Thanks to Xenitha, Max2013 (I'm writing as fast as I can, I promise!), Guest, zenfrodo, Caranath, hlahabibty. On a side note: I went in and checked my stats the other day, and three of my stories now have over 10,000 hits! Wow…
Anna appeared in the living room carrying two plates with pie and ice cream – both of which, Joe noted with satisfaction, were smaller in size than what he currently had, meaning there would be more left for him – and a steaming mug of coffee.
She maneuvered around him and leaned toward Frank who was sitting in the armchair, his eyes distant again. "Hey," she said, waving the mug under his nose. "Coffee. Just the way you like it." She reached out, handed him the mug, then twisted back to take one of the plates off her left arm to pass over to him before taking a seat on the ottoman in front of him.
Joe whistled in approval, the sound cutting off as Kara punched him in the arm. "What was that for?"
Kara glared at him, her eyes like agates. "I'm pretty sure Anna doesn't appreciate being whistled at any more than I appreciate hearing you whistle at another woman."
"What? No." Joe squirmed under her gaze. "I wasn't whistling at her. I was impressed she managed to carry both plates of pie on her arm without dropping them." He looked down at his own now-empty plate with a slight grimace. "That truly would have been a waste. And reminds me I need seconds. Be right back."
Hearing Kara's footstep behind him in the kitchen, he turned, the pie server still in his hand. She regarded him for a second, then perched on the counter next to his plate. "That wasn't very subtle," she said. "What's wrong?"
"Why don't you tell me?" Joe struggled to keep his voice at a low murmur.
"What?" Kara's face mirrored the shock in her voice. "Joe, I don't know what you mean."
He turned his head sideways. From the corner of his eye, he could see Anna gently teasing Frank, but getting no reaction from his brother.
"What happened in Moscow?"
Kara sighed. "That part of it," she jerked her head toward the living room, "isn't my story. It's his." She slid off the counter and put her arms around Joe's waist. "And if you want to hear it, you're going to have to be patient. You should know that." Joe could feel her smiling into his chest. "He's your brother, after all."
Joe nodded, then bent down to kiss the top of her head. "I know. Doesn't make it any easier, though." He let out a breath. "Come on. The sooner we get back in there, the sooner I can browbeat him into actually talking." He let go of her and reached back out for the pie server.
"I thought you wanted to hear the story?" Kara's head tilted to one side as she watched him cut another huge piece of the rapidly diminishing apple pie.
"Of course I do. But this pie is amazing," he said. "And Anna is expecting me to eat more of it. I don't want to disappoint her after all the work she put into making it."
Kara laughed, wrapped her hands around his bicep, and dragged him back into the living room.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Are you sure you're ready to talk about this?"
Frank started, Anna's soft whisper breaking into his thoughts. "Sorry, what?"
"I asked if you were really ready to talk about this." Anna sat cross-legged on the ottoman, her elbows resting on her knees, her dessert behind her on the cushion. "If I had to guess, I'd say the answer is no."
"Is that this semester's psychology class talking?" Frank tried to smile as he spoke, the expression looking more like a grimace.
She stuck her tongue out at him, then put a hand on one of his knees. "No, it's the psychology of you. Your coffee is on the floor, and the plate is on the table. I know you like my pie as much as Joe does. Something happened in Moscow that still troubles you."
He put his hand over her and squeezed it gently. "I thought I was past it. I'd almost forgotten about it. And then I ended up in the hospital. Five years of memories came back pretty much all at once." He let out a breath. "Some things… stood out more than others."
"We can go if you want." She looked down at their hands, then twisted hers around, intertwining their fingers. "I'm sure Joe will understand."
Frank raised an eyebrow at her. "Inspector Bloodhound? No. Now that he knows something happened, he's not going to rest until he gets the whole story."
"Kara could tell him," Anna said, her head dipping down toward her chest.
"You think I should tell him, don't you? That's why you're not looking at me."
Anna's chin lifted. "If you're truly not ready, then no, you shouldn't, but..."
He swallowed. "But what?"
"But I think you are ready. And you're trying to protect Joe from something. And that is from this semester's psychology class." She gave him a shy smile. "You do the same thing to me. You don't tell me things you need to get off your chest if you think it will upset me. On the one hand, it's sweet. On the other, it's not good for your overall mental health." Her hand squeezed his again. "If you keep too much bottled up inside, it's going to explode out at some point. Probably when you least want it to."
Frank closed his eyes and bent his forehead down to their joined hands. "Yeah," he breathed out. "I can think of a few times that's happened over the past handful of years. Joe's taken the brunt of it. And Chet."
"Well, that makes sense. They're the people closest to you." He could hear the teasing note in her voice.
"Only up until now," he said, letting go of her hand and scooping her up into his lap so he could kiss her.
"Please." Joe's voice boomed from the edge of the sofa. "Have some compassion for my sensibilities. I'm trying to eat here."
Kara chuckled and gently tapped the back of Joe's head. "I've never seen anything else stop that from happening. Why should this be any different?"
"'Cause he's my brother," Joe said, his mouth full of pie. "It's just gross."
Frank gently lowered Anna back onto the ottoman. "Pot calling the kettle black, Joe. Didn't either Mom or Aunt Gertrude teach you not to talk with your mouthful."
Joe swallowed and thought for a moment. "I think they tried."
"Obviously unsuccessfully," Kara muttered.
He glared at her. "So, I'm all settled in with my dessert. Frank has his caffeine fix. Is it story time?"
Anna looked up at Frank, her head cocked to one side. "Is it?"
For a long moment, he simply looked at her, then he nodded. "Yeah. Kara needs to go first. The case started on her end. I didn't come in until later." Then he picked up his coffee and waited for the questions he knew would come.