Page 52 of Ocotillo Kisses
“Sure, I can do that,” Con said.
“You don’t have to go with me,” Britt said, standing and shifting her legs to get the blood flow back. “I can go by myself.”
“No, I don’t want you making that drive with no phone,” Alexis said, a little breathless as she struggled to her feet. “Con will go with you.”
“Mom, I don’t want to leave you alone if you’re feeling like this.”
She reached out to cup her hand on his cheek and smiled. “I’ll be okay. Don’t worry.”
Britt looked at Con’s face as he watched his mother go back into the house, and she knew the truth. He always worried.
“Really, Con, if you want to stay, I’ll be fine. I’m not worried about making the drive.”
He looked from the door to her. “No, I’ll go with you. I have some things I need to get in town, anyway.”
“Oh. Well. If you have some things to get in town,” she repeated, adding a touch of sarcasm to her voice. “I guess you don’t want me to drive, then.”
“No,” he said, blowing out a breath. “I’ll drive. Are you ready?”
“If you’re sure she really doesn’t want to go.”
“I think she’ll feel safer here.”
He walked down the steps to the truck, which he’d pulled closer to the house than usual. He opened the door for Britt and held it while she climbed up. After he closed it behind her, he walked around the back of the truck, pausing to secure the bed cover, then climbed in on the driver’s side.
The truck was nice and wide, and he’d moved her seat back pretty far, in anticipation of his mom, she was sure. But there was plenty of space between them, and not just physically.
“You should have seen her about fifteen minutes before you got here,” Con said, pulling away from the house with one last glance at the door. “I thought I was going to have to call Austin. You know, I might, anyway, see if he can come out and check on her. She couldn’t catch her breath. It was just about a full-on panic attack.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what? You were amazing with her. I thought for a minute, you were going to get her to come after all. How did you know what to say to her?”
Britt shook her head. “I don’t know. I just tried to put myself in her situation. Tried to think like she was thinking.”
“That couldn’t be easy. I don’t think you’ve ever been afraid of anything in your life.”
“I have,” Britt said, a little stung that he would think that.
“Well, you don’t seem like it.”
“You don’t seem like it either.”
“I’m paying you a compliment.”
“It doesn’t feel like it.”
He sighed as he turned onto the main road leading out of town. “Are we going to start fighting before we even get out of the city limits?”
“We’re not fighting.”
“Britt. I’m complimenting you. And I want you to know I appreciate how you are with my mom. She’s not the same person you used to know, and I just—I like how you treat her.”
“I just treat her like normal.”
“You maybe think that,” he said, lifting a shoulder. “But you don’t feel sorry for her, at least you don’t act like you do. I just like it, and so does she. I’m just telling you.”
“Okay,” she said, nodding, accepting. “It’s no problem, really.”
