I asked, "But how did you get here?"
"How do you think?" she said. "I drove."
"But I thought your car was in the shop."
"Yeah. It is." She looked away and mumbled something that I couldn’t quite make out.
I shook my head. "Sorry, could you repeat that?"
She looked back to me and sighed. "I borrowed a pickup. You didn't see it when you came in?"
I didn't recall seeing a pickup. "In the driveway?"
"No. On the street."
"Honestly," I said, "I was pretty focused on the house."
She gave me a look. "Yeah. Me, too."
A noise near the bedroom door made me turn to look. It was Jax, standing in the open doorway. He was eying us with an expression that I couldn’t quite decipher.
I tried to smile. "Oh, hi."
His voice was flat. "Hi."
I glanced around. The room was totally trashed, with open drawers and clothes scattered across the floor. I didn't even know whose room this was, but I was pretty sure that it wasn't the private domain of either brother.
After all, the clothes in the closet, not to mention the things littered across the carpet, included plenty of things that were decidedly feminine.
I zoomed in on an open drawer, overflowing lacy undergarments. Some of them still had the tags attached, which made me wonder something. Wasthiswhere Jax had gotten the clothes that I was currently wearing?
If so, whose clothes were they?
But that was a question for another time.
I gave Jax an apologetic smile. "Don't worry," I told him. "I'm gonna clean everything up. You won't even know we were here, honest."
He didn't smile back. But he didn't frown either. He replied, "I wouldn't count on it." He looked to Allie and asked, "You need anything?"
She glanced around, as if noticing the destruction for the very first time. After a long awkward pause, she replied, "No. I'm fine." Under her breath, she added, "Now, anyway."
But Jax looked unconvinced. "You sure about that?"
"Sure." She cleared her throat. "I mean, what would I need?"
"I dunno. A shower, breakfast, clean clothes?"
Allie looked down at the ill-fitting clothes that she was currently wearing. As I watched, a slow blush crept across her cheeks.
My heart went out to her. If anyone should be embarrassed, it was me. This was all my fault, and I was determined to make it right somehow.
I asked Allie, "Are you sure? There's a private bathroom, and…" I hesitated. "I have some things you can borrow."
Technically, these things belonged to someone else, and I felt a little awkward to be offering them up when they weren't even mine. But this was Allie, and she'd come so very far for a rescue that, as it turned out, wasn't even necessary.
Allie murmured, "I, um. No. But thanks." She looked to Jax and said, "And I guess I should apologize for barging in." She winced. "And I might've been a little rude."
"Forget it," he said. "Knowing my brother, he had it coming."
