Page 23 of Family Bonds- Jarrett & Andi

He followed her into the house, through the living room and a dining roomandright into the kitchen. The place wasn’t that big and he was assuming the bedrooms were on the other side of the house.

“I know what is going on here,” he said.

“There is nothing to worry about,” she said.

He nodded his head and set the bags on the kitchen counter. “You’ll let me know if there is something?”

“I will,” she said. “But the biggest worry I’ve got now is the amount of time I’m missing from work.”

“Sorry about that. You shouldn’t push it though.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ve had worse things happen in my life than this.”

He lifted his eyebrow at her. “You have?”

“Don’t read more into it,” she said. “You know Jack was called and said he was my only family. It’s true. I have no relationship with my mother and my father died two years ago. I’m an only child. No grandparents left either.”

“That’s hard,” he said. “I’ve got two brothers and lots of cousins. Not just first cousins, but more distant ones too.”

“So I’ve seen and heard. I saw one of them today. Gotmyselfone hell of a dental bill to go with it.”

“Yikes,” he said.

“Again,” she said, “it’s all good. I’ve got a rainy day fund for these things and I’ll be tapping into it. Thankfully I only need one crown and the other is an easy fix. Nothing else damaged other than maybe knocking some sense into me on the fall.”

“You seem pretty smart to me,” he said as she unloaded the groceries. Lots of healthy food. Things that might be easy to eat and chew with two broken teeth. “Ice cream and lots of it.”

“I can have a pity party each night and tell myself it’s what’s best for my teeth. Even Coy laughed when I said that.”

“He’s a good guy,” he said. “Takes care of my teeth too. Not that I enjoy sitting in the chair and feeling defenseless with my mouth open like that, but it is what it is.”

“Better than lying on a bed unconscious while strangers touch and examine your body,” she said.

There was humor in her eyes when she said it, reminding him that he’d done that to her by the water.

She’d been unconscious and he wanted to make sure there was nothing broken and bleeding and ran his hands all over her body quickly.

If he was thinking he’d like to do it again but not in a medical capacity, he kept those thoughts to himself.

“You’ve got a point. How long do you have to stay out of work?” he asked.

“I’ve canceled everything for a few days and rescheduled for most of the following week. I did keep the two I had this coming Friday. I’ve got two appointments on Saturday too. Might as well start back slow and see how I feel.”

“Bestway to do it,” he said.

He felt like a fool standing there having this conversation with her but wasn’t sure he wanted to leave yet.

She did seem fine for the most part.

Not jumpy either.Andhe was looking for signs of that.

He noticed the security system when they entered. Nothing alarming there, as a lot of houses had them.

“Can I get you something to drink?” she asked. “Water or tea. Soda? Though it’s diet.”

“I’m good,” he said. He wanted to stay but didn’t want to push it either.

The fact she offered that told him that she wasn’t afraid of him.

---