Page 29 of Long Road Home

Nine

Jordan

Could I forgive her?It wasn’t even fair of her to ask me that question. Not now. Not yet. I still felt like I’d been a dick again when pain tightened her jaw like I’d slapped her.

“Shit,” I muttered and grabbed another beer from the fridge. God knew I’d need one eventually.

When I joined her in the living room, she was curled into a ball in one corner of the couch. Memories rushed me, like they did for so long when I walked into this house, but seeing her like that, a frightened little rabbit afraid I was going to take a vicious bite out of her? That stung.

I wasn’t the one in the wrong here. I hadn’t done a damn thing except lash out at her, and frankly, she deserved it.

“What do your next few days look like?” I asked. We had to move us past this and it had to be done before the weight of it crushed us all.

“I was planning on packing. I have a meeting with the lawyer and realtor on Monday, but we were planning on leaving Tuesday, so…”

“Thanks for staying. For offering that.”

She hadn’t looked at me. The Xbox was still on and the menu screen grabbed her attention like the most fascinating thing in the world. “It’s best for Toby.”

Speaking of. “I want to be able to see him without asking your permission all the time. And I’m not trying to be a dick by saying that, but I want that. I want that freedom with him.”

“You have it. Whatever you want.” She looked at her glass of wine, eyes moving to it and widening like she forgot she was holding it and took a small sip. The thin stem grasped in her long fingers. God. Those fingers used to touch my knee or shove through my hair and drive me wild.

Granted, I was a seventeen-year-old boy and my dick got hard at any touch, but with her, it had always been electric.

“He mentioned you taking him to Rebecca’s. Asked if I could come. I told him I would, but I’m not sure that’s best.”

“Talked to Rebecca earlier. She’s anxious to meet him.” She had a handful of colorful words to say about Destiny too, but I had shut that shit down. “She’ll be cool if you come.”

Destiny laughed. I didn’t blame her. Rebecca had never made it easy for Destiny, but she wasn’t as bad as some. I never understood what everyone hated about her so much. So she came from shit. That wasn’t her problem.

I figured most of the girls in school were jealous she was so much prettier and nicer than the rest of them and once she and I started dating, that jealousy jumped to super-bitch-girl levels.

My parents had been worried she’d drag me down, keep me in Carlton doing something like working on cars instead of playing ball.

I’d always thought we were stronger than all of that. Wasn’t the first time I’d been wrong.

“Don’t you always get tired of having to defend and protect me?”

I doubted she really wanted an answer. It didn’t stop me from replying. “Defending you and protecting you was never a hardship. I woulda done anything for you and all you had to do was ask. This crap is going to hit us, but I want to move on from it. And now, my job is to protect Toby. Soon as I take him into town, people will know what you’ve done. It’ll help everyone move on faster if we’re not at each other’s throats all the time.” I took a swig of my drink to wash away the burn in my throat. “I can’t sit here and say I forgive you. I won’t do that. But I want to see him as much as possible and he needs to meet his family and my friends who will have his back.”

Her lips pressed together at the mention of my friends. I’d always made sure none of them were dicks to her and for the most part, they’d been good. After she’d taken off though, Kelly had been pissed on my behalf. She was loyal as hell. Both Brooke and she were. Plus, Ryan and Shawn didn’t have much good to say. The only person in town who might welcome her was Cooper.

“Kelly was hurt,” I said when she continued not saying anything. “When you took off and left. She’d liked you even if Rebecca hadn’t. She was pissed, and she was hurt and she’ll bring Ryan around and I’ve already talked to him. She was there at Rebecca’s when Rebecca saw that photo I took. Both of them figured it out.” I was the only idiot who hadn’t recognized my own kid.

“She’ll bring Ryan around?” Des asked, for the first time, she didn’t look scared. “They’re still together? Married?”

“Yeah, he and Shawn went to school, came back here and joined the police force. Kelly does design work for the new builds out by the resort neighborhood. And Brooke married Andrew. They’ve got two boys. Hellions.” I grinned, thinking of Toby. “Nathan and Oliver, and Nathan’s right around Toby’s age, too.”

“Toby had mentioned kids being out at the ranch. That them? Not Rebecca’s?”

Shit. I’d told her a different night we’d get into this, but she had to know. “No. Rebecca’s a widow. Her first husband, Joseph, she met him at college. They moved back and started working the ranch with my parents. Mom and dad died, and then almost a year later, so did Joseph.”

“Wow.” Tears swam in her eyes. And that…that was why I always loved her so damn much. Someone like my sister could be a complete bitch to her and yet she heard something bad happening, and shefeltthat shit to her marrow. “I’m so sorry. That’s…horrible,” she finally said.

“We don’t have a lot of family left. Just us and now Cooper —”

“And now Toby.”

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