to lean on him in this time of trouble. And how utterly selfish. “I need to go to Houston to be checked out.”
“I’m going with you.”
“No, you’re not.”
He stiffened in her arms. “I’m going with you,” he repeated evenly.
“Clint. Listen.” She placed her palms on his hard pecs and pushed. “I’ve got to get my head wrapped around this. I have to prepare. Mentally. I need to go home and take care of some things I can’t leave hanging.”
“Why can’t you do those things from here? I’ll help you. I’ll do anything.”
“I need my space.”
“Space?” he repeated disbelievingly. “You need me. That’s what you need.” He was adamant. Emphatic. Desperate.
“Please. Just let me go.” She picked up her bag. “Help me to the car and let me go home. I need to be alone.”
Clint felt his world falling apart. Like trying to hold tiny grains of sand in his hand, he felt the most precious thing in his life slipping through his fingers – and he didn’t know how to stop it. “You’ll come back?”
“I’ll let you know what the tests show.”
“How long will that be?” When she began to move down the hall, he was right behind her. “Please don’t do this. Let me take care of you. I can make this right; I know I can.”
His senseless assertion angered her. “No. You can’t make this right. It is what it is. I was in remission, temporary recovery. Temporary. Now, maybe I’m not. The temporary recovery may have ended. If it has…”
“If it has – we’ll fight it. Together. And we’ll win.”
“This isn’t a game, Clint. There’s not a Team Jensen.”
“Oh, yes there is. The doctors. The nurses. You and me. I’ll always be on Team Jensen.”
As she descended the stairs, her heart was breaking. “You’re making this hard on me. Please don’t.”
There was nothing else she could’ve said to stop his pleas – but this. “I don’t want to make things worse for you. Never.”
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she put a hand on her rolling case. “Then don’t. Let me go.”
Let her go. Let her leave him. Again. How could this be happening? “All right. I won’t stand in your way.” He stepped aside. “If I can’t drive you, please let me follow you home. You’re upset and I need to know you’re going to get there okay.”
“Fine.” She was exhausted. Frightened. Tired of making her case. “Let’s go.”
Clint loaded her things in her car, then held an umbrella over her as she got behind the wheel. Once she was safely inside, he hurried to climb into his own vehicle. The Stingray was closest, so that was the one he took. Once he had it backed around, she was already heading down his driveway toward Nameless Road.
The twenty-mile trip seemed to last forever and every inch of the way, Clint suffered. His heart ached. He was scared. He hadn’t been this scared since he’d run across the field with his family, trying to outrun an F-5 tornado. The farther he went, the louder the thunder rolled. Lightning lit up the sky. Clint wanted to bellow his frustration. Why wouldn’t she let him take care of her? Didn’t she understand that she was his world?
As they neared the city limits – it hit him. Maybe she didn’t know. He’d said the words once or twice. He’d put her first, he lived for her – but he’d never told her in so many words that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He’d been putting off the proposal until the perfect time. Well, maybe now was that perfect time.
When they entered her neighborhood, he pulled into the alley behind her house. As she drove through the gate, he dashed out with the umbrella, ready to help her in.
By the time he reached the garage, he had to bend over and rush to get under the closing door before it shut completely.
“Clint, I didn’t intend for you to get out. I’ve got this.”
“I want to help. I just want to make sure you get in safely.”
Jensen made a frustrated noise, but she didn’t fight him about it. Instead, she took the opportunity to say a couple of things she’d forgotten. “Remember, Rose likes apple slices for breakfast. And don’t forget to give Sun and Moon their sugar cubes in the evenings. They love that.”
“Always worrying about the animals,” he said as he unloaded her things from the rear. “How about me, Jensen? Who’s