Page 20 of After We Fall

“Jason,” I say, pushing the door to the makeshift studio closed. “I meant to call yesterday. I apologize.”

“No problem.” His friendly voice fills my ear. “I figured you needed your rest after all the wedding stress. Did you end up with a migraine?”

Jason always understands me. He would. He’s known me longer than most. Been through more with me than most.

“Yes.” I sigh, rubbing the scar at my left eyebrow. “But I’m fine now.”

“You always end up being fine. I still hate that you have those migraines.”

The silence between us fills with flashbacks to the accident that caused my headaches. “Accident” is a gracious word for it. “Attack” seems more accurate. An attack that Jason still believes he should have saved me from.

I pull the phone down to glance at the screen. The clock continues to tick off the seconds of the call. “Jason?”

He clears his throat. “Yeah.”

“I got the flowers. They’re lovely.” If anything Luke said last night about Jason having feelings for me has an ounce of truth to it, I need to steer Jason clear. “But you didn’t have to send them.”

“I know. But with the wedding, I knew it was a big day for you.”

Big day.

Big week. Once I show the Holcombes how well I can manage the ranch without them, I will pitch them my vision as a candidate for program director. But I’m not sharing my plans to ask for my dream job with Jason. He has his own dream plans for me that involve moving to Denver to be near him. A move I’m not even considering.

“Did everything with the ceremony go like you planned?” he asks.

“Almost everything.” I bite my lip, recalling the vandalism. It’s odd not to share everything with Jason, but I don’t want him to worry. I’m not even sure there’s anything to worry about, but if Jason gets a hint of the slightest concern, he’ll hover.

“What’s going on, Penelope? Did something happen?”

One of the family portraits hangs unevenly, and I reach to straighten it. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

For the most part. Minus one regrettably handsome security consultant.

“Are they still waiting five weeks to have a reception? I think that’s odd.”

“It’s not a true reception. Just a party. Meredith has a tough history. They didn’t want an overwhelming wedding day. In spite of it being a delayed celebration, I think it will be a fun event. Plus, they’ll be able to enjoy it more.”

“Have you decided if you’re going to invite dear old Mom and Dad?”

I press my palm flat against the wall, and my head drops. “You know I hate it when you call them that.”

“You’d rather I call them our dear old adoptive parents?”

“Call them the senator and his wife, please.” No matter how noble their adoption of a few strays looked to the public, those vipers don’t deserve the word “parent” attached to their name.

“Okay.” He clears his throat. “Are you inviting the senator and his wife to the reception?”

Squeezing my eyes shut, I lower my voice. “Yes. I will be inviting the California state senator and his wife to the reception.”

“I knew you would.” He doesn’t disguise his disappointed tone.

My head shoots up, and I glare at the painting of a family having a picnic. “You know as well as I do that they’re coming to town on business. I wasn’t going to get around having to see them. Including them is a calculated decision, Jason. There will be less grief if I offer an invitation than if I don’t.”

“And how does your boss feel about his high-maintenance guests?”

“He told me to do whatever made my life easier.” I turn away from the happiness portrayed in pictures on the wall. “Which is why you’re invited too. I need reinforcements.”

“I’ll protect you from them.”