Here to Stay by Catherine Anderson Page B

back another whack, resisting an ill-advised urge to bring the base of the lamp down on his head. Murderous thoughts slipped into her mind. Luke couldn’t go anywhere in the house by himself, but he’d managed to find the cookies? She gulped back expletives, untangled her wrist from the cord, and settled her hands on her hips. “What is this? You’re up in the middle of the night, stuffing your face with cookies ?”
    Luke gagged again. Mandy cranked on the cold water to wash away the evidence of his treachery. When he could speak, he said, “They smelled so good, and you didn’t give me any, so I came out to find them. Sorry, Mands. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
    I’ll kill him . The thought sprang unbidden into her mind. Mandy booted it out, aware that her legs trembled. No intruder to take on, only her blind brother, who’d suddenly developed an amazing sense of smell, not to mention an incredible ability to find his way around the kitchen. She sank onto a chair and stared at him in disbelief. He wasn’t anywhere close to being as helpless as he pretended to be. On some level, she’d suspected this, but she’d always shoved the thoughts away because she didn’t want to believe her brother was using his disability to make her kowtow to him. Now she could no longer kid herself. He used his blindness as a weapon. Against her. He’d been doing it for years. The realization bewildered her as much as it angered her.
    She checked her watch. Three o’clock. Luke insisted on rising at six. Fresh surges of rage welled within her, but now wasn’t the time to address this problem. She should wait until she was wide-awake and her heart wasn’t stampeding. Willing the tension from her muscles, she glared at her brother’s back. He still hung his head over the sink. She no longer feared that he might choke to death.
    She dredged up as neutral a tone as she could. “Well, have you had enough cookies now to satisfy your craving?”
    His hanging head bobbed up and down. In a hoarse voice, he said, “Plenty.”
    Mandy pushed up from the chair. She hadn’t known until now that outrage could make a person icy calm. “Well, then, I think we should both go back to bed.”
    She grabbed the lamp and turned to leave the kitchen. Hearing her retreating footsteps, Luke swung erect. “Well, come on. Aren’t you going to take me to my room?”
    “Don’t even go there with me,” she snapped. “You managed to find the cookies. I’m sure you can find your bed.”
    Mandy stepped into her bedroom and slammed the door shut with more force than she intended. Silence from the kitchen.
    She sank onto the edge of her mattress as realization overwhelmed her. Luke was navigating the house without her assistance. Even worse, she had put the cookies in a plastic container, and he’d still located them. Given the fact that she kept a lot of stuff in airtight plastic, Luke had to be familiar with the contents of the cupboards to identify a new addition to the clutter. How many times had he made kitchen raids? Thinking back, Mandy could recall a few times when she’d thought food might be missing, but she’d never paid close enough attention to be certain.
    Helpless? It was all an act, Luke’s way of trying to control her. A young man who could locate a bin of cookies should have no difficulty finding the wastebasket at the end of the sofa. He tossed the wrappers on the floor deliberately . If he could find cookies, he could find the bathroom. This helpless business was a fraud.
    Thirteen years after the accident, Luke was still making her pay.
    She lay on her bed. She heard Luke making a racket in the kitchen. Well, she would not race out there. He’d just been found out and was trying to bring her back to heel. Let him stew.
    “Mandy, I fell. I’m on the floor and don’t know where I am.”
    Oh, right . “You know exactly where you are. Now get up and go back to bed.”
    “I need you. You aren’t going to leave me out here,