Page 89 of Daybreak

“Yeah. I found out that a guy I know from Tulia is also going there. We might room together.”

“That’s wonderful, honey. It will all work out. Life always does, whether we’re ready for it or not. Listen, I just hear a car pulling up. It’s probably DoorDash. Gotta go. Talk to you soon.”

“Okay, bye. Love you,” Travis said.

“Love you, too,” Holly said and hung up just as the doorbell rang. By the time she got there, the driver was backing out of the drive, and the food was on the doorstep. “Awesome,” she said and took it back inside.

She heard Gunner stirring and went to check on him. He was up and pulling on a pair of sweatpants with some effort.

“I’m so sorry, honey. Did the doorbell wake you? It was DoorDash.”

“I was awake, just not moving. But the longer I stay still, the stiffer I’m getting. I need to move around a little,” he said.

“Do you feel like eating anything?” she asked.

“If I don’t have to do much chewing, yes.”

“You need to eat something. Taking pain pills on an empty stomach isn’t a good idea,” she said. “I ordered meatloaf and mashed potatoes and gravy for you, or soups if you prefer.”

“Meatloaf and mashed potatoes sound perfect,” he said, and it was. It took a while to get it eaten, but most of it was gone by the time he quit. He got a fresh ice pack for his jaw and brushed a kiss across Holly’s lips. “I’ve been sick a dozen times and still working on the job, had a broken nose, been shot once, and beaten up twice on the job before help arrived. All that time, I came home to this house alone and healed in spite of myself. You have no idea what this means to me.”

“You were shot?”

He showed her a small scar on the side of his waist. “Flesh wound. Nothing serious, but it hurt a while.”

“I will spend the rest of our lives together, loving all of the empty, lonely places within you. Just know that; now get yourself in bed.”

Before he’d taken two steps, the doorbell rang.

“Are you expecting anyone?” she asked.

“No.” He started to go to the door when Holly stopped him.

“You sit. If it’s some reporter, I’ll deal with them. You go to the door like that, and your picture will be front-page news.”

He looked down at himself, wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants, purple bruises everywhere, and his arm bandaged in two places.

“Point taken,” he said and sat in his recliner.

Holly looked through the peephole in the door. “Two people. A blond guy with sunglasses and a woman with purple hair.”

Cliff and Frankie. Gunner sighed. “Let them in.”

Holly opened the door. “I’m gonna need to see some IDs.”

They looked startled and then laughed when they realized she was teasing. Cliff yelled out. “Damn it, Gunner. Call her off. It’s just us.”

Holly laughed. “Sorry. Couldn’t resist,” she said, then stood aside for them to enter.

But the moment they saw him, their smiles disappeared.

“Jesus,” Cliff said.

Frankie’s eyes welled.

“I’m sitting up and talking, not lying in a casket. Get your asses in here and sit down,” Gunner said.

They sat.