Page 51 of Derecho

“Lachlan saw what no one else did. That Greg was hurting me. That I’d allowed it to happen. He left his house, he left this ranch, and he came for me. To keep me safe. Because we’re friends. And you know what, Jess? I told him to leave. I made him come back here without me because I didn’t want to mess up everything for him.”

“He left the ranch for you.” I felt every decibel of disbelief laced into her words.

“Yeah. He left the ranch for me.”

We sat in silence, the camaraderie of the rest of the Fords filtering down to us, mixing with the breeze.

“I really am sorry, Jessie. For everything. I’ve been hurting for a very long time, and I didn’t know how to handle that. I deserved everything that happened to me.” I placed my hand over my belly. “But he doesn’t. I have nothing to give your brother. There’s no reason why he should have come to save me, or let me stay after I ran to him. But maybe it’s just that he sees me for exactly who I am, and I see him, too. I don’t want to take anything from him. I know my words mean nothing to you, but I promise I’ll figure out how to be on my own, and I’ll…” God, I had to stop and swallow down how heartbreaking it was to say the next words I knew I needed to say. “I’ll go as soon as I can.”

Jessie nodded. “I understand what it’s like to do everything in your power to protect your baby. I’m glad that my brother helped you when you needed it. But now is your chance to help him, too. Let him heal in peace.”

“I will, I promise.” The words disappeared in the wind, following Jessie as she walked back up to her family.

Lachlan

Ihadn’t cooked anything in the toaster today.

Right?

Lainey and I had gotten up, and I’d made eggs while she was getting ready. She had some with a banana, and I checked the stove. I’d checked the stove before we got in the truck. Neither one of us had touched the toaster.

So why was it consuming my thoughts?

I knew why. Because I could remember checking the stove. I’d touched the control knobs. I’d put my hands on the cooking surface. I took a picture of the fucking thing to have some goddamn peace out here.

But I hadn’t thought to take a picture of the toaster being unplugged, and the sinking feeling I was about to return to my house burnt to the ground was worming its way through my body. I couldn’t remember if the damn thing was unplugged or not.

“You good?” Dad’s hand landed on my shoulder, steady.

“Yeah.” I cleared my throat, the nerves moving to bounce my strong leg up and down. “No. I can’t remember if I unplugged my toaster or not.”

“That’s okay. Your Ma and I haven’t unplugged our toaster in twenty years. It’s never caused a problem.”

“It’s really not.” My molars sat tightly on top of each other, the stress from my muscles clenching making my jaw ache. “Because what if I forgot I was making toast? If I was so excited to get Lainey out here that I left it, and there’s a malfunction. If there’s a fire…I could lose everything. And I just got her here, Dad. She just started really opening up to me, and feeling safe. I can’t…I can’t pull that away from her.”

“Why would you forget⁠—”

“Lachlan.” Ma’s eyes sparkled as she set a bowl of fruit salad out on the picnic table. “Take a breath. What did you say Sloane’s directions were for when your thoughts got like this?”

“I don’t think I can say it in front of you,” I scoffed.

“Sure you can. I’m a big girl. And I love Sloane…”

I smiled. “She told me to tell those thoughts to ‘fuck off’.”

“Right.” My mother placed her hands on her hips, tipped her head back, and yelled, “FUCK OFF BAD THOUGHTS!”

Dad roared with laughter next to me as my jaw dropped and everyone’s eyes turned to her.

“Ma!” Jessie looked horrified as she covered Beckett’s ears. She’d come up a few minutes ago from some time with Lainey, and I’d been trying to read her weird body language since. Maybe I should have gone down to see if Lainey was okay…

“Oh, sorry! I forgot about the little ones!” She shrugged. “Well, it’s not anything worse than what they’ve heard all their uncles say from time to time! Did that help, honey?”

“Usually I have to be the one to do it.” I smirked, watching Lainey walk up from the dock with her plate. It didn’t look like she’d eaten much. “But something about hearing you say those words, Ma, actually knocked it right out of my head. Thank you.”

“Are you okay?” Lainey asked breathlessly as she sat down next to me. My eyes roamed over her…flushed face, her chest heaving with each breath. I reached over, gathering her hair and sliding it over her shoulder so her neck could catch the air from the breeze. Then I reached into the cooler next to me and slid her a new water bottle.

“Drink,” I ordered. “You’re really red.”