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Rory looked like he was going to miss her too. I already knew he'd be sad she wouldn’t come back. He didn't get a ton of company that wasn't me and they'd taken to each other quickly. I grabbed her bags and loaded them into the truck before I came back for her.
"Everything's all set. The road looks good. You ready?" I asked.
She nodded. "Ready," she sighed.
I ran a hand over her hair and she smiled, but it was tight.
Is it because she has to go back to her mom's place?
I knew that was a point of stress for her. On top of that, her boss wanted her back in Vegas so she didn't have forever to get the house together either. Stress on top of stress. It was probably why she seemed a little off.
I'd gotten used to waking up to her in the morning. The smell of her shampoo on my pillow and in my nose first thing in the morning was the best part of waking up now. Every time I saw her face, she smiled and usually tried to kick me out of the bed, but not this morning. She'd been up before I could even wake up fully and she'd been quiet. Too quiet. Something felt off, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
"How much is your friend going to want for fixing the car?" She asked as she scrolled on her phone. "I'll have to stop at an ATM."
I waved a hand. "Don't worry about it. I've already taken care of it."
"Peter, you didn't have to do that. I can pay you back."
"I don't need to be paid back. Your car broke down and it's my gift to you to cover getting it fixed, that's all. I haven't seen you in a long time. Let me at least do one nice thing for you while you're in town," I protested.
"You've been doing nice things for me for the past few days. Are you sure you're okay with this?"
I noted the concern on her face. I was more than okay making sure that she had what she needed. In fact, I loved that I could do things for her now. When she left I had hardly anything to my name and couldn't offer her a thing. Now, I could do things for her and take some of the stress off of her shoulders. That's what I wanted to do for so long and now that I had the means, why wouldn't I?
"More than okay," I smiled. "You know me, there are no strings attached. I just wanted to do something nice for you."
"Well thank you," she said as she touched my arm. "It means a lot. Really."
I nodded. "You just need to worry about your mom's house right now and that's it. Everything else is a bit too much. I know you still have a lot to go through."
"Man," she sighed. "Isn't that the truth? I thought I'd be a lot more okay with this than I am, but what's done is done. Once I get through everything I'm sure I'll be fine."
"I know you will. You've got this."
Joanne gave me a tight smile and went back to being quiet. We pulled up to the house and I helped her get her things inside. There still weren't any groceries at the house so I'd packed a nice little lunch and supplies for dinner just in case we started working and didn't feel like stopping. I headed inside to the kitchen whilst she snagged the keys to the car from the mailbox and went to check on her car.
"Where should we get started?" I asked when she walked into the kitchen.
"Dan left me a note, it looks like he’s installed a refurbished alternator which means it’s okay to drive for now, but he’s waiting for the shop to order the brand new one in, before it’ll be ready to take on the drive back to Vegas. So… I think I’m going to run a few errands away from the house today. I know you wanted to help, but I don't think I'll be home much today."
I turned around to look at her. She played with her fingers and wouldn't quite meet my eyes. Something was bothering her big time. I walked up to her slowly.
"Jo Jo, are you sure you're okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'll catch up with you later, okay?"
I frowned but nodded anyway. It was clear she was getting rid of me, I wasn't that naive to think otherwise, but I didn't understand why. We were getting along so well. And on top of that, I knew how hard going through the house would be for her. I wanted to give her my support, but I knew I couldn't force it on her.
"Sure," I said quietly. "If you need me just call or text me or something. I'll be around. I should go make some runs into town today anyway." I kissed the top of her head. "See you later."
I headed out and heard the door close and lock quietly behind me. Whatever was going through her head, I was a little worried about her. Joanne always had a tendency to close herself off when she was feeling too much and I worried that her mom's death was a bit more trying than she wanted to admit.
Instead of going straight to town, I decided to head over to the diner. We hadn't eaten breakfast since Jo had said she wasn't hungry and I was dying for something to put in my stomach to settle all the coffee I'd drank on the way to her place. I stepped inside of Molly's and headed for the counter.
"Peter, come sit over here."
Dan waved me over to a booth where he sat with a cup of coffee and a plate stacked high with food. I was glad to see him. I needed to take my mind off of things. I slipped into the booth and ordered the same as he had before he looked me over.
