uncomfortable seeing me again this morning, so I decided to have a little fun.”
Gloria walked out of her bedroom, “Now, I know that I liked you, honey,” she said to Brandi. “You give Reacher all the shit you want. He’s a bear in the morning.”
“Only because you won’t share your coffee,” he said.
“I told you to bring your own,” she said. “You like yours too strong and I don’t want you making coffee in my machine.” Hearing the two of them go back and forth made Brandi chuckle.
“You know, I didn’t have to come here this morning,” he reminded, “but I promised you that I’d be back to check on you.”
“Well, you know that I appreciate that, Reacher,” Gloria said. “But I’m sure that Brandi can handle taking me to my appointments today.”
“You sure?” Reacher asked.
“Of course,” Gloria insisted. “As long as you promise to call me if you hear any news from your meeting last night.”
“Will do,” he agreed. “Just call me if you need me, Gloria.” He turned to leave and looked back over his shoulder at Brandi. From the smirk on his face, she could tell that he was about to be a smart-ass, and that was something that Brandi liked in a guy.
“Good to see you again, Brandi,” he said, giving her back her own words. Gloria giggled and shook her head at him and Brandi worried that between the two of them, she was going to have her hands full.
Reacher’s Ride or Die (Yonkers, NY Chapter Royal Bastards MC Book 2) Coming in June 2025!