Page 47 of Mr. Fixer Upper
Gannon had already anticipated there’d be no keeping her from the set. He preferred to have her there anyway so he could keep an eye on her. Besides, the rest of the crew was most likely still torn up over seeing her being carted away unconscious and bleeding. It would do them all some good to pretend that everything was normal today.
“You can go to work on the following conditions.”
She was trying to work up a mutinous expression, but it took too much energy. “Ugh. What?”
“You sit your ass in a chair and don’t lift a damn finger. You eat breakfastandlunch. And you come back to rest in the afternoon. We’ll see how you feel after a legitimate nap and then we decide if you can come back to the set tonight.”
She argued, weakly. “Gannon, there are a million things to do. I can’t just sit around and—”
“It’s either that or you’re banned from the set for the next two days. And Andy will back me up there.” He held firm and stared her down. In her weakened state, he was confident in a win.
“You’re really bossy.”
“Yeah? How’s it feel to be on the receiving end?” he asked cheerfully as he helped her to her feet.
Paige kept her face impassive, but he sensed her body tensing with pain. “Paige.”
She shook her head. “I’m fine. Just a little stiff and sore.”
“Do you need anything before I leave?”
“You should probably put your pants on before you go.”
“I should probably check out all your bumps and bruises before I go,” he countered, reaching for the hem of his t-shirt that she wore, but Paige slapped his hand away.
“Be ready to go in thirty,” he said, dropping a soft kiss to the top of her head. He stepped into his jeans and boots and on the way out, grabbed Paige’s oversized windbreaker and put it on. His biceps strained the seams. He pointed at her. “Thirty minutes.”
“Don’t hulk out of my jacket,” she called after him as he let himself out.
--------
Gannon didn’t bother with a soft knock on Cat’s door. His sister could sleep through an earthquake that sent a six-lane highway into collapse. He gave the door a good three or four pounds before it opened. Cat looked as if she hadn’t slept all night, dark circles hovered under her bloodshot eyes.
“Why are you punching my door in the face at six in the morning?” she demanded, her voice a sleepy rasp.
“You and I are taking Paige to the set.” He snuck into his own room like a teenager after curfew and changed into fresh clothes before having a text conversation with Andy about exactly what Paige would and wouldn’t be asked to do today. Andy was on his side, but there was no way they were going to get her out of an invasive one-on-one about the accident and its after-effects.
“I knew she’d talk you into it,” Cat yawned, leaving the door open and fishing through dresser drawers for clean clothes.
“How do you know she talked me into anything?”
Cat shot him a look over her shoulder. “You’re the only one on the team who can talk her out of anything. If she’s going, it’s because you said it was okay.”
“I didn’t bother having the argument with her. I’d rather keep her where we can see her, make sure no other disasters befall her.”
“Gannon King walking away from an argument?” Cat arched an eyebrow at him and yanked one of a dozen pairs of shorts out of her drawer. “You must be rattled.”
“You’re the one who looks like she didn’t sleep a wink last night.”
“It was bad, Gan.” Cat shook her head as if trying to dislodge the memories. “Tony and some of the other guys literally had to dig her out of the debris, and she was just huddled there on the ground over that boy. I thought she was dead. I thought they both were. Everything was dead silent, and then we hear the kid singing his ABCs.”
“Fuck.” Gannon sat down on his sister’s unmade bed.
“My sentiments,” Cat said, heading into the bathroom to change. “So you saw her this morning? I wanted to check on her again last night, but I figured she needed rest.”
“She’s gonna be hurting today,” Gannon said, side-stepping the question. “But I think everyone will feel better having her on set.”
“Agreed. Think we’re gonna see some trouble today?” she called through the door.
