Page 38 of Long Road Home

“She’ll be good,” he said. “She’s been talking a lot this week about what you told her.”

After I left Destiny’s house Sunday night, I’d spent most free nights at her place with Toby, but I hadn’t spent the night again. Doing that once was hard enough, getting closer to her was detrimental. I figured after that day with Paul, she and Toby could use the time alone. I didn’t want to shove myself in his face so forcefully after he lost a man important to him. After he’d spent an hour or so pulling weeds, I’d taken him out front and we’d put together the basketball hoop.

I stayed for dinner and took off.

Tonight they were both coming to my house for dinner for the first time. Throughout the week, I’d also talked to Rebecca and told her everything I could, everything I knew. I also let her know they were sticking around a while with the hope she’d never leave. In order to do that, I needed Rebecca’s help in making Destiny feel welcome.

At first, she’d choked on the thought. I hoped Cooper could bring her around. For her nephew’s sake at the very least.

“Yeah?” I said to him.

“She might not admit it, but I think in some small way, she respects Destiny for what she did.”

I was still working on getting past burning fury whenever I thought about it. Respect was a long way off. “Yeah? How so?”

“She walked away so you could have your dream of playing ball. She made that road easier for you knowing it was all you ever wanted, Jordan.” I opened my mouth to argue, but he cut me off. “She was wrong. She was misguided. She’s admitted that. But she was also scared out of her mind and young and stupid. She was thinking a lot about herself, but she was thinking of you, too.”

My lip twitched, and I barely fought back a snarl.

“Not saying you have to agree with that,” he kept going, clearly sensing my distress. “But that’s how your sister sees it. Destiny did what she didforyou, and that, I think she respects regardless of what she kept from you.”

“Well if it stops her from being a bitch to Des, I’ll take it.”

“Know she’s your sister, Jordan, but watch it.” His glare hit me like a punch and I looked away. He was protective of Rebecca and I was glad she had that. Fucking thrilled. Still, I hated it when he put me in my place and he didn’t hesitate if he thought I was overstepping a line.

“Beer?” I asked on a growl.

He laughed and slapped my shoulder. “I’ll help myself. You might want to lose that murderous look on your face before she gets here, too, or it won’t be Rebecca scaring anyone off.”

“Asshole,” I muttered, but he still walked away laughing and shaking his head. I followed them down the hall into the kitchen and had just reached it when the doorbell rang again.

“They’re here!” Rebecca cried at my back. I had already spun around and was heading back to the door when Cooper told her to chill out.

I took several deep breaths on my way, and by the time I reached the door, the murderous tendencies Cooper mentioned had dissipated to a low boil.

“Hey,” I said, opening the door. “You made it.”

Instead of allowing them inside, knowing exactly what waited for them, I walked out to the front porch and closed the door behind me.

Destiny took a step back. Her hand curled over Toby’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Her brow wrinkled in a cute, confused way. She was such a damn knock out. Dressed in pale blue shorts that showed off the length of her legs and a white top that clung to every curve, I had a hard time dragging my eyes to meet hers and when I finally managed, her cheeks were burning bright.

“I have some company,” I said, forcing my lips to lift into a grin and looked down at Toby. “Your aunt Rebecca and Cooper are inside.” My eyes slid to Destiny’s. “She showed up without warning, but she’s looking forward to seeing you.”

Destiny’s lip curled.

I grinned. Then I thought of what Cooper had told me and lost my grin and blew out a breath. “She’s excited to see Toby.”

“Cooper Hawke is in there?” Toby asked, his voice squeaky high with excitement. “Are you for real?”

“Yeah, little man. But around here, he’s just Cooper, you know? Just a man.”

“Yeah, a famous man.”

I laughed softly. “Just a man. And he’s a good one. Plus my sister. She couldn’t wait any longer to meet you, so I said they could stay for a few minutes.” I looked back to Destiny. The pink on her cheeks had turned pale and her eyes were stuck on my front door. “And if it’s okay with you, they can stay for dinner. I know it was only going to be us, but…”

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