13
J ake listened, wondering if he’d just screwed things over with Heather. He didn’t know which part was worse, confessing that he was going to be driving the car for the demo derby or calling her by the smart-ass nickname he’d dubbed her with back when they were freshman.
He didn’t check to see if the call was still connected, he could hear her breathing on the other end of the line. He didn’t check on her. He just waited.
It took her almost ninety seconds to speak, and even then, her voice was soft and breathy as if she didn’t believe what she’d heard. “You remembered.”
“I never forgot, Lynnie. You still got a thing for gummy worms and red hots?”
She laughed. “Of course, but—“
“No sour worms,” he finished the last of that phrase along with her.
They laughed together. The sound made him wish he didn’t need to be here for the next week. It made him wish his brothers would go back to Tucson, despite how impatient he’d been for them to get here.
“You know,” she said after a moment. “I get that you are tied up there, but I don’t have anything holding me here. I can come down there and spend some time with you.”
Jake opened his mouth to say no but stopped before he got the words out. He did want to see her. And without waiting long enough so he had time to get away and get all the way up to Dickenson.
But where would she stay? He didn’t think she’d be up to setting up a tent in the back field with the visiting club.
“I’d love to see you, Lynnie. But I live in a bunkhouse. I don’t have anywhere for you to stay. I mean I could find you a tent if you want to set up in the pasture like our visitors from the original chapter, but somehow, I don’t think that’s your style.”
“Yeah, not really.” She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. “How far is the ranch from town?”
“About a half hour. It’s not too bad, but I don’t want you coming down and spending money on a hotel, at least not for more than a single night at a time.” He didn’t tell her that if anyone was spending that money, it would be him. He didn’t want her putting a charge on any of her cards, just in case that douchebag Mitch had people watching her accounts in an attempt to find her.
“I don’t want to do that either. I don’t want to spend too much money until I have some coming in again. I’ve got something else in mind.”
“What?” He wondered what she was thinking.
“No. Let me see if I can get it to work out before I tell you what I’m thinking.”
Jake took a deep breath and shook his head. He knew better than to push for an answer before she was ready to tell him. He wasn’t sure if there had been anyone more stubborn in the entire school than Heather had been when she’d made up her mind about something.
“All right, but if I can help with something, you’ll let me know, right?” he said, hoping she’d agree. Sometimes she got something so set in her mind she wouldn’t take what was freely offered. He hoped she’d gotten past that but knew better than to count on it.
“If I think you might can help, I’ll say something. I’ll even let you know what it is before I jump in feet first. I’m not as impulsive as I used to be. I just want to make sure it’s feasible before I share.”
She sounded so reasonable he didn’t try to convince her otherwise. Instead, he hoped that either Iceman would be able to steer her in the right direction or she’d call and check with him before just showing up with whatever her wild scheme was.
Not that he knew she was still up to wild schemes, but the Heather he’d known years ago had come up with some of the craziest, and he had to admit, fun, things they’d done, and gotten in trouble for. And he hadn’t regretted a single thing they’d done, partly because it had been time spent with her. Oddly, he suspected he’d feel the same way now.
He’d have to wait and see what she came up with and how he felt about following her into trouble. Or doing his best to keep her out of it.
O ver the next couple of days, they exchanged a few calls and a lot of text messages, and while they both wanted to be able to see each other, neither had found a way to make it possible.
He was sitting around the campfire in the middle of the common area where people had taken to gathering one evening when his phone buzzed. Having a good idea who it was, he pulled it out and found he was right.
Heather: Busy?
Jake: Not especially, need something?
He watched the screen with a frown as bubbles danced, stopped, then started again a moment before a new message popped up.
Heather: Can I call?
Jake: Sure.
“Give me a minute,” he said to the brothers he’d been talking to as he stood and walked away.
“Where’s he going?” Savage asked. He’d been busy with Donna most of the time since they’d arrived.
“Must be time for phone sex,” Malice put in.
Jake flipped Malice off as he walked away, then ignored the rest as his phone rang.
“Hey, Lynnie, what’s up?” he said in way of greeting.
“I think I have it figured out, but I need to run a couple of things by you first, and you may need to get approval from your boss, or maybe the guy who owns the place.”
Jake was stunned for a couple of moments, as it took that long for her words to process. “Okay, lay it on me. What’s the plan?” He headed for the horse barn, wondering how in depth this plan was and how long it would take her to explain. He knew from experience that once she got started with a plan it could take her a while to express it.