Page 12 of Eddie

“Jenna, I’ve driven for hours to get to you. Mom woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me you needed me. I got in my truck as soon as I could, which means I’ve been awake since a little after four AM. I need sleep.” Especially if he was going to see his mate tomorrow, but Jenna didn’t need to know that just yet.

“I’m sure you could do it if you tried,” she said.

“Maybe, but I’m not going to try. We’re getting a room tonight. We’ll drive back tomorrow, and we’ll stop in the afternoon to find a room again. I’m not going to let your impatience put us at risk. I won’t drive while falling asleep.”

She huffed and climbed into the truck, slamming the door behind herself. As much as Matthias loved her, sometimes he wished she’d stop behaving like a child.

By the time he was inside the truck, too, she had her arms crossed over her chest. Matthias rolled his eyes when he saw she didn’t have her seatbelt on. She knew the rules, so he waited until she turned to him, no doubt wondering why he wasn’t driving away. When she did, he arched a brow.

She huffed again, but thankfully, she didn’t fight it. She grabbed the seatbelt and buckled it then flopped back against the seat. She was still pouting.

Matthias had always tried to keep the peace, and in his family, that meant apologizing a whole lot, even when he wasn’t at fault—and usually, he wasn’t. Normally, he’d apologize to Jenna, and he’d try to get her to talk to him. When she got distracted, it was easier to deal with her. He didn’t want to stoop to that level today, though. In fact, he didn’t want to speak at all. He was fine with her giving him the silent treatment. He was sure it wouldn’t last long, anyway.

“Why do we have to stop twice?” she eventually asked. “I get tonight since you’ve driven the entire day, but why tomorrow? Can’t you drive the entire day again?”

“Only if you want to drive, too,” he offered. He already knew what the answer would be. Jenna hated driving.

She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think so.”

“Then I’m sorry, but we’ll stop after lunch. Besides, I have someone to meet.”

From the corner of his eye, Matthias noticed her cocking her head. He could feel her watching him as if he was an interesting insect. Some days, he wondered if that was how she saw him. He wouldn’t be surprised.

“Who are you meeting?” she eventually asked.

“None of your business.”

“I’m your sister. Everything you do is my business.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not true. Otherwise, everything you do would be my business.” Especially since she was younger.

“No. I can make my own decisions, thank you very much.”

“Just like I can. I’m meeting someone in Green Hill tomorrow, so we’ll stop there.”

“Mom isn’t going to be happy. She told me she was making mac and cheese tonight.”

Which was Jenna’s favorite. She’d probably asked for it, or their mom wanted to celebrate her return. It was ridiculous since Jenna hadn’t been away for that long, just a few days. Their mom loved spoiling Jenna, though. Maybe it was because Jenna was the only girl in the family. It definitely wasn’t because she was the youngest, because she wasn’t. Their brother was.

Their mother expected Jenna to be home tonight, which meant she was going to start blowing up Matthias’s phone as soon as she realized that wouldn’t be the case. Great. It was just what Matthias wanted—his mother calling him again and again while he was driving. As if having his sister next to him, putting on the most obnoxious music, wasn’t enough.

“You’ll buy me mac and cheese, right?” Jenna asked.

“I’ll buy you dinner. I don’t know what we’ll be able to find.”

“I want mac and cheese tomorrow evening. Unless your meeting is going to last too long for us to leave Green Hill in time to get home for dinner?”

She was fishing, but Matthias wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction. “We should be home for dinner the day after tomorrow.”

“And in the meantime, you can tell Mom why we won’t be home tonight.” Jenna sounded smug, but she didn’t realize that even though he didn’t want to deal with their mom, Matthias had years of experience doing just that. He knew what to say and how to say it to get their mom to soften up, at least a bit.

He was going to have to use all his powers of persuasion, though. Their mom expected to have her little girl home by dinner today, and that wasn’t going to happen.

Chapter Three

EDDIE HAD NEVER BEEN accused of being a bad worker. He showed up on time. He didn’t slack off. He didn’t cut corners. He took pride in what he built and what he fixed, and he didn’t stop until the job was done right.

Today, none of that was true.