Damon by Kathi S. Barton

and then brushed her teeth. By the time she walked out, she was tired again.
    “I seem to get so tired so easily right now. I think I need to start moving around more to build up my strength again. Maybe walk up and down the stairs a few times a day.”
    Charlie needed to get out of here, out of this house an d out of these people’s lives. It wasn’t that they were bad people, but they could run a person’s life if one let them. Especially this one. Charlie just knew she had an addendum.
    “No, you wait unt il Damon tells you to do that . Y ou don’t want to mess up all his hard work now, do you? He’s a good man, my Damon. Why don’t you like him?”
    Charlie stopped on the stairs. She looked over at the woman who had her elb ow and sputtered. Didn’t like Damon? Where on…
    “If he thinks sending you over here is going to make me change my mind, t hen you just wasted your time. We are leaving as soon as I’m able to take care of us. I appreciate everything he’s done, but this is my fight and I will handle this on my own.”
    “I’m afraid it’s not that easy, Ms Kirkpatrick. This man, I believe his na me is Anthony Ormond, correct? He’s killed before. Twice t hat I can tell, and maybe more. My name is Dane Grant. I’m Jamie’s wife. I’m also a telepath.”
    ~~~
    Damon sat in his office and stared at the wall. He’d been here since Sally had her twins and he’ d made sure she was all right. The proud parents had thanked him at least twenty times and he’d told them it was no problem that many back. They had trusted him to deliver their children and he had.
    Charlie didn’t trust him. No, that wasn’t right. She didn’t actually trust anyone. And she was ma king Connor feel the same way. He didn’t understand someone not trusting him, he supposed . It had never in all his life been an issue. He had not liked a few people. Nicky’s fir st wife had been a real bitch. Then there was the nurse he’ d almost hired out of college. She’d tur ned out to be a mass murderer. Not really, but she had ended up killing a man over some drugs.
    Connor was a joy to be around and he seemed to trust him. They’d been doin g some things in Damon’s yard . Y esterday they had winterized the deck and had ta ken in all the chair cushions. He’d let Connor use the leaf blower to blow all the fall leaves off the deck and around the smaller trees. He’d had a blast. Damon could still hear his laughter. He could tell sometimes that he expected Damon to scream at him or hit. Ther e was never any need for that. Connor was a great kid and so what if he’d sp illed the trash on the ground? They had spent a fun te n minutes picking it up again.
    Damon knew he should get home. He didn’t know what time Cait and Dane where coming over, but he should be th ere at least part of the time. Pi was coming too, he remembered. He pulled his coat on and was just leaving the office when his cell rang. It was his house.
    “Hello?” He could hear voices in the back ground, Pi’s mostly. A nd then he heard his mother’s. Shit. He wondered who had cal led her. Cait. Damn it! He moved to the stairs when he repeated his greeting.
    “Damon? It’s Connor Joshua Kirkpatrick. I’m the kid that’s st aying at your house right now. Can you come home? There are fifty women he re and they’re…they’re crying. I don’t like it. My momma’s crying, your momma’s crying, and even that fat lady that says she not fat but preggers, whatever the heck that means. She sure looks fat to me . Y ou have to come here and make them stop.”
    Damon laughed to himself. The boy sounded absolutely panicky. He didn’t blame him; he couldn’t sta nd to hear a woman cry either. Especially his mom. He had an idea that Conno r was having the same problems.
    “Tell you what, kiddo . Y ou meet me in the driveway when I pull up and you and I will le ave them to their tears. We’ll go over to one of my other brothers’, how about Jamie’s. His wife