Sanctuary

“Evening,” she said coolly to Brian. “Nice night for porch sitting.”
    He stared at her a moment, then moved so quickly she nearly shrieked. His arms strapped tight around her. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
    Stunned speechless, she started to pat his back, then yelped as he jerked her away and shook her.
    “It’s your own goddamn fault. So typical, so goddamn Jo Ellen.”
    “What?” Insult slapped on top of surprise and had her shoving him. “What the hell are you talking about? Stop manhandling me.”
    “Manhandling? I ought to kick your butt up to your ears. Why the hell didn’t you tell somebody what was going on? Why didn’t you let me know you were in trouble?”
    “If you don’t let go of me right now—”
    “No, you just go on the way you always have, pushing people out of the way so you can—”
    He broke off with a grunt as her fist plowed into his stomach. The blow was quick and forceful enough to catch him off guard. Dropping his hands, he eyed her narrowly.
    “That hasn’t changed either. You always packed a decent punch.”
    “You’re lucky I didn’t aim for that pretty face of yours.” Sniffing, she rubbed her hands over her arms where his fingers had gripped. Damned if she wouldn’t have bruises, she thought. “Obviously you’re in no state to have a reasonable, civilized conversation. So I’m going up to bed.”
    “You take one step toward that door and I’ll haul you over my knee.”
    She raised herself up on tiptoe and stuck her face in his. “Don’t you threaten me, Brian Hathaway.”
    “Don’t you test me, Jo Ellen. I’ve been sitting here for better than two hours worried sick, so I’m in the mood to take you on.”
    “I was with Nathan, which you knew very well. And there’s no cause for you to worry about my sex life.”
    He gritted his teeth. “I don’t want to hear about it. I don’t want to think about it. I’m not talking about you and Nathan being ... I’m not talking about that.”
    Jo bit the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning. Had she known it was so easy to flummox her brother, she would have used that angle years ago.
    “Well, then.” Pleased with the point scored, she strolled to the porch swing and sat. She cocked her head as she took out a cigarette. “Just what is it you want to hear about, think about, and talk about, Brian?”
    “You can’t pull off the grand Southern Belle number, Jo. It just doesn’t suit you.”
    She flicked her lighter on. “It’s late and I’m tired. If you have something to say, say it so I can go to bed.”
    “You shouldn’t have been alone.” His voice had gone quiet and drew her gaze. “You shouldn’t have gone through that alone, been in that hospital alone. And I want you to know that the choice of doing that was yours.”
    She took a slow drag. “Yes, it was my choice. It was my problem.”
    “That’s right, Jo.” He took a step forward, hooking his thumbs in his front pockets to keep his hands from curling into fists. “Your problems, your triumphs, your life. You’ve never seen fit to share any of those things. Why should this be different?”
    Her stomach jittered. “What could you have done?”
    “I could have been there. I would have been there. Yeah, that shocks the hell out of you, doesn’t it?” he said before she lowered her eyes. “I don’t care how fucked-up this family is, you wouldn’t have gone through that by yourself. And you’re not going to go through the rest of it by yourself.”
    “I’ve been to the police.”
    “I’m not just talking about the cops, though any pea brain would have gone to them in Charlotte when this started.”
    She flicked an ash, took another drag. “You’re going to have to make up your mind whether you want to shame me or insult me.”
    “I can do both.”
    Annoyed, she flipped the cigarette away, watched the red tip fly through the dark, then disappear into it. “I came home, didn’t I?”
    “That, at least, was half sensible. You came home looking like something that had been dragged down five miles of bad road, then you don’t tell anybody what’s wrong. Except Kirby. You told Kirby, didn’t you, after I dragged you over there?” His eyes flashed. “I’ll deal with her later.”
    “You leave her alone. I told her about the breakdown and that was all. That’s medical, and she’s not obliged to tell her lover about her patients’ medical histories.”
    “You told Nathan.”
    “I told him tonight. I