Chapter Ten
Jordon noticed Spider watching her father but ignored it as she made her play. If he wanted a distraction for a little while, she could do that. She was sleepy but for the first time since she’d met him, she was doing more than standing back and watching as Daddy interacted with him.
Spider seemed like he was in far better spirits than her previous visits. She didn’t know if it was because he was feeling better or if it was something else. Either way, she was enjoying seeing him like this.
“Oh, let’s see. Kade pissed me off one day, I don’t even remember what he did, but I shortened all of his reins by two inches.
Took him days to figure out why things felt wrong.
Wyatt was being a little stuck-up shit one day so I stole one of every pair of gloves he had, and only the right glove.
In the middle of repairing fences. So he couldn’t even take different pairs and wear mismatched.
Lane wouldn’t stop blasting that crap he calls music, so I changed all the presets in all the trucks to the rock and talk stations.
Of course, anytime I do any of this, I pretend I have no clue what they’re talking about when they try to blame me.
” She couldn’t hold it in and let out a giggle at how funny she thought screwing with her brothers was.
She could let them see it here, even if she had to play it straight in front of them.
“I gotta know, what’s the crap he calls music?”
Jordon wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Classical. I don’t get it. I need some words to my music and a good beat is just as important.” She shook her head and continued playing. She needed one more card, then she could go out. She just hoped he didn’t get what he needed before she did.
“How did you act like you didn’t know what he was talking about with that one?”
She glanced at him then back to her cards.
“I acted like that’s what they’d always been set on.” She shrugged as she drew a card. Just what she’d been waiting for. “Gin.” She flipped her discard upside down and laid down her cards. “Are we going to keep score or do you just want to play a while?”
Spider laid his cards down, then scrubbed one hand over his face.
“Let’s keep score. I have a notebook in here.” he leaned to one side.
“Let me.” Jordon slid off the bed and went around to where he was reaching for a backpack.
She lifted it up and set it on the bed beside him.
While she waited for him to dig through it, she counted up her score.
When he zipped the bag up, she put it back where she’d gotten it and told him her score as she went to sit down.
As he wrote down their scores, she gathered the cards and shuffled. “Are you from around here?”
Spider shook his head.
“Central Wyoming. I left as soon as I could gather enough money to get out and I haven’t gone back. Don’t plan to either.”
“I take it your parents are gone?”
He shrugged. “Mom is. She passed away while I was in high school. Don’t know about my dad. Don’t care either.”
Jordon’s heart ached at the thought of not seeing her father for years and not caring if he was alive or dead.
She got the idea from his tone and the way he dismissed it, that he’d likely had a difficult childhood.
She couldn’t judge him for wanting to put something like that behind him.
She was just glad she’d had as good of parents as she’d had.
Still, it would be better to steer conversation away from that part of his life.
“How long have you been in Montana?” she asked as she dealt the next hand.
“About ten years,” he said, picking up his cards and sorting through them. “I was looking to get out of town and a guy I’d worked with invited me up. He said he had a job for me. He gave me a place to stay until I could get on my feet. I came up, found the Angels, and never left.”
“Angels?” she asked, waiting for him to play.
“The Fallen Angels. My club. They’re my family, and Fletch, who was here the first day you came, the one you heard me call brother? He’s an Angel.”
They played a couple of turns in silence, then Jordon tilted her head and watched him, wanting to see his reaction.
“Are they still coming to see you or are you here alone all day every day?”
Spider shook his head. “Fletch hasn’t been here yet because they just moved me but he and Dax—he’s a prospect—are here in town.
They see me every day. Fletch makes sure either he or Dax brings me something to eat at least twice a day.
Something good, not the hospital food that I would eat if I got hungry enough. ”
“Staying in town? Where do you live if not near here?”
“Not too far away, but with the mountains and snow still falling occasionally, it’s easier to stay here in town rather than go home to Craven’s Creek.
” He shrugged and laid a card on the discard pile.
“It means they don’t have to stay here all day if they’re going to bring me a couple of meals a day.
But it’s also not too far if we need something from home. ”
“Like that?” she motioned to the side of the bed where she’d put his backpack when he’d finished digging through it.
“Exactly. A couple of days after I woke up, when I wasn’t sleeping more than I was awake, I made a list of things I wanted from home.
Raven, he’s our president, made sure it was gathered up and brought to me.
” He gave a mirthless laugh. “He and his woman take care of us, or as much as you can with thirty or so grown men. But they try.”
Daddy’s phone rang. She turned to see him pull it from his pocket and check the screen.
“I need to take this. I’ll be right back.” Daddy answered the call and stepped out into the hallway.
“How come you keep coming with him? Is he asking you to come? Does he think that you’ll be able to get me to talk more than he will, or do you do this with all the people he visits?” Spider asked as he drew another card and fitted it into his hand.
Jordon shook her head.
“You’re the first one he’s asked me to come see, ever. And he only asked me to come the first time. After that, when I’m not busy, he’s told me he’s coming and asked if I want to come.”
Spider scowled and tossed a card onto the discard pile.
“But why?”
“I asked the same thing. He said he had a gut feeling. And we all learned a long time ago not to question it when Daddy gets those feelings.” She lifted one shoulder and let it fall, then took her turn.
“Does he get them often?”
“Not so much but when he does, if we ignore it, we always end up regretting it.”
“Like?”
“Well, the biggest one was that bull.” She looked up and met his gaze. “He says he knew as soon as he drew Wild Demon’s name that night that he shouldn’t ride. But he was young and dumb and felt he had something to prove. His words. You know how that ended up.”
They both fell silent for a few minutes as they continued to play.
“Sweetheart,” Daddy said as he stepped back into the room, drawing her attention.
He had both hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched.
She knew he didn’t like what he was about to say.
“That was your mother. I need to head home. Nothing urgent, but she’s having a migraine and I need to be there.
You can stay if you want. I can send one of your brothers in to get you when you’re ready to come home. ”
Jordon turned around to look at Spider. His expression had closed down, she suspected so she wouldn’t be able to tell what he was thinking.
“You mind if I stay a while? We can finish this game, maybe play another? Or do you have therapy you need to get to?”
Spider shook his head. “No therapy today. They haven’t gotten me on the schedule yet, plus with the move this morning they weren’t sure if I would be up for it.
I’d like if you stayed, if it’s not too much trouble.
I understand there’s a lot to do and I don’t want to put you or your family out.
Plus you’re tired. You should go back and get some sleep. ”
Jordon twisted back around.
“I’ll stay. But hold off on sending one of the boys. I’ll call Marci and see if she can pick me up. If you can spare me in the morning, I might just stay with her tonight.”
“You’ve spent most of the last week in the barn with Wildfire, you deserve a day or two away.
Of course we can handle things tomorrow, even for a few days.
We love having you around, sweetheart, but we know you’re an adult and eventually you’re going to head out on a life of your own.
” Daddy came close and kissed the top of her head.
“Let me know if Marci is busy. I’ll send one of the boys. ”
“Thanks!” she said, then watched as Daddy shook Spider’s hand.
“I’ll be back in a day or two. I just wanted to check in and see how you were doing.”
“Thank you.”
Daddy met her gaze, nodded then left.
“You didn’t need to stay. You haven’t had much sleep. You should go catch up with him and get some rest.”
“I’m fine. I’m enjoying this,” she nodded at the table and cards between them.
“I’m enjoying getting to know you and talking.
Besides, I don’t sleep well during the day.
I might as well stay then I’ll sleep well tonight.
” She drew a card, checked it against what was in her hand and dropped it on the discard pile.
Spider snatched the card almost before it landed. He slotted it into the middle of his hand, then pulled another and dropped it face down.
“I was waiting for that,” he said as he laid his hand down. He added up his score and wrote it down before gathering up the cards and shuffling them. “I take it you’ve been around Bozeman all your life?”
“Mostly. We traveled with daddy while he was still riding, but after his accident we settled onto the ranch and have been there since. My grandparents, Mama’s folks, moved into town a few years ago so they could be closer to the doctors and stuff.
Grandpa died last year so I come into town pretty often to see Grandma.
She doesn’t drive anymore and she’s living in a home so I can’t stay with her, but I see her at least once a week. ”
“That’s nice. I never knew any of my grandparents. My mother was an orphan, grew up in the foster system. I don’t know about my dad’s family. He never talked about them and I only remember asking once. Learned not to do that again.” He shook his head for a moment then started dealing.
“I’ll be right back. I need to find a restroom.” She slid off the foot of the bed.
“Use mine. It’s right there.” He motioned to a door next to the window.
She ducked into the restroom, knowing she’d need to find something to eat soon or she would crash hard but not willing to leave Spider yet. She didn’t know why, but at the same time, she wasn’t ready to look at that too closely. Not yet.