Complete Me (Book Three of The Kirkland Family)

Complete Me: Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"I'm so excited," Mrs. Kirkland said, clapping her hands. Cole and Rose stopped by her parents' house before going over to the retirement center that evening. Her mother had been happy to babysit the kittens for a few hours, and now that they were there, her delight rang through the kitchen.

Rose was nervous, though. As soon as they arrived at the house, she commented, "Oh...Zack's here," while staring at a green Dodge parked in the drive, and she fidgeted ever since. She relaxed a little when they only saw her mother in the house, and Mrs. Kirkland mentioned that everyone — meaning Mr. Kirkland, Zack, and Violet — was outside in the backyard.

But then Violet came in, saw Rose, grinned wickedly, and said, "Oh, little sis...what have you done now?"

Rose bloomed red and said, "I just got here."

Violet glanced at Cole, shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Same old Rose... Just doing what you do best, don't you?"

Cole looked at Rose, who inched backward into a corner of the room. She replied with, "I don't know what you mean."

"Of course, you don't," Violet said.

"Please, Violet...don't..."

Mrs. Kirkland had been studying this exchange with a serious expression, and finally said, "Violet, Rose...not now. We have company."

Violet snorted. "Oh, he'll find out soon enough."

Mrs. Kirkland warned, "Vi, stay out of it."

"I am a part of this family," Violet said. "And this is a family matter, isn't it?"

Cole had no idea what was going on. All he knew was that Rose had turned pale and couldn't meet his eyes.

The twins' mother stuck her hands on her hips and faced Violet. "So is Josie and Travis and Mary Alice and Mark and Kim, and a whole slew of relatives, but I'm not calling them up to let them know."

Realizing that he was not part of this family, Cole didn't have the chutzpah to get involved either. Though he really wanted to know why Rose suddenly looked like a guilty three-year-old who'd been caught cutting up the curtains.

A crash exploded from the front of the house as the door burst open — the women jumped — and their brother stormed inside. "Where is he?! I'm going to kill that bastard!"

Cole eyed the doorway and sighed to himself. This can't be good. The previous conversation had to take a backburner to this new plight. He braced himself for the inevitable. Jak did warn him to stay away from his sister, and Cole knew that the man didn't take kindly to being ignored in that respect.

But Jak entered, raving murder in his green eyes, jerked to a stop when he saw all of them in the kitchen, and skimmed over the room, barely glancing at Cole. "Where is he?" the brother repeated roughly.

Mrs. Kirkland narrowed her eyes on her son. "Where is who? What is wrong with you? Coming into the house like that?"

"Where's Zack?" Jak growled, and Cole noticed that both the sisters paled this time. "Where is that sonofabitch?"

"Don't you dare, Jak," Mrs. Kirkland said in a snarl, startling Cole. He never expected that sweet mother to sound like that.

Jak said, "I told him what would happen." He directed his gaze at Rose. "Are you okay?"

Rose seemed too dazed to reply.

"Jak...don't," Mrs. Kirkland said, standing between him and the back door.