She looked back at him, as if not sure.After a moment, she nodded.
“All right.I’ll stay.What did you bring us?”she asked Fletch.
He opened one of the two grocery bags he’d carried in.“Sandwiches, chips, and a couple of sodas.I wasn’t sure what you’d want or like so I got roast turkey all the way around.”He started pulling out sandwiches wrapped in deli paper and handing them out.
“Spider tells me you’re staying in town while he’s here.I hope you found a short-term rental and you’re not paying hotel prices.”
“I did.I found an apartment not far from here.The price is about the same as a hotel, if we wanted just one room, and when there are two of us here, like now, we could do that.But we’d be getting on each other’s nerves within a week.Plus, this gives us room when someone else comes up, like Raven and Taylynn, without more expense.It also lets us cook when we want, not that I’m all that much in the kitchen but Dax isn’t bad.”He finished handing out sandwiches, then pulled two different full-size bags of potato chips from the bag and set them on the table between her and Spider, then did the same with the drinks.“Dig in.”
By the time they finished eating, Spider could see Jordon was drooping.Being on alert for the last week and up all night last night was catching up to her.He wanted her to stay.He wanted to tell her to stretch out on the small sofa where her father had been sitting or even to curl up on the bed beside him.He’d be willing to move over and make room for her, but he knew it wouldn’t sound right.
“Why don’t you call that friend and make sure you’re good to stay, then Fletch can run you over there.You look like you’re barely holding your eyes open.”He reached across the table and snagged the paper her sandwich was wrapped in, then added it to his and balled it up.
“You sure?”she glanced at Fletch.“I can have her come get me.Or I can call one of the boys to get me.”
“I’m sure.Go call her, make sure you can stay.”He waved one hand at her.
She slid off the other end of the bed, pulled her phone from the rear pocket of her jeans and went out into the hall.He watched her the whole way.
“When did he start bringing her back?”Fletch asked almost as soon as she was out of the room.“I thought he was coming alone.”
“He was.Because she was busy.She had a horse getting ready to foal and was watching it.The baby was born last night, and she was up all night taking care of them both.”Spider found it difficult to look away from the doorway, but he dragged his gaze away and looked at his best friend.
“That’s why she looks like she’s been dragged through a knothole backwards.”
Spider scowled at Fletch.He’d thought she looked wonderful.Tired but still stunning.
“I asked her, she said he only asked her to come the first time, after that, he’s just asked if she wants to come.She said she had the same choice this morning and she’d wanted to come see me more than she wanted to sleep.”
“Why’s she calling for a ride if her dad brought her in?Did he just drop her off?”
Spider shook his head.
“He was here for a while, but his wife called.He needed to head back to the ranch.He offered to take her with him or to have one of her brothers come pick her up.She said she’d stay with a friend in town instead.That’s who she’s calling now.”
“And you want me to take her wherever she’s wanting to go?”
“I do.You can come back here afterwards or go do your thing and send Dax back with dinner.If I was able to, I’d take her myself, but that’s not going to happen any time soon.”He couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice in that last bit, not that he’d tried very hard.Fletch was one of the few people he knew he could say how he felt.Be totally blunt and even mean about things and he wouldn’t take it personally.He would know that it was just Spider letting off some steam.And if he overstepped that, Fletch would reel him back in too.It was part of who they were to each other.
Fletch didn’t say anything but met his gaze for several seconds, then nodded.Some of the tension seemed to just drain out of Spider.Fletch would do for him what he couldn’t do for himself, at least for now.Spider wouldn’t have to worry that she was safe, that she’d gotten where she needed to go or that she was too tired to drive safely, not that she had a vehicle here now but it was still a thought.
Jordon stepped back in the open door.“She’s not going to be home for another few hours.And I don’t have a key.”Her shoulders slumped.“I called Wyatt but he didn’t answer.Give me a couple minutes and I’ll call my other brothers.One of them will be able to come get me.”
“So you’re going home?”
She nodded, barely glancing up from her phone.
“Wait.Don’t call them.Let Fletch take you home.”
She looked up, meeting his gaze with a wide-eyed stare.She glanced at Fletch then back to him.
“I can’t do that.I can’t ask you to go all that way for me.Out to the ranch and back will take you over an hour.”
“You don’t have to ask.I’d be happy to do it,” Fletch said, speaking up.
“I’d appreciate it if you’d let him take you, Jordon.For me.”He kept his gaze on hers, trying to get her to see what this meant to him.Not that he could say why, only that he needed to make sure she was safe.
She looked back and forth between the two of them for a moment, then nodded.
