Dalton, Tymber - Stoneface (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read Online Free PDF Page B

days.”
    “But what about your back?” When her father wasn’t home, her mother acted like a different person around Gwen. Still a pain in many ways, but not nearly as obnoxious.
    “My back is fine, it’s healed up, you know that. Besides, it’s not like I have to carry him.” She grabbed Liam’s rolling suitcase and laptop bag and trundled them out to her Honda Element. She’d already folded the back seats up so she’d have room for Liam’s stuff and his wheelchair.
    When she returned, her mom was going after Liam again. “Just because your sister’s gone doesn’t mean you have to leave, too!”
    Amy watched Liam successfully fight the urge to roll his eyes. He grabbed their mom’s hands. “Mom, I love you, and you take good care of me, but you need a break. Dad needs a break. I need a break. Amy’s getting her break. Gwen and I want to hang for a few days, and I need to redo her website anyway. It’ll be easier working on it there at her house than staying here and trying to coordinate over the phone with her.”
    Gwen took another load of Liam’s gear out to her SUV. His walker and other things he might need to avoid a trip back to their parents’ house. Liam had really good days and really bad days. On the really good days, he could walk with a cane outside, and unassisted inside. On the really bad days, he was practically bedridden. Fortunately, the really bad days were rare. With the latest round of medication his doctors had tried, it’d been over a year since a really bad day, minus the occasional problems like his latest kidney infection. On the average, he used a manual wheelchair for outings and long distances, and his cane or walker in the house unless he was really tired.
    He’d had to give up his car the year before. That had put him into an emotional tailspin it took Gwen and Amy months to pull him out of. He lied and told their parents and Amy he’d given up his driver’s license to keep them off his back, but the truth was Gwen had put him on her car insurance so he could still hold on to that little scrap of independence. On really good days, sometimes Gwen let him drive her Element, if she was with him.
    Unfortunately, their mother had used the bleak milestone to cling more tightly to her son and keep him dependent upon her. The kids all understood she meant well, but Liam had almost no social life as a result. Except for business trips he took several times a year, Amy usually flying with him because of Gwen’s terror of air travel, he rarely escaped their mom’s eagle eye.
    Gwen finally got him out of the house a little before three thirty, their mom hovering the entire time as Gwen held his wheelchair steady for him by the passenger door. He slowly climbed in and hung his handicap parking placard on her rearview mirror.
    “See, Mom? I’m in safe and sound.”
    Gwen quickly stowed the custom-made wheelchair in the back of the SUV and hugged her mom. “Seriously, don’t call every twenty minutes,” she said. “Enjoy tonight. Take a bubble bath. Make Dad take you out to dinner.” Their father would be home around five and she wanted to be out of there before he arrived. “Love you!”
    Liam laid his head back against the seat and let out a relieved sigh as they backed out of the driveway. “I. Owe. You. Big time.” He looked at her, and she didn’t miss how close he was to tears. “I swear, Gee, I was about to kill her. I love her, and I know she means well, but…”
    He looked away, out the window. She saw him reach up to his eyes as if wiping them dry. “I had so much fun with you on Saturday. Did you know Mom actually stayed home from church on Sunday? Said she was worried I’d sneak out again.” He took a deep breath. “I feel guilty for feeling like this, but there’s times I just want to scream at her to leave me the fuck alone.” He looked at her. “Know what I mean?”
    She nodded. “I know. Don’t let it get so bad next time before you ask me.”
    He