Treasured Legacies (A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery) Read Free

stress enough.   Then when you add in all
the other things in our lives.”
    “But, those things are part of our lives, our jobs,” she
said. “It’s just who we are.”
    He tightened his arms around her. “I just don’t want any
more bad things to happen to you.”
    Turning, she placed a kiss on his bare chest. “Well, some of
the things were good things, right?”
    She ran her hand seductively across his chest. “Right?” she
repeated.
    He gently stroked her back in return. “Um, hmm,” he
whispered, feeling the heat grow. “Very good things.”
    Trying to keep the mood light, because of her injuries, he
kissed her lightly on the top of her head again. “I just want to make sure we
don’t add stress to our lives. Don’t get ourselves worked up over nothing.”
    Biting back a smile, she leaned over and kissed him again.
“I’m already worked up.”
    He looked down at her. “How are you feeling?” he asked. “Physically?”
    Grinning with eyes sparkling, she teased. “You tell me.”
    With a sigh of relief, he ran his hands slowly up the sides
of her body. “I think you feel good, really good.”
    “ Mmmmm ,” she purred. “I think I
feel great.”
    He rolled to his side, so he was leaning over her, then bent
over and started nuzzling her neck. “Let’s see if we can’t upgrade great to
amazing,” he murmured.
    She felt the heat growing in her body and wrapped her arms
around his neck. “Okay,” she moaned softly. “And afterward, we can talk about…”
she gasped when he stroked her body. “…about stress.”
    “Sure,” he mumbled, moving his lips to cover hers and ending
any and all coherent thought.
    Much later, Mary lay in his arms, exhausted, but relaxed.
“So, do you want to talk?” she asked, hiding a yawn.
    He pulled her into his arms and shook his head. “No, all I
want to do is sleep,” he said.
    “So, you’re not worried now,” she murmured, fighting to keep
her eyes open.
    He kissed the top of her head and snuggled into the
blankets. “Tell you what,” he said slowly as sleep started to sweep over him.
“As long as we keep things status quo for a little while I’m good. Just no
surprises, that shouldn’t be too hard. Right?”
    Eyes suddenly wide open; Mary stared at the snoozing Bradley
with dismay. “Right. Not too hard at all,” she said
aloud, yet silently she thought, Well , crap!

Chapter Three
    “Good morning ladies,” Bradley said, as he entered the
kitchen, still adjusting his tie, on Monday morning. “How is everyone today?”
    “I’m not a lady, but I’m just fine, thanks for asking,” Mike
said, gliding over to Bradley.
    “I’m good, Daddy,” Clarissa replied with a giggle, as she
crunched on a piece of toast. “I helped Mary, I mean, Mom, make breakfast.”
    Standing next to the kitchen counter, putting Clarissa’s
lunch together, Mary stopped what she was doing for a moment. “Clarissa,” she
said, keeping her voice matter-of-fact. “It’s okay for you to call me Mary. I
want you to do what makes you feel comfortable, not what you think you ought to
do.”
    Placing her toast on her plate, Clarissa turned and looked
across the kitchen. “You’re not mad?” she asked.
    “Mary has never been mad at you, Clarissa,” Bradley said,
sitting down at the table next to his daughter.
    Shaking her head, Mary came around the counter and walked
over to the table, sitting down on the other side of the little girl.   She met her eyes and shook her head. “I’m not
mad at all,” she said. “What you call me doesn’t matter. I just want to be sure
that we are honest with each other. Honest about our feelings and that we try
to work together as a family.”
    “We all have to do that,” Bradley said. “We all need to be
sure we are talking to each other and telling the truth.”
    “You don’t hate me?” Clarissa asked Mary. “For
what I did to you?”
    “Hey, Clarissa, Mary doesn’t work that way,” Mike said.
“She’ll tell you