“It was her idea. I know you disapprove, so get in line. Mom said she’d pay someone to break into our garage and steal our bikes while we’re asleep.”
“Love that. I’ll chip in a few bucks.”
He made a face. “At least we won’t be on the highway, weaving between the cagers.”
“Cagers?”
“Drivers in cars, surrounded by metal cages and dangerous as hell.”
“Ah. I guess being covered head to toe in mud is preferable.”
“It’s fun, Freak!”
Jannie shrugged. “If you say so.”
“More than eight million of us say so. The offer is still open, should you decide you want to try riding. It’s really a great de-stressor.”
Jannie wrinkled her nose. “I’ll take your word for it.” Too many horrific things she’d seen at the ER during her mandatory med school rounds. Thankfully, Ian was a skilled rider and careful, but she would prefer he give it up, as would the entire family. Unfortunately, his new bride enjoyed riding motorcycles even more than he did.
“So, what was so important that you’ve been spamming my phone?”
His expression turned serious. “You.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you. It isn’t like you to pull an ostrich act on us.”
She snorted. “I needed some time and took a page from Adam’s playbook.”
“He’s worried, Jannie. So is Eve.”
Jannie had no response to that, so she said nothing.
“How are you?” Ian’s concerned gaze was penetrating even through an iPhone screen. She read the unspoken question in his eyes and was intensely grateful that he knew her well enough not to bring up the babies. She really didn’t want to go there.
“I’m good.”
Ian lifted one blond eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Ian was silent for a moment. She could tell he was processing and trying to phrase something just right.
“Would this ‘good’ have anything to do with a formerly ugly geek from high school?”
Her eyes widened. Then she bristled, schooling her expression.
Ian burst into guffaws. “So, what I heard is true, then.”
“And what is it that you heard?”
“That you’re in Vegas, shacking up with Kent, formerly known as Pustule.”
Her jaw clenched involuntarily, but she refused to take the bait. “Where did you hear that?”
“Jannie, Jannie … you know the aviation community. A flight instructor saw you with him. He said you were pretty good, actually. Why doesn’t that surprise me, and why are you keeping everything under wraps?”
She frowned. So much for taking lessons many miles away from Vegas. “And they say women gossip.”
