While he was gone, I heard the microwave buzz, and the scent of lasagna wafted in from under thedoor.
Then he came back to rinse out the conditioner, and he even closed his eyes while he helped me out of the tub. I dried off, careful of my left arm, then stepped into the clothes he brought me while he set up the first aid center at the table in the otherroom.
We shared the microwave lasagna right out of the box, eating with plastic forks, washing down bites of cheese and pasta with sips from lukewarm cans of soda. Then his gaze settled on my still mostly-openwound.
His phone buzzed with a text while he was peeling the seal from the bottle of alcohol. I glanced at it, and the blood drained from my face. “Why is Vic texting you?” I demanded. “What did youdo?”
He gave me a guilty look. “I didn’t mention that? Marc’s sending them up from Phoenix to meet us.” He glanced at the text. “And they’re evidently about an houraway.”
“No!” I grabbed the phone from him, but I didn’t know the code to unlock it. “They’ll take us back to the ranch,Justus!”
“Um…that’s kind of theplan.”
“No!” I stood and backed away from him, clutching my still oozing arm to my chest. “That isnotthe plan. We’re going to get you that othervote.”
“Well, we’re going to have to do that from the Lazy S. If Blackwell gets you into his territory, he can try you for trespassing there, under his own terms. Marc says he won’t hurt you, but he seems to think the old man’s not above using you as a pawn to get to me. Or to force some other decision to go his way with the council. Wehaveto take you home, so you can be tried there. Under Marc and Faythe’sterms.”
“But what about Taylor’svote?”
“We have a long drive back to think about that. And we’ll still be together.” He sighed. “Please sit down and let me clean that cut out before it scabsover.”
“There’s no real danger of that. I’ve broken it open about fourtimes.”
“Then let’s bandage it up.” He laid a clean, folded rag from the bathroom on the table. “Set your arm here. Come on, Kaci, I’m trying to helpyou.”
“I liked the shampooing help better than the kind where you decide to take us back to Texas without consultingme.”
“You were kind of out of reach at the time, and I had to call Marc. I didn’t know if Jared was taking you on behalf of the Southwest Pride, or for his own nefarious purposes, and without knowing that, I couldn’t tell whether he’d taken you north or south. If I hadn’t called him, I wouldn’t have found you, and you’d be back at the old man’s compound right now, getting ready for a hearing in his puppetcourt.”
“No, I’d probably still be in that little patch ofwoods.”
“Bleeding,” he insisted. “Waiting for Jared to get free of the paramedics and come after you. Or for Blackwell to send more of his men foryou.”
“Fine.” He was right. But I didn’t have to like it. I sank into the chair he’d pulled out for me and laid my arm on therag.
“This will sting,” he said as he lifted the bottle ofalcohol.
“It’s not my first cut, Justus,” Isnapped.
He sat in the other chair and leveled a gaze at me. “Would you rather do thisyourself?”
“No. I’m sorry. Ijust…”
“You just what?” He poured alcohol into the lid of the bottle, then dribbled it from the lid onto myarm.
My wound bubbled, as if the alcohol were as angry as I was, and the burn was pretty fierce. And cathartic. “I don’t want this to be over, and once Vic and Chris get here, it will be. They’ll break this spell, or whatever thisis.”
Justus set the bottle down and took my right hand in both of his. “Kaci. This won’t be over untilyouwant it to beover.”
“That’s cute.” I sounded so bitter I even surprised myself. “If we don’t get you that vote, they’re going to convict you. If we run, they’ll come after me. This will be over no matter what we want, one way or another, and I’ve known that the whole time. It’s just…as long as it was you and me on a road trip we kept inventing reasons to prolong, ‘together’ at least looked possible. Hell, ‘forever’ looked possible. But now, Vic and Chris are on their way, and we’re going to lose this…” I squeezed his hand. “…this private moment in anhour.”
“I’m sorry.” He picked up a long strip of sterile bandage and began to wrap it around my wrist. “I had to call Marc. I wasn’t going to risk losing you justbecause…”
Because he was too afraid or proud to ask for help. He wasn’t going to say it out loud. But that was the truth. He’d given up his chance to run, so he could go afterme.
Justus secured the end of the bandage in place with a metal butterfly clip. “It’ll probably need stitches soon,but…”
I stood and climbed into his lap, straddling him on the cheap, armless hotel diningchair.
