“We haven’t had these in a while.”
“Ledger’s godchild arrived last night. I figured the best way to make a good impression is to make my favorite breakfast for her,” I tell him as I go back to preparing the rest of the breakfast tacos. Once a few are ready, I plop them onto a large serving dish and carry it over to the island.
Rhett sits at the island on one of the stools and grunts his appreciation as I hand him some silverware.
“Judging by the yelling, it didn’t sound like she was all that thrilled to be here,” Rhett says.
Half way between the island and the stove, I freeze. There’d been yelling? I turn back around to look at Rhett who’s chowing down on his taco.
“What do you mean?” I’d only slipped out for less than an hour to take care of that second body. Did Ledger do something while I was gone?
Between bites of his breakfast Rhett says, “They were in the guest room arguing. Couldn’t really hear what about but she sounded pissed.”
I hum thoughtfully at that as I finish making the trek back to the stove.
“Well, she had a stressful trip here,” I muse out loud. “And Ledger’s been anxious for her arrival. I’m sure tempers were high due to the circumstances. It was probably nothing.”
Ihopeit was nothing.
Rhett says nothing else on the matter while he eats. When he’s done he brings his plate over and dumps it in the sink. I hand him a plate of tacos covered with aluminum foil, then two brown paper bags.
“Breakfast for Santi, and lunch for the two of you,” I explain. “Take the tacos to Santi ASAP. He’s going to be a bear with the customers if he doesn’t get fed.”
Rhett takes the items with a nod. Just as he moves toward the back door, Ledger joins us.
“Mornin’ Rhett, Wes,” he greets.
Rhett waves without looking back, then slips out the door. Ledger strolls over to my side and grabs a plate and fills it with a few tacos.
“These look good,” he says, appreciatively. When he takes a bite, he nods his approval. “Tastes good too.”
“How many do you think Blair will eat?” I ask him as I load up a few more taco shells.
Ledger hums before swallowing the bite he’s taken.
“Truth be told, I’ll be surprised if she gets up at all today. I’ve never seen her quite that exhausted before, which is saying a lot.” He scoffs as he shakes his head. “Anchor put her through hell sometimes. For a while, he would force her to stay awake for days at a time. That was… rough to watch. She looked more tired last night than she did after that trial he put her through.”
I whip my head around to look at Ledger. There’s no sign of amusement on his face. He’s not joking.
“Why would he do that to his kid?” I ask, trying desperately to come up with some sort of justifiable answer.
“He wanted her prepared for any and everything.” Ledger’s face twists up into a grimace, letting me know we feel the same way about this. “Anyway, don’t expect her to wake up.”
My chest constricts in objection. What the hell did Blair go through as a child? Rather than inquire about that, I return to the topic at hand. “If shedoeswake, what then?”
Ledger considers this as he eats. I don’t push him. Instead, I make us a pot of coffee. It’s not until I’ve poured us each a cup that he answers.
“I’ll take over Zone Two today if you don’t mind just hanging up here with her,” he suggests. “She’s not terribly thrilled with the idea of staying but maybe once she gets to know you andthe others she might relax a bit. I’ll talk to her tonight about her working here to give her something to do.”
We talked about this briefly over the past few days as we waited for her arrival. Trying to work Blair into the company would be difficult. We don’t want too many people knowing she is here, given that she’s supposed to be lying low. However, Ledger was sure that she wouldn’t want to simply twiddle her thumbs and sit in a house alone either.
“Sure,” I shrug.
Ledger finishes his tacos and dumps his dish into the sink on top of Rhett’s. “Thanks, Wes. I’ll poke my head back in here every once in a while to check on her but?—”
“No need. Blair and I will be fine,” I cut off gently.
There’s no time like the present to work on boundaries when it comes to Ledger and Blair. He got her here, now it’s my turn to step in and make sure she’s comfortable during her stay with us.
