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I yank open his door just as the front door to the house opens and a pretty woman steps out. She looks a little older than Bennet, wearing sweatpants and a faded purple t-shirt. Her blonde hair is up in a ponytail, but as she approaches I can see the resemblance. “Bennet?”
You know what’s weird about these Kansans? She just rushed right out of her house without a care in the world. In the middle of the night. I could have been literally anyone and she just comes jogging up likeno big deal.
In California, we don’t talk to strangers who show up on our property. If someone rings your doorbell, you just hide under your sheets until they go away. You definitely don’t go running out to greet them.
But then again, she knew we were coming. So maybe I’m just fucking tired from the long-ass trip and am blowing things out of proportion.
In the dark, shadowy distance, I hear a lonemoofollowed by acock-a-doodle-dooand glance around nervously, shuffling a little closer to the door where Bennet sits. My eyes are searching for farm animals. I mean, it’s not likely that a cow will come sauntering up. They’re caged up at night, right? Murder by cow isn’t a thing. I mean, what would they really do? Slowly masticate us to death?
Bennet suddenly jerks to life, his eyes on the woman moving toward us. He climbs out of the truck, stumbling toward her, and when her small arms wrap around him, he sags into her, his face pressed against the top of her head.
“Oh, Bennet, I’m so glad you’re here! How was the flight?” I can tell this is Bridgette. We spoke on the phone earlier, and I’d recognize her voice anywhere. It’s sweet with a little Southern twang to it. I know Kansas is in the middle of the United States. I mean, I watchedSmallville, but I wasn’t expecting her to have a drawl like this. Even Bennet’s isn’t like this. The only time I’ve ever heard Bennet’s like this is when he lowers his voice and does this deep, throaty…nope. Nopers. Not going there.
“Trip was long. How’s Mom?” I barely recognize his voice. It’s rough and broken, probably from not talking for so many hours.
I shift on my feet, wrapping my arms around me to protect myself from the cold, all while glancing at his sister who has tears streaming down her face. Gods, this family cries. Like actual tears. It’s making my chest pinch.
Bridgette shakes her head, looking up at her much taller, younger brother. “She’s not doing great. But she’s stable. We got her to the hospital in time, we recognized all the signs.”
Bennet just nods his head. “Samantha here too?”
Bridgette nods in answer and then releases him.
She motions toward the house. “They came over to stay with us this weekend. She’s here with Fred and the kids. Kristy and Mark are here too with the fam. The house is pretty full. No better time for a family reunion, right?”
Bennet just nods along, looking positively sick.
I resist the urge to wrap him up in my arms. I must be experiencing some kind of jet lag to want to do that. Maybe my brain got confused with him being all up in my business on the airplane and it expects something now.
I need to get myself back to normal, the kind of normal where I don’t feel like hugging Bennet. I dig my heels into the ground and square my shoulders.
Bridgette turns her attention to me, holding out her small hand. “Hi, I’m Bennet’s sister. You must be Jasper?”
I nod.
“Nice to meet you,” I say, making sure I use the manners my parents ingrained in me.
“Thank you for coming with him all the way here. Bennet doesn’t do well in situations like this.”
I wonder for a moment what situations she’s talking about but decide it’s not my place. Instead, I ask, “If the house is full, where are we staying? I didn’t see a hotel in the last town we drove through.”
In truth, I didn’t see a single thing. The town was three blocks long. Three damn blocks. It took us ten seconds to drive through it. I almost missed it. I honestly expected a little more, but it was just a stop sign and a few buildings, and then…fields and darkness after that. There weren’t even any street lights. How do people live like this? Where do they buy their groceries? Does Amazon deliver out here? Oh gods, are there no Starbucks? I might die.
“No hotel,” Bridgette says, her lips turned up in a strained smile, and then gestures behind her. “We cleaned up the old trailer as good as we could today. It’s hooked up and I put new sheets on the bed.”
“Bed?” I say. “As in one bed?”
Bridgette looks at Bennet and then at me, worry plastered all over her pretty face. I really don’t mean to be a bother, and I know they have other shit they need to worry about. I just wasn’t expecting…this.
Bennet suddenly jolts to life and manages actual sentences. “We’ll be fine for tonight, sis. Go try to get some sleep. Thanks for waiting up. We’ll see you in the morning.”
She looks unsure but still hugs him tightly once more and then kisses his cheek. “Thank you for coming. Both of you.”
“Of course,” Bennet says as he squeezes her again. She smiles at me softly and then disappears back inside.
I turn to him, my eyebrow raised in suspicion. “One bed, Bennet? Are you kidding me? I did not sign up for this.”
He doesn’t respond with a retort or snark like I expected him to. Instead, he just blinks at me, looking stressed and weary. It probably doesn’t help that he can’t see his mom yet since it’s so late and we have to wait until tomorrow morning when the hospital allows visitors.
