Page 57 of Threat of Danger
He stepped into the room. “I can help.”
Kaylee laughed at something downstairs.
Jess’s ears perked up. “Why isn’t she in school? Is she sick?”
“No school today. Hey, more free labor.”
Jess flashed him a don’t-kid-yourself look. “Nothing’s free with that girl. She used to hustle me when I babysat her. Chuck would give me an extra fiver if I picked up the house. Kaylee offered not to make a mess if I kicked back two-fifty.”
Derek grinned. “She makes images for me to post on social media with my daily updates to readers. She does have an entrepreneurial spirit.”
“How come you’re such good friends?” Jess closed the bottom drawer before she straightened. “Does she have a crush on you?”
“Definitely too smart for that. I’m like her big brother.”
But the thought that Jess still considered him crush-worthy was gratifying.
“English is the bane of her life,” he told Jess. “She comes over sometimes, and I help her with homework essays. I could trade some tutoring later for room-moving now. Want me to call her up?”
“It’s not that big of a job.”
“If we don’t help you, Zelda will insist on helping. She won’t just watch you drag stuff down the stairs by yourself. You want her negotiating that king-size mattress down the stairs with her bad knees?”
A sudden grin cracked across Jess’s face.
“What’s so funny?”
“Too bad the mattress isn’t a twin,” she said. “We could ride it down. Remember?”
Man, did he ever. But more than the memory, he appreciated the present moment: Jess relaxed with him, that anger she’d brought home with her gone for the first time, Jess bringing up a good memory instead of a bad one. Something had happened. She had turned a corner.
Suddenly it was like old times for a moment, as if they were still good friends.
“I’m not likely to forget the tanning I got for putting your life in danger,” he said. “I couldn’t sit the next day.”
Back in middle school, Derek and Jess had ridden her mattress down the stairs. Before that, back in elementary school, they’d ridden down in one of Rose’s plastic laundry baskets. Their parents hadn’t been impressed with either attempt at adventure.
Both times, Jess had talked him into the stunt. Both times, Derek’s father had beaten the tar out of him. The elder Daley had still been drinking back then and had a much shorter fuse than these days.
Jess grew serious. “I’m sorry I got you into trouble.”
Derek couldn’t help but smile at the memories. “Definitely worth it.” He cast a pointed glance at the blanket chest at the foot of Rose Taylor’s bed. “Want to try again?”
Jess’s grin returned, but she shook her head. “I’d like to think I’ve matured.”
“Right. Because now you live a completely sedate life. Jumping out of speeding cars. Climbing skyscrapers.”
“I still like doing stair falls for stunts. They’re pretty easy once you have the technique down right.” A second later her eyes lit up again. “Remember when I climbed the water tower?”
“Did we have fire companies from three towns?” He was rather fond of that memory. “It was like a field day. All we were missing was the cotton candy.”
“While the firemen were arguing about how best to get me, you climbed after me.”
Oh, he remembered that part too. And the ass-kicking he’d gotten from his father afterward. Again, totally worth it.
He leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb. “Why did you climb?”
Her cheeks pinked. She pushed another drawer back in place.
