“Is there something else, Mr. Ellis?”
Tim nodded and stepped close, his gaze never wavering, voice low. “Yeah. You busy tonight? If not, would you like to be?”
From that night on, Tim had made it a point to keep him busy, one way or another, every night.
Jack finished his sandwich and Tim finished with his customer. Tim walked over and took the plate. “Better?”
“Thank you.” Jack stood and handed the mug to him, leaning in for a final kiss. “Don’t work too hard.”
“You stopping by their place tonight?”
Jack nodded.
“Look, come get me first, okay? Let me go with you tonight.”
“You’ve got a ton to do.”
Tim set the plate and mug down and grabbed Jack’s hands. “Stop,” he softly said. “Let me.”
Jack took a deep breath and closed his eyes before he nodded.
“Was that so hard, letting me help?”
“Smart-ass.” He opened his eyes to Tim’s blue gaze.
“You love this ass and you know it.”
“Yes, I do. I damn sure do.”
Chapter Four
Gwen had decided two thirty might be better if she wanted to pry her mother’s fingers off Liam before their father’s usual return home at five. Sure enough, Liam had packed, but their mother was busy fretting and worrying and wondering if she should also spend the night at Gwen’s. She’d totally freaked out over Gwen taking Liam to the book signing, claiming it wasn’t healthy for him to leave the house.
Gwen suspected the unhealthy thing was her mom trying to keep him cooped up like a fragile china doll.
Her mother sleeping over was the last thing Gwen or Liam needed…or wanted. She took a deep breath. “Mom, he’ll be fine. We’ll be fine. You and Dad go out to eat or something. Enjoy having the house back to yourselves for a couple of days.”
“But what about your back?” When her father wasn’t home, her mother acted like a different person around Gwen. Still a pain in many ways, but not nearly as obnoxious.
“My back is fine, it’s healed up, you know that. Besides, it’s not like I have to carry him.” She grabbed Liam’s rolling suitcase and laptop bag and trundled them out to her Honda Element. She’d already folded the back seats up so she’d have room for Liam’s stuff and his wheelchair.
When she returned, her mom was going after Liam again. “Just because your sister’s gone doesn’t mean you have to leave, too!”
Amy watched Liam successfully fight the urge to roll his eyes. He grabbed their mom’s hands. “Mom, I love you, and you take good care of me, but you need a break. Dad needs a break. I need a break. Amy’s getting her break. Gwen and I want to hang for a few days, and I need to redo her website anyway. It’ll be easier working on it there at her house than staying here and trying to coordinate over the phone with her.”
Gwen took another load of Liam’s gear out to her SUV. His walker and other things he might need to avoid a trip back to their parents’ house. Liam had really good days and really bad days. On the really good days, he could walk with a cane outside, and unassisted inside. On the really bad days, he was practically bedridden. Fortunately, the really bad days were rare. With the latest round of medication his doctors had tried, it’d been over a year since a really bad day, minus the occasional problems like his latest kidney infection. On the average, he used a manual wheelchair for outings and long distances, and his cane or walker in the house unless he was really tired.
He’d had to give up his car the year before. That had put him into an emotional tailspin it took Gwen and Amy months to pull him out of. He lied and told their parents and Amy he’d given up his driver’s license to keep them off his back, but the truth was Gwen had put him on her car insurance so he could still hold on to that little scrap of independence. On really good days, sometimes Gwen let him drive her Element, if she was with him.
Unfortunately, their mother had used the bleak milestone to cling more tightly to her son and keep him dependent upon her. The kids all understood she meant well, but Liam had almost no social life as a result. Except for business trips he took several times a year, Amy usually flying with him because of Gwen’s terror of air travel, he rarely escaped their mom’s eagle eye.
Gwen finally got him out of the house a little before three thirty, their mom hovering the entire time as Gwen held his wheelchair steady for him by the passenger door. He slowly climbed in and hung his handicap parking placard on her rearview mirror.
“See, Mom? I’m in safe and sound.”
Gwen quickly stowed the custom-made wheelchair in the back of the SUV and hugged her mom. “Seriously, don’t call every twenty minutes,” she said. “Enjoy tonight. Take a bubble bath. Make Dad take you out to dinner.” Their father would be home around five and she wanted to be out of there before he arrived. “Love you!”
Liam laid his head back against the seat and let out a relieved sigh as they backed out of the driveway. “I. Owe. You. Big time.” He looked at her, and she didn’t miss how close he was to tears. “I swear, Gee, I was about to kill her. I love her, and I know she means well, but…”
He looked away, out the window. She saw him reach up to his eyes as if wiping them dry. “I had so much fun with you on Saturday. Did you know Mom actually stayed home from church on Sunday? Said she was worried I’d sneak out again.” He took a deep breath. “I feel guilty for feeling like this, but there’s times I just want to scream at her to leave me the fuck alone.” He looked at her. “Know what I mean?”
She nodded. “I know. Don’t let it get so bad next time before you ask me.”
He reached over and patted her on the thigh. “I wubs you, sis.”
“I wubs you too, bro.” That was their special thing, since they were little kids and she followed Liam around like he was a god. When she was little she said “wubs” instead of “love” and it stuck.
Their mom called just as they pulled into Gwen’s driveway. Gwen managed to get her off the phone in a few minutes, claiming she needed to help Liam unload. He’d already opened his door and climbed out, leaning against the front fender and standing there with his eyes closed as if soaking up the sun and enjoying the peace and quiet.
Hell, that’s probably exactly what he’s doing. “You want your chair?” she called out.
He shook his head. “Let me have my walker. I want to take my time getting inside.” He threw his head back and yelled, “Frrreeeeeedom!”
“You’ve got to quit watching Braveheart,” she teased.
He laughed. “I feel like I’ve been paroled. Please tell me there’s a pizza in my future. I’ll even pay.”
“There’s pizza on tonight’s agenda, and a little special surprise chilling in the fridge for you.”
His jaw dropped. “No!”
“Yes.”
“The good stuff?”
“Your favorite.”
He grinned. “Oh, you sweet thang, if you weren’t my sister and it wouldn’t give me mega-cooties, I’d kiss you in a nasty, wet, sloppy, full-tongue kind of way.” He took his time making his way across the yard to her front porch. There wasn’t a set of steps for him to navigate, so he could easily manage by himself. Gwen had gone to the grocery store earlier and stocked all his favorite foods that their mom wouldn’t buy for him, including a six-pack of Coors. He couldn’t drink a lot because of his medication, but his parents refused to buy any beer because they believed all booze was evil.