Page 71 of Threat of Danger
“You can’t know that.”
Grim silence filled the car for a couple of seconds.
Time for another subject change.
“If you run into reporters and they ask anything about Derek or me,” Jess said, “could you just please tell them, ‘No comment’?”
Kaylee turned back toward her. “Of course. Yeah. Sure.” Then, “God, this is so weird.”
“Do you need to go home before we go to Burlington?”
“No. Let’s go straight to the hospital.”
When they got there, Jess called Zelda out to the hallway to give her a heads-up about the press attack. Chuck was doing well, but Jess didn’t want to stress him out with her problems. She offered to drive Zelda home, then come back to sit with Kaylee and Chuck through the afternoon, but Zelda declined.
“Thank you. I do appreciate all the help. But I’d rather stay. What do I have at home that’s more important than him?”
So all three of them hung out in Chuck’s room, with the nurse’s approval.
Kaylee brought them up to date on school gossip. Who was seeing whom, who was cheating on whom, who smoked pot, who got drunk over the weekend. Jess felt like she was listening to a soap opera.
“You’re not to hang out with any of those kids,” Chuck ordered.
“Abuelito. Seriously.” Kaylee gave an offended groan. “I’m a geek. I hang out with the geeks. When have I ever gotten into trouble?”
She had her grandfather stumped with that.
The nurse came in for a quick checkup. Afterward, Jess entertained them all with some Hollywood anecdotes. Kaylee ate that up. Chuck was markedly happier, hopped up on a fresh dose of painkillers. Zelda dozed in the chair now and then. All the excitement of the past two days had worn her out.
“And Derek?” Chuck asked much later in between bites of green Jell-O that Kaylee insisted on spoon-feeding him.
“Holding down the fort at the sugar shack.”
Chuck nodded his appreciation. “He’s a good neighbor. A good man.”
He wasn’t Jess’s favorite person at the moment, but she couldn’t argue that he was helpful as a neighbor. When Kaylee cast a nervous glance toward her, she didn’t say anything. She wasn’t going to bring her arguments with Derek into Chuck’s sickroom.
“Any idea when they’ll spring you from this place?” she asked instead, with all the cheer she could muster.
“I was hoping you came to smuggle me out.”
“In what? Zelda’s purse?”
Kaylee giggled.
“Are you implying it’s too small?” Chuck snorted weakly. “She could carry the whole sugar shack in that thing.”
They stayed until after dinner, taking turns popping up to Rose’s room and keeping her company. That was where Jess ran into Derek. He’d brought his mother in to visit.
Jess was in Helen Daley’s arms before she could blink. “Derek’s been telling me that you’re back home. I couldn’t wait to see you. How are you? God, you’re beautiful. My boy can’t stop talking about you every time he comes over. I’m so glad you’re here.”
Jess looked at Derek over Helen’s shoulder.
He stayed silent while Helen drilled Jess on her life in Hollywood, dropping heavy hints that she should stay in Taylorville. Helen was as wiry as she’d ever been. She’d always done a lot of physical work around the farm, even if she was a tiny little thing, barely reaching Derek’s shoulders. Derek had inherited her flint-gray eyes and even temperament. His square jaw and size came from his father.
Because Jess was way too aware of him, she sat with her back to him so he couldn’t distract her any more than he already was.
He didn’t contribute to the conversation, but let the women talk. Close to half an hour passed before he said, “Come on, Mom. Let Jess spend some time with her mother.”
