subject. “I take it you’re meeting with your mother and the mayor later?” He lifted a hand. “Not my business, I know, so don’t feel you have to—”
“No, no, it’s okay.” She cocked her head a little then, and a different look came into those eyes he was growing so quickly fond of looking into. Too quickly, most likely. But he didn’t look away.
“You know, it’s funny,” she said, “and I don’t know why, but—don’t let this make you run screaming, okay?”
He frowned at that, confused. “Okay.”
“Maybe, subconsciously, I came out here because I thought you—” She stopped, shook her head, laughed. “It sounds even more ridiculous when I put it into words. So, ignore that. Yes, I am meeting them tonight, and no, I’m not looking forward to it. It’s a long story that might rival your ability to talk about Betty Sue, only for completely opposite reasons, so I’ll spare you the gory details.”
“I won’t pry. But I’m sorry things aren’t smooth.”
“I appreciate that. I also appreciate you telling me that my mother was looking forward to my arrival. It was…good to know. I guess I owed you more thank-yous than I realized.”
“For?”
“That, and not telling Melissa every last thing about me when she called you. For keeping my job status a secret.”
“How do you know I—”
“You haven’t said anything, have you?” she countered, seeming pretty sure of him.
He shook his head. “Nobody’s business but yours.”
“So…thank you. It’s been a difficult enough thing, coming out here, needing to set things right with my mother. We’ve always been really close, but her quickie wedding—” She stopped and held up her hand. “Sorry. I’m very sure you don’t want to hear about any of that and I don’t want to put you any further in the middle of anything.”
“What makes you think you have?”
“You belong here, you know these people, live with them, work with them. I don’t want you in any position to be defending me or choosing sides, if, God forbid, it comes to that.”
“What makes you think I’d have to do anything like that?”
“Let’s just say that my arrival hasn’t exactly been under the radar. I had no idea my presence here was going to be such a…a…”
“Newsworthy event?”
“Might be an overstatement, but that’s what Melissa made it sound like. And Debbie at the motel. Even the bike rental guy knew who I was before I filled out the rental form.”
“And your being that visible casts the family reunion in an even more stressful light, I take it.”
“Exactly. Sorry.”
“For?”
“Dumping.”
“You’re not dumping.”
“I could. You make it…you’re easy to talk to.”
“Thank you. Trust me, it’s not a trait generally associated with me. Except by my baby sister, but she believes it’s the God given right of being family, and I try not to argue. It just prolongs the torture.”
Lauren laughed. “You’re trying to sound like the much put upon older brother, but I find that hard to believe. I’m sure she feels very lucky to have you on her side.”
“There are as many days when she’s pressed just to admit we’re related, so it all evens out.”
“If you say so.”
“I’m just being honest. Always am. Sometimes to a fault.” He grinned. “Okay, most of the time.”
“Well, it’s been appreciated by me. Maybe it won’t sound so crazy now, but I think that’s why I came out here.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s what I started to say earlier, but I didn’t know how to phrase it without sounding over the top. I just…it’s been a little overwhelming, not to mention disconcerting, being here, having people know who I am but not know me personally. And the only person who does know me is the one I am here to sort things out with. I have a lot to deal with, to think about, not only with my family situation, but with my job, with…a lot of things.” She looked at him directly now. “And, with my seeing them again being imminent, I guess I rode out here kind of on instinct.”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
“Maybe I’m sounding crazy after all, but I think I needed to sort of touch base with the one person I knew here who would just say what he thinks, and not what he thinks I want to hear.” She smiled, but her eyes were still a little troubled.
It bothered him that he was troubled by her being troubled. She was right in what she’d assumed about him, but that didn’t mean he wanted to get in the middle of anything. She’d said herself she didn’t want him there, either. So…what was she saying now?
“Don’t worry, okay? I’m only saying it’s nice to know you can count on at least one person to speak plainly.”
“Given the world you just left, I can imagine that’s a commodity in short supply.”
“Very true.” They held each other’s gaze for a longer moment, then she finally broke the hold first and slipped her helmet back on, made a show of buckling the strap. “Well, I’m past the risk of overstaying my welcome, so thanks for letting me bend your ear.”
“It was just a little tug.” Jake couldn’t help but think that if Ruby Jean were a fly on the wall in that moment, she’d own him for the rest of her natural life. The bigger kicker was, for all his concern about being, well, concerned, he actually didn’t mind so much that she’d sought him out. Or that he’d helped her cope in some way.
She smiled. “I’ll get out of your way now.”
He let go of the bike, surprised at how reluctant he was to do so. For a few minutes, he’d gotten to step outside of the frustration that had shadowed most of his waking hours of late. He told himself that’s all it was. Problem was, he was having a hard time believing it. “See you Sunday.” He had no time to spend showing someone the sights. After succumbing to Ruby Jean’s tearful plea, he had already figured out how to narrow the time down to the barest minimum and still fulfill his promise. Now…now he was mentally scrambling, trying to figure out how to juggle his time and his obligations so he could spend more time with her.
“I’ll let you know tomorrow, for sure. What time, Sunday?”
Anytime. All the time. “We can figure that out when you call. Or, if you need to work off some steam, feel free to pedal on back out here. The exertion does wonders for pent-up frustration.”
“Sounds like you have some personal experience with that.”
He’d
