64. Chapter 64
“What did I miss?”
Helen brought enough Chinese food with her to feed a small army, or a household of squatters, and Lindsey met her at the teal station wagon to help carry the bags. There were still bullet holes in the door commemorating their visit to Saul’s Easy Out Autobody, which had been anything but easy.
“A lot,” Lindsey said. “We set up Jason’s room for Luke.”
“Graham was okay with that?” Helen asked.
“Not really. We needed more beds.”
“Luke will be here for a while then?”
“He’s on the patio talking about bourbon with Jase. If that’s not weird enough, Chloe and Charlie are making out on the couch.”
Helen kicked the passenger door shut with her foot. “Really?”
“No, not really,” Lindsey said. “She’s still pretending to hold out for Jase.”
“Need help with those bags?” Graham called out from the doorway.
The irony was not lost on Lindsey that Graham was offering to help carry bags for Helen when his failure to carry her suitcases last Christmas had been a source of contention between Lindsey and her father ever since.
He kissed Helen and relieved both Helen and Lindsey of the Chinese food.
“Thanks, hon,” Helen said.
“Yes, thanks, hon,” Lindsey echoed. While Graham hefted the bags into the kitchen, Lindsey held Helen back in the entryway and asked quietly, “So what happened with work?”
Worry lines settled into Helen’s otherwise line-less face. “It isn’t good. I have to go back—”
“Hey, freeloaders,” Graham shouted from the kitchen to Chloe and Charlie in the den. “Get in here and eat. There’s a ton of food.”
“We’ll talk later,” Helen promised.
Graham lined the center island with steaming cartons and dumped soy sauce packets and fortune cookies in a pile by a stack of paper plates.
“How was the library?” he asked Helen with a swat to the seat of her shorts.
She paused, then lifted her nose and said, “Instructive.”
“Really? How so?”
“I told her we opened your dad’s room today,” Lindsey piped in.
“We did. The house is getting crowded.” Graham stuck his head out the patio door and hollered, “Food’s on. Move your asses.”
Jase, showered and dressed, and Luke, showered and dressed in Jason Young’s clothes, sauntered in holding small glasses of bourbon.
“You’re kidding,” Luke was saying. “He gave you a bike?”
Lindsey looked away to hide her surprise. So, they weren’t out there talking about bourbon. Jase was telling Luke about Saul’s gift—a bike meant for Jason Sr. that Jase and Lindsey drove up the California coast.
“Crazy, right?” Jase laughed, as if accepting the bike hadn’t been a very, very big deal to him.
Charlie was all smiles coming in from the den.
“This is great, guys, thanks,” he said. Chloe dropped his hand, but not before Lindsey noticed Jase clock it. Charlie pulled out his wallet and set a couple folded twenties on the counter in front of Graham. “To cover the freeloaders.”
Helen swiped the money and slipped it into her back pocket with a thank-you. Graham rubbed his chest and concentrated on taking slow, deep breaths.
“You want me to make you a plate, Chlo?” Charlie asked. Another man who was good at all the boyfriend things Jase apparently sucked at doing.
Except he did do those things. He helped her pack, clean, and move out of her apartment. He met with all the people who bought her furniture online. He always, always took care of her first in the bedroom—which was beyond any boyfriend thing Lindsey experienced with any other man.
On the trip he’d looked out for her, even if she’d been annoyed by him stepping in between her and other men.
He always put her helmet on first, let her wear his leather jacket, and had kept her warm on the beach in Santa Cruz.
All boyfriend things. Didn’t he realize just being himself was more than she’d ever asked for?
“Chloe?” Charlie asked again.
“No.” Her normally hard features were pinched. “My stomach’s been upset since lunch.”
“What’d you eat?” Luke asked.
“Just a sandwich,” Chloe said.
“Not cold cuts, though,” Luke said.
Chloe touched her stomach and glanced sideways at Charlie. “What’s the problem?” she asked.
“There’s the risk of listeria with deli meat. Pregnant women should avoid it,” Luke said.
“I keep forgetting he’s a doctor,” Helen murmured.
“Listeria?” Charlie frowned. “Food poisoning?”
“It can cause a bacterial infection that’s dangerous for babies.” Luke sipped his bourbon and shrugged. “Don’t worry—it’s rare. You’re probably fine. Just avoid it from here on out.”
“You’re worried about deli meat, and she’s drinking alcohol.” Jase nodded to the empty glass in her hand.
“It was a sip, Jase. As if it matters to you,” Chloe shot back.
“It matters to me,” Charlie said. “I told you not to do it.”
“Are we eating, or…” Graham asked.
“Yes, please,” Helen said, grabbing a paper plate and starting a line at the island.
“I’m going to go lay down,” Chloe said.
“Should we go to the hotel instead?” Charlie asked.
“You’re going to a hotel?” Helen asked.
“Not soon enough,” Lindsey muttered.
“Check-in’s not until four.” Charlie glanced at his watch. “By the time we pack up our stuff and drive there, we should be good.”
Chloe yelled over her shoulder, “Fine, hotel. Let’s just go, okay?”
“Take a carton with you,” Helen suggested.
Luke put a hand on Charlie’s arm. “Keep an eye on her, okay?” he said.
Charlie’s eyes narrowed. He had the concerned Dad look down.
“You’re really worried about listeria?” he asked.
“Not necessarily. That doesn’t mean something isn’t wrong,” Luke said. “The first few weeks are the riskiest, and her body is under a lot of stress coming out here.”
“I’ll watch her,” Charlie said. He took the bag of food and plates Helen offered and turned to Jase. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, but I’ve got to get back to Cali, and she’s dead set on having this test done.”
“I’ve got no problem with the test,” Jase said.
“Good. She made some calls. We’re just waiting to hear back. We’ll be in touch.”
“We’ll be in touch,” Jase muttered after Charlie carried his food out of the kitchen. “What a sorry son of a bitch.”
“At least he knows what he wants,” Lindsey mumbled.
She felt his eyes shift to her with both a challenge and a warning she tried to ignore by focusing on the food she scooped onto her plate. Looking at Jase directly would further tangle her anger with the acute need to sink her claws into him again.
“Whoa, nice hickey,” Luke said.
Her hand flew to her neck. The bruise that refused to be covered by makeup was stark evidence of exactly what could happen if she allowed herself to look at Jase too long.
“Oh, wow,” Helen said, prying Lindsey’s hand away. “Can’t believe I missed it.”
“Yep, you definitely missed a lot today,” Lindsey said.
“Speaking of.” Helen nodded to the hallway to talk alone.
“If my dad sees it”—Luke nudged Jase—“that’s one meeting you won’t survive.”
“There’s no danger there.” Lindsey’s gaze slid to Jase, and he looked away. They both knew he would never meet her father.
“Your dad is one scary SOB,” Graham said, wrangling a rogue lo mein noodle on the edge of his plate and licking the sauce from his fingers.
Lindsey followed Helen out of the kitchen as Luke finished his bourbon and said, “Why do you think I’m here?”