Page 53 of Cursed Fox

I stopped in my tracks. This wasn't the first time we’d had this discussion, and I knew it bothered her that I was still living out of my backpack.

"I told you I'll move in just as soon as I have my night terrors under control."

I could see the agitation clear as day on her face. "How can you get them under control when you spend most of the night staring at me?"

I leaned the broom against the wall and plopped my ass on the edge of the recliner. "I watch you sleep because I need to know you're still breathing. You said you understood that."

Nancy sighed. "I do understand, and I know you're speaking to the therapist about it, but I'm worried about you. It's been two weeks. How long can you go without much sleep?"

I was wondering the same myself. I had to be hitting my limit soon though. It was getting harder and harder to stay awake at night. But every time I closed my eyes, my mind would start going a mile a minute.

"I guess we’ll find out."

Nancy looked like she didn't much care for that answer, so I changed the subject. "How are Jimmy and Jessie doing?"

Jessie had decided to take some time off for the summer to spend it with her brother as he recovered. Luckily, the team doctor offered to let her continue her internship with the team.

"I'm pretty sure Jimmy is going to strangle his sister, but otherwise good. Jessie is getting along with the team—a little too well according to Jimmy—and he's healing nicely. It's going to be a long nine months if Jessie chooses to stay with him."

I made a mental note to give Jimmy a call and find out what Jessie was up to. I didn't care that she was going to be twenty-two soon, she needed to keep her head focused on school and less on the football players.

"Do you think she will?"

Nancy fiddled with the hem of her shirt. It was a rare act of nervousness, so I took her hand in mine.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid she's going to follow in my shoes."

I gave her a questioning look because I truly didn't understand what she meant by that.

"Thomas wasn't always the asshole he turned out to be." She rolled her eyes. "Okay, he probably was, but he hid it well. Especially when we first started dating. I was convinced he was this amazing guy who loved me and wanted the same things I did. I had my choice to go off to college, but instead, I got married. I don't want Jessie to make the same mistake. If the only reason she's staying in Oklahoma is because of some boy, then I would rather she didn't."

Now her need to keep busy made sense. Even though she feared Jessie was making a mistake, she was trying not to interfere in her daughter’s life.

"We don't know that's what she's going to do." I did my best to ease her mind. "And if she does decide to stay, then we have to hope she's got a good head on her shoulders. She was raised by you, baby. Jessie's smart. She's going to make a smart decision."

At least I hoped that was the case. Otherwise I would be kicking some guy’s ass for hurting her. I didn't care that I’d only known Jessie for a few weeks, we’d bonded in that hospital while waiting for her mother, and that wasn't something that could be broken easily.

EPILOGUE 1

Nancy

"You know when you said you only had clothes, I didn't think you meant it would all fit in two drawers." I looked down at the large dresser I’d been prepared to clear half the space out of, but it turned out not to be necessary. "Your stuff doesn't even take up the whole drawer space.”

It was a little sad to think that everything Lex owned could fit in one small backpack.

Lex barely looked at the clothes and shrugged. "I never needed more than that."

"And now?"

Lex was moving into my house—and not to sleep on the couch or to crash on a spare bed. He was permanently living with me, and I wanted to make sure he was still okay with it.

"I told you I want to be here," he was quick to reassure me. "Does my lack of a wardrobe bother you?"

"I wouldn't say it bothers me. I just want you to be comfortable here. I know you say you want to be here, but if youfeel the need to change anything or add, all you have to do is tell me. I'm not attached to any of it."

That wasn't true. I was attached to plenty. But for Lex I would make a few sacrifices. If this was going to be the first home he ever lived in, I wanted him to be happy with it.

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