“Oh my god, this family,” he repeated, and laughed, because for the first time since he arrived, he felt like he belonged.
Chapter Eighteen
Liz was sitting in the tiny kiosk area for the rental cars, impatiently waiting for Jake to finish up. At this rate, they’d be getting back well after dark, so she texted Trevor to arrange night check with Brady. Her mother had already texted her not to worry about getting back for dinner; she was eating in town with a friend, and the boys could fend for themselves for once.
That they could. Might be better to put some distance between Jake and the boys for a night.
She sighed and shifted on the hard plastic seat, tiredness from restless overthinking taking hold as she took a calming breath. Waiting was not her strong suit.
She’d spent a large part of the previous night staring at her ceiling, and she’d come to a decision to follow this thing she’d started with Jake. The consequences wouldn’t be too bad if they were open about it, right? Rules, and definitely no romance. As she watched him interact with the rental booth guy, she hoped that today, as she spent time with him on the drive back, she could spell it out and draw the black and white back into the equation.
She needed black and white after the shitstorm from last night.
The immediate, sober second-guessing about kissing him in front of everyone had circled in her head until she had gone to bed, and then her anger over Tanner being so overprotective left and the overthinking had started.
Tanner was just trying to take care of her, even if it was annoying as hell and she hated it. It took two to tango, and instead of being an adult and just owning her actions, she had reacted like a child with both him and Jake, and she knew it had backfired. In her defense, she had reasoned to herself, Jake was sexy as hell all tousled and bleeding, and that was partly why she had spontaneously kissed him.
It seemed testosterone got to her too. Heck, it was getting to her right now, him leaning on the counter, his deep laugh distracting her from the silly game she was playing on her phone. Despite trying hard to stay objective and keep her hands to herself today, it was damned hard when he wore jeans that fit him perfectly and a crisp collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
Jake walked back outside with the rental car guy to watch him do his walkaround of the little car, and her mind wandered from Jake to the ranch, Tanner and Brady, and from there to Brett. The predicament they were in was directly Brett’s fault, and she somewhat understood Tanner’s feeling of being out of control. He had no context, or tools to handle the intense emotions that losing so much, so quickly, had given him.
It boiled down to the fact that Brett hadn’t exactly been a shining example of emotional health. Brady had inherited his mother’s demeanor and was the peacemaker most of the time, which sometimes meant he backed down and didn’t stand up for himself when he should. Tanner, on the other hand, didn’t know how to do empathy or express himself. He was stoic, uptight, and overly harsh most of the time because that was who he had been told he needed to be by his father. That was the kind of man who ran ranches. That was the kind of man who got shit done. Was respected. Didn’t show emotion. God forbid cried.
All that utter bullshit.
Tanner meant well, but he was shit at showing it. She forgave him; she always would.
This morning when he’d strode past to the cattle pens, she’d run to catch him. They’d walked in silence the rest of the way, standing at the fence while ponderous heifers had inspected their boots resting on the bottom rung, moving off to the feeders once they’d satisfied their curiosity. Brady had joined them not long after, wiping his hands on a rag, his overalls already covered in bright-red wheel-bearing grease.
“Good morning, sunshine,” he had said brightly, throwing an arm over his brother’s shoulder. Tanner had tolerated it with a huff. They leaned on the fence as a trio, a picture of peace compared to the night before. No one needed to say anything else. All three of them together without yelling meant it was done.
“I’m sorry.” Liz had apologized after a moment more, wanting to clear the air. “Last night got a little out of control.”
“Yeah, it did. Me too,” Tanner had replied, rubbing his jaw where a bruise was forming under his three-day-old stubble. It was as good as she would get, and she accepted it.
Brady hadn’t taken his arm off his brother, and he shook him slightly, making Tanner wince and split his scabbed lip farther.
“Being the boss doesn’t always mean bein’ the rule maker, Tan,” Brady had offered, humor in his voice. “It means being the bigger man, taking a step back when it ain’t your concern.”
Tanner had hung his head at that, shrugged off Brady’s arm, given him a pat on his shoulder, and strode towards the tractor parked nearby. The universal Tanner signal of message received, but the touchy-feely stuff was over and it was time to work.
It was the way it was with those two, and she knew things would get back to normal now.
“We’re good to go.”
Liz blinked out of her thoughts and palmed her keys in her hand as Jake joined her.
Finally. All the waiting was giving her time to be in her head. She’d had enough of that for the past twenty-four hours. She needed a distraction.
Jake had a small bruise across one cheekbone, his lip split but not swollen. His knuckles were red, but he was in better shape than Tanner. However, paired with her bruised nose and fading black eyes, they must’ve looked like a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde, because the rental guy was giving them side-eye. She threw him a pissed-off look, and Jake caught it, trying desperately to keep a straight face as he put his hand on the small of her back, ushering her forward.
“Yeah, you should see the other guy,” she muttered under her breath when they ducked through the door, which cracked Jake’s resolve, and he let out a deep laugh.
Back out in the fresh air, she took in a lungful and rolled her shoulders. The concrete around her was grating. She hated being in the city, and the airport was always so busy—people rushing everywhere, the noise almost unbearable. The sooner she was out of here the better.
They hopped into her truck, and as Liz maneuvered out of the parking garage, she let out a huff of tense breath. They were alone, together, in her truck. The entire way in as she had followed him in that tiny rental car, she’d debated what she would say after what had happened last night. They hadn’t had a chance to talk since then, her hurrying to finish her chores before they left just after lunch.
Now that he was here, she had no clue how to start.
