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“You're getting a bit ahead of yourself.” A lot ahead of herself. We're not even back together but when I tell Lux as much, she snorts.
“So she just drove across the state before the sun was up for fun?”
“That was for you, not me.”
Another snort. “And what were you doing at her place so early?”
“Sleeping.”
“In the same bed.”
“On a couch, actually.” I'd planned to bring her to bed when she fell asleep but I was so comfortable, I passed out before I could.
“Oh, yeah, that makes a difference,” Lux drawls sarcastically. Shaking her head, she laughs under her breath. “Not together, my ass.”
I kiss my teeth in mock annoyance. We're not together, and I don't exactly have high hopes of us getting back together either, considering everything she has going on. I doubt that's what she wants right now. I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything she told me.
A lot of information, a lot to process, in less than 24 hours.
“Speaking of the ranch,” I deftly change the subject. “I'm gonna look into hiring some more help for you.”
If Lux’s crumpled expression doesn’t tell me exactly how she feels about that suggestion, her mouth does. “I don't need a babysitter, Oscar.”
“I know that, Alexandra. But you can't do everything you're doing now and take care of a kid.”Wanna bet?her face screams, and I roll my eyes. “You're already spread too thin.”
“I have help already.”
Yeah, the presence of Dipshit and Dumbass doesn't exactly soothe my worries.
“It's a big ranch, Lux. You need more than two people helping to run it.” A dozen would be preferable. Plus an assistant to help with the business side of shit. But baby steps.
She's still making that face so I poke her again. “Just let me help you.”
Lux regards me for a long moment before sighing. “Fine. But I get final say on who you hire.”
“Deal.”
* * *
They discharge Lux not long after Luna returns.
She was a menace to get out of the hospital; making a fuss over the wheelchair they insisted she use, protesting like a brat when the doctor put her on bed rest for forty-eight hours, scoffing obnoxiously when I was told to keep an eye on her. The whole drive home, Luna and I were graced with her 'I can take care of myself'spiel.
She wouldn't let me help her up to the house. But when Luna sidled up to her and extended an arm, she took it without protest and hey, I’m not going to complain as long as she’s accepting help from someone, even if an alliance between them does scare the ever-loving shit out of me.
With the twins at their dorm and Eliza still at school, we successfully get Lux in bed without any questions and only minimal complaint. I get shooed from her bedroom the second she's tucked under the covers, claiming she had a busy, early morning before sarcastically asking if she's allowed to nap without supervision.
At least, I think as I close the door behind me,I know why she's been such a fucking grouch the past few months.
I’ve just barely stumbled into my own bedroom, intending on following my sister’s lead and passing out for a while, when I hear the telltale snick of the front door opening. Wholly concerned it’s Lux sneaking out to do some shit she absolutely should not be doing, I slope outside with a groan, stepping foot on the porch just in time to catch a flicker of light brown hair disappearing into the barn.
Luna leaves the barn door ajar behind her. Enough that I can peek inside without alerting her to my presence. I can watch with a soft smile as she greets Clyde with a scratch between the eyes and a hearty pat to the side before scampering up the shoddy ladder of the loft I didn’t know she knew about. By the time I make it out there, she’s climbed out the window onto the overhang I’m suddenly very glad I fixed up last summer. Knees hugged to her chest, she tilts her face toward the sky, squinting at the soon-to-be-setting sun.
“Little early for star-gazing.”
She doesn’t jolt at the sound of my voice, and I have to wonder if she knew I was steps behind her the whole time.
When I settle beside her, legs swinging over the edge, she scoots closer, leaning her weight against my side ever so slightly. “You okay?”
