Page 52 of Necessary Roughness

“Did he mention that if they hire him, he’s going to have to move there? He’ll miss this gorgeous waterfront house, but he’s wanted this for a long time now. We’ll miss him too, but his dad is about five years from retirement. We’ll be able to go and visit anytime we want then.”

“That’s great,” Jordan said. It wasn’t great at all. “Christine, I need to take care of something before I go upstairs. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

“Sure. I’ll let the guys know.”

Jordan walked into the bathroom, shut the door behind her, and covered her face with her hands so nobody else could hear her cry.

***

TANNER DID HIS best to pretend like he was listening to his parents joke with each other and attempt to draw him into the conversation. His mom got up from her chair and said, “I’ll go get the plates and silverware to put on the table.”

He glanced at the doorway leading to the deck so many times his dad said, “Are you expecting someone else to show up for dinner?”

“What? No.”

“Your mother told you Jordan would be up here in a few minutes. What’s going on?”

The only thing that saved him from the dual parent interrogation was the fact his mom was in the kitchen. He wasn’t sure what she was doing; the salad was ready to go, and he’d be grilling the salmon steaks soon. Maybe she was taking an inventory of the contents of his refrigerator. If she was in the kitchen, she wasn’t out here asking him questions.

“Don’t worry about it,” Tanner said. “She woke up to Star screaming at her. She got in because I forgot to change the gate and security system codes.” He folded his arms over his chest. “I screwed up.”

“Anyone would be scared.”

“This was worse than scared. It’s not fun to start off the morning with a stranger in your room.”

His dad took a sip of his beer. “It’s your life, son, but you might want to take care of a couple of things. You need to apologize to Jordan, if you haven’t already.”

“I told her I was sorry. She—”

Jordan chose that moment to stroll onto the deck. “Hi.” She reached out to shake his dad’s hand. “It’s really nice to see you again.”

His dad was already enchanted, if the expression on his face was any indication. “It’s great to see you too, Jordan.”

She was in full Disney-princess mode today. Her smile could melt any heart. She said something else to his dad that made him laugh, but Tanner noticed her eyes were red.

“Maybe I should go and ask Christine if there’s anything I can help her with,” Jordan said.

Christine hurried onto the deck. “I have everything to set the table with, so all you have to do is relax.”

“Mom, let me help.” Tanner got to his feet. “You shouldn’t be doing this stuff, either.”

“It’s almost done. Would you and your dad like something else to drink with dinner? Jordan, what would you like?” Christine was bustling around while the conversation had come to a standstill. Tanner wasn’t looking in Jordan’s direction. She refused to look at him too.

Russell got to his feet. “Let’s see if this grill is ready to go,” he said.

***

JORDAN DID HER best to appear as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Tanner’s parents were great. They kept the conversation going. Tanner gave short answers to their questions and bent over his meal like someone was going to take it away from him. She smiled until she thought her face was going to crack. The worst part wasn’t having Tanner at the table; she wanted to cry every time she looked at him, but she could deal with it. The worst part was the knowledge she was putting on a show for his parents by pretending nothing was wrong. They didn’t deserve it. She should have made an excuse and not come upstairs for dinner at all.

“Jordan, I’ll bet you’re looking forward to a break since Tanner’s almost done with his physical therapy,” Christine said.

“I saw him about half an hour a day, usually when I got home in the evenings. I enjoyed working with him,” she said. “It’s always a good feeling to know the clients I work with get better and go back to their lives. Plus, he’s not quite done yet. He’ll continue getting treatment at the clinic I work at.”

She glanced over at him. A month ago (or maybe because his parents were sitting at the table with him) Tanner would have tried to bluster and distract from admitting he’d screwed up. He thought she didn’t know he was leaving. She put her fork down on her plate. If she took a bite of food right now, she might end up spewing it across the table.

“I’ll have to see if I can get a referral to a clinic in Atlanta,” he said.

“Atlanta? I’m confused,” Jordan said. “What’s in Atlanta?” She could see Christine’s eyebrows shoot up out of the corner of her eye.

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