“What was the promise?” she asked, her eyebrows creasing adorably the same way they used to when she was a little girl and was fascinated by something.
When they were kids, he used to find himself watching her, waiting for that look in her eye and wonder if he would ever love anything that much. She’d made him realize that even though he’d enjoyed working with his hands and with his family that he didn’t love it. Not the way that the he should. The plan had always been for him to take over for his father after he graduated high school, but when the big day finally came and he found himself standing in his father’s workshop, looking down at the blueprint for a replica for one of the antique desks that one of his great-grandfathers had designed, he’d realized that he was making a mistake.
“If he wasn’t married by the time he turned twenty-five, then he would go visit his uncle in England with the hopes that he would find a suitable bride during his stay.”
“Did he?” she asked, laying her head on his shoulder.
“Did he find a suitable bride?” he asked, turning his head so that he could brush his lips against hers.
“Mmmhmmm,” she mumbled with a sleepy little smile.
Chuckling, he said, “Not even close. She was disguised in his uncle’s household as a man. His uncle had originally hired her as a tutor for his grandsons, but they’d proven more than she could handle so he gave her another task, looking after his obstinate nephew.”
“That sounds ominous,” she said with an adorable smile.
“That’s a story for another time,” Reed said, brushing his lips against hers simply because he couldn’t help himself.
“Tease,” she mumbled with a sad little pout that had him chuckling.
“I thought you wanted to hear about the pretties,” he teased.
“I do enjoy a good back story,” Joey said, nodding solemnly.
“I’ll try to remember that,” he promised her with another kiss.
“I would really appreciate that,” she said as her eyes slowly began to close as she snuggled closer. “Now, tell me about my pretties.”
Lips twitching, he obeyed. “After the long and deeply entertaining story that I will one day tell you, they made their way back home. Wanting to do something special for her, he built the house she’d always dreamed of.”
“And she dreamed of having a secret room?” she asked with a sleepy little smile.
“And a big family,” he said, wondering what the small woman falling asleep in his arms dreamed of.
Chapter 34
“Are you sure about this?” Matt asked as he grabbed a bag off the bench seat of his truck and tossed it in the back to make room for her.
“Absolutely,” Joey said absently as she glanced back toward the brightly lit window on the second floor where the man that disappeared a few hours ago was probably still working, hoping that he was-
“He’s not coming,” Matt said, shrugging as he grabbed another tool bag and tossed it in the back.
“Why not?” she asked, telling herself that it was probably for the best as she threw another hopeful glance toward that brightly lit window.
“All he does is work,” he said as he returned his attention to cleaning up the truck that she really wasn’t sure that she should get in.
At least, not without first making sure that her tetanus shot was up to date.
“He has a tough job,” she said, still wondering how he’d ended up taking over as principal at their old high school. If anything, she would have thought that he would have taken over his family’s business or joined the Marines with Jackson, but instead, he’d taken everyone by surprise when he’d decided to go to college.
“Which is why he needs to relax once in a while,” Matt said as he stepped aside and gestured for her to get in.
“Umm, yeah, no,” she said, shaking her head as she took in the disturbing mess that he’d shoved aside.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as he reached over and shoved what looked like a month’s worth of old McDonald’s food wrappers, dirty shirts, rags, and a collection of trash that was giving off the scent of rotten onions and other things that had her taking a step back and-
“Why don’t we take my truck?” the man who she hadn’t been able to sleep without said as he placed his hand against the small of her back and led her toward the large black pickup truck parked only a few feet away and-
“Not enough room,” Jackson, the man who she’d really been hoping to avoid, said, throwing Reed a curious glance as he joined them, throwing his old duffle bag over his shoulder as he gestured toward her car. “I’ll drive.”
“Why don’t we take separate cars?” Joey suggested, licking her lips nervously because she really didn’t think this was such a good idea anymore.
“Easier just to take one car,” Jackson said, already heading toward her car.
“But I cleaned and everything,” Matt grumbled as Reed led her over to her car where he popped the back, tossed his bag inside, and-That was it.
There were no lingering touches, smoldering looks, or anything that gave away any indication that she meant anything to him, which was fine. More than fine, because that’s what she wanted. In fact, if she was going to be completely honest, and why wouldn’t she be? She’d have to say that she was actually relieved that she didn’t have to worry about him distracting her with those kisses and caresses that she liked so much. It made it easier to focus on other things.
Like this morning when she’d found herself curled up alone in her bed. Thanks to Reed, she’d been able to finish the lesson plans for the rest of the year, finally unpack her bags, Google kitty names and spent an hour trying to lure the aforementioned unnamed kitten from beneath her dresser, packed her camping gear, cooked enough food to last her through the weekend, and was ready to go by five this morning, which left her with plenty of time to take a long hot shower so that she could panic in peace. She would have preferred the safety of Reed’s arms instead, but clearly, that wasn’t an option, which was fine.
More than fine.
“What about work?” Matt asked as he reluctantly gave up hopes of taking his truck and began loading his stuff into the back of her car.
“Done,” Reed said, grabbing the large cooler that had taken her over twenty minutes and five attempts to drag outside and carried it around to the other side like it weighed nothing and slid it into the backseat.
More than fine, she tried to tell herself even as she couldn’t help but wonder if they’d notice if she took this opportunity to sneak off and hide like the coward that she was, because she really wasn’t sure that she would be able to make it through the next forty-eight hours without doing something that she was going to-
“We have a problem.”
“What problem?” Jackson asked as Joey followed Matt’s frown and nearly sighed with relief when she saw the problem.
“There’s not enough room,” Reed said, gesturing toward the space in the backseat that was just big enough for one person, which meant that she had the excuse that she needed to get out of this before it was too late.
“Joey can sit on my lap,” Matt offered with a heartfelt sigh.
“Did you want me to kill you?” Jackson drawled as he took a step toward Matt and-
“She can sit with me,” Reed finally said as he shoved his brother toward the front seat and before she could make another suggestion, she found herself sitting on Reed’s lap and trying to figure out how she was going to make it through this weekend alive.
---
“What’s going on with my sister?” Jackson finally asked the question that Reed was wondering several hours later as they watched Joey make her way across the busy Walmart parking lot.