Page 29 of Dreaming About Forever

His mom had made him and all of his siblings learn to wash their own clothes early on, and the skill had helped him when he joined the Marines.

Alicia, on the other hand, didn’t need to know how to wash clothes when there was always someone around to do it for her.

“It’s not a problem.”

“Do you think she would teach me?” Alicia asked.

Well, that was unexpected. “I’m sure she’d be happy to.”

Alicia smiled. “Thanks. I might as well learn a few things while I’m here. Plus, working takes my mind off of the things going on right now.”

He’d been known to use work to avoid problems in the past. It was one of the reasons he’d recovered so quickly after the injury. Getting back up after the fall had pushed him to his physical limits, allowing him to escape the harsh reality of losing his leg, career, and best friend in one blow.

“Great. I’ll see you downstairs,” Alicia said as she stepped into the guest bedroom across the hall from his own.

He took the opportunity to take a shower too, washing away all the evidence of the run-in with the cow. Clean and shaved, he grabbed his laptop and headed down the stairs.

With no idea how long Alicia would be, he settled in on the couch with his laptop and opened his inbox. Alicia’s manager sent regular updates on the headlines regarding Alicia’s parents and the breakup with Ashton Warner, and the articles were a mix of supportive and scathing.

A few headlines addressed Alicia’s sister, Stacy, and how she was handling the news about their parents. Stacy seemed to be the more assertive sister. She’d already spoken out about their parents’ betrayal, holding nothing back.

After reading through the articles and sending Lillian a thanks for the update, he opened an incident report on the run-in with the cow and emailed it to Nathan. His boss would have questions later, and Jordan promised a phone call in the morning.

He’d just sent the email when his dad and Clint stepped through the front door.

“Man, that cow was fired up,” Clint said.

“You get a look at the calf?” Jordan asked as he closed the laptop.

“Shot in the leg,” his dad said.

“Shot?” Jordan repeated.

“Chuck,” Clint said. “At it again.”

“You’re kidding. He’s still bothering you?”

Chuck was their neighbor to the north, and the guy didn’t have anything better to do than cause trouble. He’d been doing everything in his power to bother the Taylors since Jordan was in his early teens.

“Does the sun still rise in the east?” Clint said. “Of course he is. He’s too bored and grouchy to do anything else.”

“What did Judge Martin say?” Jordan asked. It had been a while since he’d heard an update on the ongoing lawsuit against Chuck.

“It doesn’t really matter what Martin says. Chuck thinks he’s untouchable. And really, he is. He gets a night in jail here and there, but I’m pretty sure he thinks it’s exciting to sleep someplace new for a night,” Clint said.

“No sense in worrying over it, boys,” their dad said as he slapped a hand on Jordan’s shoulder. “Let’s eat.”

“Where’s Alicia?” Clint asked.

“Coming!” Alicia shouted from the top of the stairs.

She descended in slow motion, swaying her hips slightly in the flowing navy skirt that hit just above her ankles.

It was a good thing it was his job to watch her because he could barely tear his gaze away from her.

His mom stepped out of the kitchen rubbing her hands on her apron. “Well, what’s the verdict?”

“Couldn’t save it,” Jordan’s dad said.

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