DONOVAN (Gray Wolf Security, #1)(103)

I dragged my fingers through my hair, a little disgusted by how greasy and tangled it was. I pulled my fingers away, my thoughts spinning.

“He could play football again.”

“It depends on how well the bones heal and how hard he works at rehab. A lot of it is up to how much he wants to get better.”

“If he could play football…”

I remembered my brother on the football field, how brilliant he was at making plays, how happy he always was when the team did well. I knew he would work hard for that.

“Take him,” I said. “If it’s the best place for him, then you take him.”

Harrison touched my face. “I want you to go with us.”

I started to shake my head, but he wouldn’t allow it. He cupped my chin in his hand like a parent scolding a child.

“We do what’s best for JT. And, right now, what’s best is for him to be in Oregon. But it’s also having you there with him.” He ran his thumb over my bottom lip. “He’s going to be in a lot of pain and he’s going to be scared. He needs you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”





Chapter 22


Harrison

I watched JT’s face in the rearview mirror as I pulled the car to a stop alongside the jet. He was staring out the window, his eyes as big as saucers.

“This belongs to you?”

“To my company,” I said, as though that qualifier meant much of anything to a fifteen-year-old boy.

“Wow.”

I turned my gaze to Penelope, but she wasn’t as easy to read as JT. And I knew her thoughts were back in that small town of hers, going over checklists, trying to make sure she didn’t leave anything undone, unsaid, or unchecked. It was a bit of an ordeal for her to leave Nick in charge of the bakery. I could see it in the tension that never seemed to leave her shoulders and the crowbar it took to get her out of there this morning when it was time to pick JT up from the hospital.

“It’s going to be okay,” I said for what was probably the millionth time.

She smiled, but the smile only touched her lips.

I climbed out of the car and walked around to the back, tugging the wheelchair JT was required to use for the next few weeks out of the trunk. He was already, in just three days, becoming quite the pro at transferring himself into it. I wanted to help, but I’d already been lectured about that once today.

I can do it myself.

Where had I heard that before?

“I can’t believe we’re flying to Oregon on a private jet,” JT said as Penelope came around and joined us. “I feel like a rock star!”

“More like a sports star,” Penelope said. “Don’t forget, I’ve heard you sing.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” JT said as he laughed.

I wheeled him over to the plane, but I had to carefully carry him up the steps. Penelope followed, guiding me so that I wouldn’t slam his cast, or his head, into anything solid. JT was quite pleased to be settled in one of the leather captain’s chairs, his leg propped on an ottoman the flight attendant provided from some unknown source. He was also happy to ask for a scotch and soda when the flight attendant asked if she could get anything for him.

“Too young,” Penelope quickly reminded him.

“Awe, just once?”

“Sorry,” I said. “Maybe a soda would be more appropriate.”

He groaned, but I don’t think the hurt lasted long with the way he watched the flight attendant walk away.

I turned to Penelope and gestured for her to take a seat across the aisle from her brother. She looked from him to me, reluctance in every line on her face. But then she went, settling into a captain’s chair directly across from JT. I took the seat beside her, glancing out the window in time to see the pilot and co-pilot doing the last of their preflight tests while the airport crew stashed our luggage into the compartment in the bottom of the plane.

It was all routine to me, things I rarely noticed anymore. But I found myself seeing things through new eyes as I prepared to take my son home for the first time. I hadn’t thought I’d be nervous. Excited, yes, but not nervous. As I packed up my little rental house and put my affairs in order here in Texas, all I could think about was how great it would be to be back in my own surroundings. But now I found myself wondering how my world would look to JT and Penelope. Especially Penelope.

Penelope had her cellphone out, her thumbs moving quickly as she wrote a text.

“Everything okay?”

She looked up, her big eyes round with something like fear. “I was just reminding Nick about the Jaminsky wedding next Friday.”

“I’m sure he’s on top of it.”

“I know, I just…” She sighed. “I always did all the scheduling. Nick overbooks things because he sometimes forget to check the calendar.”

“He’ll be fine, Penelope.”

“Stop worrying about the bakery,” JT said, tossing the wrapper from the straw the flight attendant had brought with his soda. “Nick’s worked there since he was my age. He knows what he’s doing.”

“Listen to your brother,” I said, reaching over to touch the back of my hand to hers. “He’s a smart kid.”