Obediently she took a bite, sighing with pleasure when the flavors exploded on her tongue and realized just how hungry she was. “This is wonderful,” she said, scooping up another bite. “I guess I was hungry.”
Hattie laughed, “I’ll get you that sandwich now,” she said, getting to her feet. “Then you and Jackson are going to tell us what happened after you left the stadium today.”
She dropped her spoon with a clatter. “Oh, I’ve been so wrapped up in my own problems, I almost forgot about the stadium,” she said. “How bad was it? Jackson and I did what we could, but he wanted to get me out of there. I hope no one was killed.”
“There were no fatalities,” Gabe said from the other side of the table. “A few people were taken to the hospital, but mostly for broken bones and concussions, stuff like that. We were lucky.”
“Oh, that’s a relief,” she said with a sigh, then picked up her spoon. “Can they prove that the Kappas did it this time?”
“The police aren’t saying much,” Walker said. “I tried to talk to Steve…I mean Dean Proctor, but I couldn’t get close enough to him to get his attention.”
“It might be time to take the situation into our own hands,” Jackson said, setting a sandwich down in front of her. “On our way back to the house this afternoon, Diego attacked us, I had to shift to protect Abby. I fought him off, but I doubt that will be the end of it. His ego and pride are going to be wounded. He won’t just let it go.”
There was a stunned silence around the table, and then alleyes turned to Abby. For the second time that night, her spoon clattered onto the table. “Jackson told me everything. He didn’t really have much choice, I saw both of them,” she said. “But I promise you that I’ll never tell anyone, I would never do that to you. I still haven’t completely come to terms with the whole thing, but what you can do is special.”
There was a collective sigh of relief, and then Taylor cleared his throat. “I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say thank you,” he said. :Now, tell us what happened this afternoon, and with more detail this time. It sounds like Diego is close to the breaking point.”
“How about if I handle the details,” Jackson said, squeezing her hand under the table. “I think Abby has been through enough today.”
She was grateful to be able to sit and slowly eat her meal as Jackson recounted the events of the afternoon, and as she listened to him talk, the truth of it slowly began to sink in. “I was close to killing him, but I stopped myself at the last second,” he finished, stealing a glance over at her. “I figured that was the last thing we needed to deal with, but next time I don’t think I’ll have that luxury.”
Before anyone could comment, there was a knock on the kitchen door, and then it flew open, revealing an older couple, their arms filled with bags and suitcases. “Mom, Dad, what are you doing here?” Jackson said, jumping to his feet. “You didn’t tell me that you were coming.”
“We didn’t know until just a few hours ago, son,” his father said, dropping his armload to the floor. “It was the council’s idea; after what happened today, they wanted someone to take a look at the situation in person, and they figured we wouldn’t attract as much attention as one of them would.”
“We couldn’t say no with all the rumors flying around. We decided we’d just come see for ourselves if any of themare true,” Jackson’s mother said, then spotted her sitting at the table. “You must be Abby. We’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Mom…maybe we could slow down just a little?” Jackson said, rushing over to her. “Let me take your luggage, it looks heavy.”
“She couldn’t decide what to bring,” his father said. “So, she brought everything.”
“How long are you planning to stay?” Jackson asked, a look of horror on his face. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but…”
“We’ll be here as long as we’re needed,” his mother said, giving him a hug. Your sister is going to take care of the farm until we get back. Now, introduce me to Abby, unless you’ve managed to forget the manners that I taught you.”
He shot her an apologetic look. “Abby, these are my parents, Melissa and Timothy Howe,” he said, leading them over to her. They’re a bit old-fashioned, but they mean well.”
Melissa gave her son a little slap. “Ignore him,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Abby. I hope we’ll have a chance to get to know each other better while we’re here.”
“Me too,” she croaked. “Jackson has told me a lot of wonderful things about you.”
“Well, isn’t that nice,” Melissa said. “We’ll have to have a nice long talk tomorrow, but right now, I need a hot shower and a good night’s sleep. Where should we take our things?”
“You can stay with Sam and me,” Hattie said, walking over and giving Melissa a hug. “Abby is staying in the attic apartment, but there’s plenty of room in the gatehouse. We’d love to have you.”
CHAPTER 20
***JACKSON***
After dropping his books onto the kitchen table with a loud thud, Jackson sank into a chair with a groan of frustration, wondering how much longer Abby was going to need to come to terms with the truth about what he was and what he could do. He’d waited patiently for three days, endured the hours of class with her so close he could smell her unique scent, suffered through their time together in the dissection lab watching as she worked, her fascination and wonder at each new discovery only making him want her more.
“Tough day?” his mom asked, sliding a plate of cookies in front of him before sitting down. “I remember that look all too well. Something isn’t going your way.”
“More like nothing is going my way,” he said with a grunt of annoyance. “The Kappas are running around terrorizing the campus and no one is doing anything about it, all my professors got the brilliant idea to give us big tests on the same day, and Abby’s decided the best way to handle everything between us is to pretend nothing happened and lose herself in her homework.”
“Oh my, that is a lot to think about,” his mom said, then patted his hand. “But I don’t think it’s all quite as bad as you think it is.”
He looked over at his mom and rolled his eyes. “Mom, I’m not in the mood for one of your pep talks,” he said, then sighed. “I’m sorry, it’s just so frustrating. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, I didn’t ask for any of this to happen. It was just thrust upon me…”
