Page 57 of All Jacked Up

I jumped in my seat with a jolt when his warm, large hand covered mine. My eyes swung over to see he was watching me as the truck slowed, then came to a stop.

“Breathe,” he told me as his golden eyes bored into mine.

I focused on those and managed a nod. His hand squeezed, and I wanted to open mine and grab onto his like a lifeline.

“This is the past. You overcame it. You beat it. You’re not the girl who lived here. Not anymore.”

His tone was hypnotic. The thick, deep drawl distracted me, and I nodded.

He was right. The only similarity between the girl I’d been and the woman I was now was that we both wanted him. Any way we were allowed to have him in our life, we’d take it.

“I, uh, let me go inside alone first. I … I want to make sure I can handle you seeing whatever she left behind,” I told him honestly.

He shook his head. “There’s nothing in there that I haven’t already seen.”

Oh, he had no idea.

“She was a hoarder. When I left, it was already hard to get around inside. She also didn’t clean well. There is no telling what varmints could be lurking around.” I cringed as I admitted that to him.

He sighed. “There were several species, and it was almost impossible to navigate. But that’s all been handled.”

I paused. Confused.

“What do you mean?” I asked when he didn’t elaborate.

He reached for his door handle and cut his eyes back at me. “I’ve already been here. Checked things out. Prepared it for you. I didn’t want you walking into something like I’d found. Ratfamilies and all the other rodents I had taken care of. There was also a flea infestation, but it has been fogged and cleared out as well. The hoarding was bad, but most of the excess has been put out behind the trailer in sections for you to look through if you want.”

I stared at him. Speechless. He’d already been here. Relief came flooding in, along with humiliation.

Ransom reached over and slid his knuckle under my chin. “You’re pale, Shakespeare. No reason to be. The only thing that changed after I saw inside that place was that I was even more fucking impressed and proud of you. That was all you had as your start in life, and you became this.” He paused, his eyes drifting down my face to my chest and back.

I swallowed and drew in a shaky breath. “Okay,” was all I could manage to get out.

He chuckled softly, dropped his hand, and opened his door. “Let’s go do this.”

My hand trembled as I reached for my side and did the same.

This was going to be fine. I could handle it. And Ransom had already seen it.

When I stepped out onto the gravel, he was already there in front of me. I focused on him. His chiseled jaw, that cleft I loved, the hat on his head and the way it shadowed his eyes.

“Ready?” he asked.

Again, I just nodded. Although I would never truly be ready to walk back into that place.

Finally, I turned to look at it. The memory of the day I had left replayed in my head.

She hadn’t even gotten out of bed to tell me goodbye. There was no offer to take me to the airport. I stood right over there, with my suitcase. I’d had my other items shipped earlier that week. The cheap airline ticket I’d been able to afford with what I had left of my tutoring money only allowed one suitcase and itwas under a strict weight restriction. Lucky for me, I didn’t own that much stuff. My clothing was very limited.

Ms. Richie had texted me thirty minutes ago to tell me she was on her way. That was the only person I knew to ask for a ride to the airport. I didn’t have family or friends. She’d been happy to—or it had seemed like it at least.

I hadn’t known back then that she’d been diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer and wouldn’t live another six months. I wished I had. There would have been so many things I would have said to her. Thanked her. She had seen me when no one else had.

When she had pulled up in her gold Nissan, I glanced back at this place only once, and instead of goodbye, I’d muttered, “Good riddance.”

Not once considering this day would come.

“The blue paint on the door is almost all gone. Guess Dick never got around to giving it a new coat,” I said, then began walking toward it.

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