Page 108 of Big Dill

“Brody. Hey, bud.” Jaxon holds out his fist and Brody bumps it. Even now, even stuck in a hospital bed, Jaxon manages to make it look casual. “You good?”

“I’m good. Business is good.” Brody slings an arm over my shoulders, easy and familiar. A big-brother move, one I’ve felt from Jaxon a thousand times growing up.

Only it doesn’t feel the same when Brody does it.

“Your sister here is kicking butt and taking numbers on the court,” Brody continues, giving my shoulder a squeeze. “We might even have a fighting chance in Alberta.”

Jaxon grins at me, pride brightening his tired eyes. “I knew she would be.” He playfully thumps his knuckles against his shoulder. “Gets her natural talent from her big brother.”

We all laugh, the sound a little too loud in the quiet room. A nurse slips in then, efficient and kind, and Brody and I move to the chairs beside the bed. She sets a tray of food on the table and flips through a chart while a doctor follows her in.

A very pretty doctor.

Very young.

Very feminine.

“How are you feeling, Jaxon?” she asks, her tone warm, practiced.

Jaxon sits up as she pulls the blankets back to inspect the heavy brace strapped around his knee.

“No cast?” I blurt, aware of how out of my depth I am.

“Not for this kind of injury,” Brody says, answering easily.

The doctor turns toward him, interest lighting her eyes. “You must be Brody.” Her smile widens. “Jaxon’s friend, business partner…” She gestures to Jaxon’s leg. “And now his physiotherapist.”

“That I am.”

Then she turns to me. “And you must be Jami.”

She barely spares me a glance.

My jaw tightens as her appreciative gaze goes back to Brody. “Looks to me like Jaxon will be in good hands.”

What the what?

“He will be,” Brody says, and she rewards him with a smile that sends a spike of jealousy straight through my chest.

“Jaxon’s told me so much about you both,” she says, still mostly looking at Brody. She gives him a wink. “He’s chatty when medicated.” Brody laughs. I don’t. “It’s nice that you could fly over to help get Jaxon home.”

You, as in Brody? What about me? Am I a fancy salad or something?

Oh, God, I’m really turning into a Newfoundlander.

The nurse rolls the tray closer to the bed, adjusting it so Jaxon can reach his food, then slips quietly from the room.

Jaxon peels the plastic lid off a prepackaged Jello. “That looks…delicious,” I say, tilting my head skeptically. “Maybe when we get back to Devon’s tonight, Brody can make you some bologna sandwiches. He said you loved them.”

“That sounds amazing.” Jaxon reaches for his spoon. “Jami, did you like them?”

Brody laughs. “Like them? If eating three is liking them, then yeah, I’d say yes, she liked them.”

I pinch his arm and he yelps. “Hey. Don’t food shame me.”

“I’m not.” He grins and pokes my side. “I love a girl with an appetite.”

“Well, you ate four,” I shoot back. “So you have no right to talk about my appetite.”