You Only (Cameron Farms Book 1) - Melanie Jayne Page 0,106
her friend’s hand.
“I’m just glad that you’re here for me to take care of. You know, you could be dead.” Jasmine bit down on her lip, trying not to cry.
“I know what I did was dumb. I stood there and told myself that it was dumb, but I had to help Wes.”
“No more Clint Eastwood movies for you,” Jasmine tried to tease.
“You can yell at me more if you need to, Finn has. I figure that I still have Moe and Izzy to get through. Not to mention Maria and her boys.”
“At least you don’t have to worry about Ashley. She’s impressed. She kept calling you a badass.”
Hale snorted. She checked her phone again. “Um, has Finn called you? To, you know, check in.”
Jasmine shook her head. “No, but I’m sure he is crazy busy. I can turn on the TV so you can see if you made the news.”
She didn’t want to hear about it, she’d lived it. “No thanks, I think I’ll rest for a little bit. I want to join you all at the table for dinner.”
“You’re ready for that?”
“I’ll be ready for it.”
“Honey, I saw the blood on your clothes, it looked pretty bad.” Jasmine was using her “mom” voice, the one where she definitely knew best.
Hale knew that the sooner that she got out of bed and started moving, the quicker she could go home. She didn’t want to impose on the Bentons. “I’ll stop if I get tired or start hurting too much. I promise.” She made sure that she met Jasmine’s eyes.
She’d made it through dinner and went straight to bed. Who knew that eating could be so exhausting? Now, she was awake, again. She checked the clock, it was midnight and she still hadn’t heard from Finn. No call, text, or visit. She made Jasmine promise that if he called, she would wake her, no matter what. She was tired of hearing their excuses for him. Something was wrong.
She carefully rolled to the side of the bed and sat up. Not too bad. There was a burst of pain, but it soon lessened. After turning on the bedside lamp, she checked her e-mails, texts, and even read TMZ’s latest news. She was wide awake with no chance of falling back asleep. She got out of the bed cautiously, and headed to the kitchen. Her thigh throbbed, but not enough to cause her to stop. She poured herself a glass of juice and looked out the window. The light was on in Finn’s bedroom. That son of a bitch was across the alley. Why didn’t he check in? Something was very wrong. She blinked her eyes several times to try to stop the burning.
She heard footsteps on the back stairs that led into the mudroom. Izzy was in sweats and a long sleeve Colts thermal shirt. “What are you doing up, honey?” He moved toward her.
“I was trying to be quiet. Did I wake you?” she apologized.
“No, I was just heading to bed, when I thought I heard you moving around. I wanted to check on you.” He walked to the counter and got a glass out of the cabinet.
“Want some juice?” She pointed to the bottle.
“Sure.” Izzy held out his glass.
They drank in silence.
Hale broke the silence. “He’s over there. He didn’t come over to check on me.” Her voice broke.
Izzy looked across the street. The light was still burning on the second floor. “Well, maybe he was worried that he would disturb you, or he could be really tired. You both have had a really crazy day.”
Hale just stared at Izzy’s lame excuses. “No word, Izzy. Not a one.”
Izzy looked out the window and then at Hale. He motioned for Hale to join him at the table. Once seated, he asked, “So what are you going to do?”
“I’m pissed. I’m a few hundred yards away and he didn’t come over.” She ran her hand through her hair.
“Are you going to sit here and be angry while you wait, or are you going to do something about it?” He sounded not curious, but kind of aggravated.
“What do you want me to do, Izzy?” Her frustration sounded clearly.
“You know that he’s awake. You would just need to throw on a jacket and Jazz’s boots, and walk over to his house, to find out what’s going on. If you think that you can make it that far?”
“You mean now?” Hale looked toward the back door. Not a bad plan.