Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Heavens, it was good to be home, but weird? Christ.
“Jason! Andy! Y’all made it!” Momma was already crying. “Jack made brisket. and I have all the stuff to make chicken fried steak. How’s the wrist?”
“Still broke.” Jason’d cracked it but good on his short go ride, but he’d taken the event and used the injury to keep from having to glad-hand. He reckoned that worked out.
“Well, come in and I’ll get you some ice and a pillow to rest it on.”
“Just the pillow, Momma,” Bax said, muscling in bags behind him.
Jason could tell from the grunting.
“You want some help, Bax?” He had one good hand.
“I got it. Hey, y’all. Ice will just make the little cast wet, Momma.”
“Ah. Well, here’s that pillow.” She pressed Jason to a chair. “Want a Coke?”
“Sure. How are y’all? It’s good to be here.”
“Good, son. Good.” A chair scraped back, Momma’s knees brushing his as she sat and put his wrist on the pillow. Jack must be at the fridge. “You’re riding good. I-I couldn’t hardly believe it.”
“No, me either, but it needs to happen.” Jason knew as soon as the suits got wind of this, he would be toast.
“You looked good, son,” Jack said, setting the Coke down with just enough of a thump that he’d know where it was. “You need to work on your left side a little. You’re leaning.”
“Am I? That shoulder’s getting tired fast. I’ll keep my mind on it. Thanks.” At this point, he was taking advice from everyone. He guessed that was the good Lord’s way of teaching him humility or some such shit.
Bax snorted as if he’d said that out loud, so he ought to watch his tone.
Momma was just fluttering, patting his leg and making Momma noises.
“I’m okay, Momma. I’m good. Me and Bax are great.” He grabbed her fingers and held them. “It’s okay. I missed you.”
“Jesus, I’m glad you’re home. I needed to see you.”
“I’m glad to be here.” He was. Jason had no idea what he’d do without her, but her worry made him itch a bit. He hated making her feel bad.
“I am too.” Bax landed beside him. “We need a couple of weeks of downtime, and we’re fixin’ to look at property down on the coast.”
“You are?” Momma sounded utterly gobsmacked.
“Yes, ma’am.” Start out like he could hold out.
“Yeah. Be a nice compromise between being close and having something of our own.” Man, Bax was just toughing it out. Jason was damn proud.
“And I want to live on the ocean.”
“What about hurricanes?” Momma asked. “And sharks?”
“Brenda!” Jack just cracked up.
“Well, I can still board up a window, Momma. And you get tornadoes.” He couldn’t hold back his grin.
“And unless it’s a giant mechashark,” Bax drawled, “I can handle it.”
“Wouldn’t that be a megamechashark?” he asked, barely holding in his laughter.
Jack snorted, then hooted like a big owl, and his momma slapped his leg.
“Making fun of me. You just have to let me get used to the idea. This is new.”
“Not that new, but yes, ma’am. I reckon you two will be coming to visit a lot.”
“I like the beach,” Jack said mildly. “Saltwater cowboys. Sounds good.”
Bax laughed now too. “It does.”
“You just want to go fishing. Still…I like the shrimp down there, and it’s not a bad drive.”
Oh Lord, please don’t let Jack and Momma buy the house next door.
“Just get something with a good guest suite,” Momma said primly. Oh, whew. Good deal.
“We’ll make sure,” Bax agreed.
“You’re good boys. I’m going to see if it’s supposed to rain today.” Getting rid of Jack was easy.
“Mmm.” Jason made that noncommittal noise all ranch people made about the weather and eased his fingers over the table to find his Coke.
“You want anything to eat, son?” Momma asked. “Andy?”
“Don’t get up,” Bax said. “We can nibble until it’s time to have… What time is it, for heaven’s sake?”
“Damn near three. Y’all made good time.”
“We left last night, spent the night in a motel.” And fucked like bunnies on the squeaky mattress. That had been fun.
“Lord. Did you check for bedbugs?”
“Yes, ma’am. Clean as a whistle.” Bax touched his shoulder. “Crackers and cheese, Mini.”
“Thank you.” Oh, there was something about the smell of cheese. Nothing else smelled like that, even though lots of things smelled like it. It was also easy to eat. Finger food. Even in front of his mom, who had seen him rolling in his own poop when he was a baby, Jason was self-conscious.
That was one of the first things—learning from folks as soon as he could. He didn’t want to have to hide no more.
There were even schools, and a cowboy had his pride, but Jason wouldn’t spit in nobody’s eye if they could teach him not to be worthless as tits on a boar hog.
He had to be Bax’s partner in all this, not a layabout.
They chatted with Momma and noshed, but soon enough he was nodding a little, all the travel and his broken wrist catching up with him.
“Hey. Momma slipped out with orders to go take a nap,” Bax said, hand back on his shoulder. “Wanna?”
“Uh-huh.” He headed back without thinking. Between Bax’s hand and the years he’d stumbled from the kitchen back to bed, he never even hesitated.
“Bed’s already turned down.” Bax sat him down and tugged off his boots a few moments later.
“I’m all babyheaded, man.” And that was no lie.
“Been a long couple of days.” Bax crawled into bed with him after a little shuffling. “You did it, though.”
“We did. Thank you. I can’t imagine doing it without you.”
Bax kissed his chin. “I wouldn’t do it for anyone but you, Mini. I love you fierce.”
“I know.” Jason never doubted it. Not for a second.
“Mmm.” Bax wrapped around him. “You think we’re selfish, wanting to go to the beach?”
“No. We want to do it, so we should.” Bull riding had asked a lot of him.
“Okay. I just wanted to make sure. Momma looked shocked.” Bax’s breath stirred the tiny hairs on his neck.
“She doesn’t think that I would ever leave, not now.”
“She don’t know you like I do…as an adult.” Bax had a point. He’d always be a kid to Momma. That was the way of it.
“I think that’s natural, huh? Mommas are that way.” Hell, they saw it with Missy all the time.
“Yeah. Yeah, you know me. I missed out on a lot of that.”
Bax just didn’t have good people.
“You have her now, though. Before we were us, even.” Momma loved Bax, had taken him under her wing like he was hers.
“I do. And Jack is a good guy.” Bax kissed him again, then cracked a huge yawn.
“Uh-huh. Sleep.” He curled into Bax, finding where they fit. “Rest for a while.”
“Okay, Mini. I can do that.” Bax went boneless just a few minutes later, a soft snore sounding.
It was good to be home for a minute, somewhere they could rest and let Momma do all the worrying.