“Maybe I overstated it, but they’d be disappointed. By now they think of you as a friend and hope you feel the same about them.”
“I do. They’re great. Everyone is. That’s why I don’t want to wear out my welcome by handing them my problems.”
“Friends help friends. It’s the nature of the beast.”
“Well, sure, but this episode with Fudge is way more than that. If he’s at the ranch, then I need to be there to help care for him. My trailer has living quarters, but I can see your mom insisting I eat with?—”
“She’ll invite you to bunk in the house. There’s plenty of room.”
She groaned. “And she’ll be disappointed if I stay in my trailer?”
“Quite likely.”
“This is what I’m talking about. There should be an equal give and take, but everything’s out of balance.”
He could tell her that nobody cared except her, but she wouldn’t believe him. Somebody, and he guessed it was her parents, had convinced her that everyone kept score.
Unlearning that wouldn’t be easy. Maybe she wouldn’t care to. But spending time with his family would show her a different perspective.
And his weekend had just gotten a lot more complicated. She’d be sleeping only steps away. As for him, he wouldn’t be sleeping much at all.
Chapter Eight
“Do you have a room in the main house?” When Luis chuckled, Jordan rushed to clarify. “I wasn’t asking because?—”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes! I was only— I mean, it’s logical that you?—”
“I have my own place. I won’t be sleeping down the hall from you.”
“That’s a good thing.”
“All things considered, yes, it is.”
She gripped the steering wheel and focused on the road ahead. Traffic was light, thank goodness. “To be clear, are we agreeing we are or are not going there?”
Silence.
Her heart rate picked up. “Luis?”
He took a deep breath and let it out. “It could be… complicated.”
“Very complicated. We’re not attending a clinic where we’ll never see those people again. We’d be in the bosom of your family, so to speak.”
“Interesting choice of words.”
“Hey.” She tightened her grip on the wheel.
“Freudian slip?”
He was flirting with her and she liked it way too much. “Do you want to get horizontal this weekend?”
“Plenty of other options to explore, too.”
“Luis!”
“Of course I want to. So do you. Is it a bad idea? Maybe. But maybe it’s inevitable.”
